vanman

Hi i'm travelling to canada in july this year as originally that was the date i put on my visa application. thing is i'm struggling for money now and it's got me thinking will i be able to see the sights and get accomodation sorted with what i've got?

at this rate i'm going to have around £4-5k saved but i've still got to get my return air fair and insurance out of this. i'm just wondering what sort of money other bunacer's are taking with them and what sort of activities trips they plan to do with it?

i'm hoping to take a few months out of work see lots of sights and travel about, ami being a bit unrealistic with this sort of money or can i still have the trip of a lifetime?

i'd be interested to know what other members experiences and thoughts are?

cheers vanman

L'il Bear

Hi,

I think that it all depends on what you want to do over here and what kind standard travel/lodgings you can live with. If you are planning on saving money by traveling at night on the Greyhound (your bed for the night) and staying in hostels, then I think that you'll be fine, especially as you have the option to work. I think that most hostels have a scheme where you spend a set amount of hours working for them to earn your room - and could be the way to go if you aren't planning on being there for a long time.

I guess that you're looking at around £1000-1500 for flight and insurance (my insurance was £550 inc. winter sports and a laptop - in 2006).

A Greyhound Discovery Pass will set you back anything from $329/£166 for 7 days up to $750/£378 for 60 days.

If you don't fancy getting a pass then you can always get a discount using an International Hostel card - which will come in handy anyway.

Most hostels have a kitchen so you can make your own grub - cheap noodles from the supermarket if you don't have the energy for anything else and you can fill up on free breakfasts.

If your plan is to stay in hotels and eat out every night and not work for the whole year then I think that you would struggle. As you are planning to just take a few months off to travel around then I think that you will be fine as long as you are able to stay within your means. While you are working you should be able earn enough to cover the basics and then your savings can be used for fun stuff and traveling.

Just make sure that you have a return ticket and then customs won't feel inclined to hassle you.

I am sure you'll get some other opinions and suggestions - this is just by 2 pence worth

Best of luck

JonboyE

If you are intending to head out west, the ski resorts take on lots of young people for the winter season - November to March. You could travel a few months, work a few months, then travel some more months before your visa is up.

I think you will have enough money.

windward

I think you'll do fine mate

Definitely shop around for your insurance and flight. You can get both 20%+ cheaper than the BUNAC offerings. For comparison I'm paying £410 to fly with the option to change dates etc with BA, and approx. £140 is the best quote I've found for 3 months good insurance beyond which I'm covered by the province, for healthcare anyway. More research to be done. I'll miss the opportunity to get to know some other people on the program by skipping the group flight, and lose out on some of the fringe benefits re: the insurance but you do have options.

I'll be staying with the mrs over there and will be taking much less over than you, perhaps £1500/2000 but don't plan on travelling that much.Not really the point of the trip for me. Every time I've been there in the past for short visits I've lived pretty well budgeting £200 per week, eating out, seeing sights, paying for museums, paying my share of the rent, the odd car hire etc and this is in the metropolitan centres.

With my money this time I plan on putting a bond down on a credit card @ $500/1000 opening a bank account, buying my insurance, paying my rent @ $475 for a month, and looking after me til I find a job. Any spare is backup for rainy days.

Even for a few months of hard travelling I think you're gonna be able to have a grand time with your cash. As long as you plan your finances to a certain extent (who wants to get anal about it on a holiday?!) do some working at some point, you'll be able to do/see what you want and treat yourself along the way. An emergency fund will provide you with peace of mind and the means to get yourself to a hotel/airport and home. If you're near downtown Toronto and you need owt we'd be happy to help too

vanman

thanks for the replies guys, everyone seems to be really helpful on this forum
i think i'm going to go mainly by the route of greyhound and hostel travelling as this is also a great way of meeting people, rather than staying in a hotel and keeping myself to myself...

i'm really looking forward to my trip now i think i'm just getting a little nervous as it's the first 'real' trip i've done on my own. any suggestions as to the must see sights on a budget would be really appreciated.

thanks for all the help and encouragement

littletwinkle46

£140 for your flight? or is that just the extra to change your return date?

vanman

think it's £140 for the insurance

littletwinkle46

i just read it again and realised it says 410, that sounds more like it!
my eyes arent working anymore today!

thanks

Silverbug

I think you'll be ok with that, thats more than I am taking!!

ireland2canada

I think you will do well with that amount of money, I'm sure you will pick up work at some point to top it up. At this point in time, I'll be lucky to be taking half of what you've got But then I am hoping to work as soon as humanly possible.
You will be grand!

vanman

hi silverbug well that sounds reassuring! when are you going and where do you plan to visit?

vanman

dannyg1001

I took 500 quid and ended up staying almost 2 years*






*second year not entirely legally

windward

Ha! I didn't know it was even possible - visions of mounties ala due south hunting me down and dragging me from my bed in the dawn light. Did that not cause you some problems re: leaving/returning to the country?

I'm curious too how long BUNAC take to process the work authorisation itself. I've arranged my flight for 16th April, but have yet to send off all my documents etc. The site says 7 working days but that can't be right can it?!
Has anyone got a timetable from submission of all that junk to recieving the authorisation?

Linzania

Hi,

I too am worrying about the Work Authorisation processing time (even though I won't apply for it until July!) because it says it could take anything from 4 to 6 weeks, both on the internet and in the first welcome letter we received. I know I'm hoping for as quick as possible so that I can possible fly out at the end of August.

From peoples past posts/enquiries, does it seem that this time or summer time is the most popular for people applying for the Work Authorisation permits? I'm thinking before the ski season is popular but is late summer/early autumn too?

Once you know when yours has been issued, if you can post back that would be great. So others can have an idea of time scale

BlackIceBoy

Last year, I was the same as you worrying about the process time for my work visa. I applied for mine at the end of January, it arrived 17 days after!

Yes, the Summer is the most popular time for Bunac peeps to arrive. But I can't imagine the process time taking overly long.