The Working Traveller
Working Holiday Ideas For May And Beyond
IN THIS ISSUE=>
* It’s Already Time To Start Acting For Alpine Ski Resort Jobs
* Ski Work Rundown
* Cookery Courses For Chalet Hosts
* Ski Resort Employment Resources For 2022/23
* Cooking In Calais At The Refugee Community Kitchen
* Animal Sanctuaries In The Canary Islands
* Mallorca Jobs Facebook Group
* Visiting Programs Coordinator For The Island School In The Bahamas
* Caretaker Position in France
* Positions Coming Up For Travelling Nannies
* Childcare And Private Household Work Opportunities For Ukrainian Refugees In The UK
* Work Exchange Projects With The Bedouin In Jordan
* Critter Care Wildlife Society
* Grants For Young Horticulturalists Through The Merlin Trust
* Fruit Picking Round Up
* Foreign Correspondents
* Workers Of The World
* At The End
| Didim, Turkey |
It’s Already Time To Start Acting For Alpine Ski Resort Jobs
Those looking to spend a couple of weeks whizzing up and down mountains and in and out of bars have plenty of time before they need to book their hols but those of us wanting to work in Europe’s ski resorts need to start acting now.
The hangovers from this year’s after parties haven’t long stopped throbbing but job advertisements will start landing in our inbox soon. Most companies begin recruiting in earnest in May. Early application is advisable and most jobs will be taken by the end of October.
Finding a job with a ski tour operator or chalet company requires perseverance. Viewed solely on the numbers applying each year the chances of landing a vacancy are slim. The numbers though can be misleading as thousands of staff are needed to cater and care for the tour operator’s holidaymakers and most ski job seekers will be applying to several companies.
Besides you are not a number but a responsible, bilingual individual with cordon bleu catering skills, childcare experience, a strong back and can unblock a toilet.
If this is true, well done, you’ll be on a plane to Val d’Isere in no time. If you are responsible and have one or two of the other qualities then the chances are the merry go round of CV/resume sending, interviews and waiting by the phone will see you land a job in the Alps.
Further Information
Ski resort employers often post their vacancies to the Jobs Abroad Bulletin. Other useful resources we have written in the past and on our other sites include:
More ski resort links can be found in our directory
https://www.jobsabroadbulletin.co.uk/work-abroad-directory/ski-resort-jobs-abroad/
Ski Resort Jobs in the Alps for Nannies and Childcare Staff
https://www.jobsabroadbulletin.co.uk/work-abroad-articles/ski-resort-jobs-winter-work-abroad/ski-resort-jobs-in-the-alps-for-nannies-and-childcare-staff/
Blogger’s Guide to Ski Resort Jobs
https://www.jobsabroadbulletin.co.uk/work-abroad-articles/ski-resort-jobs-winter-work-abroad/bloggers-guide-to-ski-resort-jobs/
Let Your Love of Pets Take You Anywhere
| Advert | TrustedHousesitters |
This is Maggie. Maggie is our neighbour’s dog. She comes into our garden whether we like it or not. Luckily we like Maggie. And she likes us. She waits on our doorstep until we have finished the Jobs Abroad Bulletin and can play with her. All around the world owners of dogs like Maggie need someone to look after them while their owners are away. In return, pet sitters get to stay for free with adorable animals in unique homes around the world. Join TrustedHousesitters to sit as often as you like, wherever you like. (Americans may prefer to join here).
Ski Work Rundown
The classic role is that of chalet host but other ski resort positions include hotel cooks and chefs, resort reps, ski reps and instructors, managers, bar staff, hotel waiting staff, maintenance people, housekeepers, kitchen porters, night porters, general assistants, childcarers, nightwatchman, laundry staff and accountants.
The titles, duties and qualifications needed may vary slightly from company to company but all employers will agree that for all jobs hard working and responsible people with friendly personalities are required. For some roles, a second European language is required or will increase your chances of being hired.
Benefits vary slightly from company to company but most packages will include wages, full board and accommodation, full medical and liability insurance, transport to and from your home country, one day off per week and pre season training. For most the true benefit is a chance to get out on the slopes and enjoy free hire of ski or snowboard equipment and a season’s lift pass.
Resort Manager
The resort manager is the tour operator’s man on the spot. Charged with the smooth running of the resort, the RM’s duties include organising all aspects of the client’s holidays and dealing with all other resort staff. Some companies will also expect the RM to do a bit of ski guiding a few days a week. Patience, resourcefulness and efficiency are the qualities required for the most demanding job in the resort. Managerial experience may be needed by some companies and local language skills and skiing ability are a must.
Resort Reps
In smaller resorts, the resort rep may do the job of a resort manager. In larger resorts, they will assist the RM. Again skiing skills are required if the resort rep has to double as a ski escort.
Ski Rep/Instructor/Host/Escort/Leader
Obviously, good skiers, with experience and/or qualifications, are needed. The ski rep plans and leads a comprehensive ski programme tailored to guests’ needs. Sometimes the ski rep is required to assist the resort manager or reps with transfers, snow clearing and other odd jobs. Maintenance skills, DIY and mechanical, and a driving licence are assets not to be overlooked if you want this role. A language is usually required.
Chalet Girl/Boy/Host
According to Delphine Shipton, formerly of Lotus Supertravel, chalet hosts should have cooking qualifications and plenty of hands on experience. They must be able to cook meals of Cordon Bleu standard, as well as produce a good selection of cooked breakfasts, cakes and canapés. Chalet hosts must excel in the three main areas: cooking, cleaning and hosting guests, and have a cheerful, approachable and mature personality.
Plongeur
A smart title for an unsophisticated chore of a job. You’re washing up, buddy. Foreign languages are generally unnecessary. If you could speak French you wouldn’t have fallen for the fancy job title, would you?
Handyman/MBO
MBO stands for Maintenance and Building Officer or Muscle Bound Oaf. Both titles give a general idea of what this job entails. Knowledge and practical experience in electrics, DIY and plumbing are required. The MBO will also be involved with transfers (so a driving licence is needed), carrying things, clearing snow, laundry and the daily bread round. Very popular when things get blocked or broken.
Hotel and Catering Staff
Some tour operators require chefs and other catering staff for larger chalets or hotels. Chefs will have experience in cooking for large numbers and will need qualifications. Kitchen management skills, including menu planning and budgeting, are required. Positions may be also available for hotel managers, chambermaids, wait staff and bar staff.
Nannies
Responsible for the safe keeping of children and organising play activities. NNEB, RGN or BTEC qualifications will be necessary. Experienced child carers without qualifications may find work as au pairs with some companies.
Other Jobs
Depending on the size of the resort and the facilities operated by the tour operator, other positions may be available. Crystal Holidays, for instance, own a nightclub in France and require door staff, cloakroom attendants and a DJ. Other tour operators may employ masseurs, admin staff and drivers.
Cookery Courses For Chalet Hosts
Cooking is a loosely defined term that can mean anything from creating a banquet to knocking up a few bacon sandwiches. Taking on a chalet job can mean doing the former with the budget of the latter.
Fortunately, that’s a skill that can be taught and a number of cookery schools in the UK run courses ideal for equipping promising potential chalet hosts for a hospitality role in ski resorts worldwide.
Courses should cover the essential skills and basic techniques for recipes and preparing soups, sauces, meat and fish, vegetables and vegetarian dishes, desserts and canapés. As your knowledge and confidence grow courses will introduce more techniques: jointing, filleting and boning, as well as yeast cookery, advanced pastries and sauces.
A good course addresses the reality of chalet cooking and understands that you will have to produce “super tasting, top class food under pressure, often coping in cramped and under-equipped conditions,” says Rosie Davies, who has prepared students for jobs on the slopes and on yachts for decades.
Essential topics should also include menu planning, catering for special diets, presentation and how to solve some of the commonest problems, with advice on advance preparation, rescue remedies and plenty of shortcuts.
Outside of the classroom, students will visit markets and go shopping for fresh meat, fish and vegetables.
In the same way that the typically imagined London barman would have an Australian accent, Surrey is the natural birthplace of chalet girls and consequently a popular area for cookery schools.
Nestled in the hills of that English county is The Abinger Cookery School, which aims to fire up your imagination with courses that are practical, inspiring and of course – fun! They utilise the best produce that Britain has to offer, sourcing ingredients from suppliers right on their doorstep. More details at www.abingercookeryschool.com.
