Are you looking for how to travel on a budget, cheap or for free around the world?
In this episode of Freedom and Four Paws, we meet Frugal Travellers Mandy and Lee. They have been travelling the world on a budget for over 30 years and over 100 countries. These avid adventurers have mastered how to travel the world on a budget. Mandy and Lee share fantastic advice on how to get the most out of your money while exploring the world.
The Frugal Travellers were recently featured on CNN Chance Encounters, a show which highlights real life stories of couples who met while travelling.
How to travel on a budget: top tip, house sitting
One of the most popular topics on this website is house and pet sitting. Lee and Mandy lean on house sitting as a way to travel cheaply. Their introduction to this mode of travel came about by chance while living in Australia. At first, friends asked them to look after their pets. Word quickly spread that they were lovely and trustworthy and then referrals started to flow in.
In the years to come, Mandy and Lee joined several paid and free services that also enabled them to secure house sits.
They now house sit full time.
How to travel cheap and keep costs down
One of the couple’s success tips is to make a game out of sticking to a slim daily budget. These are a few key ways they save money while travelling:
Localised entertainment booklets which offer discount vouchers e.g. 2-for-1 deals
Following where locals in any destination buy cheap food, services and goods
International travel is available to everyone – you don’t have to be rich!
Through Lee and Mandy’s YouTube channel, their intention is to prove that you do not need to be a millionaire to enjoy a life of travel. The pair themselves embrace slow travel and the freedom it brings, and their inspiring content shows how anyone can do it.
Join us on our podcasting adventures as we hear inspiring stories from amazing people travelling the world and living their best life.
Subscribe now and never miss an episode. Each includes excellent tips on how to slow travel, and successfully work remotely. Search ‘Freedom and Four Paws’ on your favourite podcast service.
As a valued audience member, enjoy 10% OFF at our affiliate partner Cloudy. Relieve stress throughout the day straight to a soothing sleep at night. Visit trycloudy.com and use the code FREEDOM10.
If you’re a fellow traveller and pet lover who is keen to share your story and inspire the world, visit exhalemediagroup.com. Mention FREEDOM20 for 20% OFF any purchased service.
We very recently relocated back to the UK from Australia and we experienced travelling with a dog internationally for the first time. Earlier in February, we documented what we knew to that point before our little London dog had been allocated his flight to England.
To find out about the visas we secured to live and work in the UK, you can read more here.
If you’re planning to travel with your beloved dog overseas and like us, you’re unable to bring him/her on the plane with you, please read on for our experience and advice!
There’s so much planning and preparation you need to do. This (American based) advice is helpful. Similarly there’s further useful information on this post from Going.
Travelling with your dog internationally
We won’t lie, the experience was VERY hard on all of us. We wanted to create a follow-up piece to share what we learned and what we wish we had known when it came to transporting our dog, London, from Australia to the UK.
See the full story, press play:
Covered in the video: our top 5 learnings and warnings!
Learning: information about flight schedules may be illusive
Warning: Your pet’s itinerary may change at the last minute
Warning: Ensure you can get in contact with everyone involved
Learning: Be unapologetic about asking for more information and photos
Warning: Check your pet’s health when you are reunited.
Global travel with your dog: final thoughts
After two weeks, we can report that London is starting to settle. He’s definitely exhibiting some anxious behaviours that he didn’t previously have, but with lots of love, cuddles and implementation of a positive routine, we can see he’s coming back to his old self.
There’s no getting around the fact that travelling with a dog in cargo on a long haul trip is not ideal. We found it harrowing, actually. But if you want your pet to join you if you are moving abroad, there is no other option in many cases.
We hope you find our experience and learnings helpful. Most important for us to impart is to dig deep, ask LOTS of questions about potential itinerary and take your decision from there.
We’d love to hear from you – let us know your thoughts or questions in the comments below.
Overseas pet travel isn’t as easy as we’d like it to be, particularly when you’re flying a route like Australia to England. But, we’re about to head off on another adventure to the UK, and we will take our little Westie, London, with us.
To find out about the visas we secured to live and work in the UK, you can read more here.
How simple is planning overseas pet travel?
I think the best way to describe the planning is that it is a process.
It’s all possible, but there’s a number of considerations to take into account. This means ideally you would give yourself six months or more to plan. Between the time we discovered we had the opportunity to move back to the UK and the time we needed to fly, we actually didn’t have six months. Together with our trusted vet and a pet carrier, we have made it work though.
If you are planning to relocate to another country, maybe our process and information can help you.
