Hello, everyone! I thought I would do something a little different today and share some of my journey as a travelling bartender with you all. I always wanted to travel the world since I was little and now that I am finally doing it I figured I might as well share my story to help other get to where I am today. Before I started travelling on Working Holiday Visas, I was always scouring the web for more information as I just couldn’t get enough. Here I will be sharing my experiences (good and bad), travel tips, new drinks I’m working on and just bartending life in general.
As of this moment I have been travelling for just over 2 years! I can’t believe how quickly the time went by. I also can’t believe I didn’t start doing this sooner, so I will take a step back today and tell you how I ended up traveling and getting work with a fairly small resume.
How I started Travelling
After Covid-19 hit I was living by myself in Bristol, England. It was Christmas Day 2021, and I had to isolate after a wave of Covid went round work. So, I had bought a couple of bottles of wine to take to a friend’s house for Christmas dinner but as I was stuck at home by myself, I just decided to drink them. However, fast forward to 11pm and I was drunk searching the internet when an ad popped up for the company Global Work and Travel.
I saw that they had spaces for a Working Holiday Visa in Canada for April 2023. Then I indulged my curiosity and without doing much research I paid the deposit. I had over a year to figure things out, so I just went for it. Over the next few weeks, I had calls with different people from Global Work and Travel and before I knew it my flights were paid for, and I was on my way to the Canadian Embassy in London to have biometrics done.
Being a Bartender Paid Off
Fast forward a few months and I had a job offer come through for bartender a hotel in Southern Alberta, Canada. After a 10-minute call with someone they sent me a contract that had to be signed within 24 hours. It was so easy, Hospitality workers are in high demand in all tourist area. Having a bit of knowledge, good English and an approachable personality is all you need to see the world. The rest just falls into place! That was the final step. I immediately signed the contract, sat back in my chair and said “wow”. I could not believe I was actually going to do a solo trip across the pond.
At this point fear set in, I wasn’t sure I could do it. I also didn’t want to leave my friends of my job. However, I had to keep telling myself that life moves on. This was now or never for me.
On the 30th of April 2023 I landed in Vancouver, and it was the beginning of something wonderful. I spent a whole summer in Waterton, then went to Calgary and then went to Australia! Now 2 years later I am living and working in Daintree Rainforest in Queensland Australia. And yes, I am still a bartender!!
The purpose of this series will be to help other who want to work and travel. So please if you are reading this and have any questions leave them in the comments. Feel to free to let me know what you want to hear more of too. I am here to help. To start why not check out my post on How to Get your RSA so you can bartend in Australia!
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