What is diving or scuba diving?

• Diving is staying underwater for a long time with an air tank on your back to be able to view the underwater world up close and personal.
• A diver breathes through his breathing apparatus, looks around through a diving mask, swims calmly through the water with fins and often wears a diving suit to stay warm.
• Diving is also called scuba diving.
• SCUBA is the abbreviation of Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. That is the international term for a compressed air device such as that used by divers.

Why would you go diving abroad?

• Distraction: only a few things work better as a distraction than making a deep sea dive.
• Relaxation: once underwater you end up in a rare quiet environment, at a slow pace you swim through a completely different inhabited world.
• Adrenaline: some dives can provide encounters with special fish species or large coral inhabitants. You will never forget the thrill of swimming quietly past or through them.
• Love of nature: you will encounter so much beauty that you will often put protecting the underwater world higher on your list.

What do you need when you go diving abroad?

• Good health: diving can involve risks if you are not fit enough or suffer from certain ailments.
• Respect for the underwater world: as a diver you can destroy more than you would like.
• A bag with useful items for diving, for before and after the dive (water, sunscreen, etc.).

To what extent are you insured for the risks of diving abroad?

• On average, diving is no more dangerous than most other sports.
• However, preparation and learning about the dangers of diving are more important, so you are well prepared when you face challenges.
• It is not without reason that the diving schools first require you to obtain your diving certificate (for example PADI) before you can go out on your own. But even with your diving certificate in your pocket, it is often wise to go out with a local dive master.

What are the consequences if something goes wrong while diving?

• If you end up in hospital, you may have to pay the costs yourself if you have not taken out insurance that covers your activities.
• If you are insured for diving abroad is generally subject to restrictions by regular insurance.
• You usually also run a greater risk of having an accident or bad luck.
• Read more: Travel insurances and insurances for long term abroad - Theme
• Read more: Verzekeren van duikactiviteiten in het buitenland (NL)

What are the best dive destinations?

• Micronesia: Palau
• Red Sea: Egypt, Djibouti
• Indian Ocean: Maldives, Pemba & Zanzibar
• Caribbean: Bonaire, Cayman Islands
• Indonesia: Sulawesi (Bunaken!), Borneo (Sipidan!), Lombok (cheap) Raja Ampat
• Papua New Guinea: multiple options
• Australia: Great Barrier Reef, if in the right location
• Central America: Honduras, Cozumel (Palancar reef), Panama (Bocas del Torro)
• India: Andaman Islands, Ladakshadweep Islands
• Oman

What is rafting?

• Rafting is going down a fast-flowing river in a large inflatable boat.

What is canoeing?

• Canoeing is sailing with 1 or more people in a narrow and open boat where you propel yourself forward with paddles.
• In a canoe you use a paddle with a blade on only one side.
• Canoeing is usually done on calm water, but in certain countries, for example, fishermen also use a canoe on the open sea.

What is kayaking?

• Kayaking is sailing in a narrow boat that you often close in around your waist and where you can easily capsize and come back up.
• When kayaking you use a paddle with a blade on both sides to push yourself off in the water. Kayaking can be done at different levels, varying from small rapids with mostly low waves to long stretched rapids with high, irregular sharp bends, difficult breakers and whirlpools.
• With sea kayaking, the type of coast and the weather determine the risks and level of difficulty

What is river trekking?

• River trekking is floating down a fast-flowing river with a life jacket and a protective helmet.

What is tubing?

• With tubing, you float down a river in an inflated tire.
• Because tubing is usually offered on not too wild rivers, it is also a good way to experience the landscape.

Why would you go rafting, canoeing, kayaking, rivertrekking or tubing abroad?

• Relaxation: once on the water you will find yourself in a rare quiet environment, where you are surrounded by nature.
• Adrenaline: some kayak and raft routes provide adrenaline to every fiber.
• Love for nature: you will encounter so much beauty that you will often put protecting nature higher on your list.

What is the best place to go if you want to canoe, kayak or raft abroad?

