Working Holiday Guide: before you depart checklist for backpackers

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Last Updated on July 30, 2021 by Noni May

Working Holiday Oceania, New Zealand, Australia checklist for aspiring ‘working holidayers’. Planning a working holiday abroad? Great news for digital nomads! From 1 January 2017, you can be up to 35 years old for an Australian working holiday visa! Super excited, as this gives more people the chance to experience my favorite part of the world (so far away from home, though… ). Time to do a checklist for aspiring working holidayers, just to make your life easier, and so I can use it as a reference for myself!

So far we’ve covered things to arrange once you arrive so you can get started (like getting a sim card, a tax file number and a bank account) and places you can find jobs.

Housing:

Decide what you do with your house/room/apartment. Renting? House swapping? I think most working holidayers cancel their rent, so in this guide I won’t discuss the things you should do if you’re a home owner.
Cancel payments / make sure you don’t pay unnecessary bills like Netflix and heating that you can’t use abroad, but don’t use at home (or that the person renting from you doesn’t use)
Register your change of address with the department of civil affairs in your home country.

Banking:

Get (travel) credit cards
Make finances in order
Make sure you have at least AUD$5000 and print a copy of your bank statement to show at the border

Safety:

Make sure you have scans and copies of all your important items:
- Passport
- Credit cards
- Receipts of all the things you bought before your trip (this comes in handy when things get stolen, don’t forget your phone / laptop and camera receipts)
- Your health insurance documents
- Flight tickets + hotel bookings
Get a safe OneDrive account, and bring a encrypted USB / external hard drive.
Make a list (on paper) to keep with you at all times with important numbers like the embassy, your favorite people, your insurance company’s number, your bank’s number.
Subscribe to the local emergency alert. The service that often works via GPS, and will alert you if you’re in the neighborhood.

Pause/cancel recurring payments:

Your gym subscription
Public Transport card
Mobile phone plans
Magazine subscriptions

Insurance:

Contact your own health insurance to know what’s up if you leave. You might want to cancel it or use it as an add-on to your travel insurance.
Get travel insurance. Not all travel insurances are for long term travelers, so make sure you contact yours or the one you want to use before.

To work:

Make a resume

Health:

Get all necessary prescriptions
Order new contacts / glasses
Get your vaccinations… don’t forget the countries you might want to visit from Australia (as it’s probably cheaper at home to get your vaccination)

Also:

Make sure your passport doesn’t expire within the time frame you want to travel or shortly after. If you plan to travel from Australia to South East Asia (or other places of course) make sure you know the rules (often passports need to be valid at least 6 months after arrival date) and know the necessary visa because you might need to arrange it before you leave in your home country.
Get your international driver’s license.
Have some photos taken to use for visa’s etc.
Decide on these matters (decide which sim card you want, bank account etc.), so you can do it all the first day you arrive, to kickstart your stay.
Delegate someone as your Power of Attorney