Dubai Trip 2022 with Philipp Kamper and Felix Arnold

Hey Guys,

as you probably already know, I was in Dubai last week and had an unforgettable time there with my brother and a friend who is a creator from Vienna. Of course we met some other friends and colleagues on the spot.

Why Dubai? I can answer that easily. Dubai is not only luxurious, has good weather or is super modern – Dubai was also perfect for us to produce content. So we weren’t just there to take a vacation.

During our time in Dubai, we spent two days at Five Jumeirah Village and two days at Five Palm Jumeirah.

In general, Dubai is very worthwhile for the dining experience. We went out a lot and always ate incredibly well. Of course, we also made a trip to the desert, drove expensive cars through the city and missed time at the beach. The old town of Dubai is also very worth seeing and a nice contrast to the otherwise very modern life there.

Have you ever been to Dubai? If so, what have you done? Tell me about your experiences and for all those who have been there – I can only recommend it to you.

For me it goes soon again on travel – any Ideas where I am going?

Episode 26: ✖️Too busy – is that possible?! ✖️

When someone had asked me that question a couple weeks ago I would said “𝑵𝒐, 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒚!”
But after the last couple weeks my body told me I need a break and to slow down. I got sick 2 times in 3 weeks.
Now I’m in Italy and pushed a few projects back to get back my strength of body and mind.
– – – –
Always listen to your body and sometimes you have to take a break!
– – – –
⁉️𝑨𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆⁉️

Episode 24: ❌ Traveling or Family?! 💭 ❌

Since a couple weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about my whole travels.
It’s 1,5 years ago that I went to Australia as a Backpacker. Since then I never really got home…
Yes, it just feels great to see all those amazing places… But what I learned that LIFE IS NOT ALL ABOUT THAT!
For me it became so much more important to stay at home as much as I can to spend time with my family…
Every time when I come home after a couple month I just realize how much time is gone.
𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲. 𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵.. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗶 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝘆 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹⁉️
💥Maybe you can help me…

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗗𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗞?💥

 

 

Episode 2: ❌ What means “better” ❌

Before we can start with our journey selfeducation and mindgrowing, we have to define what it means to be better! Only if we know what better means, we can try to achieve it.

For me better means to be more happy with your life and yourself. I will try to live after a positive vibe. I will try to do everything as best as I can. I’m a perfectionist…It means I will try to live 100% healthy, to work 100% for my goals in live and work! I will stay motivated and share my vibe with other people! ➡️ So I think a better person is someone who’s spending his life to make others happy and concentrate only on things which are important! Important individual for every person!

What are you thinking about a better person? What means better for you?! It doesn’t matter if you have a different opinion! Everyone has his own goals and point of view.

PLS LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! ⤵️

 

Sydney – What’s my first impression ?! – # 6 Work and Travel Australia 2018

Tasmania was choppy. Now it was back to Melbourne, but only for a few days. Because the next road trip was already waiting for us, Melbourne to Sydney. Actually, the plan was only a few months to work in Sydney. But a few months lead to half a year to now 8-9 months and still continuing. My experience and to learn about the road trip from Melbourne to Sydney and my first impressions of Sydney you will learn in this blog post.

Goodbye Melbourne !!!

Now was the time to turn my back on Melbourne till indefinitely. In the past months (February and March 2018) I had experienced so much, I had ups and downs and can say that these two months have brought me a lot further in my life. As a person I have already changed a lot, I could just spend time with myself and my thoughts.
Nevertheless, I was also very excited about what I would expect in the next few months! As I mentioned before, I first wanted to come to Sydney to earn some money there. I did not have a job yet. After that it was planned to travel the east coast of Australia. How, where, what and when was still open!

Roadtrip Melbourne to Sydney


For the road trip to Sydney we had borrowed a camper van again. This time not only Mirko and I were on the road, but also two Englishmen whom we had met at the hostel in St Kilda (Melbourne).
Our goal was to be in Sydney in 10 days. By driving through one on the highway it would take about 15 hours of driving time. However, our plan was to drive along the coast, taking with us the beautiful beaches and attractions.

Our camper van

As you can see in the picture above, our camper van was in flower pattern, two people could sleep in the camper van and two people had space in the roof tent, In the trunk a small kitchen was installed with a sink and a small gas cooker, we also had room to store our food.
At first I thought it would take too long to set up the roof tent, but when we first set up the roof tent I noticed that it was really easy!
For the future, I will definitely get a camper van with a roof tent again, because it is very easy to assemble, disassemble and also super comfortable. The only downside to the roof tent is that you can not sleep in private, everyone can see you sleeping, because the tent is set up, If you would just sleep in the car, you could just park on the road and then leave from the car, that was a lot easier in Tasmania. You did not have to worry about a parking space, In Tasmania you can camp anywhere and on the mainland of Australia you can rest only on camper places.

First stop Wilson’s Promontory National Park

Our first stop on the way to Sydney was Wilson’s Promontory National Park, from Melbourne we needed about 5 hours, we had planned two days for the National Park. On the first day we visited different beaches and looked at the landscape. We stayed at Camper van Resort at Wilsons Promontory National Park, cooked and had dinner together,  after we cooked we went to the beach and watched the sunset, It was really beautiful.
The next day we hiked the mountain Mount Oberon which took about 2 hours. The view was just indescribably beautiful, after we were back down we drove on with our camper van and hiked the Wildernis way. There we also saw kangaroos and could even pat them.
Unfortunately, the weather did not play in our favour, well on these two days. Therefore, we could not look at the full beauty of the national park, It was definitely worth a visit, but wasn’t that magical.

No real highlights between Melbourne and Sydney

After Wilson’s Promontory National Park, there were no other amazing highlights on the way to Sydney, their were normal cool beaches and cool places to have a campfire, but nothing about which I would continue to write longer. The next highlights were just outside Sydney, namely Pebbly Beach and Jervis Bay / Hyam’s Beach.

Where can I find kangaroos on the beach?

Where I find kangaroos on the beach is a really good question. That’s what I thought, at least when someone asked me if I knew this place but then we came to Pebbly Beach. On this beach were really kangaroos and you could even feed, pat and take pictures with them, the beach was not the nicest, but not the ugliest. This was definitely a highlight on my road trip from Melbourne to Sydney! I would definitely go back to take pictures with the kangaroos.

Whiter Can not Be The Sand (Hyam’s Beach)

The beach in Tasmania was in my opinion  the whitest beach I have ever seen, but Hyam’s Beach is about 2 hours south of Sydney, Jervis Bay has topped it all off but that was partly because the weather was just perfect, we had a completely blue sky and the sea was turquoise green, so for anyone in Sydney, drive to Jervis Bay for a beach day.
At Jervis Bay there is not only Hyam’s Beach to see, but it is a huge bay in which an incredible number of different places have their uniqueness.

These were actually the highlights of the road trip, next time, I might think about visiting the Wilsons Promontory National Park from Melbourne, then taking the plane or train to Sydney and borrowing a car for a two-day trip to Jervis Bay and Pebbly Beach , The road trip was actually quite boring and apart from these three highlights, there was nothing great to see.

