Ever wondered what’s it’s like to travel and get paid for it at the same time? Sounds like a dream right?

Well, the awesome news is that you can easily make it a reality with the International Exchange Program (IEP), an organisation that specialises in sending young kiwis overseas on working holidays to amazing countries like Canada, USA, France and Britain!

With the Work Canada program IEP will help set you up with a job before you even leave the country, thanks to their seriously ingenious Canada Job Fair (basically all the best employers from Canada show up to employ you on the spot!). If you’ve ever been interested in a working holiday, IEP is the best and safest way to go!

Coming from a small New Zealand town I was really keen to experience life in a big city - somewhere buzzing with nightlife, entertainment and shopping! But being a keen outdoors person I didn't want to be too far away from nature either! Who knew it would be so easy to combine my passions in one city?! But the best of all these worlds is just what I got when I hooked up a job at Vancouver's Grouse Mountain through IEP's Work Canada Job Fair program. I was immersed in a buzzing big city, surrounded my ocean and mountains. It was spectacular.

Working as a barista in the cafe on top of the mountain, I spent my days making the best coffee to warm up skiers and snowboarders on their breaks from hitting the slopes. On my days off it was my turn to carve up the slopes on the mountain. In New Zealand I had done a few trips to Mt Ruapehu and skied. It wasn't until I headed to Canada that I tried snowboarding for the first time.

From the moment I tried it there was no turning back. I was hooked! Any chance I got I was snowboarding and I can now say I am pretty good! Working on a ski field gives you the perfect chance to improve your ski and snowboarding skills -  I'm living proof!

But Grouse Mountain wasn't the only place that held my attention. I was enthralled with Vancouver city! I lived in an apartment smack-bang in the centre of the city, right amongst all the action! It only took me 40 minutes by bus to be at Grouse for work, meaning that once I had finished working and/or snowboarding, I could be back in the central city and taking advantage of all that it had to offer!

The main central stretch, Granville Street, has loads of awesome clubs and bars. Being a big fan of live music I was spoilt for choice. From cover bands to local Canadian artists performing their own material, I was never short on choice! And if I was in the mood for a boogie, I rounded up some friends I'd met through work and we'd hit the dance floors of one of Vancouver’s numerous clubs. There was no such thing as being at home bored in the weekend!

The shopping in Vancouver was awesome too. Although I was saving a lot of my earnings for a road trip through Canada, you can't hold a girl down from a good spot of retail therapy! There were loads of shops to porous through and I got myself loads of goodies. I made sure to offload some old clothes each time I brought something new, so that my luggage wouldn't weigh a tonne by the time I had to leave Canada!

If Deidre's story has inspired you to get yourself off to Canada, click here to visit the IEP website for more information. While you're there apply for their Work Canada Job Fair and you can go in the draw to enter our competition here to win a wicked Work Canada prize pack!

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