If you're thinking about the best way to spend a year out from the grey world of the UK, there are few better options than a working holiday visa for Australia and, if you're looking to go soon, why not apply for one of the best jobs you can get anywhere? 

A couple of years ago Tourism Australia launched its first 'Best Job in the World' campaign, to be the 'caretaker' on Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef, a paradise-like tropical island where the duties included snorkelling, surfing and generally just relaxing.

Naturally, the position scraped a couple of applications but it was Briton Ben Southall who beat out 34,000 other applicants from 200 countries to secure the gig.

Ben did such a good job that he's since secured a position as Tourism Ambassador for the whole state of Queensland.

And now Tourism Australia is relaunching the campaign, but this time there are SIX positions available, here's Ben to explain:

Relaunched campaign - bigger and better

So, this time there are six, that's right SIX jobs available: lifestyle photographer in Melbourne, Outback adventurer in the Northern Territory, park ranger in Queensland, taste master in Western Australia, wildlife caretaker in South Australia and 'chief funster' in Sydney.

Which of these is the best remains to be seen but all are guaranteed to blow your mate's 2 weeks in Malia out of the water as a decent holiday and put the one kid who went to your school with a decent accountancy job to shame.

Andrew McEvoy, managing director of Tourism Australia, said the scheme was being reopened in the hope of bringing even more working holiday makers to Australia.

"The value to the economy [of working holiday makers] is good but I think the fact that these kids work and holiday and get deeply into regional Australia is really important," said Mr McEvoy.

"Capital city tourism has been going for a while but regional Australia has been struggling for a while and now we're seeing it bounce back."

Ready to give it a shot?

If you want to apply for one of the best jobs in the world, all you need to do is complete an application form and upload a 30 second video explaining why you need the job.

Given there was 34,000 applications for one job last time and there are six this time PLUS the massive success of Ben's campaign, you might be in for a little competition so you should probably steer away from words like 'banter', 'top laugh', 'messy', 'bubbly' and loads of other words you see on Facebook profiles in your video.

Any working holiday in Australia is almost guaranteed to be one of the best years of your entire life but you could lock that in.

"I didn't know if I was going to be diving or skydiving or cooking or bushwalking and I did all of them," said Ben.

"It's one of those things where you've just to go for it and see where it takes you."

Ben might be right but if you really need more encouragement to apply for a job that forms the bulk of most people's day dreams, there's also a six month employment package paying you AU$100,000 (£67,400) for your 'trouble'. Closing date is 10 April.

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- Dominic Ladden-Powell is the Online Editor with the Australian Visa Bureau, an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people lodge applications for a Working Holiday Visa to Australia.

©Visa Bureau 2003-2013

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

Firstly, Visa Bureau and STA Travel's flight competition is still on, book your flights to Australia from STA Travel before 31 March and you could win the cost of your flight back, up to £1000!

No matter where you're coming from, Australia is far away - almost as far as you can get, meaning it's going to take you a while to get there. While travelling thousands of miles to literally the other side of the world only adds to the sense of adventure, it also has one large negative: jet lag.

Your working holiday visa allows you to stay in Australia for a year, while this may feel like all the time in the world to adjust to your new surroundings, the reality is your year will fly by and you'll be applying for your second year visa or getting on the plane back to the rain in no time.

Because of this, it'd be great if everyone could jump off the plane, hit the nearest bar/beach/barbecue/koala in the face and feel fine but seeing as most people have travelled from the opposite side of the world to get to Australia, jet lag rears its ugly head and reduces lots of people's first few days to a strange insomnia-riddled world of boredom and frustration until they can adjust.

We at the Visa Bureau have had some experiences with travel (over half our London office are Aussies and Kiwis) so we've asked around the office for everyone's favourite tips to deal with jetlag.

What is jet lag and why do we get it?

Jet lag is our bodies' inability to cope with a sudden change in routine. It usually happens after a long haul flight through several time zones and can affect your sleep patterns, appetite, blood pressure and bowels.

We get it for one simple reason: we aren't supposed to fly. Our body clocks are mechanisms that have carefully evolved over thousands and thousands of years to know that when the sun comes up, you eat your breakfast, when the sun goes down, you go to sleep.

