How to Travel The World Long Term as an Au Pair Part 2

If you missed part 1 of How to Travel The World Long Term- Travel The World as an Au Pair, don’t forget to check it out!

In this guide, I’ll walk you through the steps of how to become an Au Pair and my best tips—leaving you ready to jet set off on your next abroad adventure.   

Part 2 of this Blog post includes:   

1. My most memorable experiences during my Au Pair work and travel adventure.  

2. How to write your Au Pair profile bio and tips.

3. How to make the most out of your Au Pair work and travel experience.  

4. Tips for looking after your Au Pair children. 

5. BONUS: Other budget-friendly ways to work and travel the world.

Becoming an Au Pair is a unique way to explore new languages, people, cultures and countries while still having stability, security and money.

Some of my most memorable experiences happened because I said yes. I stepped out of my comfort zone and said yes to the new experience or person that I got to meet. It was such an amazing, mind-opening and explorative time that I got to experience as an Au Pair. The length of my Au Pair stay was almost one year in Berlin, Germany and 6 months in Italy. 

I was blessed with incredible, generous and positive host families that truly enriched my time and showed me aspects of myself that I wanted to bring out more and also ideas of the kind of lifestyle that I wanted to create for myself. For example, I now appreciate more in my current daily life indulging in the sweetness, slowness and celebration of life like my Italian Host family does. I value enjoying the good things in life with the good people. You can see more inspiration on living ‘La Dolce Vita’ in my post 6 Simple Ways to Romanticise Your Life post here.

Here are some of my most memorable experiences:

Being able to understand and speak German with others felt so good. It added to the cultural immersion greatly. It made me realise how valuable it is to learn another language and how this opens you up to connect and understand other people differently. I don’t think I would have become bilingual as quickly if I did not travel the world as an Au Pair.

Writing your Au Pair profile bio gives your Host Family a chance to get to know you before you both take the next steps.
Have fun with it, be honest. Be true to you and express your authentic passions, lifestyle and intention for your Au Pair experience.
Set your profile picture as you with a child that you have looked after if you have one. Ask permission from their parent first.
Top things to include in your bio:

• State where you are from, your age and your interests.
• Share any languages you speak and what language you want to learn.
• Talk about your past job experience and what you can offer the family.
• Are you a non-smoker? What are your dietary requirements?
• What type of lifestyle do you like to live?
• State any qualifications that you have.
• Share your skills. Can you cook?
• Describe the hours (mornings, afternoons or both), days of the week and country that you would prefer to live and work in.
• Share your intention for your Au Pair experience and the value you can offer your Host Family.

If I had not become an Au Pair I would not be the person I am today. This was an experience that truly helped me grow, learn and discover more who I was and the world around me.
Ultimately, you know you best and you will know what’s best for you. However, here are my tips that can support and remind you to utilise this experience to the fullest.

• Embrace having fun with the children that you are taking care of. Enjoy the time in the park together. Rather than just seeing your work hours as a job, find ways to enjoy your work hours with the children and family. Tip: You may just need a perspective shift some days. Your mindset matters.
• Be kind and compassionate with yourself. You matter. You are learning, you are growing and you are enough.
• Embrace stepping out of your comfort zone, saying yes and doing things you don’t normally do or have never done before. While I was living in Berlin I got my first tattoo on my rib which says “Say Yes”. Hence, this point means a lot to me. I reminded myself of how special this opportunity was. Instead of clinging to control/my familiar comfort zone out of fear of the unknown and uncertainty, I decided to let go and say yes more during this season of my life. I took more risks, I lived, I learned, I experienced and I grew through it all, the good, the great and the more stressful situations.
• Remember that you may never have this opportunity again. You will never be this young again.
• Seize this opportunity as a time to discover yourself, your individuality, what you love and enjoy, and your unique perceptions about yourself and the world. Explore, discover and stay curious.

• Don’t forget to take care of yourself. Practice good self-care and take the time to pour into your self-love cup.
• Tip: If you are nervous about the whole experience, I recommend starting with a shorter stay with a Host Family. It was my first time abroad solo. Therefore, I did not know how I would like it or handle it, as it’s something I’ve never done before. But, I knew that I really wanted to do this. I decided to start with a 3-month stay for the summer with a beautiful Italian family. Once I was there, I would decide if I wanted to extend my stay. Obviously, I ended up loving it and I found another blessed opportunity in Berlin, Germany. Here I got to stay as an Au Pair for almost one year. This is a great thing when you are looking at your search criteria for Host Families on your chosen Au Pair website. You can search for different variations for the length of your stay.

Having a great relationship with your Host Family is key to enhancing your enjoyment of your experience.

Tips for looking after your Aupair children and building a bond with your Host Family:

• Take time to get to know your Host Family. Additionally, build a bond with not only your Au Pair children but the parents. Talk to the parents and ask questions. Show interest in getting to know more about them and their culture.
• Create a fun, older sibling-like relationship with your Au Pair children. However, maintain boundaries that establish you as the authority and caregiver.
• Don’t be afraid to learn from your Au Pair children. My German Aupair children were my biggest teachers of the German language!
• Do fun things that you both enjoy. A lot of trust can be built through play and activities.

Side note: If you choose a host family that does not feel aligned once you start working with them and getting to know them, it is okay to search for another family. Try your best, but if the situation really doesn’t feel right for you, find a new family that will benefit your happiness, mental health and Au Pair experience.

You can travel the world as an Au Pair, or you can try something else! There are plenty of websites that offer you opportunities to travel the world long-term cheaply through work exchanges, working on organic farms, yoga teaching, teaching English abroad etc.

Ways to work and travel ideas:

• Various different work exchange opportunities through Workaway
• Yoga Teaching jobs and exchanges through Yogatrade and Yogatraveljobs
• Work on organic farms with WWOOF
• Teach English abroad
• Become a flight attendant with, for example, Emirates and Qantas airlines.
• Become yacht crew
• Cruise ship work
• Seasonal work in ski resorts. New Zealand and Canada are great places to do this.
• Get a working holiday visa for countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Canada, England and many other countries.
• Work at hostels and hotels in exchange for accommodation. Reach out and offer your services.

Now, if you are feeling inspired to travel, your next step is to take action. By reading this blog post, you are already one step closer towards your goal. What is one more step that you can take to get closer to achieving your dreams?

This reminder is from my Free Daily Self Empowerment Reminders eBook that I wrote. You can receive yours by signing up for the Living Her Way newsletter using the form below.

If you have any questions, kind comments or blog post requests, please leave a comment or you can contact me here.

Where are you inspired to travel to? Pop your destination in the comments below.