Age: 29

What work did you do while on the program?

Hospitality Industry – at a Special Event Venue

Extra work in commercials

What was your accommodation?

Shared a flat with a friend in a boarding house for the first part of my stay. Rented a room with some uni students for the second part of it. Oh, and two months of sleeping in a tent around New Zealand!

Did you travel while you were there?

Yes – LOTS!!! Went to Tasmania for a bit, spent Australia Day weekend in Melbourne, rented a car and drove myself from Brisbane to Cairns ( I thought I would enjoy doing that more than taking the Greyhound trip most backpackers do) . I also rented a car and drove the Great Ocean Road from Melblourne to South Australia. Spent 2 months camping around New Zealand.

What is your top tip for future participants?

I wish I could go back myself, because there are countless things that I wish I had done but ran out of time. Take the opportunity while it exists, and you will not regret it.

What do you miss about your host country?

All the excitement of having new experiences every day.

What did you miss about the USA?

Not much, mostly family and friends

What's your best story from your travelling?

I had the opprotunity to go over to New Zealand for two weeks in the middle of my stay in OZ. It wasn’t really at a time when I wanted to head over there yet, as I had a lot going on in Sydney at the time,and I wasn’t wild about going alone, but I decided, what the heck, I might as well take this opportunity. That spur of the moment trip ended up truly defining my stay overseas. I loved NZ so much I ended up staying there for 2 months instead of only 2 weeks! I met many many amazing people over there, and tried some things I never even knew I would want to try, such as sky-diving, hang-gliding, etc… It taught me that I am much more independent and daring than I had ever thought of myself before. And, man, was it FUN!!