In this episode, we welcomed Alex Stuhr, a seasoned traveler from Saskatoon. After beginning her international journey in vibrant Australia, she seized the opportunity to explore nearby New Zealand and decided to move there and immerse herself in the local hospitality scene, working in restaurants and hotels. Listen to how she braved the challenges encountered with her partner and her current reality as a thriving bar manager in her hometown.
CBIE Audio Alumni - Alex F1 230704
Emily: [00:00:00] Before we begin, we would like to recognize that this podcast is hosted from the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe. We at CBIE are grateful to have the opportunity to learn, work, and live on this land. Welcome to Audio Alumni, a podcast that features both Canadian and international voices sharing their lived experiences of going abroad.
Emily: These conversations offer insight into the opportunities, the challenges, and the transformational impact that an international experience can bring. In this season, we are talking about working and traveling overseas. You'll hear personal stories from our guests about what inspired their travels, what obstacles they had to overcome.
Emily: Um, and ultimately how their time abroad shaped their lives today. This podcast is brought to you by the Canadian Bureau for International Education or CBIE in partnership with International Experience Canada. CBIE is a national nonprofit association dedicated to supporting the Canadian international education sector in its global engagement through advocacy, [00:01:00] capacity building and partnerships.
Emily: International Experience Canada or IEC gives Canadian citizens aged 18 to 35 the opportunity This podcast is brought to you Work and travel abroad. I E C provides youth with a path to a work permit or visa to work and explore one of the 30 countries and territories. Taking part in I E C allows youth to gain valuable international work experience while exploring the world and finding inspiration.
Emily: My name is Emily Harrington and I am so excited to be your host this season for audio alumni.
Emily: Today, let's welcome Alex Stewart, a seasoned traveller hailing from Saskatoon. Alex's adventure began when she decided to take a leap of faith with her partner and embark on a journey to Australia. What was supposed to be a short trip turned into a year long stay as she found work in the service and hospitality industry and fell in love with the vibrant Australian culture.
Emily: Alex and her partner had an opportunity to go abroad again, this time adventuring to New Zealand. They were able to embrace the van life before settling [00:02:00] into a lively city. Despite the challenges, Alex and her partner still remain a strongly bonded pair, now living in Saskatoon discussing their next adventure.
Emily: Alex, I'm so excited to get an opportunity to chat with you. I went down the rabbit hole a little bit learning about your story and... your experiences in Australia and New Zealand, and I cannot wait to hear about your story. So for anyone who has not taken a deep dive down the rabbit hole, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Alex: I first started traveling, I think it must have been 23 or 24, just about. I took my first IEC experience to Australia, and maybe we'll get into the details later, but it was It was kind of a roundabout decision, um, at the time. It was kind of, uh, what should we do? What can I do? I'll just try this. And it was the crazy experience of my life.
Alex: Honestly, it was wild. There were so many ups and so many downs, but I was just hooked immediately. So, like, exactly [00:03:00] the next year afterwards, I took another IAC visa to New Zealand, which was also amazing. And then I kept traveling for the next few years, too, because I couldn't just stop. Wonderful.
Emily: So, what I want to dive into is that first experience of what led you to taking time in Australia.
Emily: Like, what drove you to say, let's move to Australia?
Alex: I know there's usually a lot of, um, More work related reasons or more planning that goes into this kind of decision. Um, but I actually had been with my partner for a couple of years and he is not from Canada originally. So he actually moved to Canada on a student visa and it was expiring and he couldn't get it extended.
Alex: So we really had to decide what should we do at this point in our relationship to stay together. And we actually were both working at a hotel, which was a really fun experience. You meet a lot of people from all over the world at [00:04:00] hotels. It's a very diverse staff usually. And so we had a couple of co workers who were Australian guys.
