Hi there to my interweb friends!!!! Welcome any newbies to my blog, 2 Screws Loose N Moving – a blog about backpacking & traveling with a mental illness.
I hope your Monday is kicking off with a bang. I’m great. T and I just came from the Hatch Bar, where we encountered the Bearded Villains A band of merry lads, clad in black, listening to metal, and rocking some killer beards, who raise money for charity!!!! Check them out on Instagram….
Anyway, today I wanted to write about setting up shop when you get to your destination. I could write about the places I have been, but at the moment, there’s a tad bit of sadness, with a little salt to the wound surrounding the end of our first Eurotrip. I’m also still shaking the last of this episode, I’m tired, and T and I have been running round like blue arse flies. Why you ask? Not because we are sight seeing..no, we wish….we are trying to get settled in the UK.
In my opinion, there are really 2 kinds of travellers. Planned and regimented OR spontaneous and whatever will be. Remember, this is just my opinion. So, T falls into the “whatever will be” category and I fall into the “planned & prepared”. This balance means we are pretty laid back about shiznit and, we don’t like things being set in stone, just a “plan”…but, even the best planned prepper traveler could very well plan plan plan, but still hit a million walls when setting up.
So, we rocked up to Liverpool Wednesday (2 weeks ago now). We went door knocking to find a bed. Scored a great place. We got straight down to adult business. I was ready to adult. T was ready to adult. 5 days of attempting to adult, and I couldn’t know how to adult anymore. Believe it or not, when you need to set up in a new country, it can be a pretty daunting task. Take for instance, your bank was opened by your parents. You got your local library card when you were 10. Tax file number at school. Had a stack of paperwork to list for an address, a phone, SIM card, wee fee…blah dee blah, blah. So, when you have to organise, let’s say a loan, it all falls into place, easily, quickly. Sooooooooo, when you decide to set up abroad, you need to organise ALL of this, kind of at the same time….which was not the case for us, then and there. I’m certain it will all fall into place (and it had…sort of), but it is extremely draining, going here, back to there because you need this, go back there. It’s hectic. So, I thought I’d write about what you need….here it is.
VISA
This is most definitely, hands down, the easiest of all the tasks. You can travel the UK for 3 months on a tourist visa (Australians). You just fly in, have some $$$ in your bank, a place to stay, and they will stamp your hot little passport. If you wish to work, you have to get a working visa. There are varying types of visas. Follow this link for information on UK visas. I’m currently travelling on a Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa. Cut off age is 31. The Visa lasts 24 months. Can do most jobs. Can study, too. You need to have proof of funds. 1800£, roughly $3778 AUD. The process is simple. Fill out a form online. Book an appointment at your closest Embassy, and pay. Attend your appointment, get your biometrics, do an interview, and then they send your application off for approval. If you don’t like the sound of that, you can hire a third party who will do all the hard yards for you, including job placement…. But it will cost you! The whole process takes about 2-3 weeks. And you get a cool sticker in your passport. The National Emblem has a fricken unicorn on it…seriously… I want a mythical creature on my national emblem! Drop bear perhaps?
SIM CARD
At this point, when you get into the UK, it would be a really, really GEART idea to grab yourself a UK sim. For me personally, Giff Gaff is probably the best. The SIM card is free, you order it online, and it will get to you within a couple of days. When it comes, all the directions will be with the SIM card on how to activate it, and also how to add credit. Giff Gaff rates are fantastic. I get the £20 credit per month. Also, when it’s sent, it’s great for evidence of an address…… I had my SIM sent to my hostel. Sssshhhhh. Tyrone stayed with Vodafone, since he has been using them for a very long time.
NATIONAL INSURANCE NUMBER
So, you now have a UK number, and one very awesome visa stamped into your passport. Although the visa means you have been approved to work or study in the UK, when you actually get into the UK, you need to apply for a National Insurance Number. You have to apply via the phone. They will send out information, and you fill it in, return in the post paid envelope, and attend an appointment for an interview. This process can take sometime. We are up to the return the paperwork. You need this number to be paid. We did apply when we first arrived in the UK, but it got lost. So now we are doing it again….oops. Luckily we have a live in pub job, or else it would have been rice and sauce for a few weeks!!!! You can work for up to 3 months if you have applied, and are waiting for your appointment/number.