My expectations for Sydney

Sydney. Now I finally arrived in the city that everyone in the world knows, I talked to a lot of backpackers and Australians in Melbourne, the question always came up, which city was better: Melbourne or Sydney. Most have answered that Melbourne is the prettier city. Of course Sydney has beaches, better weather and you can surf, Melbourne on the other hand is more of a European city with a beautiful but normal beach in St Kilda, the temperate weather, no major harbour and landmarks. Sydney has the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, which is known all over the world.
Melbourne should also have more of the more chilled atmosphere, In Sydney on the other hand people live to work and one can notice the tense working atmosphere on the street. All people in suits run the streets and look very stressed out because of these many benefits, I had no good expectations of Sydney and thought I would not like it and I would move away anyway, but in the end everything was different than I expected.

My arrival in Sydney – Indescribably big

We arrived in Sydney in the afternoon with our camper van, It was rush hour and we really took forever until we arrived at our hostel, which was right on the Central station, we just threw our things from the van to the hostel and drove them immediately to the car wash and then brought to the delivery station.
From the delivery station we had to take the bus to Central station, we noticed that Sydney is much bigger than the centre of Melbourne, Outside the skyscrapers the streets are huge and there are so many shops and large houses, which actually belong to the city centre.

The best hostel in Sydney


The hostel we booked for our first nights in Sydney was a very expensive hostel at $ 42 but we figured it would take the first few days whether or not we liked Sydney, we would treat ourselves to a better impression of Sydney. The hostel was really nice, we slept in a share room, but it felt like a hotel, the rooms were really clean, everyone had electrical outlets in his locker, the lockers were so big that you could put your whole suitcase in there, the kitchen was really big and clean and there was a rooftop area from where you could see the skyline. All in all, the hostel was the best I have ever been to, the name was Bounce Hostel at Central station.

Since it was already evening, we have only just bought something to cook and eat, In the evening we sat down in the roof top area and looked at the skyline, Sydney’s skyline is much nicer than Melbourne’s, as there are many more skyscrapers, creating a wall of skyscrapers, we then went to bed to be fit the following day.
The next day we went on a tourist tour, we started at our hostel at Central Station, walked through the city along Hyde Park, through the Botanical Gardens and to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, From there you have a very nice view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, we went further, closer towards Opera House. I’ve heard from many that the Opera House is very ugly by day, as I stood in front of it, I could understand why so many had said that to me. It has a light beige grey tone and the facade are ugly with big panels.

Tip: Go and see the Opera House at night when it is illuminated, because then it is really nice!

The next stop was the Harbour Bridge, we walked past the Rocks and went under the bridge, the sight was really indescribable, I had never seen such a big bridge.
To get on the bridge on it we would first have to walk a large detour. Because the bridge is so high that it protrudes 100 meters into the city.
On the bridge, unfortunately, you could not see so much, because everything is blocked off with fences, so you can not jump down and nothing can fall. Another option would have been to do a bridge climb, but this costs several hundred dollars and that was too much for us.

After the Harbour Bridge we arrived at the Darling Harbour, this is the harbour where there is a boardwalk with plenty of bars, restaurants, shops and sea life attractions. During the day the harbour looks very nice, but at night, it’s even better. Everything lights up and the skyline is reflected by the water. When it’s still warm, it’s the perfect atmosphere to go out with friends!

Never trust an Irish gipsy


We were in the morning in the kitchen and wanted to make breakfast, the receptionist came to the kitchen and asked if anyone was looking for a job, my friend Mirko and I were on fire immediately because we were looking for work anyway. The receptionist said downstairs at the front desk would be a gentleman who looks for workers for a day at the construction, We came down immediately and talked to the bloke, he said that it is not about construction, but only distribute flyers, we figured $ 28 an hour, that’s easy money, we grabbed our backpack without breakfast and went with him into the car to distribute the flyers, he said we have to download an app so that he can track how many miles and which roads we have walked He wanted to pay after km. Everyone has been allocated an area and should rappel this alone, of course, there was a certain competitive situation, because everyone wanted to do more miles than the other, In the end, I ran 23 km in 5 hours and was completely drenched with sweat. I called Mirko and an Englishman Luke with whom I had worked that day, Luke is a very good friend of ours.
I then met with the two of them and then went back to the hostel. We called our employer and asked how we looking for the payment, he said, “I’ll pay you tomorrow.” The next day we called again and he said, “Yes, I pay on Friday.” Then we called again on Friday He said, “Yes, I pay on Sunday” This went on and on, eventually he told us that he had already paid us.. we than realised this guy has just screwed us!
It was an Irish Gipsy who had just taken advantage of us to distribute his flyers, however, we could not undo our work, we learned a large lesson from this mistake.

Tip: Never trust an Irish Gipsy

Conclusion

My first impressions wasn’t as bad as I had thought, although Melbourne has me wanting to come back, I was by no means disappointed with Sydney, let’s see what else happens! Now it’s time to find a job and earn money.

In the next blog post, I’ll tell you more about job hunting in Australia. How do you find a job? Which jobs are eligible? How much do you earn in Australia?
I’ll tell you more in my next blog post, you can also check my Instagram account @fabianxarnold or if you have questions you can email me. I look forward to your feedback and wish you a nice time.

best regards

 

Fabian

Next Roadtrip Tasmania – A landscape like in a picture book – # 5 Work and Travel Australia 2018

After our road trip to the Great Ocean Road I arrived back in Melbourne, I had no idea what I should get up to while being here. I went back to the hostel and reunited back with my mates and thought what I should do with them while I’m here, also because the hostel mates would fly back home to Germany next week, which was unfortunate, we couldn’t plan a new road trip. The following road trip came around the corner much quicker than I thought!

 

Road to Ultra 2018 Melbourne – I was there!

The next big event in Melbourne was Road to Ultra 2018. I got tickets for myself and two of my mates from a good friend I had met whilst in Melbourne. I was so excited, because it was my second time at a festival. In the past I have visited a color festival in Germany, which was great, unfortunately that was my last appearance at a festival.

More than 50,000 people were expected to come to the Road to Ultra Festival in Melbourne. The DJs Axwell and Afrojack were there as well.

Being sneaky and coming up with a lie, I snuck backstage and managed to have a small conversation with Axwell. I also witnessed the grand finale of Axwell live on stage. I stood about 5 meters from the DJ desk and had more than 50,000 people in front of me! I could not believe it, It was awesome and I recommend everyone to go to this festival. Somehow festivals have never really touched me but after this experience now I’m looking forward to the next one, festival fever has seduced me.

 

My worst time in Australia

2 days later I was alone in Melbourne, because my two mates left Melbourne and flew to Germany. First, I thought, “Okay, I’ll work on Instagram, edit some pictures and take a look at the city.” After two days I still haven’t found a new Travel mate, I was a bit queasy, I wouldn’t normally say I was having a minor melt down, but within two days I didn’t speak a single word and therefore needed someone to talk to and let my emotions out. I picked up the phone and called my parents, calling best mates from Germany Hagen Richter and Patryk Stawinoga.