Alex: And they were in Canada on exchange visas, and they were about to go home in a couple of months. And then we thought, I think we can both go to Australia. I think we just follow them there. And they were excited to have us come and visit them at their home. So we said, okay, let's, let's get IEC visas. We can both go to Australia and you know, it'll be fun. We'll give it a go.
Emily: Very cool. So it sounds like it was a very quick decision. What was that whole planning process like? We really thought we had a solid plan. These are the kind of lessons that you learn when you travel, is like, we really thought it was a very solid idea. We were like, okay, we're gonna get the visas.
Alex: We know people in this city. We know people in this city. We'll land here. We'll, we'll visit with people here. We'll have somewhere to stay. And then we can go to the next city and we'll find [00:05:00] work there. Well, actually, immediately the plane started falling apart because we missed our connecting flight. Oh, no!
Alex: It was like one of those awkward situations where as soon as you get to the first check in counter, the person who was like organizing our tickets was like a little concerned. And they looked at us, and they looked at the tickets, and they're like, Well, this is a very tight connection. And we're like, Yeah, that's just how it got booked.
Alex: And they're like, Let me see if I can change this and then after like 15 minutes, he came back and said, no, but I think it'll be okay. And he didn't really seem confident when he said that. And so we ended up missing our flight by like an hour, but there was like no way we're going to make the connection.
Alex: And we're actually in the Philippines, which was pretty crazy. Uh, so that was a really fun first place. They actually let us into the country for a few hours. Um, they put us up in a hotel, but just like driving through the streets of Manila at like three in the morning is a very wild experience if you've never been there.
Alex: Oh my goodness. So then we go [00:06:00] back to the airport, we have to go through security and all that again. And finally we land in Brisbane about 12 hours later than planned. Um, we're got a really lovely host and she said, oh, it's okay. You can still come. Like, I, I don't mind. Even though it was like one in the morning.
Alex: And we did with our friends and we really enjoyed the first couple of weeks and then, um, it got to job hunting and it was just absolutely the worst time of year to be in the area that we were in. We were expecting like, oh, it's a touristy area. We're in Northern Queensland, which is like, gorgeous. It's near the Great Barrier Reef.
Alex: There's a lot of tourism there we thought we'd be able to find jobs easy. It was like the wrong season for that. It was like the height of summer. It's like the very wrong time to be trying to find jobs and cams. So we really had to like pivot and like figure out a different plan.
Emily: So was that your first experience like actually traveling abroad?
Emily: Is this giant leap of faith to the other side of the world?
Alex: For the most part, I mean, I'd done like family [00:07:00] trips. To like the States and I was very lucky in high school. I was able to take part in an exchange program. I went on a student exchange to Japan, which was amazing. And maybe secretly where I started my level of travel, but I was very like chaperoned and we didn't really have to organize anything ourselves.
Alex: So that was like the baby steps version. So this was definitely like the first time I was like. Yeah, we're figuring things out on our own. Okay, well, first of all, that's absolutely commendable to take that kind of a leap of faith. Like, that's not a small move to make and to make with your partner. That's absolutely amazing.
Emily: So I want to hear all of the details about what it was like. So how long did it take you to find a job and get settled? Did you have to move to a different part of Australia or were you able to stay in Queensland? What was all of that? We... We realized pretty quickly we'd have to like, really pivot. We were like, this plan seemed like a good idea.
Alex: [00:08:00] We thought we had it all organized. We have to switch it up 100%. So, um, we found some other travelers. There's a lot of good resources in Australia for other backpackers to organize road trips and stuff together. We met a couple of different people on the way. The funniest part is we brought roller suitcases.
Alex: I don't know why, we thought that was a good idea. We're like, we're not going to move around very much. We'll just bring roller suitcases. That's my first piece of advice. Do not bring a roller bag. Just bring a backpack. It's so much easier. We went to the store. We swapped out for backpacks. We met some other travelers.