5 steps to move a dog overseas
1. Talk to a trusted vet
The first port of call for us when planning to relocate London dog overseas with us was to speak to our vet. Our lovely vet Kirsty from Toowong Family vet in Brisbane, has known London since he was a wee puppy. She’s an excellent vet, so we booked a consult with her, primarily to speak about:
– the travel process and London’s general health for such a journey
– gauging and managing his anxiety in a new situation such as long distance flying.
Kirsty checked London over and we chatted about his age and health. We determined that he is ok to fly.
The big one for us though is the lengthy flight(s) itself. In the past, sometimes dogs were sedated so they would sleep. It’s been deemed that that this is not safe, so sedation is not an option. Kirsty talked us through a program for managing London’s anxiety, which began a few weeks ago and will continue into when he is settling into his new home in the Northern Hemisphere.
Talk to your vet about options that may suit your beloved fur baby.
2. Choose an accredited pet carrier
We researched several major international pet carriers operating in Australia and sought quotes from each. After having a conversation with each and comparing quotes, we ended up making a decision based on the itinerary available to London.
While it is possible to fly London from Brisbane to London, the routes recommended by some carriers meant that he would not leave his crate for around 24 hours. We chose Petraveller based on reviews and because they suggested a route that – while longer in terms of the amount of time we are separated – it seemed fairer on him to have more breaks.
Choosing a pet carrier is a BIG decision. It’s very expensive no matter how you look at it, and we know London’s life and wellbeing is being placed in their hands. There’s a lot of trust and faith involved. We will keep you posted on the outcome. At time of posting, London is set to begin his journey in a week’s time.
3. Consult with your chosen pet carrier to find out about the process involved in taking your dog overseas
The next most important conversation we had after the one with our vet, was the one with our chosen pet carrier. Over the duration of one or two chats, a few things were explained to us:
time frames and action items for us
costs
the importance of securing a rabies vaccination immediately for London dog – in Australia, the rabies vaccine is often in short supply and only some vets administer it, so get your pet sorted straight away if you intend to fly in the coming year
application for a Transfer of Residency to the UK so we could avoid import fees for London
preparing London for travel before, during and after the journey
the airline application process which meant we had to choose a date range for London to travel – the application is lodged around the 15th of each month and your pet’s travel itinerary is only confirmed in the last week of each month
considerations around where London would stay should we need to fly out first, or where he would go if he arrived in the UK first.
Watch the video for full details and our experience with these action points.
London was eventually allocated a flight itinerary that will see him fly out of Melbourne on a Monday evening. He will arrive in Dubai and stay at a pet hotel to recover a little, then will fly into Gatwick airport in England, arriving the same day as us (a Thursday morning). Unfortunately, due to the flight going out on Monday, he will be flown to Melbourne on the Friday and will stay in a pet hotel before having his final vet checks and then leaving the country.
Yes, it is very stressful.
4. Book a rabies vaccination
It’s important to note that if you’re flying your pet internationally from Australia, they will need a rabies vaccine. There is absolutely no way they can fly without it.
In Australia, the vaccine is known to often be in short supply. At the time we started looking for it, none was available. We waited anxiously for a few weeks, and after putting our name on the list at multiple vets in the whole of south-east Queensland, we eventually got a call from Kalinga Park Vet who sorted us out.
You’ll be given a certificate by the vet who administers this. Keep it safe as you’ll need to share it several times during the process with your pet carrier.
5. Crate train your dog for overseas travel
A crate will be sent to you by your pet carrier. The size will depend on dimensions you provide and guidance is given about how to measure for this.
Give your pooch as much time crate training for travel as possible.
London never had a worry in his crate – he loved it and we crate trained him as a puppy. BUT he’s never had the door closed and didn’t like it. Some excellent advice on a process was shared with us from our vet. Similar advice is present on the internet.
Make the crate fun: put treats, toys and food in and around it. Gradually introduce your pet to his/her crate.
Ensure the crate is comfortable for sleeping. London has a favourite bed that we put inside – he takes himself into the crate to sleep at night. We did reward this at the beginning with treats.
Start to get him/her used to travel. We put his crate in the car and went for drives of varying length. At first London didn’t like the change, but he got used to it and now sits calmly in his crate.
As time goes by, see if you can find a ‘noisier’ vehicle like a van or 4WD to put the crate in, so your pup gets used to louder sounds.
And if possible, put your pet into their crate and get someone else to go for a drive with them. When you show up on the other side, he/she will associate the experience with you eventually showing up to meet them.
The nerves are real
I’m not going to lie – we’re nervous about this.