Three schools with particularly good connections within the industry, and who may be able to help with your mountain job search, are Mountain Chefs, Fresh Tracks, and Orchards Cookery.
The Avenue Cookery School in south west London has a couple of courses for people looking to work in a chalet, villa, yacht or private households.
If you can’t wait until landing a job to get a feel for working in a ski resort, Chalet Pomet hosts the Season It cookery course for 16 to 19 years olds in Morillon, in the Haute-Savoie department of the French Alps.
Cookery courses can be expensive but within the intense competition for ski resort jobs, time spent in a classroom will show that you are serious about cooking for a living and can meet the high standards that chalet guests expect.
Ski Resort Employers Employment Resources For 2022/23
Before Brexit, UK applicants applying to a British tour operator or chalet operator in Europe typically required a UK passport, a UK bank account and a permanent UK National Insurance number.
Hope is fading regulations will evolve to help out British businesses working in the Alps and current work permit rules are complex and different for working in each European country. Some businesses, such as Powder White, have pivoted their operations out of the EU altogether.
Most British tour operators are not going to bother navigating the bureaucracy and now ask for an EU passport with a UK bank account. Irish seasonaires, British dual passport holders and EU nationals that lived in the UK before December 31, 2020, can look forward to being in higher demand this season. Nonetheless, we expect competition for jobs to remain fierce. YSE, for instance, received over 1,250 applications each year for just 35 to 40 jobs.
We spent a lot of time a few years ago collecting a big list of ideas for working abroad, including in ski resorts, and update these links every year. So, in no particular order, perhaps some of these links and leads might prove helpful to you for finding work next winter (though please note some of the organisations listed below might not yet have updated their employment information from the previous season and uncertain times mean information correct at the time of writing can change in an instant):
* If they haven’t already, Inghams, Esprit Ski and Santa's Lapland (for Nordic winter holidays) should start recruiting in the next couple of weeks via www.workaseason.com. Other large British operators to try are TUI, Neilson, Mark Warner, and Powder Byrne.
* Ski Armadillo is an independent company, privately owned since 2001 that, to deliver the bespoke product they offer in Verbier, look for enthusiastic, motivated individuals with a passion for customer service. We could no longer find the application form for the next season that Pub Mont Fort used to invite potential staff to download but at least they are open again after Covid.
* More vacancies in Verbier can be found listed on Verbinet, though it was a bust when we last looked. Perhaps it was just the wrong time of year. Some of the businesses we ourselves mentioned for the resort are no longer around but Mira Chalet Services, who we had down as known to hire a gardener and resort assistant, still seems to be a going concern. Their site is in French.
* A family run luxury holiday company, Simply Morzine recruit chefs, hosts, reps, drivers and maintenance staff for winter and summer season employment with the promise you will be treated as an individual not a number. Their invite to join Team Simply is here. More chalet staff can earn their living with AliKats Mountain Holidays. They usually advertise in JAB but when we checked their website was still displaying info from the last normal season.
* Alpine Action posted an end of season announcement for fantastic chalet hosts to join them for next season. See their Facebook.
* We had Riders Refuge as a candidate for having a few vacancies for chefs. Their website seems a little out of date so their Facebook might be a better line of investigation. Restaurant Le Clin d’Oeil and Mountain Spaces might need chefs too. Mountain Spaces also list a few places in Morzine that nannies might wish to check out. Jack and Jill Holidays look for mature candidates with a bit of life experience for chalet host and transfer driver roles. SeeMorzine.com and Morzine Avoriaz can be used to research the resort, or just go directly to this jobs page and see if you have better luck than us. We found Hunter Chalets there, which list their staffing requirements here.
* Chalet jobs in Les Gets, a family friendly French village a few minutes away from the livelier Morzine, may be found with Rush Adventures, VIP Chalets, and Mountain & Tradition. The latter provides a handy guide to working a season and allows other companies to use their jobs pages too. Host Savoie was included amongst those three businesses but for the moment has blanked out, but not removed, their join us page. Hotel Christiania advertises its vacancies via JustJobs247. Reach 4 the Alps have made all their chalets self catering, reducing their staff needs, but they may need someone to drive a minibus around the resort on occasion and do airport transfers.