Alex: We hitched a ride, honestly, down the coast. Pretty much the entire way down to Melbourne. So we met a few different people. Other travelers and actually a local guy as well gave us a ride at one point. We just made our way all the way down the coast, which was really nice. Actually, it was like... impending doom the whole time financially, but it was so gorgeous and like [00:09:00] amazing to be exploring the coast of Australia.
Alex: We were pretty excited to be taking our little like detours and going to the beach. We pulled over and like fed wild dolphins one day and we did some like roadside camping and it was just like a gorgeous time. So that was really cool and we met a lot of other people as well. So, we slowly made our way down to Sydney, and we thought, Oh, maybe we should go to Sydney, but actually, along the way, every Australian person we met said, No, you should go to Melbourne.
Alex: You'll love Melbourne. So, we're like, okay, we'll trust. We'll trust. So, we went to Melbourne. We're getting, like, pretty low on money, to be honest, but I had to believe in myself, basically, was the lesson I learned. Like, you have to, you have to trust that you can make it through. We stayed in the hostel for a couple of nights, then we found like a shared backpacker house.
Alex: So it was like 12 of us living in like a six bedroom house. Uh, so that was super fun. There was only one bathroom. That was my favorite part. [00:10:00] Sometimes that's the experience with other travelers. Um, and then we were job hunting and it kind of got down to the last couple of weeks. I think I put my last few hundred dollars into rent for a couple of weeks.
Alex: And my partner was like, okay, this is it. Like, this is the push. We've got like two weeks here. And then finally we got a couple of interviews, although there was an evening that I came home from an interview and my partner was like, no, I don't think we're going to find work. Like I'm looking at plane tickets right now.
Alex: And I was like, so upset. I was like, no, you can't, we're not doing that. I believe in us. Like I had a good interview today. Like, I know we can do this. And I asked him why, like what his breaking point was. It's like kind of a funny story, we joke about it all the time now. He had gone to the grocery store to just get a couple of things for dinner.
Alex: And um, I think he literally just went and bought a couple of potatoes. They were priced by weight. So when he got to the cash register, his card was [00:11:00] declined. And he had to go back and choose like two smaller potatoes. To the saddest story. But it's really funny now too, it's like we can really laugh about it, so we always just joke like, oh. This is, you know, just potatoes, you know, like, it seems like the worst moment. Exactly, like, literally, it's just small potatoes. It seems like the worst moment. But then the next day I got a phone call back and I got a job.
Alex: Amazing! I think like three days later, he got a job. And then a couple of weeks later, we found a really great apartment, like, in the middle of the city center. So, it really did go uphill from there. We just had to... hit small potatoes first.
Emily: Okay. That is now my new saying is small potatoes, but that's amazing.
Emily: And. That must have been so hard as individuals and as a couple to kind of [00:12:00] ride that roller coaster together. And like you said, you're seeing all these beautiful sights, but you're also watching your bank account just deplete, deplete, deplete. And your plans are up in smoke, so to speak. So where did you end up landing a job?
Alex: Because we had both worked in hospitality before in Canada. Because I also had been on my exchange trip to Japan, I was really familiar with Japanese food. And so I got a job working at a Japanese restaurant that had just opened in the city. Very cool. So yeah, it was really fun. And I worked with a lot of other foreign students.
Alex: Actually, there were a lot of Japanese. Students who work there. And then like, I think there's one Australian guy and then a bunch of Japanese students. So that was a really fun experience and it was really cool. We, we always had Sundays off, so we would always have like our own little Sunday fun day, like hang out time and kind of made our own little community.
Emily: Oh, neat. Well, and I think working in the service industry would be. Helpful to be able to, like you said, build your community and build that village around you because other than those couple of people that you knew that had worked in Canada, how were you able to, you know, meet people, especially when you were in different parts of Australia and just trying to get yourself settled?