So what happens when you go careening through the air at a million miles per hour to land in a strange place where then sun comes up when you're putting your pyjamas on isn't exactly the most natural of processes.

Thankfully, jet lag isn't known to cause any long term harmful effects and while its effects aren't the most pleasant, there are several things you can do to lessen its effects and get going with your working holiday quicker.

Before you go

• Get a start on your new routine: The sooner you adjust to the cycle in Australia the sooner you can start having fun. If you start while you're still at home, it won't come as such a shock to your system.

• While you don't have to stay up all night and sleep through the day, a shift of around four hours should be enough to dampen the effects.

• Change your clocks: OK, so this might be more of a psychological trick than anything physical but most people check the time absentmindedly. Having your watch or phone tell you the time in Australia can help ease you into a new time zone.

• Book your flights to arrive early afternoon (Australian time): Unless you can afford the luxuries of business or first class (in which case you can probably just pay someone to pamper your jet lag away), sleeping on planes isn't easy for most people.

• Even without the time zone change, plenty arrive off the flight exhausted from hours upon hours in a pressurised cabin of re-circulated air and the first thing you'll want to do is hit the hay.

  However, arriving in the early afternoon allows you to get a good dose of Vitamin D producing sunlight, get to grips with your surroundings and then go to bed at a normal time.

• Stop over: As above, flying for so long will take its toll. Getting off for a few hours might only prolong the journey but having the chance to get off the plane and walk around for a few hours as well as experience and intermediate time zone will allow you to recover quicker.

On the plane

• Stay awake: At least on the first leg. Napping will only serve to disrupt your sleep pattern further and any sleep you get on a plane is unlikely to be fitful so while the in flight entertainment might have lost its charm hours ago and the guy next to you might be unbelievably dull, resisting the urge to fall asleep will pay dividends later.

• Go to sleep: Two conflicting points here but unless your working holiday is your first time on a plane, you probably have some experience with jet lag already, even if you've never been as far before. Strictly a personal choice, but some sleep aids such as Kalms, a face mask or neck cushion might let you get over the gap in your cycle.

• Drink plenty of water: It's not just sleep that jetlag affects; it can throw plenty of your body's vital systems out of whack. The most important is your hydration levels. Allowing yourself to become dehydrated will only make you more tired and worsen the effects of jet lag.

• Drink plenty of water on a regular basis; eating properly will help too.

When you arrive

• Get outside: The first thing you should do is get some fresh air - if it's light, even better. Natural light will do wonders for your body's adjustment while fresh air will help to regulate your systems once more.

• Exercise: While this might be the last thing on your mind, remember that tiredness isn't the only symptom of jetlag. Being awake in at 3 in the morning because your body clock thinks it is 2 in the afternoon is just as unpleasant.

• Getting a bit of exercise in the day, even when you're exhausted, will allow you to sleep better come nightfall and let your body recharge itself.

And finally we have the strangest tip in the list:

• Shine a light at the back of your knee. No, we're not kidding, even though there's no word in the English language for the back of the knee, there are light receptors there that can influence your body clock.

• Shining a light on the back of your knee can help jar your body clock into a new time zone, don't believe us? Click here for some jargon.

It's still a possibility that you could follow all this and then still suffer from jetlag. The best thing you can do is resist the temptation to sleep when you're tired and force yourself into the new routine.

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- Dominic Ladden-Powell is the Online Editor with the Australian Visa Bureau, an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people lodge applications for a Working Holiday Visa to Australia.

©Visa Bureau 2003-2013

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

Back in October the Australian government managed to not make that many enemies (or many new enemies rather) when they announced that the price of the Australian Working Holiday Visa would increase from AU$280 (£180) to AU$360 (£232).

Naturally, everyone involved with working holidays - from our clients through to the farmers employing them come harvest time - is disappointed with the changes, but what can you do?

• Apply now for your Australian working holiday visa!

The price change does not come into effect until the New Year, meaning if you're thinking about getting a Working Holiday Visa sometime in 2013, get it now and save yourself some money!

Australia's working holiday program is one of Australia, and even the world's, most popular immigration streams with thousands upon thousands of young Brits, Irish, Kiwis, French, Germans and plenty of other countries heading Down Under for a year or two they'll never forget.

