Reexamining a "working holiday": An autoethnography

This paper offers a new look at a "working holiday" from autoethnographic and qualitative research findings amongst working holiday makers in Australia – young travelers who chase both work and travel simultaneously within Australia\u27s Working Holiday Maker Program. Work and tourism activities have generally been viewed as opposite fields of study and definitions within each field often reflect this. Such disparities reflect the apparent oxymoronic notion of the phrase "working holiday" and potential misconceptions or lack in understanding of what activities one undertakes while on a "working holiday" and the reasons for pursuing such. Through autoethnographic participant observation and qualitative interviews, this paper will discuss a contemporary conception of "working holiday" as revealed by travelers, and myself, who pursue such activity under a visa category of the same name, in contrast with existing academic interpretations