* Massage Me works in partnership with hotels and chalets to offer a wide variety of treatments in French ski resorts. Road and mountain bikers are their clients in the summer. They look for enthusiastic and professional massage and beauty therapists to join their team.
* The Chalets Direct Job forum is mostly jobs wanted ads but a few jobs offered can be found too, mostly posted by smaller businesses. We found Snow Trippin hunting for chalet staff to work a season in the 3 Valleys here.
* The renowned Dick’s Tea Bar will be familiar to anyone that has worked a season in Val d’Isere. The club and bar have been popular with the resort’s season workers since they opened in 1979 and hires staff from around the world to serve their international clientele. Interviews are usually held over Skype each September. Successful candidates will be required in Val d’Isere from mid November.
* Snow loving wait staff, chefs, receptionists, breakfast hosts and bartenders can each find a place in Switzerland’s Ski Lodge Engelberg. Most positions require German and English.
* Billed as the ‘dance floor on top of the world’ La Folie Douce is one of Europe’s most famous après-ski bars in Europe. Represented in resorts including Val d’Isere, Val Thorens, Meribel, St Gervais-Megeve and Alpe d’Huez, they take on numerous staff including cashiers, kitchen assistants, admin staff, security, writers, dancers and DJs.
* Chalet accommodation is sparser in the upmarket Austrian ski resort of Kitzbuhel, Austria. Guests are more likely to stay in hotels. Ski Austria lists hotels in the resort and, while you are there, read this article on the realities of looking for work in an Austrian ski resort.
* 600 kilometres of piste make the Three Valleys the largest ski area in the world, and a happy hunting ground for ski job seekers. Courchevel, Meribel and Val Thorens are the biggest resorts in the area but La Tania and St Martin de Belleville might also be worth a look-see. Of those, and the clue is in the name, Meriski focuses its efforts on Meribel. Fill in the online application to be considered for a job with them.
* This accommodation directory with contact details and locations in Val Thorens might divvy up a few leads there. Courchnet has a job page for those hoping to join the 4000 season workers that make Courchevel their home each year. Alpine Escape and Ski Magic are two of the employers that might be paying your wages there next season.
* Cold Fusion Chalets is the largest operator of singles ski and solo snowboard holidays in the French Alps, promising a family and child free environment in all of their ski chalets in Chamonix, Morzine and Les Houches. They now have employment information on their site but also use JustJobs247.
* A few years ago the Daily Telegraph ran a few articles on doing a season in Val d’Isere, (sign up now required to read) officially the number one ski resort for British skiers, and home to the biggest presence of British tour operators in the world. These include Scott Dunn, Ski Weekends, Flexiski, SkiWorld, Inghams, Le Ski, and Ski Olympic.
* Le Chardon Mountain Lodges, which operates five traditionally designed luxury ski in / ski out chalets, used to put together an impressive recruitment brochure to entice the staff they need each year. We couldn’t find it this year but they still need staff. Other nationalities visit Val d’Isère too. Danish company Nortlander, for instance, hires guides, bar staff and chefs. The website seems to be only in Danish now so how we know this, I can’t remember. SeeValdIsere has a jobs page, while Vie Val d’Is is an association for season workers living in Val d’Isère.
* A smart title for an unsophisticated chore of a job, the plongeur essentially does the washing up. Foreign languages are generally unnecessary – if you could speak French you wouldn’t have fallen for the fancy job title, would you? YSE may need plongeurs in Val d’Isère, combining the role with chauffeuring their guests around the French ski resort.
* Don’t ignore the Pyrenees when looking for work in a European ski resort. Transitions Abroad has some information on working in Andorra.
* Experienced drivers, preferably licenced to drive a minibus, can find work taking holiday makers between the airport and their ski resort destination. Alpybus driver positions are based in Geneva, Chamonix, Morzine and Verbier, the last of which comes with accommodation. Mountain Drop-offs also serve Chamonix and Morzine from Geneva airport. Try also Chamexpress. Large tour operators also often recruit their own dedicated driving staff, while MorzineLets hires airport transfer drivers.
Cooking In Calais At The Refugee Community Kitchen
Serving thousands of meals to people from over 20 nationalities, Refugee Community Kitchen serves nutritious food without judgement to those fleeing war, poverty, persecution and climate change living in Northern France.
