We’ve all had that dream, you know, the one about quitting your job and traveling full time. As amazing as it sounds, it’s quite impossible, unless you’ve hit the megabucks. You may be reading this thinking, “What are you talking about?! You quit your job and moved to Australia!” Yes, I did, but it’s not as easy as it seems. Unfortunately, it’s pretty hard to travel without money.
I’ve done my fair share of odd jobs to make a few bucks here and there (some, not so fun). But when you’re traveling and low on money, you’ll take almost any job that’s given to you. ALMOST any job… Here’s a list of jobs I’ve done to get by while traveling down under!
Au Pair/Babysitting
Being an au pair is what I came over to Australia to do in the first place. It’s a great way to travel and see the world because au pairs are needed everywhere! You also usually get free accommodation and live with locals who can show you around the city. I’ve also babysat on the side for families to earn a few extra bucks as well!
Delivering Flyers
Tedious, but decent money. I delivered about 500 flyers for a real estate agent around a neighborhood. It wasn’t the best job, but it definitely wasn’t the worst. It took me about three hours to complete, but it was a great workout, and I wasn’t doing anything anyway. I’ll probably never do it again, but it was definitely an experience.
Dog Walking
Who doesn’t love walking pups? I’ve dog walked and dog sat, both of which I’m a big fan of. It’s like babysitting, except it’s 10x easier! (because they don’t talk back.) People are always looking for dog walkers and sitters because doggy daycare is so expensive over here!
House Sitting
House sitting is probably one of the best jobs out there. Living in someone’s house for a week or two while getting paid to do it?! It doesn’t get much better than that. This job mostly entails of bringing in the mail and making sure no one breaks into the house. Easy!
Waitressing
I never thought I’d get back into waitressing, but how can you not when it’s such good money? I only waitressed for two nights, once at a bar in Melbourne and once at a restaurant in Perth. It was fun for the night, but I soooooo don’t want to get back into the routine I had as a waitress. Waiting around all day to go into work, working extremely late nights, sleeping in the next morning, and then doing it all again the next day. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love bars, just not working behind one.
Mystery Shopping
This one unfortunately didn’t last long, as they found out I’m not an Australian Citizen and couldn’t technically hire me; but it was fun while it lasted. As a mystery shopper, I was to go into certain restaurants, order something specific, and make sure the staff took all of the steps that they were supposed to take. It was only a little money for each task, but hey! I got a free lunch out of it!
Event Staff
This was my favorite job of all (and still is!) I worked for an event company that put on concerts around Perth, mostly outdoors. I did everything from setting up chairs, to scanning tickets, to ushering people to their seats, to working in the cloak room, to acting as security during the concert, to packing up chairs afterwards. It was the most fun I’ve had working, and always looked forward to the next concert. Sadly, their season just ended for winter, so the next concert isn’t until November. I’ll definitely be looking into working more events around Perth!
So there you have it, all of the odd jobs I’ve done just to save some money for a $6 coffee or a $10 beer. It can get expensive living here in Australia, but hey, at least I’m having fun doing it!