This helped me a fair bit and started to calm down a little.Since I had found no new travel Mate in this hostel within three days, I decided to change the hostel and try elsewhere to find a travel mate. The new hostel was the best decision I had made in the last couple days, within 24 hours I met 3 new friends, with whom I am in very good contact still to this day. One of them is Mirko, whom you already know from my Instagram Stories, I got along with him right away and started planning our next trip to Melbourne and around Australia.

New destination Tasmania?!

One morning we came up with the idea to fly to Tasmania, before we are going to travel the east coast. We looked for flights, an accommodation for the first night and a campervan to travel through Tasmania.It was March, during the day temperatures were fine probably around 22-24 degrees, on the first day we bought only a blanket for the Camper Van and thought that would be plenty, but we were wrong. By nightfall it had cooled to 5 degrees and it was so cold that we had to turn on the engine to use the heater. In addition, we were forced to be closer to each other to try create some heat. The next day we bought two new blankets directly, so that situation would not happen again.

What is to see in Tasmania?!

Since I hadn’t seen much in Australia yet, it was my plan to see all the beautiful nature of Tasmania. Yes, of course we were clever enough prior to plan to see everything in Tasmania, as described in my last blog post, we made a plan on how to do our road trip. We considered first to travel the east coast, where many beautiful beaches are. In the second week we wanted to see the west in which the mountains and lakes sat. We read earlier that Tasmania has the clearest air and

the clearest water in the world, so we were very curious about what we would encountered there. You can see our itinerary in the screenshots, we literally drove a large circle counterclockwise.

In addition to many other beautiful places I had two highlights in Tasmania: “Bay of Fires” and “Wineglas Bay”.

Bay of Fires

Bay of Fires has a white beach, as I had previously only seen in pictures, I thought something so amazing like that doesn’t exist, that these pictures would be edited only with Photoshop. As we walked along the beach, the sand creaked under our feet, it was unbelievable, the water was crystal blue, the air temperature was only 15 degrees despite blue sky and sun. Mirko was not willing to go in the water, but I decided to put on my swimming trunks, and jump into the water whilst filming with my GoPro.Tip: For those who want to go to Tasmania: Definitely plan a day for Bay of Fires to enjoy the beach!

Wineglass Bay

The Wineglas Bay is as the name suggests, a bay shaped like a wine glass, to get there you have to hike for about an hour. However, if you decide to just watch Wineglass Bay from the mountain, it’s about a 30 minute walk. Unfortunately we did not have much time and therefore could not really enjoy the panorama, but in when there is great weather it’s definitely one of Tasmania’s highlights.

Of course, there were many other beautiful places on the east coast but I would be writing for hours and hours this was just a short ride on the East Coast, let your thoughts wonder and stop where you want. In the north of Tasmania, there was not that much to see! Lots of beaches, a few cities, a few sightseeing points, but nothing that amazed me with excitement

The next thing I remember is the mountain “The Nut”. It is the most northern point in Tasmania. The mountain is at the last corner of the land mass and looks like a nut. It is surrounded by cliffs and is completely smooth on top, with a air lift you can be transported to the top and start your walk, the trip takes about 45 minutes, during the walk you have a beautiful view that looks over the ocean and the coast of Tasmania, this is definitely a “must do” in Tasmania. As the trip started we were sighted with many national parks, First we approached the “Tarkine Wildernis”. We drove for over 100 km on a gravel road, the road felt like never ending, you can picture it a long road with trees that filled either side. We also experienced a beautiful sunset, we sang songs and also told each other funny stories from Germany.

Please visit Tasmania in the australian summer!

The next day were the worse, we experienced bad weather, It was only about 8 to 15 degrees throughout the day and it rained consistently. Therefore, we could not really enjoy the whole beautiful panorama, do not hike and do not go swimming.The whole beautiful highlights such, we visited Lake St. Clair and Cradle Mountain, but we could not go hiking and enjoy nature, we literally just drove around all the time, virtually viewing all of the sightseeing points in western Tasmania, which we then drove back to Hobert, the largest city in Tasmania two days earlier than originally planned. The last two days we went to the south again, visited a cave and planned a beach day, altogether we drove about 3200 km and literally saw everything you can see in Tasmania.

Stranded in nowhere in Tasmania without reception …

Alas, I almost forgot to tell you that, we borrowed our Camper Van from Wicked Campers the car was a 20-year-old Toyota that had almost fallen apart. In the second week of our road trip we got stuck with our car, (Ok I admit we were not always careful with the car) often we were stupid but had loads of fun. We drove with 80 km / h on the gravel road and felt like rally drivers, until the worse thing happened! We got stuck somewhere in the middle of Tasmania, Ironically, the ass of the world, where we had no reception and no Internet with our phones.

What happened?!

We started up a mountain with our Camper Van and suddenly it started to smell funny, like  burnt rubber or something, then it started to smoke, the engine had switched off and wasn’t turning back on. My Travel Mate Mirko was starting to panic but I took it easy and made fun of the situation, luckily we had enough to drink and eat for the next few days.After about 20 minutes, a pensioner couple drove past, which we could stop the pensioners, however, were afraid of us, the male driver pulled up wound down the window just enough to see his forehead, they were both so afraid he even locked the doors. The couple unfortunately couldn’t help us, we only asked them if we could ride to a point where we have internet, but that was probably too much to ask …After another hour had passed, approached a large 4WD, thankfully it stopped, out stepped a male who was a mechatronics engineer which he was with his family. He briefly looked at the engine and said that the air conditioning had blown … We tried again to start the engine and it worked! Was magic, thankfully we could finally continue.

Conclusion

If you are in Australia from November to January or in Melbourne, you should definitely drive to Tasmania for one to two weeks. Tasmania has beautiful beaches to the east and beautiful nature (mountains and lakes) to the west. At this time you should actually have luck with the weather and you can fully enjoy the panorama. However, if you have been there before, it is not a “must to do” for once again. I still want to go to New Zealand anyway and many have told me that Tasmania is similar to New Zealand.

For us it went first back to Melbourne and from there with a camper van to Sydney. But I’ll tell you more in my next blog post. You can also check my Instagram account @fabianxarnold or if you have questions you can email me. I look forward to your feedback and wish you a nice time. 

Greetings from Australia your Fabian!

Roadtrip Great Ocean Road – Just incredible! – # 4 Work and Travel Australia 2018

I haven’t planed anything for my time in Australia. I knew that I would start in Melbourne. But what is next … I had no idea! Maybe I will travel the East Coast, maybe the West Coast, or maybe I will work and save money? In the end, I decided to travel the famous GREAT OCEAN ROAD for a week! I don’t regret this decision until today!

How did I plan the Roadtrip?

