Au Pair Cultural Immersion Gap Year in Italy

Thanks to Scotia Personnel I got to experience one of the best and most exciting years of my life being an aupair! Richelle and Marilyn were so attentive and patient, and always available to answer any questions I had. They do such an amazing job making you feel taken care of and ready for whatever awaits you on this adventure. This was a year of my life where I learned a lot and met so many great people! It was so worth it and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking into these kind of opportunities!

In October 2024, I learned about Scotia Personnel and the work they do to help young people like me travel the world. My name is Breanne P., and I am in my second year of university. Since I was young, I dreamed of travelling the world after I finished school. However, after learning about Scotia Personnel, my dream happened a lot sooner than expected. Last summer (May 2025), after Scotia Personnel helped me figure out all the logistics of my trip, I was able to fly from Canada to Italy and live there for three months. During these months I lived with a lovely family with a mother, father, 13-year-old son, and 11-year-old daughter. They also had two cats and a nanny who was so sweet. I was shown and told my responsibilities, mostly picking up and dropping off the kids at their functions and doing activities with them. We would go out to eat, go exploring, go to the park, or go dancing. On the weekends I would take the train and visit a different place in Italy. Sometimes I even went with the family to different places. I also had a week off, so during that time I decided to go to Paris in France and Barcelona in Spain. I made some wonderful friends there, connecting with other solo travelers when I was going places alone. My family was so sweet, and it was so AMAZING! During the hours I was off, I would either meet with another au pair or hang out with some Italian friends I met there. During the whole trip I visited so many different places like Pisa, Florence, Rome, Cinque Terre, and more. Furthermore, I made so many great friends from all over the world: Africa, Sweden, the USA, Canada, Italy, Mexico, Amsterdam… And I had so many new experiences. It was one of the best decisions of my life, and I am so happy I did it!

I found out about Scotia Personnel when walking through a career fair through my university. I was taking engineering and only had some experience working with kids when I did babysitting years before. I still applied because I thought going abroad for the Summer would be a great opportunity and even though I only had a small amount of experience in childcare, I had done good work in the past. Thanks to Scotia Personnel, I had two experiences working abroad. My first experience was when I got to work as a camp coach in The United Kingdom and the second time, I worked as an Au Pair in Italy for a family with two young boys. Both experiences, the most valuable things Scotia Personnel did was guide me through the process for my travelling, get me in contact with people I would be working with and they were understanding about any questions and problems I had when applying because it was my first time travelling out of country by myself. Before travelling, I tend to get nervous and anxious and Scotia Personnel really helped with my nerves. The first year, they got me in contact with another camp coach who I made a great friend with and the second year, I was speaking with my host family (now called my second family) a lot before leaving and helping me get in touch with people I would be spending my Summer with really helped ease my nerves both times. Both Summers were amazing experiences and before I got the call from Scotia Personnel after I applied the first time, I never would have thought I could have a job abroad while I was still in university. But more importantly, I never saw myself as a childcare worker. I did it before but I never thought it was more than a favor for my family friends (that I happened to get paid for). But now that I had my two experiences abroad, meeting new friends, experiencing different parts of the world and feeling like I had an impact on the kids I worked with, I can't imagine myself not having worked with Scotia Personnel. Which is crazy because I was debating on going to the career fair in the first place. If anyone is debating on taking a Summer to try an experience like becoming a camp coach or an Au Pair, I couldn't recommend it enough and Scotia Personnel made it so simple and way less stressful than I thought it would be. Also, being an Au Pair and a camp coach are very different experiences (I can't recommend one over the other either. They're both great but one feels like a fun summer camp with a different bunch of kids every week, and the other feels like you're a big brother/sister for your new family for a few months) and the process for recruiting for each of them are really different but I was able to do both seamlessly. So that is a testament to how easy they made the process. Thanks to everyone at Scotia Personnel, I had two of the best Summers of my life!

