Today when visiting my favourite little travel planning tool – Google Maps i noticed something a little different. No it wasnt Google Buzz or Google Wave but Google Labs! It was a little potion bottle icon that when clicked displayed the following message:

Google Maps Labs is a testing ground for experimental features that aren’t quite ready for primetime. They may change, break or disappear at any time.

Google maps has to be the best travel planning tool on the web! There i’ve said it. It provides an excellent user interface with a vast array of information to make planning your next trip a breeze.

I’ll take you through planning a trip on Google Maps before you leave:

1. Login to your google account or create one if you dont have one already.
2. Click on Maps.
3. Click on My Maps
4. Click on Create New Map
5. Type in a Title, Description and decided whether you want this map to be public or private then click on Save.


Travel - Google Maps Step 1

So we’re going to Canada to work and holiday! Moving overseas has been a lengthy exercise with plenty, and i mean, plenty of little annoying things to get done depending on what your leaving behind in Australia. This is my experience.

Hutch: “I’ve got a fine idea! Let’s screw it all and go travelling for a while, we could work in Canada”
5 Min’s later after the excited rambling stops.
JB: “Hmm i dunno what about this, what about that”
3 months later…
JB: “You know what i reckon we do it!”
Hutch: “Do what?”
JB: “Go to Canada!”

That’s how it started, then the idea grew:
Hutch: “I reckon we should do as much travel before we get to Canada as possible. You know South America, USA etc. Maybe rent a RV and trek across the USA”
15 Min’s later after the excited rambling stops.
JB: “Hmm i dunno what about this, what about that”
Hutch: “Yes your probably right about the RV thing Ben does snore a lot, but still it makes sense to travel beforehand else we’re just moving house really”
2 months later…
JB: “You know what i reckon we do it!”
Hutch: “Do what?”
JB: “Travel beforehand around South America”

First things first we’re going to need a visa so, OK this is fairly straight forward if your an Australian aged between 18-30 at the time the application is received and without any specific medical conditions then you’re eligible to apply for the Canadian Working Holiday Visa. I won’t get into anymore details about the visa itself because that’s the job of the WHP Canada site but i will mention that currently the working holiday visa is no longer a once in a lifetime opportunity it can now be renewed on a yearly basis.

The process of applying is fairly straight forward:

If you’re travelling through or stopping by the USA on your way to Canada or Mexico, as we are, you may need to apply for the USA B1/B2 Visa as the Visa Waiver Program(VWP) counts time spent in Canada and Mexico as time against that Visa. For example if you flew to Los Angeles and spent 3 days there on the VWP, went up to Vancouver and worked there for 6 months then flew back down to San Francisco you would of overstayed your VWP by 3 months(give or take a few days).

For information on the VWP please see: http://canberra.usembassy.gov/consular/visas/niv/vwp.html

For information on the B1/B2 Visa please visit: http://canberra.usembassy.gov/consular/visas/niv/business-pleasure.html

Specifically, we’re concerned with the B2 Visa as the B1 Visa relates to business travellers. So the B2 Visa is appropriate for: