Inspiration for a Backpacking Odyssey

Whenever I get a great idea that no one thinks I will actually see through, it usually helps if I go out and buy something, that way I feel like I have already made an investment in the idea and now need to get my moneys' worth from it. (Something I learnt from my mum).

For this reason I purchased the 10th edition of Work Your Way Around The World by Susan Griffith. I was at the end of my four-year degree and thinking of traveling and working abroad to pay for my travels.

I can honestly say that it was this book that propelled me forward and gave me the knowledge and confidence to go backpacking by myself for a year on an extremely limited budget (no luxury of using the Gopher service for me!).

The book - as the title suggests - gives advice on finding jobs in most countries. The major difference with this book is that it is packed with travelers' anecdotes and experiences so you get a real feel for what the market is like for temporary jobs in each country.

Some of the more unusual contents include working a passage, grape harvests, fruit and vegetable harvests. The Israeli and Palestinian section has interesting info on life on a kibbutz and on a moshav.

Work Your Way Around The World also contains important information on means of travel, enterprise and temporary work visas for each location.

I was so enamored by the book that I followed the thousands who had already done so and emailed Susan Griffith with some experiences on trying to find work in Australia. I wrote about trying to (unsuccessfully) bribe my way onto prawn trawlers in Darwin and working 73.5 hours in seven days running a bouncy castle in Brisbane.

She was kind enough to reply and included some of my comments in the next edition. A nice surprise came when she sent me a signed copy of the next edition of which I am very proud!

The book first started over 25 years ago and is now in its twelfth (2005) edition. Susan is happy to receive travellers' feedback, you can email her at susan@vacationwork.co.uk

BY: Sam