Scotia Personnel selected a lovely Italian family for me to AuPair with. For starters, I met them in France at their beachfront summer home. The family treated me very well and gave me a weekly stipend of 100 Euros. I spent most days hanging out with them on the beach, participating in outdoor activities, reading with my host brother, and engaging him in conversational English. After spending a few weeks in France, we then drove to their scenic home near Lake Como, in Italy. Throughout my experience in Italy and France, Scotia Personnel checked in with me to make sure that I was happy. My host family gave me free time on the weekends to explore other cities in Italy. I took the train to neighboring cities like Milan. Overall, my experience was amazing and I am so thankful for Scotia Personnel and their professionalism every step of the way.

Going abroad can be daunting, that's why you need expert companies like Scotia Personnel to help make your experience seamless and unforgettable. Go to Italy you won't regret it!

Shout out to Marilyn and Richelle!

The Scotia Personnel team are so fantastic! From the beginning to the very end they were there to answer any questions I had with a smile on. I first was contacted by Richelle (who's amazing) and she has really helped me with everything. Marilyn is also really helpful and knowledgable. The team is professional, punctual, and really friendly making them the perfect company to pair with for this experience. My au pair trip was the best decision I've ever made and it wouldn't have been possible without them. I would really urge anyone who wants to be an au pair to go through an agency for at least the first time. Because I had such an amazing experience, I would like to work for an agency myself one of these days and help others to accomplish their goals. Thank you so much Scotia Personnel, you've changed my life!

I started working with Scotia Personnel in October 2017. After hearing Marilyn speak at my college, I knew this was a company I wanted to partner with. At first contact, they helped me decide on what country I wanted to go to, sending me heaps of information about the destinations. When I decided to go to Italy, Scotia Personnel talked me through the process of interviewing with families. They checked in before the interviews and we discussed how I should present myself, key points about the family to take note of. Also, after each interview, they called again and we talked about what went well, what I liked and didn't like about the families, and what the next step would be.

When a family and I decided on each other, Scotia Personnel helped me with all of the legal paperwork, signing the contracts, and applying for a visa. I can honestly say that without the help of Richelle, I wouldn't have been able to navigate the Visa process. Once I got to Italy, Scotia Personnel checked in on me several times throughout my 10-month stay, and ensured I had a smooth and positive experience!

Scotia Personnel is a phenomenal company to work with. They are a highly organized and professional group of individuals who guide you through each and every step of the process to go abroad. Scotia Personnel patiently answers every question asked of them quickly and thoroughly. Throughout my entire experience with this illustrious company so far, Marilyn and her staff have been nothing but kind and informative. They were with me every step of the way, from picking a country, to interviewing with families, going to Italy, and returning home from my placement abroad. I highly recommend working with Scotia Personnel, and am looking forward to any future dealings I have with them!

This past year in the race of trying to find a summer job I stumbled upon Scotia Personnel on my university's job listing site. The job listed was an international Au-pair/ English Tutor and I knew that I wanted to go to Italy, but I didn’t know how I would make it happen. I applied anyway and I received a call. From there, everything was explained to me clearly and professionally. Scotia Personnel helped me realize that it was beyond possible for me to go! So, with all the program information in mind, I decided that I would go. When it was time for me to pick a family, they made sure that the families I chose from were safe and fit well for me. Through them, I found a wonderful family that I stayed with for 3 months in a small medieval town called Sarnano (near Ancona). It was amazing! We went to Rome, Tivoli, Florence, and Turin. By myself, I traveled to Milan, Bologna and even Ibiza in Spain! I learned so much Italian while I was in Italy, I went with a basic understanding of Italian and expanded my knowledge far beyond what I ever thought I would learn! Now I can read books and watch shows in Italian with little difficultly which feels amazing as I’ve been monolingual for most of my life. While I was away, Scotia Personnel checked up on me every so often to see if I was doing well and that I was happy. I’m so glad that I au-paired through them because they provided me another level of support that’s necessary when traveling abroad. Thank you so much Scotia Personnel!

This summer of 2019 I traveled abroad with Scotia Personnel. I stayed in Spain for one month and also Italy for one month. I had an excellent experience from start to finish. The associates at Scotia Personnel helped me through every step of the application process. I was paired with two wonderful and very accommodating families who went out of their way to make me feel like I was a member of the family! While working I was able to safely venture out into the city and explore with ease. Being completely immersed in the culture was such an incredible experience giving me memories to last a lifetime! I would recommend this program to anyone interested in travelling and networking! This is an opportunity you absolutely can't miss!