Alex: The Service Industry is really great. It's also, that kind of work, I'll just detour, that kind of work is a really transferable skill, and same with my partner. He found a job at a hotel, which was great, just did the same work that he had been doing in Canada. But that's the really cool thing about, um, the backpacker culture in Australia and New Zealand as well, is there's so many other travellers there who are doing the exact same thing.
Alex: And they all need a community. So there's lots of travelers, lots of backpackers, lots of students as well. So there's a lot of people there who also are looking for community. So we met a lot of people through the hostel stays that we did. We also used couchsurfing sometimes. So we actually hosted people eventually.
Alex: We were like, we're the ones who are doing so well at this point that we can host people and have. Newcomers into the country stay on our couch. So that was really cool. And we made a lot of really good friends that way.
Emily: Oh, that's fantastic. And how long were you living in Australia for?
Alex: So we did a full year on the visa.
Alex: Okay. It's funny because Canadians can stay for a second year, but my partner is actually American and they have a different visa and it's not quite as nice. So they can't do a second year at all. So
Emily: then were you both able to come back to Canada after that?
Alex: We were, yeah. But then it was funny. We were like, we have to go do more travel.
Alex: Like everyone we met said, Oh my gosh, you have to go to New Zealand. It's just amazing. It's beautiful. And so we're like, Oh, I guess we'll go home and see our families, our loved ones, who would probably miss us. Even though at that point it was like, I'm actually not that homesick. But we did go home and we were able to go and visit his family and then my family.
Alex: And then pretty quickly we [00:15:00] turned around and we're like, okay, we're in New Zealand now.
Emily: That's awesome. So was there more. Planning and more organization now that you had that one experience under your belt for New Zealand?
Alex: Uh, it's quite funny cause I wouldn't say it was more planning. It was just a very different type of planning.
Alex: So we definitely joke about, we do a much looser style of planning now, which is what I always recommend to people when they travel. You know, you need to have like your key points and like your landmarks, so, you know, knowing your dates and like the places and booking a couple hostels in advance is really good.
Alex: But we're like, we're not going to have any expectations because, you know, if you set yourself up for expectations, they can go wrong. And that's kind of when it feels like the world is like falling apart around you. It's one of the things that you can't control. Or the variables that switch it up. So we just have a much looser framework for our planning.
Alex: And we also decided to just jump straight into the fun part. We knew, okay, we actually had some savings at that point because we had been working in Australia, which is really nice. So we were like, okay, we're going to plan to do the fun part first on purpose. And, um, we actually bought a van, like the first week we landed in Auckland and we lived in a van and traveled around for a couple of months before we settled down, which was really cool.
Emily: Oh, that must've been so neat.
Alex: Yeah. It was amazing. And New Zealand is like gorgeous. So you can travel to the beach and to the mountains and to like a rainforest in the same day. Honestly, it's amazing. Oh, that's
Emily: fantastic. So you get to New Zealand, you spend some time. Like living the van life way before, you know, vlogging was a thing you had to record every minute.
Alex: That's right. Yeah.
Emily: Then how did you decide on a place to settle?
Alex: So that was part of the van process as we wanted to drive around the country and see which like city we kind of clicked with and like what area we thought we could find work in. So after traveling most of the country, we decided we actually wanted to settle in Wellington.
Alex: Which is like a, um, a university city, but it's also where the Parliament building is, so there's quite a lot going on. It's got a very cool vibe to it. It kind of reminded me of like a baby version of Melbourne, which was kind of nice, because Melbourne really did feel like home to us after a while. It's like a little bit gritty, a little artsy, and it had like a very like youthful spirit to it.
Alex: And it was right on the water, which is really lovely. So, we settled down there, and um... We knew there were a few job opportunities, we had kind of looked in advance this time, we looked, and so we didn't really have too, too much trouble that time finding jobs, although housing was a bit more of an issue in the city, so that's a good thing to keep in mind when you're like planning on which place to settle into, but we were lucky enough to get a really nice place in a neighbourhood just outside of the city centre, so it worked out really well.
