Working in a tropical paradise
I spent a total of 5 months in Australia and did an internship in an Australian hostel for about 3 months. I arrived in Australia at the end of November and started working on one of the Great Barrier Reef islands a few days later. I was an intern supporting the reception team and worked 2 days a week. My main tasks included checking guests in and out, sorting car and snorkel hires and answering calls and emails as well as helping out on the bar whenever needed. I’ve never worked a reception job before but everyone was super friendly and helped me whenever I had any questions. As I was living on site, I also quickly made friends among the other staff and spent most of my free time with them. After a few weeks I decided to pick up some paid shifts in housekeeping mostly to keep myself busy but also to get a little extra money for my travels after my internship. At the very beginning of my time in Australia, I was really overwhelmed by basically everything - it was too hot, too many people and everything seemed so exhausting. However I am really glad that regardless of how I felt, I still made an effort to go out with my roommates, I still made sure to spend lots of time with all the other staff and now, a few months later, they are like my family far from home and I couldn’t be happier to have met them. Apart from the social aspect, living and working on a tropical island feels unreal as well - waking up with a beach right in front of my room or spending my days off doing hikes where I see koalas is something I could’ve never imagined back home. I would definitely recommend doing an internship like that or working abroad for some time, because it not only teaches you what having a job in a different country is like, it also is a one in a lifetime experience of meeting people from all around the world, all in the same situation as oneself.









