Flying the Nest: Why You Should Let Your Child Work Abroad

As a parent, you reasonably know that, at some point, your child will leave home to have adventures and experiences of their own – without you. But when that becomes reality, it can be hard to not let your nerves get the better of you.

With most of our team having gone off on their own BUNAC adventures at some point, we know the benefits that are awaiting our young travellers. But we also know that our programme parents need a bit of reassurance as well. Here are the top reasons why your child should choose BUNAC – from a parent’s perspective:

We’ve got 60 years of experience

We’ve got a young mindset, but we have decades of experience. Having helped over 500,000 students and young people with making their travel dreams come true in that time, we’ve seen it all and have helped our customers through it all – including a global pandemic. On top of our experience, we’re also:

• Part of the FCO’s Know Before You Go campaign: A UK government initiative aimed at education people on the necessity of good preparation before going overseas
• A member of the WYSE Work Abroad Association and the British Educational Travel Association (BETA): These memberships mean that we’re the first to hear about changes in global travel conditions, trends, issues, and partner discounts – which we can pass immediately and directly on to our customers. These memberships also provide out team with cutting edge training to ensure that we stay the best in the industry at what we do.

BUNAC’s programme options

BUNAC offers a variety of programmes – so you and your child can choose the programme that suits your family the best. Whether that is dependent on the length of the programme, the cost, the destination, and what will be expected of them when they arrive, BUNAC has the work abroad programme to best suit you.

The benefits of traveling abroad

Submerging themselves in a foreign culture apart from their support systems has helped past BUNACers flourish. From improving their soft skills such as confidence, communication, adaptability and responsibility, to gaining valuable and practical work experience, the benefits waiting for your child can’t be quantified.

But improving their future employability isn’t the most valuable benefit of BUNAC’s programmes. Our past attendees have consistently told us that they have made lifelong friends from their travels with BUNAC:

• “Made the whole process of going on my own much easier (and made so many lifelong friends in the process).” – Hannah B.
• “It was a life changing experience and I would encourage anyone to do the same! I literally made friends for life and North America is now like a second home to me.”
• “I had many wonderful experiences during my two summers, but by far the longest lasting legacy that I have is the many friendships that have endured over the years since then.” – Ian B.

BUNAC will ensure your child’s safety

Your child isn’t just a number or another visa application to our team. BUNAC continues to care about our customers throughout the entire process. With our 60 years of experience, we have established travel insurance partners to guarantee our participants comprehensive travel, medical and baggage cover for their entire trip. Our team of experts also provides full support for our members – including resources they need to plan their adventure and help with finding jobs and/or accommodation if necessary. BUNAC also provides 24/7 emergency support for all our members, including a team on the ground wherever our attendees are to ensure help is always available.

We know the idea of working abroad is nerve-wracking – both for you, and your child. But the advice that our past customers have shared is, “Don’t overthink it – just do it.” And if things don’t work out as planned, home is only a plane ride away.

If you have any questions that we haven’t covered here, please reach out today! Our team are always happy to chat to parents about their concerns & bring them on part of the journey.