Approximately 2 weeks after my arrival in Melbourne I had settled down and I also found really good friends. I started to plan a bit what to do while my time in Melbourne. One of the most popular attractions is the Great Ocean Road. Basically, it’s a road that stretches for several hundreds of miles right on the coast and provides a terrific setting during the road trip! It’s a “must to do” when you are in Melbourne.

Since my newly found friends wanted to fly home within the next month, we did not have too much time to rethink it. Therefore, we sat together for a day, discussed and planned various options.

How do I best travel the Great Ocean Road?

The first option is to book a tour. Almost every hostel and travel agency offers a tour to the Great Ocean Road. The tour can take between 1 and 7 days. You will drive with a bus along the Great Ocean Road and can enjoy the great panorama from the bus. The bus will stop at many sightseeing points. Depending on how long you have booked the tour, there are also days you can spend at the beach! This option is definitely worth it, if you are too lazy to take over the planning yourself, if you have too much coal or if you just do not have time left, but still want to see the Great Ocean Road.

The second option would be to plan the tour by yourself and to rent a camper van or to travel with your own car. The advantage of this possibility: You can decide yourself when and where to take breaks, where to go and how long the tour should should be. Basically, you are a lot more flexible, the feeling is simply awesome and it’s even cheaper (if you do it with friends, with whom you can share the cost).

How do I plan the tour of the Great Ocean Road?

The planning is really easy. There are three things you need to plan to have an unforgettable road trip: the vehicle, the food, the route.

The vehicle.

Depending on what you have planned for while being in Australia will depend on what you  decide; Should I buy a car / camper van, or do I rent it? If you plan to travel to the east coast, it is definitely worth buying a car. But renting for a few days also fine!Since I did not have any specific plans regarding what I would like to travel in Australia, I decided with my friends to rent a camper van. For this we simply googled which companies offered to rent cheap camper vans, but you have to be careful! Most companies show only a net price, which is ridicules because there are many more added fees. We decided to use the company “Travellers Autobarn”, where we rented the Camper Van for the Great Ocean Road (see picture).

If you have compared several companies, you also have to decide which car / van you want to rent. Here in the picture you will find several alternatives, which are offered most often.

In the end, we decided on a Camper Van, where 3 people can sleep without a tent. This also has been good! Otherwise I would have been too afraid of spiders or snakes! We paid about $ 1000 for a week. So for each about $ 333. First, the van should cost $ 800 total. When we were on site, there were still costs for blankets, dishes, gas bottles and so on. In addition, you could still take out insurance for $ 25 a day, which is there in case something breaks the van or we build an accident. Since we were pretty shocked about the many costs, we did not choose an insurance. Luckily, everything went well! But next time I will definitely take an insurance. Because the vehicles usually have more than 400,000 kilometres and like to break down! But I’ll tell you more in the blog post about Tasmania!

The food.

After we picked up the camper van, we drove directly to the nearest supermarket and bought something to eat and drink. Actually, we had only pasta with minced beef every day and oatmeal with banana and kiwi in the morning. If you still need gas faucets for your gas cooker or other things, such as Sleeping bags, pillows, etc., then it’s the best to go to KMart. There you should actually find everything you need!

The route.

Depending on how long you want to travel the Great Ocean Road, you should already make an approximate plan, where you want to go and how long you want to plan for which sections. I was with my boys for a week on the Great Ocean Road. We drove along the coast to Skenes Creek and then through the Great Otway National Park. Then from Pricetown along the coast to Warrnambool. For this route we have planned about 4 days. Then the way back the entire coast to Melbourne in 3 days. (see image)

I think that was the perfect time! We did not have to rush and had enough time to look at everything and make longer stopovers. It did not get boring!!! We visited the following attractions during the whole trip (but there is much more, so google and plan your route!):

  • Bells Beach
  • Aireys Inlet
  • Great Otway National Park
  • Apollo Bay
  • Lavers Hill
  • London Arch
  • The Grotto
  • Cheese World
  • 12 Apostles

My experiences on the Great Ocean Road

The road trip of the Great Ocean Road was my first real road trip in a camper van in a foreign country. Therefore, the anticipation was huge! The vibe was great and we were singing in the car.

Stop 1 – Bells Beach

Our first stop was Bells Beach, one of the best surfing beaches on the Great Ocean Road. You can not imagine the goosebump I got when I saw the cliffs, the beach, the sea and the bright sun! Bells Beach was also our first stop where we stayed. It was just great! We listened to music, cooked and ate at this beautiful place!

Coz there were no lights in the area, we could see the Milky Way. I have rarely seen such a blatant. And I started to think about myself, my life and how small I actually am.I did not sleep that well that night. I woke up coz of every noice, because camping in Australia is allowed only on campsites and you get big fines if they see you at camping outside as camperside. But to save money, we took that risk all week on the Great Ocean Road. Luckily nothing happened!!!

TIP: Download the app WikiCampersAU. Here you will find everything about road trips. Places to stay, gas stations, etc.!

Stop 2 – Aireys Inlet

This lighthouse was the most unspectacular attraction of the road trip on the Great Ocean Road. It’s just a normal lighthouse. Maybe it was because the weather was not so good. With a beautiful sunset or sunrise, that looks really nice!

Stop 3 – Lorne

The city of Lorne was our next stop. It is a small town right on the beach. Since we had enough time and the weather was just nice and warm, we had decided to go surfing. It was the first time I was surfing. Although I had a beginner board but I found that I was not so crap. I even stood once for 10 seconds and surfed the wave 😊We paid about about $ 25 for 2 hours for the rental per person including the Wetsuit. This is the normal price in Australia.

Stop 4 – Great Otway National Park

Next stop was the Great Otway National Park. What expectations did I have for the National Park ?! None, since it was the first time I visited one. It felt like Im in a rainforest. There were big trees everywhere, it was green and there were many lianas on the road. The road meandered through the rainforest and it was really fun to drive the serpentines with the camper van. As we made our way through the Great Otway National Park, we considered where we could stop off. Our first stopover were the Erskine Falls. It was the first time for me to see a waterfall close up. Unfortunately it was too cold to swim in the pool under the waterfall. Furthermore, we stopped in Levers Hill. This was not so intoxicating. Next time I would skip this stop. All in all, the Great Otway National Park was not as exciting as I thought. It’s just a national park: D

Stop 5 – London Bridge and London Arch

After coming back from the Great Otway National Park to the coast, the next stops were London Bridge and London Arch. There were two rock formations right on the coast, which looked incredibly blatant in good weather. That was the feeling I was looking for in Australia. The only thing that destroyed the feeling were the many tourists. There were an incredible number of tourists at the viewpoints and it was difficult to take pictures as everyone stood there with their camera and wanted to do some as well.

Stop 6 – The Grotto and the 12 Apostles

The Grotto and the 12 Apostles were my highlights on the Great Ocean Road. The Grotto was really good! It was blatant to be able to look through this rock formation. The 12 apostles, however, were not so intoxicating as the weather was really shitty. It was cloudy and not really warm. Therefore the sky was grew and the sea too. On the way back, however, we stopped by the 12 Apostles again and got up especially at 6 o’clock in the morning to see the sunrise. This was definitely worth it !!