That means the government stands to make a pretty penny from increasing the price and, as the governing Labour Party is so desperately trying to return its Budget to surplus within the next year, every penny will count.

Don't give them yours!

• Click here to apply now for your working holiday visa!

The latest you can get your Working Holiday Visa for the original price with the Australian Bureau is 6pm (GMT) on 28, December, 2012.

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- Dominic Ladden-Powell is the Online Editor with the Australian Visa Bureau, an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people lodge applications for a Working Holiday Visa to Australia.

©Visa Bureau 2003-2013

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

The Western Australia branch of the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) is holding a jobs expo in Dublin, aimed at getting as many young Irish people over to Australia on a working holiday.

It was reported last week that record numbers of young Irish people, almost 20,000, who were desperate to escape gloomy economic and unemployment conditions headed Down Under on a working holiday visa in the past year.

Despite that, Australia, and particularly Western Australia, wants more of Ireland's youth. The burgeoning hospitality industry in WA is in dire need for more staff to work in new hotels and resorts and AHA WA chief executive Bradley Woods says Ireland's economic woes are Australia's gains.

"Ireland is the perfect market," said Mr Woods.

"They've got high unemployment, an affinity with WA because of the number of Irish people already here and they have the aptitude for the hospitality industry."

The working holiday visa is so accessible that holders typically have little trouble finding work in Australia but Mr Woods is bringing the job opportunities to Ireland with seminars to be held on 2 and 3 October in Dublin.

Mr Woods says there are up to 10,000 jobs available in the hospitality industry in WA each year, and as many as 5,000 of them will be promoted during the seminars.

"At the Travel and Work WA seminars, people will get information on Western Australia, find out how much they will get paid, and meet pub and bar owners, hoteliers and managers from hospitality businesses located in Perth and regional Western Australia, including beautiful Australian holiday destinations like Broome and Margaret River.”

- Dominic Ladden-Powell is the Online Editor with the Australian Visa Bureau, an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people lodge applications for a Working Holiday Visa to Australia.

©Visa Bureau 2003-2013

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

So, you're in Australia on a Working Holiday Visa, you've seen the Opera House, worn a cork hat (in an ironic way of course), shaved a koala bear, got so tanned your mother wouldn't recognise you and just generally drank more Fosters and eaten more barbecue than is probably healthy.

Now you've got a job you like, a flat which you never need to tidy (because your mum is on the other side of the world) and just generally living a pretty sweet life.

But then that year which seemed so long for a holiday suddenly seems to be seeping away and that dreaded return date is starting to come into focus on the horizon.

So what do you? Well, get a second year Working Holiday Visa of course! Let's look at how that goes.

How to get a second year Working Holiday Visa

Anyone on a Working Holiday Visa can extend it for a further 12 months if they fulfill one simple requirement: applicants must complete three months - 88 days to be precise - of work in rural Australia.

The full list of jobs which qualify can be found here but are usually categorised thus (life would be so much sweeter if we could use the word 'thus' more in conversation):

• Plant and animal cultivation
• Fishing and pearling
• Tree farming and felling
• Mining 
• Construction

Each category contains a few different jobs which you may be interested in. However, before you pop down your local pearling menagerie (like you know what a pearling place is called) to slip them a cheeky CV, bear in mind that your work must be in rural Australia.

A few places count as rural Australia though so don't worry:

• All the Northern Territory
• All of South Australia
• All of Tasmania

New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia have specific sections as to what counts as rural. These are defined by post code and can be found here.

When you are applying for your second year Working Holiday Visa, you will need certification from your employer which proves that you have completed the required amount. The evidence can include:

• A bank statement covering the entire period of your claimed specified work
• Bus tickets, accommodation or general receipts in your name
• Payslips
• Group certificates
• Tax returns
• Employer references on official letterhead.

Most employers will have their own system for providing you with evidence but few should have a problem with doing so.

Once you have your evidence you will need to fill out the form 1263 and, if you're already a Visa Bureau client, email it us at and we'll do all the hardwork for you. Alternatively, you will need to fill out the form and lodge it yourself with the Australian government at http://www.immi.gov.au/.

The most common type of second year work is fruit picking as the work is only temporary while the harvests last. You can get in, get healthy, get your certification, get out, done, another year in the sun.