You don't need kitchen experience to get stuck in, just a willingness to work hard. RCK can teach you everything you need to know, from prep to cooking to serving. Roles include chopping vegetables, washing up, stock sorting, driving and cooking.
Volunteers should be self funding and will need to arrange their own accommodation before arriving. If you are interested and can stay for two weeks or longer, visit https://refugeecommunitykitchen.org/volunteer-calais, and read their FAQs, to find and more.
Longer term volunteers that are aged over 21 and have self funded their accommodation for a month may be able to be accommodated with other long term volunteers.
Two more organisations in the area to investigate are Care4Calais and Auberge des Migrants.
A Facebook group connecting volunteers looking to liftshare with each other to the camps near Calais and Dunkirk can be found here.
Animal Sanctuaries In The Canary Islands
According to a guest post on our website on Finding Work On Tenerife And Lanzarote, there is a strong culture of hunting with dogs in the Canary Islands. When dogs outlive their usefulness, they’re often dumped in the hills. Additionally, many locals don’t neuter their pets, opting to dump offspring rather than pay veterinarian fees.
All of this means there are a lot of abandoned cats and dogs and, as a result, animal sanctuaries to try to care for them. Many have been set up by non-Canarios and survive on a shoestring budget so volunteers are always welcome.
Tenerife Horse Rescue is run solely by volunteers with the aim to offer homes to all equines who need a second chance. Dogs and cats, birds, ducks, guinea pigs, goats, pigs, tortoises, hamsters and other animals too complete the array of rescued animals living here.
Many of their volunteers are drawn from those living on the island already but they also offer a volunteer programme via Workaway for those of you around the world who would also like to be involved.
On site accommodation and meals are provided in exchange for 25 hours a week of work, for which they have specific roles in mind, from directly caring for the animals to building work, website management and driving. Minimum stay is one month and the application form on their website may appeal to non members of Workaway.
For those that are already Workaway members of the website, or would consider joining, we found three more listings that may also be of interest.
Help us look after our rescue animals on the beautiful island of Lanzarote
“We operate a no profit association based in Lanzarote. Our farm animals are mostly rescued and given a second chance to be loved and cared for. We look after them and include them in our pet therapy programs and educational programs in general. We receive visitors and organize events related to nature and animals, although now with the Covid situation our programs have been reduced a lot.”
More from https://www.workaway.info/en/host/971892396615
German cat and dog rescue centre in Tenerife looking for animal lovers
“We are a German dog and cat rescue station in the south of Tenerife. Our society is based in Germany but the rescue station is on the Canary Islands. It was founded in 1992. We search for Workaways/Volunteers 25 years or older (to stay 4 weeks or more) loving cats and dogs and want to give a lot of love to them. This year (2022) we are searching especially Workaways/Volunteers for Social Media / Filming / Cutting!”
More from https://www.workaway.info/en/host/294753928232
Hands-on help in a non profit animal charity based on the beautiful island of Gran Canaria
“This is a non profit animal charity based on the beautiful island of Gran Canaria. I run my animal charity and rescue on my own, and have many different resident rescue animals here. The Finca is a work in progress, and relies on donations, and volunteers to build and maintain different aspects. Over the years, many things have been built, but there is still so much more to do.”
More from https://www.workaway.info/en/host/216761342678
There are also animal refuges on the islands that will appeal more to local residents with their own place to stay, though we’re sure they wouldn’t turn away any help offered by people moving to the Canaries, are able to arrange their own place to stay locally, or are on holiday.
These include the longstanding K9 Tenerife that, despite the name, also helps cats and has helped birds, reptiles, rabbits, donkeys and even two lions and a leopard. Live PAWS, Manos Amigas de los Animales de Tenerife, and Animal Protection Association of the Northwest of Tenerife are three more to consider.
Mallorca Jobs Facebook Group
Mallorca Jobs is a well used public group of over 36 thousand members. Most jobs advertised in the group are from small employers posting a brief description and an email contact address.
Jobs offered in the past day or two include waiters / waitresses for a restaurant in Cala d'Or, a beach Restaurant in Palmanova looking for wait staff, master manicurists for a luxury beauty salon, office work, a TEFL, CELTA or similar qualified English teacher for September, and carrying down an old washing machine from a 6th floor.