Conclusion

We made many other stops, but there were no real highlights. It was the feeling of the Great Ocean Road along the coast. I would recommend it to anyone and would like to do it again on occasion. A week was also the perfect time, because you had enough time to stop and not have to go through it. I really enjoyed the road trip and am looking forward to the next one.

In my next blog post you can read something about my trip to Tasmania. It was a two week road trip with amazing beaches, lakes and mountains! If you have any questions, feel free to email me, comment on the blog post or write me on Instagram @fabianxarnold!

Your Fabian!

First stop Melbourne – My impressions and recommendations – # 3 Work and Travel Australia 2018

Melbourne – what a brilliant city. I have never been more comfortable in any other city. The atmosphere, the mood and the people are just wonderful! I am incredibly proud to have met many great people who have made the time unforgettable! I had such an amazing experience with many amazing memories whilst living in Melbourne, which you will intake and learn when reading this blog post.

Melbourne a city in Australia?

As written and seen in my last blog post, the first impression of Melbourne, Australia wasn’t that stereotypical city I first believed in. Since I was only in the CBD (Central Business District) in the first days, I was stuck in this big city feeling.. I wanted the feeling of cruising to the beach, surfing or kangaroos and outback, and what you would imagine when you directly hear Australia. At first I thought I was in good weather in London (25 degrees and blue sky). During my first week in Australia I had two moments which I would recall as “goose bump” moments, which I would like to share with you.

Jogging on the Yarra River at 8pm Skyline

I went for a jog around 8pm which was my first day in Australia. Everyone who know me, knows how majorly important sport is in my life, I cant live with out it. Whilst I continued to run I noticed it was starting to get dark, I was starting to think about what I should to do. I knew I had to continue running because I had missed the last 2 days training because of my flight, still little jet-lagged I bravely continued. I searched Google Maps for a route where I could combine jogging with sightseeing. I jogged towards the Melbourne Cricket Ground along the Yarra River, It was still warm 20 degrees, I continued to jog in just the tank top and short sports pants through the dusk, the canal reflected the many colours of the city. Crickets buzzed and there was a light summer breeze, this was my first goosebump moment.

I jogged whilst the skyline faced my back, after about 15 minutes, I turned around, It was dark and the entire skyline shined in a beautiful blue, I started to smile and thought, “Damn, I’m free, Why am I always thinking so much? This is my time! Enjoy your life, because you only have one.“

After I finished jogging, I sat down on a bench by the canal and admired the skyline for several hours. I could’nt  look away. I called @hagenrichter to share this feeling with him. We nearly talked 1.5 hours. I’ll never forget this day!

My first beach day in Australia

It was my first Saturday in Melbourne, it was a scorcher of a day 30 degrees to be exact, which therefore I decided with 2 of my buddies (I had only met in my first week at the hostel), to travel to St. Kilda beach.

We boarded the train to St. Kilda at Flinders Station, the sun was so hot that it became nearly unbearably to stay on the train. The ride took about 30 minutes, whilst being on the train you could already see the sea and the promenade and the blue water. The beach was long which also lay a line of palm trees along the promenade.

Thousands of people sprayed a summer feeling, as we got off the train we were greeted by a warm but refreshing sea breeze, this was my 2nd “goosebump moment”. I felt free, I felt alive! This was exactly how I expected Australia to be, although this reminded me of the beach in California, It was bloody awesome !!!

 

Is Australia expensive?

This is a very significant issue for many who are considering going to Australia, Yes I have to say, Australia is fucking expensive.

An example of my experience:

It was the first day living in Australia, It was a Sunday and I was on my way to the hostel, It was 25 degrees and I had consumed the last mouthful of water several hours before. Since I had no idea where the nearest supermarket is, I ran through the streets and ended up in a kiosk (7Eleven), I was gobsmacked, a standard water bottle cost just 4-6 dollars. I know it was only 3-4 Euros, but it’s still outrageous?!

Few other examples:

– Kebab $9- $12

– 1 scoop of ice cream $5- $8

– Fried noodles with chicken $12- $15

These examples can be shown in every Supermarket, almost everything is twice as expensive in Australia compared to Germany or in Europe. The first couple of months were the hardest, because sometimes I struggled to convert and compare the rates. You would never shop for just 10 euros to cook a great meal, It was normally a fee of $40-60 ahead, but if you convert that into euros, it’s 25-40 euros, which is still a lot! No question!

Australia is not for smokers!

Yes it’s right! Many backpackers stop smoking or at least stop their consumption while in Australia, Why?! A pack of cigarettes costs $30- $50 and tobacco for $20- $30 Is that too much? I am an absolute non-smoker! Therefore, this has no effect on me, the price in Germany or in Europe as a total could also be raised, because smoking is shit and absolutely unnecessary! Away from that it is also gross and unhealthy!

Do you already know the good old Goon?

Goon ?! What is that.. Goon is a cheap wine that can be purchased in 2-5 litre packs, this  costs $12- $20 and is by far the most popular alcohol among backpackers in Australia, does it taste nice too? NO.

I believe it says it all, if you were to read the ingredients on the back on the package it says “this may contain remains of egg shells and fish!!” Why should you drink something like that? the question is quite simple to answer.

Everything else is just too expensive! A vodka bottle costs about $30-60, the $30 bottle is the exact same bottle as the 5 Euro cheap vodka in Germany. All spirits are accordingly too expensive! Even beer is so expensive! A box of beer (24 bottles) you get in Germany for a good 12 euros, here in Australia a case of beer costs $ 40-50.

Melbourne is something for sushi fans

 

The only thing I’m completely surprised about and what I’ll miss in Germany is the sushi! In Melbourne every third shop is a sushi snack! But it is far cheaper than in Germany! If you make happy hour and want to buy sushi as a snack you pay about $2-3 per thick sushi roll. I found a shop in Melbourne that has happy hour every day at 21:45 and sells 4 sushi rolls for $6. This is unbelievably cheap, I went there every night and bought sushi! Just awesome! If you want to know which shop I mean, leave a comment under the post!

 

 

 

 

 

The Vibe in Melbourne is just indescribable! – Festivals, bars and life

The nightlife in Melbourne is not anywhere comparable to Germany, meaning the clubs in German are much better! There far greater restrictions here, for an example the clubs are only operating until 2:00am – 3:00am and you also have to be inside the club before 1:00am, this is the “lock out” rule, not in before 1:00am you may swell go home, But everything is better. So what do I mean by better? Australia have many more pubs, bars and not so many nightclubs. The Australian pubs are completely different than German pubs, everything is much bigger, more open and familiar. Some clubs even have a pool, billiards, TVs and a super friendly vibe.

