It’s called the ‘Emerald Isle’ for good reason: Ireland’s landscape, as seen in a NASA satellite image, is covered in lush green grasses and of course, shamrocks.

The lush green of the Emerald Isle, Ireland, is clear in this image taken by NASA’s Terra satellite.
CREDIT: NASA

What NASA couldn’t capture is all the fun going on in Dublin and across Ireland!  For more on how you can live and work anywhere in Ireland for up to 2 years, please see SWAP Ireland

A picture is worth 1000 words…and sometimes also $1000

From Verge Magazine

We know that you are travellers and that you believe in the concept of travel with purpose. You’ve told us that the time you spent volunteering, working, or learning abroad was life-changing. Now we want to see it through your lens—the fun times, the hard times, the once-in-a-lifetimes.

The challenge? Help us see the world differently. Show us a snippet of that life-changing journey, and tell us why it mattered.

Categories for submissions are:

1. People

Photographs that tell a story about the people you’ve met on your travels, the social interactions, the individuals, their lives and livelihoods and special moments you’ve experienced that make a community unique.

2. Places

Show us the incredible landscapes, dark alleyways, crowded marketplaces, dusty plains, chaotic urban scenes, stunning wilderness vistas – all the strange and special places you’ve discovered on your travels.
3. Projects and issues

Meaningful travel involves learning about people and cultures around the world, their traditions, ideas and issues they face. Show us the photographs you’ve taken that step beyond the pictorial to tell a clear story about what you’ve discovered on your travels.

Tell us your story; change our perspective. 

Prizes

Grand Prize The overall best in show will be awarded a prize of $1,000 Canadian. Category Winners The winning image in each category will receive three premium Rough Guides—Make the most of your time on earth – 1000 Premium Travel Experiences; Clean Breaks – 500 New Ways to See the World, and Ultimate Experiences – A Rough Guide to Adventure Travel, a Verge t-shirt and subscription. Short-listed Images Up to fifteen images in each contest category will be short-listed, for exhibition at the 2013 Toronto and Montreal Go Global Expos and for publication in the Photo Annual Edition of Verge Magazine. Short-listed photographers will receive Verge Magazine subscriptions.

Click here for more information and to enter!  The deadline for entries is June 16, 2013, 6pm EST.

Who wants to meet for a pint in London?

By Corey Breier for Matador Network

1. Post your specific travel plans with a ‘call to arms.’
You’re probably already going to post a status update or tweet about your trip, but be tactical about it. Instead of a simple, “Headed to X today — so excited!” make sure to include reasonably specific details, along with a question. The prior example could become, “I’ll be in X for the next 4 days — who knows something I should see that’s not in the guidebooks?”

The inclusion of a question mark makes your post much more likely to receive responses. Businesses on Facebook know this well — they call it a “call to arms” and have proven that posts with questions receive more comments than those without. You’re not trying to sell a product here, but you do want your friends to respond to you with words rather than a simple Like, and the strategy works the same way.  Keep reading…

It’s easy to visit Amsterdam for a weekend when you live in the UK

Remember, you can register up to a year before you plan to arrive in your chosen destination. So if you know you are going to go for it, register now and make the commitment to your work abroad dreams!  For updates on future contests join SWAP’s mailing list.

The Online SWAP Talk will be on Thurs., April 18^th at 2pm EST (11am PST).  The entire country is invited- so just note the time difference for you (if we list all the time zones it might end up looking more confusing for people).

This SWAPPER is wearing a nice outfit, but you can attend in your pjs (and we won’t even know).

It is required that you RSVP.  To do so please email Sarah at sedwards@swap.ca , and let us know what city you are in.  We’ll send you the link and log-in code needed so you can view and hear the talk, and have the opportunity to ask your questions as well.

Let us know if you have any questions or need more information (email Sarah at sedwards@swap.ca).

We’re really looking forward to telling more of you all about your work abroad opportunities!

Cheers,

The SWAP Team

By Corey Breier, for Matador Network

Sometimes people confuse  their travel bucket lists with their grocery lists, talking about cities as if  they were check marks. Unlike remembering to pick up milk, you cannot say you’ve ‘done’ a city simply because you spent a weekend there. What you actually mean  is you’ve already been there, and that given a limited window for travel time,  you would prefer to go to a city you haven’t seen before.

But when we say we’ve ‘done’ a city, it sounds like we have depleted the  place of its experiences; it’s as if nothing of excitement remains. Certainly we  could return and hike the nearby mountain we didn’t have time for, or rendezvous  with the barfly we befriended last time, but if we’re already on the road, the  logical tendency is to eschew this strategy in favor of new horizons.  Continue reading… 

Getting great work experience doesn’t have to be all work

Full-time students or graduates of the 2012/2013 academic year in Canadian post-secondary education are eligible.  This year the US Embassy requires you to have a temporary or seasonal paid job offer.  For details please see the Application Pack and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns by emailing swapinfo@swap.ca or calling any of the offices found here.

If you do not yet have a job offer our advice is to make a list of companies in the USA that you would be interested in working for.  Email these companies to ask if summer opportunities may be available – and start contacting them asap (meaning, now).  Make a list of several and get in touch- pound the virtual pavement!  Also, check out www.summerjobs.com and  www.coolworks.com

If eligible, you can work anywhere in the USA for any 4 month period between April 24th and September 15th, 2013.  For more information and the application forms please see:   http://swap.ca/out_eng/destinations/usa_summer_package.aspx

If you have finished your post-secondary program you may be able to work in the USA for up to 12 or 18 months with the SWAP USA Internship or Professional Career Training programs, respectively.  You would have to have a job offer related to your field.  For more information please have a look here.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions or concerns by emailing swapinfo@swap.ca We are here to help!

Don’t rely on the method demonstrated in this photo!

By Jessie Richardson

Packing.  Oh how overwhelming it can be. Especially if you are about to embark on a 1 year working holiday to a foreign country.

When I was leaving on my first working holiday to Ireland, I reviewed almost every packing list I could get my hands on. Unfortunately I rarely found anything geared towards working holidays.

Moving your life to another country for 1-2 years requires a unique packing style that even The Universal Packing List does not cover.

So if you are heading off to volunteer or work abroad have a look through these tips!

We’re encouraging you to go for it now because when you don’t make a commitment to your work abroad aspirations lots of obstacles can threaten to get in your way and keep you from your dreams.  We mean fears, listening to naysayer’s opinions and perhaps even personal doubts in your ability to make it happen.

We don’t mean to be all doom and gloom but we want to see you go for it! There is nothing like the unique and rewarding experience of working abroad.  The visas age limits are strict so take advantage while you can.  Too many people regret not taking advantage.

We agree!

You don’t have to have the support funds, your planned travel date, or your flight or insurance to register.  We’ll wait until you are ready to proceed with the visa application. All you need to commit to is that you will arrive in your chosen destination within 1 year of the date you register.

Make sure nothing gets in your way by registering in March!   You can do so online here  or by visiting any of the locations found here.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions or concerns by emailing swapinfo@swap.ca  We are here to help!

Happy Travels!

Cheers,

The SWAP Team

swap.ca

(Photo: Dion / Flickr)

These are surprisingly good!  And we know SWAPPERS appreciate a life-hack or 2…  check them out here