More at https://www.facebook.com/groups/834150763306682/
Visiting Programs Coordinator For The Island School In The Bahamas
The Island School are seeking educators with a demonstrated career commitment to experiential education and a love for teaching and learning. This position requires the ability to work long hours with a close knit group of peers and live in an isolated community. See their ad on our website for more details.
Caretaker Position in France
Another advert, sent to us yesterday, is for someone interested in living in a cottage on an estate rent free against a few hours of work per week in the garden and the surrounding lands. Knowledge of the French language would be an advantage and there is the chance to manage the rental of two gites for added income. See https://www.jobsabroadbulletin.co.uk/gardien-caretaker/ for more details.
Positions Coming Up For Travelling Nannies
My Travelling Nanny is a London based family run business that since 2011 has provided short term nannies to accompany families on their holidays, travel or business trips.
Currently available positions listed on their website when we looked recently include a nanny team to look after a toddler and twin babies for three months beside Lake Como, someone with a teaching background to help with homework in Montenegro, someone firm but fun for a family who return to Portugal the school holidays, help for a family staying in a villa in Provence, and someone for a week in Mallorca at the end of this month.
Travel savvy nannies from the USA may prefer Adventure Nannies. While some of the positions offered with them venture outside the country, most vacancies are with families splitting their home life in two locations in the USA and candidates should be legally able to work in the US. Search their open vacancies at https://adventurenannies.com/jobs/search/?filter=true&job_status=Open
Childcare And Private Household Work Opportunities For Ukrainian Refugees In The UK
MyTamarin, a website inspired by little monkeys, is promoting work opportunities for Ukrainian refugees in the UK. Jobs are in childcare and private households, fertility and menopause: https://www.mytamarin.com/supporting-ukraine.
Work Exchange Projects With The Bedouin In Jordan
Experience the Bedouin desert culture and learn Arabic with these projects hosted by or with Bedouin families in Wadi Rum, close to Aqaba, in southern Jordan. On your days off, volunteers will be able to enjoy all the activities offered to paying tourists, such as rock climbing, trekking, horse riding, jeep tours and trips to Petra, the famed city of the Nabataeans.
English speaker to help with digital projects as part of my desert tourism project in Wadi Rum Village - See Wadi Rum from the Bedouin’s perspective and not as a tourist. For your host, Zead, life is all about giving the guests in his traditional Bedouin camp the best experience. This includes guiding tours, hiking through the desert and sleeping under the stars. Though experienced in this side of the business, he needs help creating and maintaining an online presence for his business. If you feel fit enough, you can assist with guiding tours too.
Come and take care of baby goats in the Wadi Rum Desert / Bedouin Nomads experience - Take. Care. Of. Baby. Goats. Does Atallah need to say any more than that? He does make mention of camels too, but who cares? They suck. Accommodation is living as a nomad, with Atallah’s parents and sisters, in a tent, in the desert!
(Want more goats? Ghassab, who we highlighted in our post on Work Exchanges in Cave Houses and Cave Hotels, has a flock of 60 that, with the assistance of a volunteer, his 85 year old mother takes up into the mountains near Petra every day.)
Help with our Desert Camp Tourist Business (Social media & Internet Tasks) - Eid is looking for a committed individual to help with online work and answering emails from customers enquiring about his Bedouin camp. There’s also the chance to work in the desert, preparing the camp and welcoming and helping tourists from around the world.
Horse care & women empowerment Wadi Rum - Living in a Bedouin village at the edge of the Wadi Rum World Heritage Site, Sandra offers yoga retreats in the desert and runs a social handicraft business with local Bedouin women. She needs help with her social enterprise, around the house, and taking care of her five horses.
Join my Traditional Bedouin Camp and experience amazing Wadi Rum - Once again, volunteers able to expand this desert camp’s online presence to attract new visitors are coveted most, but professional photographers and volunteers with experience in social media marketing are also desired. Volunteers will receive a warm welcome and a bed in Mohammed’s house when staying in the village, and a private tent when in the desert.
Critter Care Wildlife Society
We spotted a listing for Critter Care Wildlife Society, a non profit wildlife charity in British Columbia, Canada, on Voluntouring.org. CCWS rely heavily on interns, especially in Spring when it is baby season and up to 25 interns care for hundreds of baby animals.