Emily: Oh, it's fantastic. And did you stay in the service in the hospitality industry again with this move?
Alex: Yeah, I did. Yeah. So, um, there's this gorgeous, like historic theater in city center, uh, Wellington. And what they've done is they actually converted the old orchestra pit below the theater into a really beautiful bar.
Alex: So I went and worked at the bar there. Oh, that's so cool. I think Peter Jackson had put a lot of money into it. And they always had all of the Uh, Lord of the Rings premieres at that theater, which was pretty neat. And they had seats with like little plaques with like all the names of the actors and stuff.
Alex: It was just a very cool building.
Emily: Neat. And so you were there for a full year as well? So you've done these two incredible experiences and now you're back in Canada and you settled here for a little while.
Alex: A little while. I mean, we came back up from New Zealand and then we left again to go traveling, I'm not going to lie.
Alex: Didn't do working visas though. We were like, Oh, let's go do like proper fun backpacking. We went to Southeast Asia next for a bit. I think just under a year we were there and we did a lot more of like work for stay kind of gigs. Interesting. Yeah. Very cool. We, we felt confident after this. We were like, Oh, we can do anything now.
Alex: We'll switch it up.
Emily: So what's a piece of advice you'd give to someone who's looking to embark on this kind of adventure with a partner? Because that's, I mean, taking on those kinds of life changing experiences will either make or break a relationship.
Alex: Yeah. That's very true. It is a real test of your relationship and, um, you'll be happy to know we're still together.
Alex: So, it was a really good bonding experience. You definitely learn a lot about the other person. I would say probably the best advice I could give is just be forgiving in those moments where you're both just, like, stressed. Just understand when your partner is stressed, like, the best thing you can do is just breathe and be the one to just be, like, we can be calm in this moment.
Alex: We really learned each other's maybe weak points while we were traveling, you know, we kind of learned what set each other off and it was like, there were some hard moments, but it really, really solidified our, our relationship. Like, we. Really understand like what the other person needs now when they're stressed and like what we can do for each other.
Alex: And so if you just know what you can do to help your partner, like, relax or calm down in those, like, really stressful moments, because sometimes that happens on the road, like, you'll be carrying your 40 pound backpacks on your back. It'll be like 40 degrees because you're somewhere tropical. You haven't eaten since breakfast and like, you're lost and you can't find your hostel and you're getting a little bit stressed.
Alex: And as long as you remember to just like stop and breathe, it'll be fine. Oh, also, you know, packing snacks, always having snacks because getting hangry is a real issue on the road.
Emily: You're preparing for life as parents. Always pack snacks.
Alex: Yeah. I mean, it helps. I feel like this is a good life skill. Just good piece of advice for everyday life.
Alex: Just always have a snack around because it really helps make everyone feel better.
Emily: That's fantastic. So what is something that. You didn't, I don't want to say, well, we've talked a little bit about what you didn't prepare for, but,
Alex: um, there were a few things,
Emily: but that also, that says a lot about your ability to trust your gut, which I think is so fantastic and I think really speaks to the strength of everyone that I've been able to chat with through this podcast, because that is something that I think when you're in your twenties, a lot of people really struggle is to trust your gut and to take that leap of faith and to, you know, go off the beaten path and forge their own direction.
Emily: So I think this is absolutely incredible that you've done that multiple times over.
Alex: Yeah. I [00:22:00] mean, I think that's the, the like transformative magic of traveling is you really learn your own boundaries and you learn how far you can push them. Like you really understand. Eventually, not at first, it's very frightening at first, to be honest, but if you just keep pushing, you realize like, oh, I can do so much.
Alex: I can do so much more than I ever expected. And, like, hard things aside, I've also done so many crazy experiences. That I wouldn't have had if I had just stayed at home. Like there's so many cool things that I've done that I was like, wow, I, if I had told myself like 15 years ago, you've done all these things, I wouldn't believe it.