• Canoe or raft trip on the Zambezi (at the Victoria Falls!) or on the Orange or Doring river in South Africa
• Kayaking trips to Mumba Island, Malawi
• White Water Rafting in Bali, in the Andes or the East Coast of Australia
• Kayaking, diving or surfing course in Panama
• Kayaking course on a wild river in Turrialba, Costa Rica
• By canoe (hollowed out tree trunk) down the rivers (with rapids!) of the immense Amazon region
• Kayaking trips around Vancouver (Canada)
• River rafting on the Apurimac and Urubamba rivers (Peru)
• Combine a canoe trip with wild camping and discover the Swedish lakes or the island-rich coast

What is snorkeling abroad?

• Snorkeling is swimming with a windpipe and diving goggles to be able to view the underwater world from above.
• You usually wear flippers to make it easier to move, or to be able to dive a few meters deep.
• A snorkeler breathes through his snorkel and looks down through his diving goggles.

Why should you go snorkeling abroad?

• Experience: Unforgettable impressions: the first time you snorkel among the many colorful fish is an unforgettable experience for everyone. In real life it is much more intense than you would have expected.
• Involvement: Snorkeling increases your awe for nature underwater, whether you go snorkeling with dolphins, come face to face with enormous manta rays or encounter a sea turtle while snorkeling, your view of nature will never be the same again! Stability and stress reduction: Snorkeling is not only the ultimate relaxation, it is also fantastically beautiful to float among thousands of fish and coral species, to let yourself be carried by the current along a rock wall with bright red fan corals and parrot fish that calmly look at you.

What do you need and what should you take into account when you go snorkeling?

• Environmental awareness: for example by using coral-friendly sunscreen, by not standing on corals, and by touching as little coral or fish as possible.
• Health: snorkeling can sometimes involve risks if you are not fit enough and there is a strong current.

What are the risks when practicing diving abroad?

• Snorkeling is relatively harmless.
• Do inquire well about the local dangers such as currents and certain dangerous fish species.
• To have a pleasant night's sleep afterwards, you better make sure that you do not burn your back and legs, that happens very quickly!

What are the consequences if something goes wrong while snorkeling?

• If you end up in hospital, you may have to pay the costs yourself if you do not have insurance that covers your activities.
• Are you insured for snorkeling abroad?
• Snorkeling abroad is generally not restricted by regular insurance
• Be careful not to take unnecessary risks. If there is a red flag in connection with the visit of a white shark or dangerous jellyfish, skip a day of snorkeling because your insurance will not cover you if you are careless
• Read more: Travel insurances and insurances for long term abroad - Theme
• Read more: watersport en duikactiviteiten verzekeren (NL)

Where is the best place to go if you want to snorkel and have an unforgettable experience?

• Australia: top locations you will find the Great Barrier Reef
• Bonaire: check the right places
• Egypt: top locations you will find in the south and in the Sinai
• Philippines: besides Palawan and Bohol there are several top locations
• Honduras: for example around Roatan and Utila
• Indonesia: such as on Lombok (cheap), Sulawesi (Bunaken!) and Pulau Weh (Aceh)
• Maldives: on many of the islands you can snorkel super
• Malaysia: the Perhentians and Sipidan (on Borneo)
• Panama: for example on Bocas del Torro
• Tanzania: on Pemba and Zanzibar

Where else in the world can you snorkel really well?

• Canary Islands
• Curaçao
• Greece
• Cape Verde Islands
• Malta & Gozo
• Turkey
• Thailand

What is grape picking?

• Grape picking is cutting bunches of grapes from the grapevine or vine. The bunches of grapes are removed from the grape plants in one piece and then distributed over the crates.
• You often work in an international team from different countries.
• The grape harvest is often a relatively short period, the timing of which depends on the local weather; it can sometimes be difficult to plan to arrive at the right wine region at exactly the right time.

What is fruit picking?

