Work & Travel New Zealand

It has been quite a journey! Choosing to come to New Zealand has been nothing short of amazing. Going through this program was the best way to do it ESPECIALLY doing the welcome week. I cant even believe I was debating doing it before coming because I would be having a totally different experience. The welcome week introduced me to 12 people in the same boat as me and we have been having an amazing time. All the experiences we’ve had together and still are. We are now a family and have been living together. The help and guidance from staff has been amazing and so helpful, I highly recommend! The service that has been provided is something that I’ve greatly appreciated. I had many questions before coming and everything always got answered right away.

I decided to go abroad after graduating from college because I never studied abroad for a semester. Typically, traveling stresses me out, but I knew it would be an experience of growth, and it was something I wanted to do before moving on to graduate school or a career. InterExchange was extraordinarily helpful, and helped me take care of all the logistical concerns that would normally stress me out, or that a study abroad program within a university would usually help with. They provided structure to my plan to travel, and without that I probably wouldn't have gone abroad.

The most helpful things they offered, for me, were help setting up a bank account and calling me before I left the US to let me know I needed to get a year's supply of my prescription medication from my doctor. That's not something I would have thought of! They were available my phone before I left to answer any questions I had, and no question was viewed as silly or too small. When I arrived in New Zealand, they offered tons of support, and are always there to chat, to offer travel recommendations, or recommend the best hostels in various cities.

I did the welcome week and I highly recommend it. It helped to be with a group of people while adjusting to a new country, and made it really easy to make friends. The places we visited were awesome, and it's a great value for the cost.

I'm still in New Zealand, and my life has already become enriched by traveling here on my own. InterExchange has made it so I can focus on the fun parts of traveling without stressing about the logistical concerns.

Battered from life and confused on spirituality, life and career goals, and even if I wanted to live, I decided I had to change something to strive for a better life. So I changed perspectives. I obtained so many in New Zealand. I lived with a 34 year old self-sustainable hippie away from society up in a mountain out of a house he built, living off the land, using solar and wind power (was going to make a hydroelectric generator). I stayed on a sheep farm, another mega farm, made so many friends on a hop-on hop-off bus, traveled ALL of Middle Earth, traveled in a car with new mates, and did the best hikes I've ever done. I am no longer suicidal, I have found my spirituality (an interconnectedness of everything, and so much more...), am pursuing my career path, have so many life goals, and most of all, I'm happy :)

I have traveled Europe since and am looking forward to traveling SE Asia and Australia next.

I couldn't have asked for anything more. What a beautiful life.

I was so nervous to leave my country and go off alone. I must have contacted Interexchange at least 4 times and talked with them before making the decision to go abroad and I'm glad that they were there to coach me and talk me through it. Of course now that I'm here I realized I probably could have done it all by myself, but it has been really nice to know that I have someone I can call within the country to help if I have a problem. Beyond that, interexchange's in-country partner has been tremendously helpful in their resources for finding work and for helping me decide which adventures I wanted to partake in while I'm here. So glad I have had access to these resources!