Financing the big OE

By JANINE OGIER

When their feet itch and foreign shores beckon, many thousands of young New Zealanders quit their job, sell all their worldly possessions and buy a ticket to fun and adventure on the other side of the world.

Everyone has a different motivation for the big overseas experience, but the main reason is to leave this country at the bottom of the world behind for a while and check out how others live, work and play.

To do that with ease, preparation is crucial and saving is essential, even if you are planning to work in Britain.

Bede McCarthy, 27, from Auckland, is working as a journalist in central London.

He headed off on his OE because of mild boredom socially.

"I just felt that I'd done what I could in Auckland and a lot of my friends were settling down, so the next logical move was a bigger city, which means going overseas," he says.

Although he's keen to improve his career prospects, it wasn't his main motivation. "It's about everything - fun, adventure, social life, work, change, new friends."

Just how much money you need before leaving depends on individual circumstances, but McCarthy says most people going on a working holiday to Britain need about £2000 ($5900). The visa rules mean you must prove you can support yourself for a month.

"I worked on the basis that you don't want to turn up in an exciting city and worry about money," McCarthy says.

"I know the kind of lifestyle I enjoy and I wanted to keep enjoying, plus I knew I had about a month of free accommodation. I set a target of about £3000, which I ended up beating by quite a bit."

Although some people envisage the plane ticket as the big purchase, McCarthy says it's probably the least expensive thing.

"If you're prepared to doss down in a flat with 10 people then you can do things very cheaply. But if you're going in your late 20s you probably can't be bothered with that."

His cost of living has been low, but he's had budget blowouts on clothes and nights out at expensive clubs. "You need to spend a bit of money on clothes when you first get here so you don't look like a complete tourist," he says.

The price of a round-the-world fare New Zealand-Thailand-London-Los Angeles-New Zealand starts from $2199, plus taxes, according to STA Travel. The cheapest one-way fare to London from Auckland is $1050, plus taxes, departing in November, and STA Travel's 18-month open return fares to London start from $2300.

Tineke Bright, 25, of Auckland, steps on to a plane today - destination London.

She made a last-minute decision to change a holiday in Europe into her big OE. "I have got the travel bug and there was no reason I shouldn't go, and it was easy to change my ticket. It's now open and I can come back whenever I want to," she says.

A place to sleep is a necessity but dossing is one of the quintessential OE adventures. It means unrolling your sleeping bag on the couch at the house of friends or relatives for a minimal cost.

Joining a hostel association can reduce your accommodation bill and give you discounts on transport.

A dormitory room in a London hostel starts from about $46 a night, and share apartments can be arranged by STA Travel from $67 a night.

Both McCarthy and Bright have siblings in London, so initial accommodation costs weren't a budget factor.

"I hadn't planned this until a few weeks ago so I don't have much savings, but I sold my bed and my car," Bright says. "I have enough to last a month or so, but I imagine it will get chewed up quickly by the pound."

She's hoping to do some marketing contracting in London. "I will probably just temp for the first couple of weeks until I find something I like."

Before leaving, Bright registered with six online recruitment agencies in London. She paid a $70 fee to enrol with the 1stcontact.co.uk service which aims to ease the transition to live in Britain and provides information on recruitment agencies, sets up a bank account for you, and does London orientation tours on arrival.

Through STA Travel, recruitment firm TMP Hudson offer a free service for young professionals heading to Britain and Protocol Teachers can similarly arrange a position for teachers.

For a complete change to a career job back home, Esprit Hospitality can set up a hospitality or secretarial job in advance - they charge $30 through STA Travel. And the Original London Pub Company organises work at drinking establishments in London or rural England.

UK working holiday visas cost $110 and online applications can be made at www.britain.org.nz. It takes about a month. The visa entitles you to work in Britain for up to two years if you are 30 years old or under on arrival. Previous restrictions on the type or length of employment have been abolished.

Some Kiwis can get a grandparent entry certificate or even a British passport, depending on your heritage. When you arrive to work you need to organise a national insurance number. Then, if you want to be able to bring some retirement savings home with you, you need to opt out of the national insurance superannuation scheme and channel the funds into a private savings account - any large insurance company can arrange this.

Carrying travellers' cheques is a thing of the past and few backpackers get money wired to them - all the adventurers spoken to for this article are using credit cards to pay for their trip. They load their savings onto the card and spend with it or make cash withdrawals along the way.

They all opened a UK bank account before departure - it's far more complicated to do it when you get there.

McCarthy saved money, saved his holidays and sold most of his stuff.

"I bought a one-way ticket and the money in my account is all I have. I did leave my New Zealand credit cards open, which means I have a lot of extra credit at my disposal if I really get into trouble."

His main tip for other travellers is to forget about New Zealand dollars. "Transfer your money into pounds and from the moment you get off the plane think in pounds. Then you'll realise that food and such are actually quite cheap here, but the salaries are just a bit lower."

Auckland systems analyst Kelly Estcourt, 28, is currently living in London and working in information technology for an architecture firm.

He's on his second OE using his British passport. "I travelled around Europe in 1999. This time it is more about earning pounds. Along with that, it is very easy and cheap to get somewhere fun from here."

For this trip, Estcourt saved about $15,000 and spent $4000 in a six-week stay in Thailand first.

He recommends having a daily budget for travelling. "After travel has been paid for, have a fixed amount to spend on food, booze and snooze with some left over to buy some extras," he advises. "It takes a lot of effort to be a true backpacker on a shoestring, which I cannot be bothered with any more."

The daily budget also depends on where you are - Third-World countries are obviously cheaper than many European destinations.

Getting around is a major budget concern. A National Express Tourist Trail Flexipass in Britain is valid for 30 days with up to 15 days' travel. It costs $576, or $439 for travellers under 25. A two-week unlimited bus pass around Europe with Busabout will set you back $689 or $629 for students and travellers under 26.

By travelling light and leaving favourite expensive possessions at home you can save a lot of hassle and worry.

Backpacks can be seriously overrated, Estcourt says, while suitcases with wheels can be dragged almost anywhere. "With a backpack even if you start off packing light you will accumulate stuff. An hour looking around for cheap lodgings with a 20kg backpack is a killer ...

"You end up spending more than you would want to just to get it off your back."

From a safety perspective, Estcourt advises keeping credit and ATM cards separate and having some back-up cash too. Keep valuables with you and make copies of your passport, documents and visa.