• Fruit picking is done in orchards where apples, cherries, olives, plums, oranges or other fruit are picked from the branches or from the ground.
• Harvesting exotic crops such as cocoa, kiwi, coffee berries and bananas also falls under fruit picking.
• Depending on the fruit you are harvesting, you may sometimes have to climb trees or steps or bend down a lot or even crawl.
• Fruit picking can be done in all kinds of places all over the world. If you organize it well and know when to be where, you can pick fruit all year round in Europe or the world.
• To prepare fruit for picking, a grower often has to do a lot of preparatory work, such as pruning, thinning and weeding. These activities in fruit growing also offer opportunities if you want to work abroad.
• Some experience in this area can make the work more fun, and also a lot more lucrative if your payment depends on how much you pick.

What are the working conditions?

• In most jobs as a fruit picker, you are paid based on the amount of fruit you pick. However, there is usually a set production level that you must achieve as a minimum, especially if the farmer provides a place to sleep and food for you.
• Try not to feel too discouraged at the end of the first day or week if it turns out that some experienced employees have picked three times as much as you. You can always try to copy their technique or ask for advice. After a week or two, your earnings and self-confidence will certainly have increased.
• You can often stay cheaply at a nearby campsite or for free at the farmer's own place
• How physically demanding the work is depends on the crop you pick and what exactly your duties are around the harvest.
• You usually have to be at least 18 years old.

Why to pick fruits or grapes?

• To stimulate your sense of involvement: sometimes you work very intensively on a farm for a long time with the same people, you often also sleep in a room with them: you have to like that, but you also make friends for life.
• To make the world around you more sustainable: by looking for work in organic farming or permaculture.
• To be profitable in a creative way: Some small farmers will not be able to pay you a wage, but offer a place to sleep and food in exchange for work. To gain new experiences: You experience much more during your stay on the farm and when you go to work than when you would travel around alone.
• To increase your self-awareness: further away from your familiar environment you discover more quickly what you can actually do and what you actually want. By going to work you encounter yourself more often, you get to know yourself better and accept who you are and want to be.
• To test your environmental awareness: by living and working in rural areas, you experience a foreign culture in a completely different and more authentic way than when you work in the tourism sector, for example.

Where can you pick grapes and fruit abroad?

• Australia: fruit picking
• England: fruit picking, especially in southern England
• France: grape picking, fruit picking
• Georgia: fruit picking
• Greece: olive picking
• Italy: grape picking, fruit picking
• Jordan: fruit and olive picking
• New Zealand: fruit picking
• Spain: grape picking, fruit picking, olive picking
• Thailand: fruit picking
• Switzerland: fruit picking

What do you need as a grape or fruit picker?

• Professionalism: you often have to work hard and hard, which is why the average slacker usually doesn't last long on a farm or nursery
• Flexibility: the weather conditions and the growth of plants don't always go according to plan, which means that your flexibility will often be called upon
• Ability to work together: being able to or learning to work together with a group of seasonal workers or with the farm family will always be necessary

To what extent are you insured for the risks as a fruit and grape picker?

There may be several reasons why you need separate insurance when picking fruit or grapes abroad

• Your local health insurance normally lapses. You then need special insurance to remain insured against illness and accidents.
• Local employers usually do not offer any, or only limited, supplementary insurance.
• The risk of accidents is somewhat greater on farms and in the fruit growing business than in other sectors.
• A number of specialized insurances offer opportunities to do (temporary) paid work abroad where you run a bit more risk, such as working in orchards or vineyards.

Read more

• Travel insurances and insurances for long term abroad - Theme
• Werken op een boerderij in het buitenland verzekeren (NL)
• Risicovol werk in het buitenland verzekeren: van sportinstructeur tot boerderijmedewerker (NL)

Paid vacancies, internships and volunteer work with organizations and institutions in work fields such as consulting, administration, communications, consulting, finance, health care, legal, social services, management, marketing, environment, education, research, organization, psychology, pedagogy, engineering, tourism and science. With sector information, destination advice and job application tips

See the following pages for jobs and vacancies per sector:

What does it mean to be a sports instructor abroad?