BANK
This task is a little bit harder. First, you need to pick a bank. Lloyds, Helifax, Barclays to name a few. I went with Lloyds. To open a bank account in England you need some of the following things….An address or, expected income, or both. By this, I mean, proof of address. So, utility bill, tenant agreement, anything really with your name and address on it. Expected income, to decrease fraudulent activity on your account. The National Insurance Number correspondence is great for proof of address. Some banks will only accept National Insurance Number correspondence. Some banks (Lloyds) will accept passport AND visa as proof enough (Australians). Some banks will accept an Australian address, but will need to know wage and employment details. Live in jobs pose a bit of a problem, as most banks will not accept a letter from the company. There is a list of approved employers that letters will be accepted from. The pub I’m at was not on that list unfortunately. You also need to book an appointment to open an account. The process takes roughly an hour. Sometimes, you can expect up to a week or 2 wait time for an appointment, other times you could get it the same day. Luck of the draw really. After this….you will get your account, followed shortly by your bank card in the post. Lloyds at Redhill were great. The process from start to finish… 3 days. SCORE! Originally, when we started doing this in Liverpool, we were just having no luck. So we decided to wait it out until we scored a job.
JOB
Job hunting for a backpacker is pretty easy. So many options to choose from. As I mentioned above, you can pay someone to do all the hard yards for you. For a fee, they will assist you with visas, sort out your bank account, have a SIM and phone for you, AND a job. They are referred to as working holiday specialists. Packages can be tailored to suit your needs, and generally, contact is made with them when you are on home soil. Here are 2 that we looked into:
The Working Holiday Club
The UK Pub Co
These are great options for perhaps a first time traveler, or, someone who is time poor…or just down right hates paperwork. As we were already in the UK, the above option didn’t really seem cost effective, nor appropriate for our situation. We had already organised our Visa, a hostel, SIM, and National Insurance Number. So, we did it ourselves. From my personal experience, it was a very easy task. There are so many places to look for work. When I say work, I am referring to hospitality/general jobs. You can get live in jobs, live out jobs, and volunteer exchange programs. Each option has benefits.
For me personally, a live in job is something I like. No need to worry about rentals, utility bills, transportation, and food. So all the $$$ you earn get to stay in your hot little hand. The down side to this (if you could call it that) your wage will be salary, it will be minimum wage, or a little less than (since you are getting everything else with your salary package), and some split shifts. This is a sacrifice I can make..since it will allow me freedom to save what I earn and plan my next adventure. A great person to get in touch with for live in jobs is Dee Cooper. This chick provides a free service for backpackers. She specialises in live in hospitality jobs for singles and couples, throughout the UK. You can call her or,check her Facebook for new listings. She linked us up with our current job. Live in bar/wait couple. The process from application to job offer… 4 days. It’s a beaut score too. The job we landed is at The Plough. A nice 1600s pub, where friends and their puppies come for a nice ale, and a hearty English feed. The living quarters are above the pub. We get 3 meals a day – cooked breakfast, snack menu for lunch, and main menu for dinner. We have a shared bathroom….man we even get toilet paper!!!! The rooms are clean and large with a bed, fridge, storage space, and a desk. There are 5 live in staff at the moment. From lots of different places. We just said farewell to another Aussie couple. I love it. It’s a social kind of job package, you get to hang out after close and talk sh*t. You don’t have to worry about being late either.
Live out jobs are also great. You leave work, go home, do your thing. We have met a few Aussies who have live out jobs, and share house. They love it. Freedom to do whatever they wish after work finishes. Down side (in my opinion) are expenses. The UK minimum wage is £6.70 per hour, and living cost are quite high. Please don’t quote me on this….. But I think, per month, the cost of living per person was around £700. I’m so the tight arse when it comes to living expenditure, that I’m totally going for the option with the least amount of expenses. If you are a couple, it’s cheaper. You can go for a studio apartment, which generally comes furnished, and inclusive of utilities…go Dutch on that and bobs your uncle. You also have to think of getting to/from work. I’m not sure my cloth chuck Taylor’s would withstand the winter cold and protect my little tootsies.
Volunteer placements are fantastic, challenging, and rewarding. Workaway, WWOOFing, and HelpX are great places to look for volunteer placements around the globe. You set up a profile, with a nice picture and some info, pay a small fee and your set to go. Generally, you work a couple of hours a day, 5 days per week, and are provided board and lodging for your contribution (this is variable depending on the placement). The work can be house work, child care, eco farms, renovations, working on boats, studs, camp sites.. You name it, it will probably be available. The best part to this kind of placement is that it is rich in experiences. Generally, you are working with families and other volunteers. You have the opportunity to learn new skills, languages, experience new cultures as a local, and this option is great for the budget minded travellers. You will also make life long friends in the process. We have been accepted for a work away gig in Wales, on a self sustainable holding. Unfortunately, we didn’t have 2 razoos to rub together, so this is currently on the back burner.
Some other options are gumtree, indeed, and work about UK. Or you can totally do the old resume drop. Something to be mindful of is when seasons are due to pick up. Pre Christmas, Summer, or Snow Season. Many places are looking to hire before the busier periods.
I’d love to hear about others experiences….good, bad, or ugly.
2 screws loose n moving 