In Germany, only the older people go to pubs, here in Australia, it is normal for everyone to meet at the pubs from all ages, to enjoy food and beverages. As far as the festivals are concerned, every weekend in Melbourne there is a new festival, Beach festivals, music festivals and food festivals or normal funfair. Since most festivals have no cost you have something new to do every weekend.

 

 

Yarra Valley – The sky for wine lovers

Yarra Valley, which is about 1-2 hours by car from Melbourne! It is a incredibly, beautiful landscape that is perfect for hiking, you should definitely make a stopover here. We decided to join in a wine tasting after the hike, what could be better than a delicious wine at the end of the day with a beautiful sunset? I’m more of the red wine drinker, What about with you? Leave a comment there 😊

The conclusion

For us Europeans it’s extremely expensive living here in Australia, once you get used to the value of expenses you become more aware which works out to be not so bad, once you start working, you understand why expenses here are are so high. Australians earn a lot of money! About twice as in Germany, the minimum wage is about 16 euros.

Apart from the living cost, I’m totally in love with Melbourne. Melbourne has such a great vibe, which I fitted in very well. Although it’s a city with almost 5 million people, the city centre was not as large as first thought. I spent most of my time in St Kilda on the beach or in the CBD (centre). There are some superb beaches in Australia, and the vibe with the promenade was great !!! The CBD is superb too, you fill with just joy whilst you stand amongst the large buildings, you start to think how small you really are.

In the next blog post I’ll tell you about my road trip on the Great Ocean Road. It was really cool! I can tell you in advance! If you want more input, feel free to email me or visit my Instagram account @fabianxarnold.

 

The preliminary considerations and travel planning – # 1 Work and Travel Australia 2018

I’ve been torn over whether to travel to Australia or not for a long time. But now I have finally decided to take this huge step, meaning I’ll most likely live here for a year and leave my old life behind, to start my great adventure. This is easier said than done and it took a lot of time to come to this decision. There are a lot of things to organise and arrange, before the journey can begin, and about a year before I started my journey I started to get into the subject matter.

Preliminary considerations about the period of life after my dual study

When you have completed a chapter in life, such as studying or training, you should always think early on what you want to do next. This question is not always easy to answer and you should consider all the different alternatives. But it is always better to make a wrong decision than to not make a decision at all. Because even wrong decisions help you learn!


What should I do? – Study, work, year abroad, Instagram and modeling?

After my dual degree in insurance, I had many options, I could have continued my studies and completed my Masters in Sales Management or I could have started working first. I also could have focused my full attention on Instagram and modeling, or even just spent a year abroad travelling.
This big question was the hardest that I’ve ever had to answer before. Yes, probably even more difficult than the question of what to study after graduation 😀

In order to answer this, I spent a lot of time thinking about it and weighed up every alternative. The possibility to “go to work” is the first thing I left out, because before starting work my preference was to complete my masters.
“Modeling and Instagram”. Such a chance presents itself only once in a lifetime. But can I be successful in the long term and live off it? Or maybe this is just a ‘nice to have’ business on the side and when I’m 28 I have to go back to my ‘normal’ job?!
Should I really go abroad for a year and leave my friends, family and familiar environment behind? This is an extremely long time! But to study Sales Management, I have to develop my English, because the degree program is 50% in English! Therefore, it would actually be beneficial to spend a year abroad.

But do I have enough time to do Instagram then?!

These were my thoughts, which occupied me almost daily …
Ultimately I decided, as I am only 21 years old, to do a year abroad, to mature my personality and to be able to develop myself further. I would also take the opportunity to use the beautiful places and experiences to feed my Instagram account (@fabianxarnold) with great travel pictures. And maybe there will be some opportunities for modeling abroad too 🙂

In which country should I do my year abroad?

I needed a country to improve my English. There were 3 countries I considered; The US, England and Australia.
In England the weather is similar to Germany and if I travel abroad, my prefererence is to have sun 🙂
The United States would be very cool! But somehow it did’nt appeal to me as a backpacker, I would like to do that later as a holiday.
That’s why I chose Australia, everything is just right here. The people are super nice, there are endless beautiful places to explore. There are a also a lot of backpackers and you are never alone! When it comes to working, you can always find something here because the country is geared for backpackers and backpackers are regarded as “cheap labor” for jobs that nobody else would do (fruit picking, lab or land-scaper).

Why Work and Travel and not just Travel?

For me it was important to work alongside the travel, because you get to know the culture a lot better, gain a lot more experience, get in touch with new work, with which you had no experience in before. So you will probably appreciate the office job at home in Germany! In addition, you learn much more intense English on the job, as if you surround yourself with only german backpackers, then you would only be speaking German!
Furthermore, Australia is almost twice as expensive as Germany. Since the minimum wage here is about $ 23 (about 15 Euros), I would also recommend anyone to work in Australia and then to travel. Not to work in Germany and save, and then only be able to travel in Australia. The opportunities to earn money here is better than you think!

Organization for a year of work and travel in Australia

Before the adventure can start, you have a lot of things to organize. From work and travel visas, flights, insurances, visits to the authorities, to the equipment you need on your journey. I know the feeling well enough that when you hear all this, it can be overwhelming and you do not want to deal with all this “shit”. But the more effort you put into the organization of the journey, the more relaxed you will be afterwards.

Where can I get help with organizing my Work and Travel?

Do not worry! When organizing your work and travel you are by no means alone! There are numerous paperbacks that accompany you while organizing this adventure. I used the paperback “Work & Travel in Australia: Preparing, Traveling and Working” (Katharina Arlt and Melanie Schmidt 2017) for my organization.
There are also many helpful websites on the internet, such as www.auslandsjob.de, www.travelworks.de, www.work-and-travel-australien.org or www.reisebiene.de 🙂
Of course, there are organizations that stand by you for all questions. But I will go into the topic of organization below.
I have created an excel spreadsheet out of everything which matters to me most, and then simply went step step by step. I would recommend that to anyone because you are showered with information, much of it being the same advice.
You get a small overview from my Excel spreadsheet, which I have uploaded here. But remember … It’s all individual and everyone has to adjust it for themselves!

http://fabianxarnold.com/media/reisekostenvorbereitung.xlsx

 

22 steps of the organization for your year abroad

As I have independently organized my journey and have dealt with many different sources of information gathering, I would like to share with you several steps below, to reflect on the most important of your journey for Work and Travel in Australia! The first step is the decision to either travel with or without a travel company … From step 2 on, I will go on to organizing travel without a travel company.

Step 1: Traveling with or without travel organization?!

Before you can start with the organization of the trip, you should first consider whether to book the trip with an organization or travel individually. Booking through an organization can have advantages and disadvantages. However, an organization does not mean that you no longer have to worry about your trip and that the organization does everything for you. Most organizations take care of the booking of flights and provide advice on many matters. For example, when it comes to opening a bank account in Australia, applying for the tax code and visa. Nevertheless, you have to take care of all of this independently and get in touch with the respective companies and institutions. To get straight to a quick conclusion about organizations … I booked my trip without an organization and got along very well. I would do that again and again, because travelling without an organization can save about 600 € to 800 €. If you would rather have a local contact person and would like to take part in preparatory courses in Germany, I would highly recommend an organization for you. A good comparison of all advantages and disadvantages can be found on this page (for this you have to register for the newsletter, but it’s worth it !!): https://www.auslandsjob.de/work-travel-mit-ohne-organisation.php

Step 2: Renew or apply for the passport?

