An Au Pair is a girl (or guy) who lives with and works for a family, usually in a foreign country. The primary task of an au pair is to take care of the family’s child or children, but some housework is also usually involved. In exchange for an au pair’s work, a host family covers basic living expenses (including room and board, health insurance, and at least some transportation costs) as well as monthly spending money. Host families are also supposed to treat the au pair as one of the family, including them on outings and vacations, and generally making sure that they are doing well in their new surroundings.
Most au pairs work abroad to experience life in another country without the cost and responsibility of full-time work or living expenses. Many are looking to take a break in between high school and college, or between college and starting a career. Some work as au pairs to become fluent in their target country’s language, while others are there simply to play for a year or so before having to return to “the real world”. Some (like me) take on the au pair title to do a little of all of those things.
For any young person short on funds but big on adventure, working as an au pair is the perfect way to see some of the world. At the most, your investment will be a plane ticket and (hopefully) some money to keep on hand, and some au pairs are lucky enough to find families who will foot the bill for their flights. While there can be quite a lot of work involved, there is also plenty of play, and the au pair experience can be one of a kind, impacting you for life. Au pairs have the opportunity to move beyond the tourist version of travel to see and taste a country as a local.
Leave a Reply