Emily: That's awesome. What's the, what's the most unbelievable thing that you've done? If that's something you
Alex: can share. I mean, there's so many, uh, one of the, one of the biggest examples, and this is another great example of my partner and I being so bonded is we did it together, but we did the world's largest bungee swing.
Alex: In New Zealand, uh, I don't know if you know, New Zealand's really into bungee. They invented it, they're all about the bungee, they like wild outdoor sports. And there's something called a bungee swing. So, it's not just jumping straight down. The anchor point's actually further out than you are. So we had to go to like the middle of like a gorge for this.
Alex: And you drop, but it's nice you can go together, so you can hold on to each other the whole time. Um, but they release you, you drop, and then instead of just going straight down, You hit a point where you start swinging. So your anchor point is like further away than you are and then you swing when you hit the bottom.
Alex: So it's really terrifying. It's really exhilarating, but it's so fun. Oh,
Emily: so did you only bungee once or did you then do it multiple times after that?
Alex: No, just the one. I was like, let's just do the biggest one and then we can be done. It seemed really logical until we got to the top of the point. And I was like, oh my gosh, I don't know why I made this choice.
Alex: It was so fun though. It was so fun. Oh,
Emily: no, that's awesome. I [00:24:00] do want to dive in a little bit. We've got a couple minutes here to talk about the mental health aspect. I know we talked a little bit about how you and your partner were able to lean on each other and kind of be your source of strength. But were you prepared for the roller coaster of the highs and the lows and how to combat that?
Emily: I feel
Alex: like definitely not. I really didn't. Realize what we're getting ourselves into. I mean, when you, you go through the process and you get your visa and it seems like everything can be organized so neatly. I was definitely the kind of person before travel where I was like, Oh, like, here's we're going to do.
Alex: Point A, point B, point C, and everything will be fine. There's no room for variables, obviously. The lesson I learned so quickly is there's so much room for issues to come up that you're not expecting. So I wasn't prepared for that at all. The nice thing is we did have friends with us. My partner was there.
Alex: And honestly, just other travelers we met on the road were so reassuring. Like, they were like, oh, you know, yeah, like, I... Maybe had the same struggle or I couldn't find work here, but I went to this city and there's more work in this city So it's actually really nice even just having like the community of other Travelers who are there on the road with you to like any hostel you check into there's immediately someone who will talk to you There's like people you can turn to and ask like, oh my gosh, like did you go through this?
Alex: Like are you struggling to like where's the work? Like what have you been doing? And there's always people who are keen to give you advice
Emily: So, before I let you go, what is one piece of advice you would give to someone else who is on the fence about taking time abroad?
Alex: Just trust yourself. Just take the leap.
Alex: It's so scary, but you know, you don't know what you can do until you try. So just try. And the worst thing that's going to happen is that you can't afford potatoes, but I mean, it's really not that bad. When you look back at it, it's not that bad.
Emily: If you've [00:26:00] got snacks, you don't worry about the small
Alex: potatoes.
Alex: Exactly, right. Yeah. And it's the kind of thing where it's so scary before you do it. And then once you're there, you're like, yeah, this is worth it. Like, it's all worth it. The lows can be low, but the highs are so high. No, that's
Emily: amazing. I absolutely love. Hearing about all the things you've done and again, the fact that you and your partner have been able to take on multiple experiences together is so powerful and thank you so much for taking the time to have this conversation with me.
Alex: Yeah, of course. Thank you for having me. And I'm always happy to talk about travel. You know, it's such a amazing experience. Like I'm still excited just thinking about some of the things that I've done. So thank you for having this chat with me. And
Emily: that ends this episode of Audio Alumni. We want to thank our listeners for joining us today.
Emily: We also want to thank our guests for their openness in sharing their stories and our partner International Experience Canada [00:27:00] for collaborating with us this season. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast for new episodes.
Emily: Transcripts provided by Transcription Outsourcing, LLC.