When you go travelling in another country, there are different ways you can do it.
Go backpacking and sleep in hostels, do work and travel and sleep on the worksite or in hostels, go road tripping and sleep in your car or do an au pair and stay with a family.
I think Au pairing has lots of good sides and I would always do it again, if in Australia or any other country.
Let me show you why I prefer Au pairing over backpacking or work and travel.

1. You get to experience the local culture more

When you live with a local family you get to experience the culture a lot better than when you stay in hostels with lots of other travellers, that are from all over the world.
They will cook their usual meals, you get to see how the people are like and what they do differently in their everyday life.
For me that is why I want to travel, because I want to get to know a different culture and know how people are living in other parts of the world and what better way to experience that than living with locals.

2. Free accommodation and food

Trust me, when travelling you are happy about every cent you can save and accommodation and food, that you have to buy every day, are probably one of the most expensive things in the end.
In your host family you will live for free and get enough food and can save money for something else.

3. Earn some money for a job that is not really hard

Many jobs people do for work and travel are pretty draining, like fruit picking in the heat or construction work.
Of course there are easier jobs as well and one of them is Au pairing in my opinion.
I for example have to get the kids ready for school in the morning, get the time off they are at school and have to play with them in the afternoon, where I often go in the pool with them or go on a bike ride to the park.
That are things that are physically not hard.
Sometimes it is mentally hard, when the kids have a bad day and are hard to handle, but they pass and I always love the kids.

4. Own room for more privacy

Whenever I was travelling with friends during my time as an au pair we stayed at hostels and even after just a few nights I found it pretty draining always having to be quiet in your room when there are others in there, getting ready in the dark or being woken up by sounds in the morning.
It is so much more comfortable to have an own room for privacy and resting time, and you don’t have to live out of a suitcase or backpack for the whole time because you can unpack your stuff.

5. You don’t have to share a kitchen or bathroom with strangers

In hostels, the kitchen and bathroom can sometimes be pretty messy, or they don’t have what you need in the kitchen.
In a host family, you can cook and bake whenever you want and usually have enough equipment, and you can keep it clean with the family.
You can have a bathroom for yourself and don’t always have to get ready with others in front of the mirror or have to wait long until a toilet or shower is free.

6. You get to use their car

In some families you will be able to use their car, which is great if you want to discover some rather lonely parts of your area or when the public transport isn’t too good.
I was also able to travel to places further away with friends by car which was pretty convenient and getting around the cities is just a lot faster by car here.

7. You can make friends in your free time

I made a lot of new and great friends during my au pair.
Nearly all of them are also au pairs, but that is good because I get to know people from all over the world, and they have free time when I am free too during the day, so I spend my free hours hiking, going to waterfalls or going to the beach with them instead of being home alone.
It is also easier to make very close friends as an au pair than as a backpacker.
Backpackers often make friends in the hostel they are staying at, but many of the travellers there are not staying for too long, and you can’t make close friendships as easily.
I spent between 3 and 6 months with the people that I have gotten really close with, and I will definitely stay in contact with them.

8. There is always someone local who is there for you

If you have a problem with something, there is always someone who can help you out with that.
Even though you might be travelling alone, your host parents can try to help you out with everything you need, and you don’t have to do it over the phone with people at home.

9. You get to see the not so touristic areas

I stayed at the Sunshine coast in Australia and for backpackers it is kind of underrated in my opinion.
There are so many pretty places that backpackers don’t see, when they skip most of the Sunshine coast, but that I get to discover because I stay here for a long time when I can see places that are not too full and touristic.
Of course, you could also land in a touristic area, but that would be great too, as that would probably mean it is a gorgeous area.

10. The family can show you their area or recommend you places

Locals can recommend you places to see in the area, which is great, as they probably know their area best.
Oftentimes, your host family will also take you when they go on day trips or vacation.

11. You learn about childcare

In your host family, you get to experience how they raise their kids and help them do so.
Like that, you can see what they do differently as your parents did with you and if you like it, you could do it like they do when you have kids yourself.
Oftentimes, there are things though, where I think that’s not how I would do it with my kids.
I can’t change how they raise their kids and that’s also not my job, but I can learn from that and do it differently later.

I hope that list helped you to decide if an au pair is something you would consider over something else, but remember you can always do more than one thing if you want.
I will also help on farms after being an Au pair, go on road trips and stay at hostels for multiple weeks.
Don’t get me wrong, I also enjoy staying at hostels and have met many awesome people at hostels, and it is always interesting hearing their stories, so you should definitely try different things out on your travels.
Let me know if you got more points for either side and about your travel plans!