I don't want to do that

The idea of standing in the sun for four or five hours a day picking fresh fruit among friends might not appeal to you, and that's fair enough. We agree that sitting on a couch chatting to friends you've never met online, slaughtering strangers on a computer game while eating something thats main ingredients are salt and grease does sound more appealing, and as long as you're content with doing that back in rainy Britain, or rainy Ireland or somewhere else rainy that isn't Australia, that's cool.

If you want to stay in Australia though, you best grit your teeth and just deal with the fact that you're going to have stay outside and get healthy with all the normals. Don't worry though, you can't overdose on Vitamin D, well you can, but you won't, probably.

No, I definitely don't want to do that, there must be another way

If you only need to have an employer say you worked for them for three months work, can't you just get them to vouch for you without actually helping them out? Perhaps for a little money, nudge nudge, wink wink?

Well, you can. You can sidle up to a farmer and say "hey Old McDonald, what say you and I help each other out?", money changes hands in a complex conspiracy of the like Dan Brown can be proud of and you're away.

On your head be it.

A recent report from the Department of Immigration showed that over 1,000 people have had their visas cancelled in the last three years because they tried to use fraudulent information on their applications.

And guess what? Almost half of them were either British, or Irish.

So what? I'm hard, I'm not scared of a little risk

What's the worst that can happen? You could get deported? So what? That's a free flight home right?

No. Six people have been prosecuted for supplying false information to a visa application and it is a very serious crime.

Reports in the Sydney Morning Herald that backpackers were aware of the scheme and are happy to use them combined with the discovery of a website cheerfully and openly offering to buy or sell fraudulent documents have wound the government up, and they've since stepped up their efforts to catch people.

If you try it on and are caught, you will receive an automatic ban from Australia altogether for three years and can often result in you being ineligible for any visa other than a tourist visa forever.

You might not want to move to Australia permanently right now, but do you really want to rule that out, forever?

And, receiving just a temporary ban from Australia can prevent you travelling to other countries, particularly New Zealand and even America.

Why risk it?

Fruit picking or being away from the hubbub for three months might not sound quite as appealing as city living but that doesn't mean it has to be a miserable chore you need to get out of the way.

Many of our clients say the fruit picking was one of their favourite parts of their trip. After all, everyone is in the same boat, of a similar age and experience and are just looking to have fun. There's no career pressure involved, no HR departments monitoring the stationery cupboard with a little too much enthusiasm or unruly bosses grilling you about it why it takes you more than 17 seconds to visit the photocopier.

You'll be out in the sunshine with friends, getting some exercise, making some money and, above all, smug in the knowledge that it'll be another year before you have to come home again.

You only get one working holiday in Australia, why risk it?

- Dominic Ladden-Powell is the Online Editor with the Australian Visa Bureau, an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people lodge applications for a Working Holiday Visa to Australia.

©Visa Bureau 2003-2013

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

We often like to kick these blogs off with a little comparison about why the cold, dark wintery gloom of Britain is in such stark juxtaposition with the summer sun and lovely girls in lovely thongs strutting the beaches of Sydney.

Yet as we approached May and, despite years of conditioning to the contrary, we got our hopes up that a beautiful British summer was hiding behind those clouds, just waiting with scorching 15 degree temperatures, irritable wasps looking for a cider to sit in and tattooed football fans looking to fight over whose pint the wasp's drowning in, you can understand our worry over this month's working holiday blog.

But then the rain came.

So, we've had nearly a month of rain here but, in true British fashion, we are also in a drought. Nearly constant, torrential downpour for almost a month and we still can't use our hosepipes, only in Britain. I don't know who wants to use their hosepipes when even the pavement is getting soggy but still, if they wanted to, they couldn't, under penalty of death (or moderate fines).

In conclusion, has our description of why being in Britain in May isn't a good idea ever really been this easy?

New Offer - Get a Greyhound 500km pass for AU$20!

Didn't think so, so if you're in Australia in May, not only are you the place to be right now but we also have a brand new offer for our platinum card members to add to all this cool stuff going on Down Under in May!

As usual we've got plenty of stuff to do across Australia but this month, for Platinum Card members only we've got Greyhound bus passes for just AU$20!

So what, I hear you say, we don't know how much they normally cost so how is that a saving?