• A sports instructor is someone who teaches sports in theory and practice. You teach how to master a certain sport, or learn to practice it better.
• In addition, you are often busy with all kinds of practical matters concerning the requirements for the sport in question.

What does it mean to be an outdoor trainer abroad?

• An outdoor instructor is someone who teaches the theory and practice of an outdoor activity. You teach how to master a certain activity, or learn to master it better.
• With many outdoor activities, you pay extra attention to safety while practicing the activity.
• In addition, you are often busy with arranging and organising all kinds of practical matters around the activity.

Why would you become a sports instructor or outdoor trainer abroad?

• Helpfulness: it is rewarding work that you get a lot in return. You are busy transferring knowledge to others.
• Involvement: it strengthens your sense of connection with people and nature.
• Experience: You gain unique experiences in another country, in another nature and in another culture.
• Sense of freedom: especially when you are working outside in a beautiful environment.
• Self-insight: you learn independence, to trust yourself and how to react in difficult situations.

What do you need, or what skills can you acquire as a sports instructor or outdoor trainer abroad?

• Empathy: feeling for the people you teach or guide.
• Having courage: you should not be too fearful in some sports.
• Being aware of the environment, respect for the flora and fauna and the culture in which you work.
• Being aware of the organization: you must always be able to remain alert, because you are responsible for yourself and your students.
• Flexibility: the weather conditions and seasons, the physical condition of yourself and your students can have an influence.

Where can you become a sports trainer or outdoor trainer abroad?

A short list of popular outdoor destinations

• Australia
• Canada
• Chile
• Costa Rica
• El Salvador
• Germany
• Iceland
• Norway
• New Zeeland
• Switzerland
• United States

To what extent are you insured for the risks?

• Are you insured as a sports instructor abroad?
• When you become a sports instructor, special rules apply and there are also specific insurance policies that take into account the risks you can run into
• Read more:Travel insurances and insurances for long term abroad - Theme
• Read more: Verzekeren van activiteiten als sportinstructeur in het buitenland (NL)

• Activities: the work can range from reception work and maintenance work to sometimes managing a local employee
• Salary: from room and board to a salary that allows you to provide for yourself
• Accommodation: In most cases, you will stay at the accommodation itself. Sometimes you sleep in a tent or you can bring your own tent

Why would you work at a hotel, guesthouse or ecolodge abroad?

• To stimulate your sense of involvement: you often work very intensively with the same people at a hotel or accommodation for a long time, you often also sleep in a room with them: you have to like that, but you also make friends for life. To make the world around you more sustainable: by looking for work at an ecolodge or sustainable accommodation you can combine your work and interests nicely.
• To be profitable in a creative way: Some owners will not be able to pay you a salary, but offer a place to sleep and food in exchange for work.
• To gain new experiences: During your stay abroad and when you go to work, you will experience much more than if you were to travel around alone.
• To increase your self-awareness: further away from your familiar environment, you will discover more quickly what you can actually do and what you actually want. By going to work, you will encounter yourself more often, get to know yourself better and accept who you are and want to be.
• To test your environmental awareness: by living and working in special places in the world, you will experience a foreign culture in a completely different and more authentic way.

What do you need if you want to work at a hotel, hostel or ecolodge?

• Be environmentally aware: wherever you work, you will always have to take your environment into account. Every country has its own rules and customs that you will have to adhere to to a certain extent
• Being aware of the organization: every organization also has its own way of looking at hospitality and hospitality. Here too, you will have to take more into account. Just like with the limitations/challenges that some schools have due to a lack of money or facilities
• Communication skills: knowledge of the local language is not a must but it is a big advantage and in addition you will often have to be able to communicate well with the guests of the accommodation where you will be working
• Professionalism: on some days and certainly during the high season you will have to work hard
• Flexibility: the weather conditions, the behavior of animals and the growth of plants do not always go according to plan, which means that your flexibility will often be called upon
• Collaboration skills: being able or learning to collaborate with local managers, owners and employees

What is the best place to go when you want to work at a hotel, hostel or ecolodge abroad?