The first and most important thing to do when starting to organize your work and travel year is your passport, which should be valid for long enough. What means long enough? To enter Australia, the passport must be valid at least 6 months after departure.
For example, I traveled to Australia in February 2018 and expect to stay in Australia for a year before returning to Germany. Therefore, my passport must be valid until at least August 2019.

It is important that you clarify this first, because the work and travel visa is bound to the passport and if the passport is not valid for long enough you have to apply for a new visa. This will cost you more than 300 €. You can renew your passport or apply for it in your local office. The cost should be between 40 € and 60 €. All information may have changed, therefore you should clarify that again exactly and research yourself!

Step 3: Apply for the Work and Travel Visa

Applying for the Work and Travel visa or working holiday visa (as it is said in Australia) takes about half an hour to an hour and can be done on the site of the Australian Government (https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/visa-1/visa-listing). It costs just over € 300 (as of 2017). If you are from Germany, the Working Holiday Visa 417 is the right choice. It allows you to travel to Australia within a year of receiving the visa and to travel and work for a year. I received the visa within a week of applying for it. But I know it can take several weeks to get your visa confirmed. Therefore, start applying early. Its best to apply before you have booked your flight, because it would be really shitty if you have a confirmed flight but your visa is rejected! All information may have changed, therefore you should clarify that again exactly and research yourself!

Step 4: Think itinerary

Before you can start booking the flight, I would plan a rough itinerary and research the country, the weather and the culture. The seasons are completely reversed here! When it is summer in Germany it is winter in Australia. Winter and summer are not the same everywhere in Australia, the north is more tropical compared to the south. In summer it is common to have rain, and there can even be monsoon’s. In winter it is more pleasant with temperatures around 25 to 30 degrees. The further you travel down south, the more European the weather gets.
In Melbourne in winter it sometimes drops to zero degrees °C and then the summer clothes aren’t suitable enough! Therefore you should try to stay in the south during the australian summer and then travel north when the winter comes.
I started in Melbourne in February and then travelled up the east coast.
You should also remember that when you want to work (depending on where you are and what work you want to do) there may not be many jobs availaible, because the season isn’t suitable.
The important thing is that you have a starting point and a rough plan. Your plan is likely to change throughout the trip anyway! Once you’ve chosen a starting point, you can start the search for a flight.

Step 5: Look for flights to Australia

With the search for a flight you should start as soon as possible, as flights tend to be cheaper the earlier you book. There are several different options when booking the flights. Either you only book the outward flight and then book the return later, once you know exactly where and when you want to fly back. This is probably the most expensive but also the most flexible option because remember that plans on a long journey sometimes change! Personally, I have booked my journey by this method and spent 680 on my outward flight. The prices for the outward flight generally vary between 400 € and 1300 €!
Of course there is also the possibility to book direct return flights together. This is usually cheaper but isn’t flexible at all! If you book through a travel agency, you may be able to get  a flexible return ticket for the outward flight, which you can rebook several times free of charge! Usually that’s a cheaper alternative than just booking the outward flight. It would’ve been cheaper if I had chosen this method 😀
Then there is also an ‘Around the World’ ticket or ‘fork flights’. But you should pick the option which most suits your needs and flexibility.  : D
Here are the different ways to book your flights:

  1. Websites
    1. govolo.de
    2. skyscanner.de
    3. fluege.de
    4. etc….
  2. Travel agency

Otherwise google places where you have found cheap flights and write me a short email to fabianxarnold@mail.de 🙂 Thx!!

Step 6: Take out, cancel and cancel insurance

Cancel or shut down health insurance
Unfortunately, the German health insurance does not help you for your trip to Australia, as it only works in Germany or the EU. Therefore, it makes sense to let them shut down your account for your time during Australia.

Complete private health insurance
In order to have your statutory health insurance closed, you need proof that you have a private health insurance for the trip. A cheap and very good insurance, which is tailored to backpackers in Australia, is the young Travel insurance HanseMerkur insurance (Germany). I also used this company myself and have not had any problems so far. Here you can find the link to the HanseMerkur and a comparison overview for Work and Travel Health Insurance:
http://www.auslandsjob.de/hansemerkur-young-travel-basis.php

http://www.auslandsjob.de/work-and-travel-versicherung-vergleich.php

Take out private supplementary health insurance
Most private supplementary health insurance do not help you during your one-year work and travel journey. Therefore, I would recommend you to take out a protective insurance and put them down so that you save money!

Take out liability insurance and accident insurance
A liability and accident insurance you should definitely complete for your work and travel year! You should check if the liability insurance of your parents includes you on your trip! For this you should ask the insurance company directly. If you already own a private accident insurance, the same applies here. Maybe this applies directly to your one year journey! Once again just ask the insurance company. If you need one, you can complete it directly in the package of Young Travel insurance from HanseMerkur. Link is at the top of the chapter “Private Health Insurance”.

Let private care insurance and life insurance continue
As long as you have the money to keep these insurances on your trip, I would do that too!

Further insurances:
Legal expenses insurance: Nice to have but in no case a must, since most legal expenses insurance does not apply abroad!
Breakdown insurance: This insurance is in any case makes sense to include, because anything can happen, which will put you on the line.
Luggage insurance: Nice to have but not a must have! If you have expensive items, like a laptop or a camera with you, I would personally insure them separately with an Allrisk cover.

Step 7: Log out from the registration office

Whether or not you log out of the Resident Registration Office is actually relatively irrelevant. I didn’t do it because I want to keep my business running in Germany and therefore have to be registered in Germany as well. If you are abroad for a limited time and have an address in Germany, I would stay registered. If you give up your accommodation in Germany and then have no address to specify (except maybe the parents), you should also unsubscribe from the registration office.

Step 8: Sell or keep your car, motorcycle, etc.

If you are away for a year you should consider whether you want to sell or keep your car or motorcycle.  Then also make sure to log the necessary driving documents and cancel the insurance.

Step 9: Cancel subscriptions

Another step is to terminate all subscriptions in Germany before leaving so you don’t get any problems with the notice period, and save money! Subscriptions for example include: gym, newspaper, magazines etc …

Step 10: Apply for an International Driver’s License

You should definitely apply for an International Driver’s License. It only costs about 14 € at your road traffic authority and allows you to drive freely in Australia. But remember to drive on the left hand side of the road, and the LEnkrad is on the right! Pretty confusing in the beginning but you get used to it!

