Abstract:

This study aims to discuss working tourists' experiences, which include the motives before departure, cross-culture shock and adaption during the journey, and reflection after returning to Taiwan. Qualitative in-depth interviews were provided by 28 participants recruited through snowball sampling. We found that participation in a working holiday could be driven by three types of motivation: the influences of a reference group, high pay, and policy leniency. The transcripts of participants’ interviews allowed the development of the two themes of sociocultural and psychological adjustment. Working holiday participants believed they could achieve several benefits, including improving their language skills, enhancing their ability to deal with people and situations, training their decision-making skills, and changing their attitudes towards life.