The leg between Australia and Dubai is 14 hours. Then London stays in a new country in the middle of the world overnight. Following is 9 hours to Gatwick in his crate. He then remains in his create as he is processed through customs which could be a few hours. Petraveller’s partner over in the UK will let him out for a walk and toilet break before he then is transported to where we are staying.
Our vet told us that he won’t love it, but that he will be ok.
We will report back: I’m sure there’ll be tears on all fronts. But it will be worth it in the end ❤️
As an Aussie – and member of the Commonwealth – you may be eligible for a UK Ancestry visa. Cooper is, and he’s just received his UK Ancestry visa for a third time. This allows us to move back to the UK to pursue a work opportunity in 2023. As his partner, I can apply to go too.
In this post, we’ll share exactly how we applied and successfully secured working visas to return to the UK. We leave in Feb, and will take our dog with us!
About ten years ago, Cooper discovered that he was eligible for a UK Ancestry visa. This is because his Grand-ma was Scottish. She travelled to live in Australia during the period that now gives him the “birth right” to live and work in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. The visa is flexible, allowing five years at a time with the option to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain. There’s no age limit for applying, and no limit to how many times you can apply for it.
Unfortunately, the numbers of people in Commonwealth countries that this visa applies to will begin to dwindle now. This is more of a benefit for a generation of people whose grandparents travelled during the earlier part of the 1900s. British great-grandparents or parents do not allow access to this exact visa.
Background to our application: why we are applying for visas again
Travel Live Learn was born out of Cooper’s and my experience living and working in the UK.
We have actually lived in London twice before. The first time was between 2010-2012 when Cooper was first living and working there on an Ancestral Visa. I was under 30 then, and allowed to work under the Youth Mobility Visa scheme.
We returned in 2014, this time paying an immigration lawyer to help us secure Cooper’s second UK Ancestry visa and aligning me as his long-term (un-married) partner.
Cooper and I had completely settled in the UK by 2019. We fully intended to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in 2020, having almost completed the five years settled status requirement. We were preparing to study for the Life in the UK test when COVID struck.
With just three months to go before we would be granted the right to come and go more freely, a difficult change was forced upon us. Not only did COVID remove our option to live, work and travel as we had previously done, but at the same time, my Dad came to the end of a battle with Prostate Cancer. It was a dreadful period of my life, where “goodbye” took on many meanings. I’m glad to be moving past it.
Applying for UK work visas post-COVID restrictions
Now that restrictions have eased in most parts of the world, we can move about relatively freely again. An opportunity presented itself that’s meant we have decided to go back to England to live and work for a little while. We’re even taking our COVID puppy, London, with us! (if you’re looking for advice and experience around travelling internationally with a pet, we will share it all on YouTube.com/travellivelearn).
Taking London dog means a serious chunk of our moving budget is gone straight away. So, we decided to take the plunge and apply for the previous visa combination we had (Ancestral + partner visa) ourselves.
“Ourselves” = “me” when it comes to gathering all the admin and paperwork for this fairly stressful task!
Discover our full experience here:
Steps you’ll take
Apply for the Ancestry visa by following the links through the application forms on the UK Government website.
You will pay for the application and your NHS surcharge. Download and keep a copy of ALL of your answers, confirmation numbers and payment details.
Apply for the partner or dependent visa following the links on the website. Ensure your answers align with that of your partner’s Ancestry visa application. Pay for your visa and NHS surcharge.
Book in for your biometrics, where you’ll have your fingerprints and photograph recorded, as well as your supporting paperwork and application scanned through to UK Immigration. Your passport(s) will be taken from here and sent off to UK Immigration.
Wait patiently.
You will receive notification that your passports are available. Check inside for your temporary entry clearance (which means your visa was granted – yay!).
Upon entering the UK, you have ten days to collect your official biometric card – like a plastic ID card. You will have nominated a location for collection during your visa application. We chose a spot in London that we knew how to get to. It’s usually a post office.
Top tips and advice following our DIY visa application in 2023
For the Ancestry visa, you need to enter the UK within three months of being approved for your visa. If you do know when you need to be there, e.g. for work, give yourself plenty of time – apply at the beginning of the three months.
I received an email saying I had underpaid the NHS surcharge. This seriously freaked me out, because I had been undercharged during the application process. I will never know if this was my fault or a problem with the user journey on the application pages. There was no need to panic though. I paid and it all went through fine.
Stay calm. There’s no real way to track the progress of your visas so you just have to wait and expect the best. If you supply plenty of evidence to show who you are, that you intend to work and that you can support yourself, you will be fine.
