“My SWAP experience was everything a traveller needed and more. I felt right at home and ready to tackle it all. Thanks to a great staff – thank you a million times over!”
–Nicole Santini , SWAP Australia, Concordia University
From where I sit today, I realize more than ever how SWAP has changed my life. It has been almost three years since I returned from Australia; however, there has not been a day that goes by when I did not daydream about where I would travel next.
Looking back on my travels, I am amazed at how much I've experienced, seen, and learned in my travels. At times, I tended to worry too much about where my next job was going to be and how much money I had left. In retrospect, I think, "WOW, what I year I had!" Climbing Ayers Rock at sunrise, feeding crocodile, and sleeping in a swag under the clear night sky in the outback are just a few of the experiences I had.
It was not all fun and adventure. I actually worked a great deal of my time abroad. My employment included everything from working at Sega Video Games in Sydney where I met heaps of other backpackers to volunteering with the Men's World hockey Cup at the site of the 2000 Olympics to cooking for the workers on a 14,000 acre-8,000 sheep farm in Western Australia. At one point, my friend and I were so short on cash that we walked the suburban streets of Adelaide selling hand painted greeting cards for $6 a package to raise money for epilepsy.
I would like to thank SWAP for providing me with the experience that has changed my life dramatically. I now look forward to using the information and knowledge gained through SWAP to organize my adventure to Europe and wherever else my travels lead me
–Laurie Webb, Trent University
We arrived in Sydney in September early in the morning, after a very long plane ride. We were met at the airport by SWAP, who took us to our hostel and explained a few things.
We bought a bus pass with Oz Experience and headed up the coast a few days later. We stopped in Stanthorpe to work on a fruit farm for about a month. We met a lot of incredible people and it was really hard to leave, but that is what travelling is all about...meeting people and saying goodbye a couple of days later. We stopped to work two other times on our way up the coast. None of the jobs were glamorous and they all started at an ungodly hour. Cotton chipping (weeding cotton fields) was by far the earliest, the alarm was set for 3:00am. Tully is another great place to stop if you are willing to work with spiders and anything else you could imagine. The banana plantations are always looking for workers. Working was where we met our closest friends because everyone is there to save money so they can continue their travels.
Throughout our travels we did a lot of amazing things:sea kayaking, surfing, scuba diving, camping on Fraser Island, sailing on the Whitsundays. We also travelled throughout central Australia which is a lot different but equally as beautiful. We saw a lot of wildlife, not a lot of people or towns though. The landscape alone was breathtaking. We made the long journey up Ayers Rock and checked out Kings Canyon. We finished the loop and visited the south coast stopping at the many attractions along the way
Travelling in Australia was the most amazing experience of our lives. We learned so much about other cultures, countries and met so many wonderful people from all over the world. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves adventure, trying new things and meeting new people!!!
– Angie Seth and Robin Mario, SWAP Australia
“The highlight of my trip was the financial independence! I had the freedom to travel the country and experience the culture.”
– Trevor Dean Baldwin, SWAP Japan, Non-student
“A summer I will never forget! I learned about freedom, independence, hard work, patience, and cultural differences. It was a fabulous experience. I wouldn't have changed a thing.”
– Erin Ramsay, SWAP Ireland, Mount Allison University
