roomie love

Wouldn't of been able to get through the season without these 2 Aussie gems!

Steph
A lovely back story..we just clicked from the get go! This tiny gluten free chick has kept me sane these last few months. As soon as she passed me in the stairwell with a billion bags I knew she was the missing piece to 403. The first night she came out with us she was nowhere to be found and a whole 20 mins later there she was laying peacefully on the cubicle floor of dustys and then once again on the floor of our place. We have laughed, cried, bitched and been hungover together hours on end. She has also kept our place in tip top shape and hasn't been afraid of getting her hands dirty (especially keeping our bathroom from growing horrible unthinkable things). I love this one and couldn't have imagined my first time out of home without her.

Taylor
Where do I start with this guy? Met him all those months ago at the pre-dep party in syd and he has been my go to person ever since. Before he moved in he would come over everyday and use the luxury of our lounge and TV. Once he decided that he couldn't live without me he has been an absolute ball of laughs. Loves putting his 2c in and will let me know that I am wasting my life away if I don't get up the mountain that day. This one like to also point out that the apartment needs a Steph and jess clean and is not afraid in making that known. Lots of laughs and just a few arguments and leaving the bathroom door open (typical brotherly behaviour)

Memorable moments in 403

1. Taylor and I getting a warning for throwing our trash in another building
2. Hosting many parties and scoring heaps of empties and leftover grog
3. Pamper parties
4. Coming home to see Taylor glued to the tv watching another ep of teen mom
5. Seeing who can set off the smoke alarm the most
6. Finding 2 crisp steaks left on the stove the next morning due to a wild night out for Taylor
7. Gaining a new cardboard roomie
8. All having a good old moan about who stumbled in making noise from the night before
9. Finding mouldy goods in the fridge
10. Collecting recyclables only to throw them all in the garbage bin due to crappy separating procedures - thanks HOUSE!
11. Memorable movie nights
12. TV Show favs such as 1000 ways to die, Ridiculousness and Teen Mom
13. Boxes and boxes of tissues consumed
14. Crappy can opener
15. Crappy burners
16. Hearing a crash and some not so pretty words screeched from the bathroom knowing the shower curtain has fallen off once again
17. Overflowing toilet on multiple occasions
18. Daily vending machine trips
19. Yummy hangover breakfasts
20. The non-sleeping horrible mousy incident
21. Our rommie additions ains and grant!
22. Finding very very old items in the fridge
23. Incidents with overnight guests
24. Drunken raids with pals in tay's room
25. Not so pleasant bathroom activities
26. Dirty dirty dishes
27. OMG what is that on the cushion!?
28. Steph's interesting concoctions in the kitchen
29. Elephant pounding
30. Early morning rises

Have loved living with these lovelies and they have just made my stay here in whis so so memorable. They have been my family away from home and the best roomies for my first time out of home. We will miss you so much stephy! 

fairmont fam bam

It is fair to say that you make a tonne of friends here in Whistler with some that come and go, some you see almost every day and some not so much. Then there are the ones that you work with day in and day out at the perhaps not the best job in the world. However thats where they are! Working at our store has been such a fun experience and when I look back at an angry working holiday club for not putting me in guest services, I really am so glad. I often take things as if it doesn't happen quite the way you want then there is a reason for that. That is how I have seen these last 5 months so far. The fairmont family plus various blow in's have been the highlight of my time in Whistler by far. There are probably about 15 or so of us give or take and we ski, party, eat, work and do everything else together :)

There are many stories and laughs to be had which are best not to even mention in this posting. I will say that travelling for sure gives you a fresh start and the people you meet will be the best part of your experience. I cant even imagine leaving some of these guys and the thought that some are bidding us farewell very shortly is going to be heart wrenching. Lucky for me most of my buddies have decided to at least stay on for the summer which made my decision that much easier to stay on.

We all go out at least 2 times a week and usually wont head down to the bars until 11 but that is even a slight exaggeration. To get our crew moving it takes many heated discussions and some calm souls who think there is no rush  in the world. We very rarely go down early with the prelash usually at ours, claire's or liam's place at the best of times.

So I wouldn't have been able to get through this season without these special ones and heres just a snippet of what the fairmont fam is like

 That's all for now folks..oh and also must mention if it wasn't for the working holiday club not giving me the job I went for then I wouldn't know these beauties. So check them out

how to budget for a working holiday

I have been asked my multiple people how I really came to make this experience come to pass money wise so thought it was time to share. I will be honest straight up and say it was no walk in the park. From deciding that I was really doing this to actually getting here was like climbing mighty mountains with many sacrifices to be made.

With the decision made in late January and a bucket full of debt from my last adventure, it seemed incredibly daunting. My first goal was to pay the deposit for the working holiday club on my credit card and then get cracking on paying off my multiple $ off the plastic. Returning to full-time work was like putting a gun to my head but I knew it had to be done.

So yes that little horrible word 'work' was the key ingredient to getting me to where I am right now. I had a 5 day working week with multiple late nights and early mornings and would jump at any opportunity to work extra if need be. Working in hospitality takes it's toll and it means no play on weekends and a crazy whacky sleeping/eating pattern. So thats just what I did, I worked 40 hours or so per week for 10 long months. When I say long though, they really did fly when I look back now. I would have loved extra time to save more money but it just was not practical.

Sacrifices you say? My sacrifices included putting my hard earned money into a goal savings account which I did not touch until needed each week. I gave myself a $100 budget per week factoring in added expenses such as my car, flights, travel insurance, health insurance yada yada yada. This hurt big time! It meant saying no to a tonne of things. I resulted in bringing in my own meals to work, declining those nights out, living off my parents choice of groceries and just milking everything I possibly could from my beautiful friends and family.

It is super important to jump at that extra bit of cash too. Whether it be getting that goal savings account which earns you bonus interest, babysitting for all those cute cousins that you have on a saturday night, attending as many as you can paid research groups and finally our beloved ebay. Coming towards the last few months before I took off, I sold everything I could get my hands on. I went through old cds and "helped" mum sell those, old shoes, clothes, formal dresses, books, dvds you name it! I went crazy for ebay. After trial and error I got the hang of it and made almost an extra $1000 to add to my spending money.

I guess the big question is though,, how much do you really need to make it work? Yes it is important to remember that you do get paid to work over here but really its just pocket money. I have chosen the more expensive room (luxury pays) which pretty much is taken out of my pay every fortnight. This leaves me with the bare minimum to play with for 2 weeks. I found the first month I chewed into a heck of a lot of money. They say you can get away with coming over with $5000 minimum and that my friends you can! However, I worked that little bit harder throughout the year to come over comfortably without the worry about running short. There have been times where I am short for cash close to pay day but that's just me not being very cash savvy.

So there you have it, looks like I have a lot to say about that dirty word money. However I really dont. I just remember the anxiety I had before coming over as to if I would have enough. Not to forget though if you plan on travelling before or after then it is wise to factor that into your budget as well. It was achievable and anyone can do it if you want it bad enough! I often shake my head at people when they say "wow I could never do that" or "I cant afford something like that" because that just simply is not true. If you want it bad enough whether it is working overseas or travelling for a month or even 3 years, you can for sure make it happen!