Step 11: Credit Card for Work and Travel Australia

The easiest way is to get a credit card for your world trip or Australia trip. In Australia you pay almost everywhere with a credit card and there is no such thing as a giro account card. A very good free credit card offers the DKB. In the first year after opening the account, you will receive all foreign fees back as an active customer. That means if you buy with your credit card abroad. Withdrawing money is unfortunately not free. But that can change, so check the following link:
https://www.dkb.de/privatkunden/visa-card/
Here you can find a comparison of several companies that offer credit cards for Australia:
https://www.auslandsjob.de/australien-zahlungsmittel.php

Step 12: Open a bank account in Australia

To work in Australia, you need an Australian bank account. With some banks one can open the account already directly from Germany and must then pick up in Australia only the bank card. That was the case, for example, with Westpac Bank, where I opened my account. This and the Commonwealth Bank are the two largest banks in Australia and as well as everywhere else. However, Westpac Bank is suggested by almost all Work and Travel websites as the best:
http://www.backpackerpack.de/bankundversicherung.php
https://www.auslandsjob.de/konto-eroeffnen.php
Here directly the link to page of Westpac:
https://www.westpac.com.au/personal-banking/bank-accounts/moving-to-australia/?layout=full&cid=wc:mg:q1-bau_1709:aff:aff:dtop&utm_source=aff&utm_medium=aff&utm_campaign=q1-bau_1709

Step 13: Needed vaccinations for Work and Travel in Australia

Approximately half a year before the trip starts you should contact your family doctor about the vaccinations you need for your trip. Basically, it is the same standard vaccinations as in Germany. But if you want to travel to Asia or parts of Asia on your journey, it is essential to get vaccinated against other diseases!

Step 14: Have your health check done before your Work and Travel trip

In addition to the vaccinations, you should get yourself checked up completely about one month before the trip. That means a trip to the family doctor, to the dermatologist, dentist and maybe ophthalmologist. Starting a journey with illnesses and other problems is always shit!

Step 15: Application documents for working in Australia

If you want to work in Australia, you will need a CV to apply for most jobst. This CV is slightly different than in Germany. If you want to spare the stress in Australia, you can start writing your CV for Australia in Germany. P.S. they’re just backpacker jobs and a few mistakes are allowed! 🙂
In addition, you can set up a folder with certificates etc., which you have from both your school and work world.
Depending on which job you want to do in Australia, you need certificates for which you have to attend courses. To work in construction it is essential to obtain a ‘White Card’, which costs between € 30 and € 100. To work as a bartender you need the ‘RSA’. Therefore think about what job you want during your time abroad and complete the necessary certifications.
You can’t apply for the tax file number until you have an Australian phone number, so you can put off the topic till you’ve arrived!

Step 16: Scan and save documents

In order to have all the essential documents with you on your Work and Travel journey and to ensure they can’t be lost, I would scan all the important documents you might need and upload them to a cloud so you can access them from anywhere!
Important documents are for example:

  • Identity card
  • Passport
  • International and normal driver’s license
  • Bank cards / credit cards
  • Visa
  • Insurance certificates and contact numbers
  • Social security card
  • Airline tickets and booking confirmations
  • Vaccination certificate
  • Application documents
  • etc.

Step 17: Provide documents for your contact person in Germany

All these documents or the password or the link to the cloud I would give to a contact in Germany, which then in case of emergencies can access these documents and help you.

Step 18: Backpacks for Work and Travel in Australia

Next up is the question of the backpack for your Work and Travel adventure. The best way is to get a travel backpack with at least 65 liters capacity, to ensure you have enough space.
I went directly to a comparison page, where the different backpacks were rated for value for money. You can find such a comparison page here, for example:
https://www.vergleich.org/backpacking-rucksack/
Every year, new comparisons are made, so watch out, there may not be newer comparisons!
In addition to your backpack, I recommend you to buy a daypack with about 20 liters capacity and a shoulder bag or fanny pack.

Step 19: What do I have to pack for Work and Travel in Australia?

Since I’m a male, I can’t make an exact list for women because I have no idea what they need 😀
For Australia, you should mainly take summer clothes with you. But also one or two long things and a rain jacket always comes in handy!
Here is my list, what I took with me to Australia … (may be a bit much :D)

dress

  • 8 to 10 underpants
  • 2 hiking socks / 9 short socks
  • 1 softshell jacket
  • 1 fleece sweater / jacket (I have a leather jacket :D)
  • 2 long sleeve shirts
  • 7 T-shirts / 4 tank tops / 1 polo shirt
  • 2 jeans
  • 2 swimming shorts / 2 jogging shorts / 2 sports pants
  • (Work clothes?! -> office, construction, harvest ?!)
  • Shoes
  • 1 pair of hiking boots
  • 2 pairs of neutral shoes
  • 1 pair of slippers / flip-flops

Personal Hygiene

  • Shower gel & Co in small plastic bottles
  • Hair stuff / comb
  • 1 microfiber towel (small and large)
  • Toothbrush / dental cleaning materials
  • cream
  • Contact lenses / – tools + glasses / -zeug
  • suncream
  • Razor (wet and dry)

Means of payment and documents

  • Credit card
  • Cash (50 € and 200 AUS $)
  • visa
  • flight ticket
  • passport
  • identity card
  • Intern. and German driver’s license
  • etc.

travel pharmacy

  • ibuprofen
  • Anoint
  • Aktren / Aspirin
  • against heartburn / diarrhea
  • plaster
  • charcoal tablets
  • etc.

Others

  • sunglasses
  • tick
  • Buy camping equipment locally !!!
  • Flashlight / headlamp
  • pocket knife
  • combination lock
  • travel adapter
  • Earplugs (important!)
  • camera
  • Mobile / Power Bank
  • charging plug
  • Travel documents / money / wallet
  • Laptop + charger
  • Jukebox

Step 20: Mobile Phone + Sim Card for Abroad / Australia

To work and travel in Australia, you need an Australian phone number / SIM card. The largest providers are Telstra, Vodafone and Optus. Telstra has the largest network coverage. In the city you have with Vodafone actually everywhere reception. Optus is between the two. Most providers always have special offers for their prepaid SIM cards. Therefore, check out the websites and check out offers in Australia and even before you arrive. You can then buy the SIM cards in any shops (called 7Eleven). It’s really easy and you’ll be able to do it!
It is best if you have a mobile phone that can use two SIM cards at the same time. Then you can continue to use your German number for WhatsApp and online banking and have an Australian number for Internet and calls in Australia!

Step 21: Book first nights in Australia

It makes sense to book a hostel for the first couple of nights in Australia while at home, so you have less stress when you first arrive. I recommend you book an expensive and high quality hostel for the first few nights so that you are not directly shocked and want to go home on the first day (because some hostels are really dirty).

Step 22: Get everything ready to go and get into your biggest adventure!


I hope you liked my blog post! For questions, comments or suggestions for improvement please send me an email to fabianxarnold@mail.de !! Thank you!!

The next blog post is about my first days in Australia and my time in Melbourne. So stay tuned! For more content you can check my Instagram account (@fabianxarnold).

Greetings and good luck with the preparation

Fabian