Well, they usually cost AU$107 so I'm sure the quick witted amongst you..........and now the rest of you, have figured out that's a saving of AU$87 and the pass will get you 500km across Australia, that's 4 cents a kilometre!

To capitalise on this most awesome of awesome offers, just go to Greyhound and enter the code VISAKM in the 'promo' code box at checkout!

Sea food and eat it.

First up, we've got a lovely bit of grub to kick off May with a bang. If you're sick of discussing whether or not Marmite is nice (it's not), if Kangaroo tastes good (it does) or if Fosters is a decent beer (it's not) then you might be ready for something a little different.

Well if you happen to be in Queensland this week, head on down to Brisbane for the 18th annual Caxton Street Seafood and Wine Festival on the 6th of May for some great seafood and wine on the street, beat that for a description.

15,000 people turned up last year to sample some of the amazing delights on the menu as well as see the great line-up of performers.

It'll definitely be better than drinking Fosters and discussing Marmite.

Killin' it with St Kilda

Film festivals are top places to be, you can watch trashy films that would never make it on TV let alone the cinema and see some incredibly J list celebrities before bragging shamelessly to your friends later that you just watched the new Citizen Kane while being best man at Kevin Spacey's wedding at 'a really underground indy film festival you won't have heard of'.

If you're in Melbourne between the 22nd and the 27th you could have that very opportunity, while you might not meet the K-Space or see the next Citizen Kane, the St Kilda Film Festival 2012 still has plenty of great films from all genres and cultures on show for you to not fully appreciate, and then brag about later.

I would go out tonight, but I haven't got a stitch to wear

Backpacking is scruffy business: living out of an ageing backpack, washing your clothes as a Christmas present and spending months at a time in Saharan levels of heat probably isn't doing the best for your limited collection of threads.

Don't worry though as anyone in Adelaide between the 24th and 26th you can restock your depleting threads on the cheap, the very cheap. The Salvos Stores MASSIVE Clothing Sale takes place across almost all of the South Australian stores and, best bit, everything is AU$2,99!

Nearly nudity, tassles and boa feathers

We didn't need a more poetic title than that, we've got you now.

Burlesque is a traditionally sensual and evocative art form dedicated to the beauty that is woman which has, unfortunately, been high jacked by stripping and the whole art form has been lumped in with the clear heels, unwashed thongs and slight desperation that all men really see at strip clubs.

At least that's the flawless argument you can use when going to the Perth International Burlesque Festival between the 24th and 27th of this month.

The first annual Burlesque Festival celebrates everything about Burlesque with lessons, live shows, workshops and some of the best names in Burlesque.

Admit it though, we had you at the headline.

Delight in light in the Sydney sky at night

Sydney's iconic harbour sits comfortably in a list of the world's best sites to see: Times Square, the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, the Visa Bureau offices, the Great Pyramid at Giza, Lassie's gravesite, any self respecting listmaker will always include the Opera House.

So, no doubt if you're over that way you'll already have seen it, perhaps even taken some hilarious picture where you're leaning against it or have your fingers on the top, you're so clever and original.

But if you haven't done that, or even if you have then get yourself back down to the harbour any time after the 25th to see Vivid Sydney, when for 18 days, the city becomes a blank canvas to be covered with light and music in a kaleidoscopic of architecturally epic proportions.

It'll be like an acid trip you can't escape, doesn't that sound nice?

- Dominic Ladden-Powell is the Online Editor with the Australian Visa Bureau, an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people lodge applications for a Working Holiday Visa to Australia.

©Visa Bureau 2003-2013

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

February in the UK is dark, damp and, if you're single, depressing. Still broke from Christmas and still stuck in the depths of winter, it's no wonder girlfriends, wives and boyfriends get upset when the one good thing about the month, Valentines Day, is forgotten.

But if you're in Australia however, then February is still the height of summer, temperatures rarely drop below a FREEZING 25 degrees across the country and the only cold people moan about is the temperature of their iced vegemite lollies (these definitely might exist).

So if you're Down Under this month and are keen to rub it in your British friends' faces, then here's a look at some of the best stuff going on this month.