At the moment they want interns for four to six weeks between October and February to hand raise and treat orphaned and injured wildlife and release them back into the wild. The internship is unpaid, in exchange for accommodation and food.
Tasks include general animal care, bottle feeding, medicating (under supervision), cleaning, enriching, maintenance etc.
More at https://www.crittercarewildlife.org/internship-application
Other volunteering at https://www.crittercarewildlife.org/volunteer
Grants For Young Horticulturalists Through The Merlin Trust
A passion for plants is the primary requirement to qualify for a grant from the Merlin Trust.
Successful applicants have in the past trekked across Nepal discovering rare plants, visited botanical gardens in the USA and Canada, and studied trees in Kent. This year’s grants are for UK travel only.
The trust was set up by Sir David Scott’s widow, Valerie Finnis, in memory of her husband and their son, Merlin, killed in North Africa during the Second World War. Grants are awarded to enable young horticulturists to visit gardens or travel to see wild plants in their native habitats. Travel and other expenses are paid.
Four awards will be made in 2022:
Study Travel Grant - Up to £1,000 is provided to individual applicants to carry out garden tours, undertake work experience in gardens or other horticulturally-related areas, pursue research projects, visit conservation programmes, attend conference or take part in skill based training.
Heather Project Special Award - A £1,000 award for a project focused on heather. Projects might involve heather in cultivation or conservation projects of heather and heath habitats in the UK.
The Green Recovery Award - Supports travel to and support at gardens and plant related environment projects with a sustainable or conservation focus. There are many places you could visit/arrange work experience including the RSPB Haweswater Restoration Project or Centre for Alternative Technology.
Health & Wellbeing Award - This award will support travel to and support at gardens or projects which have a focus on health and wellbeing in horticulture. Examples could be work experience with a horticultural therapy organisation or a study tour examining the role that gardens and contact with plants can play in improving health and wellbeing. Potential examples of organisations and gardens include Thrive, Trellis, Eden Project, and Horatio’s Garden.
Applicants should be British or Irish, aged under 35, or within five years of starting a horticultural or botanical career. Both student horticulturists and employed horticulturists can apply. Application is ongoing.
More information from merlin-trust.org.uk.
Volunteer information with gardening organisations can also be found via the links given above.
Fruit Picking Round Up
The apple and pear picking seasons will end in May in Donnybrook, Pemberton, Bridgetown and other areas of Western Australia, but oat and wheat harvests are beginning in Salmon Gums and Grass Patch. They end in June as will the already underway harvests in Albany, Williams, Marradong, West Arthur, Bindoon, Moora and Lower Chittering.
For more rock lobster work try Freemantle, Dongara, Kalbarri, Mandurah and Geraldtown until the end of June. Alternatively, Kununurra is the place to be for bananas and melons in June and July.
May in New South Wales sees Bourke as the destination of choice for a month of grape pruning and citrus picking, while Batlow will end apple picking this month. Head to Wee Waa for cotton until June.
Queensland is the most fertile state in Australia for the next few months. Bundaberg and Childers will be the focus for most of the activity. Expect tomatoes, capsicum, avocados (from now until August), citrus, custard apples (until June), snow peas (until October), zucchini (until November - try the Sunshine Coast too), cucumbers and beans (ending soon). Pumpkin picking will begin in May and carry on to July. A new harvest of cherry tomatoes begins in July.
Elsewhere in the state Bowen is the best option with beans, tomatoes, corn and mangoes providing jobs from May onwards. Ingham, Innisfail and Ayr may also have sugar cane that needs cutting while Cardwell and Innisfail grow bananas all year. On the Sunshine Coast there will be zucchinis to November and strawberry picking from June to October.
Riverland, in South Australia, will mainly be picking oranges in June, while the Adelaide Hills will harvest brussels sprouts. Both of these crops will continue until August. In Tasmania - Huon Valley, Tasman Peninsula and West Tamar - the apple and pear seasons are coming to a close soon. Across the sea in New Zealand, try Hawke Bay for tomatoes in June and July.
Canada, another large country with a lot of crops, will begin harvesting asparagus in the early part of May in Ontario.
In France, the strawberry season in the Loire Valley should continue until mid June. The Rhone Valley joins in this month with strawberry and cherry picking beginning around mid May and continuing to late June.