For peace of mind, if you can get to a visa processing centre that offers an expediated service, we would take that option. In Australia, VFS Global – the company that processes your paperwork and biometrics (fingerprints and photograph) – offers a priority service at their Sydney, Melbourne and Perth centres.
Applying for UK work visas from Australia: resources and links
Partner visa – follow the links to apply. I selected:Join or accompany a family member, who either is already in or will be travelling to the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man (and you cannot apply on any other form);Followed by: Working in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man
This blog by Kat’s Gone Global is helpful too, talking about what you need to know when applying for a UK Ancestry visa.
This UK Visas and Immigration Facebook Group is a place to ask questions, but be mindful the advice you may get might be skewed depending on where someone is responding from in the world.
Any questions, please feel free to reach out in the comments below.
Discover important info on how to house sit in a foreign language destination: be prepared with safety tips for you and the pets in your care!
In this episode of Freedom and Four Paws, we share our experience around preparing for house and pet sitting in a foreign language destination – that is, for us, a place where English is not the first language spoken.
Watch on and discover some of our favourite resources, tips and tricks for learning the language, experiencing the culture, facing embarrassment, and importantly, surviving in an emergency or crisis situation.
How to house sit in a foreign language destination
Ultimately, our top five critical tips for house and pet sitting in a foreign language destination are:
Know where you’re staying. Make sure you have the address written down and with you both on your phone and on your person. This is important in case you you lose your phone or the battery dies.
Make sure you know what the emergency services number is in the country where you’re staying, e.g. 000, 111, 999.
Download key apps before you head off so they’re ready to go on the ground. For example, Google Translate, and your favourite language app.
Always ask what you should do if you get locked out, and what to do if the pet gets sick. Make sure you know what the plan is! Also that there are emergency contacts who will be able to communicate with you.
Just practice: give it a go, say hello, or hola, as the case may be.
We’d love to know what your tips and experience is in this space – let us know in the comments
Join us on our podcasting adventures as we hear inspiring stories from amazing people travelling the world. They’re living their best life, often with their pets in tow!
Subscribe now and never miss an episode featuring excellent tips on how to slow travel, successfully work remotely or as a digital nomad, and house + pet sit. We’re on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google podcasts or your favourite podcasting app. Search ‘Freedom and Four Paws’
Freedom and Four Paws is brought to you by Travel Live Learn.com.
As a valued audience member, enjoy 10% OFF at our affiliate partner Cloudy – relieve stress throughout the day straight to a soothing sleep at night, visit trycloudy.com and use the code FREEDOM10.
And if you’re a fellow traveller and pet lover who is keen to share your story and inspire the world, visit exhalemediagroup.com and mention FREEDOM20 for 20% OFF any purchased service including personalised storytelling coaching.
Are you keen like us to get flying again? This info about the world’s safest airlines might either please you or frazzle you, depending on which one you’re booked with in 2023!
World’s Safest Airlines 2023
AirlineRatings.com, the world’s only safety, product, and COVID-19 rating website have just released its list of safest airlines for 2023, with Aussie airline Qantas taking out the top spot. It’s some good news for the airline that has suffered a number of PR blows in 2022. This was due to some very negative customer service experiences and ridiculous delays which we experienced firsthand a number of times last year.
As far as safety reputation goes though, Qantas just edged out last year’s winner Air New Zealand by the finest of margins.
According to AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas:
“Our Top Twenty safest airlines are all standouts in the industry and are at the forefront of safety, innovation, and launching of a new aircraft. In fact, the safety margins between these top twenty airlines are very small, they are all outstanding airlines.”
In making its evaluation, AirlineRatings.com takes into account a comprehensive range of factors that include serious incidents, recent fatal accidents, audits from aviation’s governing and industry bodies, profitability, industry-leading safety initiatives, expert pilot training assessment and fleet age.
We’d love for you to come and join us on our travels. Have a listen to the wealth of advice being shared on our new podcast Freedom and Four Paws. Or if YouTube is more your thing, subscribe here.
Hi, we’re Sarah & Cooper. Welcome to Travel Live Learn! We’re Aussie expats currently living in the UK (for the third time!) with our adorable Westie, London. Our mission? To inspire you to embrace a life of adventure—whether it’s travelling longer, relocating to the UK or Europe, or exploring the freedom of remote work and digital nomadism. Enjoy your time on our site! We'd love to stay in touch: subscribe for our weekly stories, updates and remote work job opportunities direct to your inbox.
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