What would an Australian summer, or an Australian Wednesday for that matter, be without surfing? The Australian Open of Surfing takes place between the 11th and 19th of February and doesn't JUST include some of the world's top names in surfing cleaving through some of the world's top surfing waves but also features plenty of live music, fashion shows and skateboarding events for those moments when you're glancing away from the water.

The Australian summer is the time for late nights on warm porches, cold beer on hot beaches and spicy barbecues on neighbours' porches (when they're not in), it is NOT the time for swimming 2 km, cycling EIGHTY THREE km and then rounding the day off with a nice gentle MARATHON.

The Jervis Bay Triathlon Festival offers plenty of different race options between the 17th and 19th, but if you're sensible, or just obese, you can do the proper thing and just sit back on the beach with a nice cold beer (or vegemite lolly) and indulge in that most popular of pastimes: watching other people work.

Canberra is the place to be in February as the world's largest short film festival comes to town on the 19th. Tropfest, which regularly attracts a whopping 150,000 a day started life as a simple screening in a Sydney cafe but has since grown to one of the most popular events in world cinema with events not just in Australia but London, Berlin, New York and Bangkok.

If you're in or around Melbourne between the 24th and 26th, why not head down to Phillip Island to witness the best fusing of man and machine since Darth Vader took his helmet off and scared you behind the couch (your mum told us): Superbikes. Taking place over two days on Phillip Island the Superbike World Championship is fast, furious and about as dangerous as playing with fireworks on a level crossing; superbikes make Formula 1 look like the kid with glasses and asthma on cross country day.

The Adelaide Fringe Festival runs from the 24th February until the 18th March is now the largest arts festival in Australia with 52 years' worth of history to back it up. While it may be not as famous as its Scottish cousin the Edingburgh Fringe Festival, it packs just as much of a punch with hundreds upon hundreds of comedy shows, circus events, dancing events, film screenings and so much culture you'll need a cold compress and a Jeremy Kyle marathon to get over it.

- Dominic Ladden-Powell is Online Editor with the Australian Visa Bureau, an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people lodge applications for a Working Holiday Visa to Australia.

©Visa Bureau 2003-2013

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

The simple answer is light.

I learnt the hard way how not to pack a backpack when I was on a 22-day walking trek with a small group through parts of NSW and ACT national parks (some of the most beautiful mountain country in Australia) and carrying a backpack all of the way.

I think I lost two handfuls off both hips during the trek, and when we finally made it to the end and I weighed the backpack I understood why.  I was carrying just under half my weight on my back, and I was hurting.

Basic rule of thumb whether you are travelling off-terrain (bush trails etc) or just in the city, is put your heavy items in the pack level with your shoulder blades. This is the rule for both internal- and external-frame packs.

Internal- or external-frame backpack?

Internal-frame backpacks are generally more expensive, but of better quality and more comfortable to wear. A correctly fitted internal-frame backpack for example provides good back ventilation and will hold your stuff close to your natural centre of gravity.

But hey, it's also more expensive.

Pack it high, pack it low

Now this may seem confusing, but if you are travelling off-terrain with a internal-frame pack keep your heavy items on and below your shoulder blade level.   It will help keep your centre of gravity low, so you don't just topple off a mountain on a steep curve.

In the city or while on a trail with an internal-frame pack do the reverse and keep your heavy items above your shoulder blade. It means the majority of the weight will be over your hips, and that is the area that is vest equipped to carry a heavy load.

If you do choose to go with an external-frame pack (and these are recommended only for on-trail travel) load the weight high.

The best way of working out what works best weight-distribution wise is to pack your backpack a few times and walk around with it a bit.     

I personally prefer dual compartment backpacks, 'cause I got sick of pulling out my entire life every time I needed to get my socks packed in the bottom of my pack.

Some tips from my experience

Some other random tips I found from travelling:

• After much resisting, I now roll my clothes and then stuff them.
• Stuff every available space so you get a nice tight backpack.
• Use clear zip-lock bags (like the kitchen bags) to keep small related items like sunscreen and mozzie repellent together.
• Carrying a smaller day pack on your front (while you are carting your large backpack) is a good way to keep an eye on your wallet and avoid the frustrating search for money while encumbered.

Of course, you could just ditch the whole backpack thing and go with a roller suitcase (and I do know people who have done this!).

 

©Visa Bureau 2003-2013

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.