Customer Reviews

Work Your Way Around the World: A Fresh and Fully Up-to-Date Guide for the Modern Working Traveller

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book changed my life.

It showed me one doesn't have to follow the route of college, then graduation, then job for life. I bought this book, then worked for three years in London, Spain, and Cairo in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I supported myself and even managed to save money.

While personally enriching, my experiences have impressed -- bar none -- every employer with whom I have interviewed over the past seven years.

Had I not taken time off, I'd be like many other adults who regret not taking advantage of their youth and lack of committments to explore the world and themselves.

If you have any desire to explore, do yourself a favor -- buy the book, then buy your plane ticket.

While this book is written from a British perspective, it is an excellent guide for anyone who wants to travel around the world on limited funds. The author relies on "been there done that" travelers to supply information and anecdotes from the road and I can vouch from experience that those nuggets show up in revised editions.

I bought this book before my first trip around the world and it led to my first English teaching job--in Istanbul, Turkey. (Griffith's Teaching English Abroad title is a good guide for the teaching path specifically). This is also a good book to read when deciding what you're NOT willing to do. Comparing some of these jobs to working another few months at home instead to save more money puts things in perspective.

Understand that this is a guide to short-term work opportunities, so it does focus on ways to make enough to get to the next destination. It's not an international career guide, but rather an inside scoop on where to get paid while you travel. It's an entertaining read and a good investment for shoestring travelers.

Tim Leffel
author, The World's Cheapest Destinations

Well, I'm one of those Americans who has been there, done that and still doing it...and it wasn't because of this book.

More than years ago when I first went to Europe with the intention of finding work, short-term or long-term, my brother's girlfriend gave me this book as a gift because she found it useful. Let me say right off that I had no clue about traveling abroad or what was possible, even in a pre-9/11 world. But it seemed to me that the book concentrated heavily on Brits and Europeans and gave mostly common sense advice I could glean from my head (or a friend or successful expat, if I was clueless) and come up with the same or better info if I searched the Internet; plus, the author is an EU citizen, so what first hand experience does she really have in regards to non-EU citizens? The updated version hasn't changed much, and I'm puzzled by the fact it's in its 13th edition, when most people can find better and more current information online without spending a dime.

I'd also like to add that my brother's girlfriend (now ex) who loved this book, never found work abroad in her 5 years and told me I would never make it either. I told her I wasn't her, left the book behind and never saw it again. I first found a series of short-term jobs that I can only describe as experiences I can laugh about now. Then I built a life from literally nothing that has led to living and working in Europe for more than 10 years (and counting).

It is true that Americans have a more difficult time finding work in Europe simply because of EU citizenship requirements AND the world has changed significantly in that there are an abundance of Eastern European workers willing to work for cheaper than Americans/Canadians/Australians would and they're legal EU citizens. Still, showing up at the right time (and there ARE right times) and looking a certain way will more likely get you a summer job than sending a CV/resume, making calls or wasting time on placing ads or trolling forums. I don't know any employer who has hired anyone on paper or over the phone, even if you're already here in the country.

My best friend was placed in Poland, well-paid and provided housing for 2 years teaching English without any experience, certification or previous interview. He had a great time. The next year, he took a stint in Turkey during his vacation under the same circumstances. There are also plenty of opportunities, different and sometimes better, in very beautiful places outside of Europe. Another friend landed in South America with no intentions of staying and worked there happily for 3 years, learned to speak Spanish, gained experience that gave him an advantage in his flourishing career now located in Washington DC.

Aside from Europe, there are very strict requirements in place in Asia and Africa as well. Even those seeking to skirt permit and work authorization for those continents via dual citizenship may find the requirements quite difficult. In short, you cannot simply work your way around the world even illegally, never mind legally, because of upped security measures and economic recession.

Buying and reading this book, however helpful it is in small ways, is not enough. Sometimes, an adventurous attitude, thirst for experience and willingness isn't enough...sometimes it's just lady luck smiling on you. In some countries, it's strictly about connections.

I'm sorry I can't be more positive because I know it's tough to write a book and there are people out there searching for some assistance. But I think it's equally important to be honest.

If you're interested in working while you travel this is thebook to read before you go! Although the book is written from theEuropean traveler's perspective, the latest edition does also give advice on how Americans can find jobs in the discussed regions. Particularly helpful are the author's specific recommendations of places to look (i.e. likely streets, areas, and companies). The one thing I appreciates about this book, is that it's realistic. She doesn't tell you that you're job search is going to be easy when it in all liklihood will not. When you're seriously planning to go abroad you don't want rhetoric, you want reality and that is what the author provides.

I was introduced to an early edition of this book by a couple of English blokes I lived with in Minneapolis in 1989. Above all, it made me realize that travelling around the world for a working class fellow was a realistic option. It gives a lot of specifics on how to find work in different parts of the world. I have seen no other book that comes close to providing the information that a working traveller needs. Being in its tenth edition shows that many others have found it valuable as well.

I spent a year working and travelling in Europe and Africa. Working your way around the world is a good way to educate yourself.

As an American student looking to find work in Europe, this book was absolutely no help to me at all. It is published in Great Britain, and probably 95% of the addresses she gives are in the UK. I found a couple of interesting ones in the U.S., but all the good ones were not American. Also, prices are in pounds, not dollars, which makes it difficult for an American to fully comprehend without a calculator and info on exchange rates. If you are British, this would probably be a great book for you!

Another thing which I found not very helpful is that the book is targeted to people who want to just want to hop from place to place, hence the title. It is geared for the vagabond worker, and assumes that these people will settle for whatever job it takes to stay travelling.

What really turned me off was that the book highly suggested hitchhiking as the primary mode of transportation, and spent a great deal of space discussing the beneftis of hitchhiking. Any other travel book strongly discourages this!

In a nutshell, if you are not British and you do not feel comfortable with hitchhiking, do not buy this book!

I am from the US, but still found this book to be very helpful. Anyone can use it if they truly want to travel.I started my journey by teaching english in korea. This book is great and I am sure will I use it for many years to come. I can't wait for the next edition. Buy this book if you have serious "wonder lust"!!

I love this book. I picked it up when I was 18 or so and the general tone that working abroad is actually possible inspired me and made me willing to consider it. The specific advice is helpful (I think the review that sent me to the book said the advice "verges on the bizarre" - ask to sleep in empty jail cells, for instance!).

Many people in the US firmly believe that the only way to go abroad is to get the blessing of the Peace Corps (for which something like 1 out of 5 applicants are selected), a "placement organization" for English teachers that charges a couple thousand dollars, or a full-time job that pays your airfare and sends you abroad for a few weeks. This book shares ideas to show that those are not the only ways - you may not use all the ideas but if you are considering going abroad independently, you need to check out this book.

This book is for EVERYONE! Not just europeans. Pick it up and get inspired to leave your job. Don't expect to find a guaranteed job abroad, this is for ADVENTUROUS people who don't need a sure bet before they leave. It is impossible for americans to find a european job before they leave, but not impossible to find a job abroad (with this book). An excellent choice!

I bought this book in 1993. It caught my eye, I had always wanted to go to Europe. Empowered by this book, I bought a one way ticket to Spain with no job prospects, nothing. Kinda crazy. I spent a year in Europe on my own, working as an au pair and teaching English. It really was a great experience, and this book was invaluable. I have not seen this edition, but yes, to me it was the bible!! So inspirational and informative.