From June, try looking for hay making work which will be taking place all over France until August. Also, the strawberry season in the Loire Valley should continue until mid June, while the Rhone Valley has strawberry and cherry picking to the end of the month.
Greece will welcome in several crops in the next four to five months including nuts, apples, pears, tobacco, grapes and other soft fruit. Head for the Pilion Peninsula (near Volos), the rural area to the west of Thessaloniki, Rhodes, Crete and the central Peloponnese. In Italy, strawberries and cherries are picked until August in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. June also sees strawberries in Denmark.
Foreign Correspondents
Paddy Doyle took a year long leave of absence from his job teaching with an international school in Thailand to travel all 77 provinces of the country. He tells Thairish Times of the risks and struggles of being a Thailand YouTuber. He also does a Q&A covering YouTube money on his own channel.
Gareth Leonard seems to feel the same way as we do about Egypt, loving the place but with perfectly reasonable trust issues.
Noel Philips eats a Taco Bell, then gets on a Greyhound Bus for four days. It didn't end well…
For another brutal journey, try 30 hours travelling across India on a sleeper train, says Noel Phillips.
The realities of a Workaway gig in Montenegro are shared by Ella and Scott.
Workers Of The World
Working travellers past and present share their ideas and experiences working abroad:
Kimberley Chan worked for an all inclusive resort in Mexico as an activities and entertainment coordinator. Though the job was enjoyable, regarded as “one of the best jobs in the world” it wasn’t all “sunshine and margaritas” like many seem to believe. She tells us of some of the things they don’t tell you, from no frowning to always having to start a party.
Have you ever thought about doing voiceovers to make some money while travelling? No? Us neither, but Jennifer Anders says it has become much easier than it has ever been.
Every YouTuber in Bangkok drops by Mark Wiens’ Phed Mark to do the Spiciest Pad Kaprao Challenge but the biggest YouTuber of the lot is Mark himself. He shares his tips for making travel videos and growing your channel.
One way to make consistent, passive income from your blog or website is to sign up for a display ad network. Victoria Brewood shares how to get approved for Mediavine.
A year in to working as a freelance virtual assistant Samantha Tetrault was funding her travels to the tune of over $600 a month working about five hours a week.
At The End
Brexit red tape and the impact of the pandemic are putting 40,000 jobs at risk as foreign pupils shun UK language schools. “Schoolchildren will not disappear into the black economy and start driving minicabs, and parents who let their children go on school trips are generally quite keen for their teachers to bring them back home,” said tourism leaders.
Alpine Action is retreating from La Tania after 30 years to focus on their Morzine programme.
Kana Lauren Chan, the author of Tending Gardens, is interviewed about her life in Kamikatsu, Japan’s first Zero Waste Village.
A girl in a blue dress sits alone on a rock by the New York’s Buffalo River. Hands folded and legs crossed, she waits patiently for photo companions. Oh, and she has a shark’s head.
‘They can’t all go to my son’: the bookshop selling one man’s lifetime collection. Albert Costa, 83, did not want his books to end up in a flea market so opened his own shop in Barcelona.
The land of penguins and snow, Antarctica is a traveller’s dream. Its purity, uniqueness and isolation make it one of the most remarkable travel destinations in the world. A place worth its weight in gold, it comes at a price, but Wildly Successful Travelpreneurs have word on how travel bloggers and influencers can visit Antarctica for free, and even get paid to go!
Other opportunities listed in their current newsletter include a media trip application to Catalina Island, Southern California, and an Amsterdam Music Festival (AMF) Press Pass.
Free Advertising in JAB
Reach tens of thousands of resourceful young people looking for a new challenge. We offer free and premium ways to publicise your organisation and advertise vacant jobs. We do not charge for advertising if you are offering a job abroad or certain jobs in the UK. To post your vacancies to the Jobs Abroad Bulletin website please use our form at https://www.jobsabroadbulletin.co.uk/jobpost.shtml
More information for employers is available at https://www.jobsabroadbulletin.co.uk/freeads.shtml
Red Tape
JAB is thrown together quickly on a shoestring and contains information and advertising that we believe is authentic and currently available. However, we recommend checking things out for yourselves as we could be wrong about everything. We remind our readers that there are many scams on the internet aimed at people looking for work abroad and suggest reading our Warnings, Safety and Spotting Scams pages.