• Working in backpacker hostels: Mexico, Peru, New Zealand
• Working in hotels: Spain, Austria, Curacao
• Working in ecolodges: South Africa, Costa Rica, Caribbean, Malawi

To what extent are you insured for risks if you work at a hotel, hostel or ecolodge abroad?

• There may be several reasons why you need separate insurance for paid work abroad
• During work, internship or volunteer work abroad the coverage of your own local health insurance normally expires. You then need special insurance to remain insured for illness and accidents. Local employers usually offer no, or limited, supplementary insurance.
• There is a chance of accidents because, for example, you are doing work with which you have little experience.
• A number of specialized insurances offer opportunities to do (temporary) paid work abroad.
• See the pages about insuring paid work abroad and the pages about your health care costs abroad.
• Read more: Travel insurances and insurances for long term abroad - Theme
• Read more: Betaald werken in het buitenland verzekeren (NL)

Werken in de horeca of entertainment in het buitenland: wat is het, waarom zou je doen en waar kan je beste heen?

What does working on a farm abroad involve?

• Working on a farm means that you work temporarily as a seasonal or summer worker for an agricultural company. This can range from working as a fruit picker in France to herding cattle in Australia and from milking organic goats in Chile to working together within a permaculture community in the tropics.
• Employment: There is always a chance of work if you knock on a farmer's door. Many farms, especially in Europe, but certainly also in Australia and New Zealand, are usually looking for assistance, especially during the busy seasons. Small-scale farms often have work for unskilled (or non-agriculturally trained) people and will also be more open to a construction with room and board.
• Activities: There is a huge variety of seasonal jobs within agriculture and livestock farming. It can help to have experience with driving a tractor, horse riding or other work on a farm, or to have at least some feeling for working with machinery or farm animals.

Why should you work on a farm abroad?

• To stimulate your sense of involvement: sometimes you work very intensively with the same people on a farm for a long time, you often also sleep in a room with them: you have to like that, but you also make friends for life.
• To make the world around you more sustainable: by looking for work in organic farming, permaculture, or for example in the production of goat cheese, you can nicely combine your work and interests.
• To be profitable in a creative way: Some small farmers will not be able to pay you a wage, but offer a place to sleep and food in exchange for work.
• To gain new experiences: During your stay on a farm and when you go to work, you experience much more than if you were to travel around alone.
• To increase your self-awareness: further away from your familiar environment, you discover more quickly what you can actually do and what you actually want. By going to work, you encounter yourself more often, you get to know yourself better and accept who you are and want to be. To test your environmental awareness: living and working in rural areas allows you to experience a foreign culture in a completely different and more authentic way than, for example, working in tourism.

Where is the best place to go for farm work abroad?

• Australia: working holiday, agricultural work, fruit picking
• Canada: working holiday, agricultural work
• Chile: fruit picking, livestock farming
• France: agricultural work, fruit picking, grape picking
• Italy: agricultural work, fruit picking
• Ecuador: tropical agriculture, coffee, cocoa and permaculture
• New Zealand: working holiday, fruit picking, agricultural work
• Spain: olive picking, viticulture
• South Africa: ecolodges, ranches

What do you need if you want to work on a farm?

• Professionalism: you often have to work hard and hard, which is why the average slacker usually doesn't last long on a farm. Flexibility weather conditions, animal behaviour and plant growth do not always go according to plan, which means that your flexibility will often be called upon.
• Collaborative skills: being able to learn to work together with a group of seasonal workers or with the farm family will always be necessary.

To what extent are you insured for the risks of working on a farm or in livestock farming

• There may be several reasons why you need separate insurance for (paid) farm work and agricultural work abroad.
• During work, internship or volunteer work abroad your local health insurance normally lapses. You then need special insurance to remain insured against illness and accidents.
• Local employers generally do not offer any, or limited, additional insurance.
• The chance of accidents is somewhat greater on farms than with other types of work. A number of specialized insurances offer opportunities to do (temporary) paid work abroad where you run a bit more risk, such as working on a farm.
• Read more: Travel insurances and insurances for long term abroad - Theme
• Read more: Risicovol werk in het buitenland verzekeren: van sportinstructeur tot boerderijmedewerker (NL)

What is working on a sailing yacht or cruise ship abroad?

• Working on a cruise ship or sailing yacht can consist of one or more roles that can or must be fulfilled. Staff on a cruise ship or large sailing yacht can be roughly divided into three types.
• The highest in rank are the officers, which includes the captain, but also the doctor and the management staff.
• Then comes the staff, which includes shop staff, casino staff, serving staff with customer contact, beauticians and independent shop owners.
• The lowest in rank is the crew, which includes the stewards and catering staff without customer contact, but also the cleaners and the lowest technical staff.

Why would you work on a boat or cruise ship abroad?

• To gain experience: by working abroad, your work experience increases within your own field of expertise, but also outside of it in general. You experience much more during your stay abroad when you go to work than when you would already be travelling
• To strengthen your empathy: by going to work in a different culture you often strengthen your own ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes. The differences in culture, working methods and communication methods ensure that you accept other things more quickly or take them as they are. Your own perspective quickly becomes broader, wider and especially more flexible
• To increase your stress resistance: you regularly work under reasonable or great pressure; working in a different culture can be an attack on your stress resistance. Especially due to pressure that can arise because you have to communicate in a different language, have to perform new tasks or receive limited coaching. Yet it is true for almost everyone that these experiences contribute to the fact that your stress resistance increases significantly
• To discover and accept your own qualities: further away from your familiar environment you discover more quickly what you can actually do and what you actually want. By going to work you encounter yourself more often, you get to know yourself better and accept who you are and want to be.

What do you need if you want to work on a ship?

• Professionalism: you often have to work hard and a lot. Furthermore, a positive appearance and being easy to get along with are important qualities. You are a fast learner and enjoy working in a multicultural environment.
• Service orientation: especially if you have a lot of contact with the guests, their wishes always come first.
• Being flexible: Do you not need to know weeks in advance exactly what your day will look like, but is it enough to find out at the moment? Then you have a good attitude
• Communication skills: On a ship you get different guests every trip and it is important that you get to know them as quickly as possible in order to tailor everything to their wishes.
• Collaboration skills: even abroad it is important that you learn, or can, collaborate when you are working with others

To what extent are you insured for the risks?

• There may be several reasons why you need separate insurance for paid work abroad.
• During work, internship or volunteer work abroad, the coverage of your Dutch local insurance normally expires. You then need special insurance to remain insured against illness and accidents.
• Local employers usually do not offer any, or limited, additional insurance. When working on ships, you may already be insured by your employer during your work. This varies per ship and employer
• There is a chance of accidents because, for example, you are doing work with which you have little experience.
• A number of specialized insurances offer options for (temporary) paid work abroad. See the pages about insuring paid work abroad and the pages about your health care costs abroad.
• Read more: Travel insurances and insurances for long term abroad - Theme

What are the most beautiful routes in the world by boat, ship or cruise?

What is the best place to go: the beautiful and famous (top 10) sailing trips

• Along the Ionian Islands in Greece
• Along the Turkish coast
• Across the Andaman Sea
• From Bali to Sulawesi
• From Grenada and the Grenadines to the rest of the Caribbean
• Along the coast of Norway
• From Colombia via the San Blas Islands to Panama (or vice versa)
• Sailing through the Grand Canyon

What is the best place to go: the beautiful and famous (top 10) cruises

• Greek Islands (Rhodes, Santorini)
• Caribbean Islands (St. Lucia, Guadeloupe, Curacao)
• Chile: Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales
• The Nile Cruise (all of Egypt by boat)
• South Pacific (including Papeete, Bora Bora)
• Fjord Cruise (towards the North Cape)
• Antarctica (fascinating)
• Panama Canal
• World Cruise (for example 98 days from Rotterdam/The Netherlands)
• Southeast Asia