Why be an au pair?

(photo by dreamstime)

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. (St. Augustine)

So why should someone work as an au pair? We have already discussed many of the reasons why people decide to go abroad to work as au pairs. Some people are trying to fill a “gap year” in life (between studies or jobs), some simply want to have a good time without too much responsibility, to learn a new language, and still others are au pairs because they have no other way to find legitimate employment, either in or outside of their home country. I have discussed my personal reasons for going overseas as an au pair, which was a combination of several reasons: language learning, a sort of (ok, forced) gap year, and a bit of running away from where I was at the time.

But here’s a thought – why not work as an au pair simply for the love of travel? Well, why not? This is a simple, but perhaps slightly more uncommon, reason to go abroad. In today’s world, especially in western countries like the United States, it is rather frowned up to spend time without pursuing a concrete goal or purpose.

I know I have a hard time when I don’t have an actual reason to justify travel. Even now, as a working professional, I rarely spend the time and resources on travel just for the pure enjoyment of travel in and of itself. There has to be a reason to justify it, whether language study, visiting a friend or relative, or going somewhere for business.

The reality is that our world is an amazing place worth seeing and exploring. And anyone who wants to spend time doing just that should not need a reason to explain why. The travel alone should be more than enough reason to consider working as an au pair. Sure, working as an au pair is fairly hard work that you need to be prepared for, but it is a fantastic way to be able to travel and see places you may not otherwise be able to se.

So what are your thoughts? Are there any au pairs out there work took the au pair job just to travel? How was your experience?