hello!! - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!



Go Back   TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards! > Members Lounge > Introductions and Announcements

Introductions and Announcements Intro: First time here? "Say hello to my little friend..." Announcements: B-Days, special thanks, congrats, ..."You betta recognize!"

Raileurope.com: See Europe by train
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 07-03-2008, 08:30 AM   #1
mapis
Members
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 4
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default hello!!

Hey everyone! I finally got the nerve to post something here... I've actually got a question... I know this is something pretty personal, but I've decided to just ask it here just to get different points of view, so feel free to speak your mind... PLEEEEEASE!!

My dream has always been to travel around the world, to get to know a lot of new places, people, customs... I have especially been very attracted to Germany -don't ask me why- .


Ok now... I recently graduated as a psychologist and have the perfect opportunity to start traveling, the thing is I don’t have enough money, I'm 25 years old and I feel like everyone else -namely my colleagues- already has a "real job", they're already making money and getting on with their lives, some of them already have experience in their area and all!!!


Everybody thinks that I'm going to europe to start a master's degree or something, but that's the last thing I wanna do right now! I wanna travel around, sit back and relax, nevetheless, I wouldn’t like to abandon my career to traveling, after all I’ve worked hard for it, and I know there’s yet a lot to do.

Another issue is… I’ve always been a dreamer, not really a do’er and I wanna change that really bad! I have traveled before, but they’ve always been very planned out trips, like school exchanges and vacation, very safe and organized, but I never really get up and go… like I said a dreamer, so I think this is a great opportunity to change that… guess I’m too scared of the future?? (ya think?) has anyone got any ideas on what I can do to change this???

So I don’t know if I should just start getting my “real” secure job, start getting my experience here in my country and get on with my career right now or just go for the backpacking and just start with my backpacker lifestyle??? I just feel like this time of my life is so decisive...

so thanks for reading this far and any advice is very very welcome.

mapis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-03-2008, 11:14 AM   #2
Esterina
french touch
 
Esterina's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Québec
Posts: 3,246
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

Hi mapis and welcome to travelpunk !

We have this "should I do it now" question regularly on the boards, and a good number of tpunks have asked themselves the same thing also.

Your career can easily wait a few more months. Discovering parts of the world and of yourself will only make you a better more mature person. On a personal and professional level, you can only benefit from this experience, and I'm convinced that that will be an asset in the eyes of a employer.

What would bring you regrets ? Starting work now and not travel, or the opposite ? The answer lies here.

__________________

people are people


Esterina is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-03-2008, 11:49 AM   #3
Elizabeth
TPunk Moderator
 
Elizabeth's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 1,401
Thanks: 0
Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts
Default

Welcome!

Everyone here is going to tell you to go travel! It is a travel message board after all. :D Seeing as how you have a four year degree you could probably go teach English somewhere; with just a degree or maybe supplemented with a TEFL certificate. Otherwise, it doesn't really cost that much to travel. Just start saving up!
Elizabeth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-05-2008, 10:50 AM   #4
blinkchick2134
TPunk Emeritus
 
blinkchick2134's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Here and there
Posts: 1,633
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

Weight the options carefully. Like atchoum said the experience will help you and your future employees will most likely be interested (if not jealous) of your travels. Traveling makes who more global-minded, improves social skills (trying to communicate when you don't speak their language makes you rely on other forms of communication), and increases independence (having to find your way around a city with a worn subway map, find hostels that have openings, entertain yourself during long bus rides or lonely nights in the hostel bar).

You'll meet people that you never would of met and you'll see places you've only dreamed of (well maybe googled too). Traveling doesn't have to be expensive! Couchsurfing.com is a great resource if you're comfortable staying with strangers (a few people here have done it - myself included), food can be bought cheaply if you buy in supermarkets and cook yourself, a eurail pass is kinda pricey but may be worth it if you want to go outside of Germany, carpooling/ridesharing is a great way to meet locals and save on gas. So the plane ticket would be the biggest expense.

Like lizz said you can always teach English with a 4-year degree! Do a cheap TEFL course before you leave and you'll probably get a place to live and pay for your work!!
__________________
Amber

"If I had a kid I'd f**k it. Then kill it. Then f**k it again." Seattle 2006

blog of travels and such
flickr

Currently located in HAWAII

Been to: Alaska, Bahamas, Canada, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Hawaii, Spain, Switzerland - - also meetups in Chicago, LA, and Seattle
blinkchick2134 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply






Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 04:48 AM.



 

Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.2.0 (Unregistered)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121