rousseau5550

Good day everyone. I've been pondering this question for a while. Currently i am a student, about to enter my last year of studies. I have quite a bit of government loan money in my bank account. I've been careful on not spending this wad of cash.. Anyways, as my loan debt isn't especially high, I've been wondering whether i should use this money to finance a mini-trip to Europe (visiting Central & Eastern Europe, returning to Berlin and making my way to Prague, and other places..). After my solo-trip last year, I've become addicted to the idea of solo-traveling. (I.e. I have a solo trip next week to NYC). I would LOVE to return to Europe, though spending student loan cash kinda depresses me. I see this money as belonging to Canadian tax payers So my question to you, ethically, what do you think?


Cheers

__________________
Places that I have visited: France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada (Qc, Ont, BC)..

Places left to visit: The rest of the World..



http://www.facebook.com/1Alexandre.Rousseau
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simply_angelic

Ethically, I say who the hell cares about Canadian tax payers? Don't feel guilty~ the government throws away enough money as it is. Do whatever you want with the money! As long as the fact that you're owing money isn't a big issue to you, I say go for it!

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~Laura
GO CANADA!!!!

If you walk backwards, you'll find out that you can go forward and people won't know if you're coming or going.

Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today.
-James Dean

Countries I've Visited: Austria, Botswana, Canada, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy. Malawi, Mexico, Portugal, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, USA, UK, Vatican City, Zambia

bellelass

Ive done it. I say why not? They gave me the money to use for myself and to further my education, and I generally learn HEAPS while traveling. If its an ethical thing, then take care to really educate yourself while you're doing it and your conscience will shut up.

__________________
"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did."
-T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom

Inside

you'll be hard pressed to find someone here who will tell you not to travel


I say go for it, you only live once

space virgin

You're going to be paying it back either way, why not spend it on something you enjoy?

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Various bloggings (Version 2.0)

Canadian Bacon

To be at odds with everyone here:

I don't really have an ethical problem (I work for the gov't, so I spend blow your tax money everyday.)

BUT, I don't think travel should be financed by loans, it should be financed by money you have earned yourself. Only then I can travel with a clear conscience.

But then again, my parents did pay my tuition so, what do i know...

__________________
Vincent: "So what you gonna do?"
Jules: "Well, basically, I'm just gonna walk the earth."
Vincent: "What you mean 'walk the earth'?"
Jules: "You know, like Kane in 'Kung Fu'...go places...meet people...get in adventures."

Trips (only counting recreational travel):
FIRST TRIP (2005): FIRST EUROTRIP EVER! UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland
SECOND TRIP (2007): First Solo Trip! Greece, Turkey, Syria, Spain
2008: China (Beijing, Shanghai, Yangshuo) ...right before the Olympics!
2009: Japan & HK, Southern Spain
[size=1]2010: All over Lebanon, Ibiza (Spain), Oktoberfest (Germany), Thailand.
2011: India (Goa), Jordan, Jerusalem, San Sebastian (Spain), Amsterdam (again), London, Driving from Vancouver to L.A. (stopping in Portland, Seattle, San Fran and all the little stops), Montpellier (France), Geneva and Lausanne (Switzerland)

"Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it."

buzzingtalk

well the tax payers will get there money back so wheres the guilt.

ive blown most of my loan on records and computer stuff, if thats my vice while im at uni then be it. the tax payers are getting extra monbey cos my student loan is taxed, so government is gonna get the money back. go on a nice trip, enjoy yourself...its the last time you can cos after you finish uni its just work work work til you die

Canadian Bacon

Yeah... on second thought just pool your money together and go. I changed my opinion, buzzingtalk is right, if you find a job later on, there's no way they'll let you take 2 months off to do it.... so do it now.

__________________
Vincent: "So what you gonna do?"
Jules: "Well, basically, I'm just gonna walk the earth."
Vincent: "What you mean 'walk the earth'?"
Jules: "You know, like Kane in 'Kung Fu'...go places...meet people...get in adventures."

Trips (only counting recreational travel):
FIRST TRIP (2005): FIRST EUROTRIP EVER! UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland
SECOND TRIP (2007): First Solo Trip! Greece, Turkey, Syria, Spain
2008: China (Beijing, Shanghai, Yangshuo) ...right before the Olympics!
2009: Japan & HK, Southern Spain
[size=1]2010: All over Lebanon, Ibiza (Spain), Oktoberfest (Germany), Thailand.
2011: India (Goa), Jordan, Jerusalem, San Sebastian (Spain), Amsterdam (again), London, Driving from Vancouver to L.A. (stopping in Portland, Seattle, San Fran and all the little stops), Montpellier (France), Geneva and Lausanne (Switzerland)

"Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it."

Travel_girl81

Spend it traveling. If you don't go you may look back and say"what if I had gone". But if you do go I bet you'll never look back and say "I wish I hadn't gone and paid of my loans quicker".

Travel_girl81

ok typo there ment to say if you do not go....

marc873

are you still here? Hit the road for sure. You'll regret over the years if you don't

__________________
When an adventure ends you can never go back, never relive it, never hope to feel the same emotion. The secret is to not try and go back but to keep searching for new adventure....

rousseau5550

Thnx for the replies everyone, though the thought of working non-stop after I'm done school depresses me now . But on the other hand, planning for an upcoming trip always gets me thinking happy thoughts
I have to start thinking about possible places to visit..... Like i wrote earlier, Eastern Europe sounds like a good place to start.

Cheers

__________________
Places that I have visited: France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada (Qc, Ont, BC)..

Places left to visit: The rest of the World..



http://www.facebook.com/1Alexandre.Rousseau
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kiwichick

Yeh do it! govt money is no worse than credit- ya still gotta pay it back thats where ethics come into play.Enjoy being young

buzzingtalk

it is well depressing. i finish uni next year and the onely thing i can do after that is a postgrad which i cant afford, so i have to get a full time job. ive been in education for nearly 17 years now - and i have no clue what i want to do with my life, the only thing i know is i cant stay in the same place for more than a few years

i mean im planning on getting a shit job, in a supermarket or something (thats the only sort of job people like me can get in london anyways, im not a suit) working my ass off night shifts, earning lots of money then after 2 years quitting that shit job and setting off on a long term travelling binge. work your way around the world!! i think its a wicked way for me to find out what and where i wanna go in life cos london is no insiration

keep us posted on what ya wanna do, if your heading to the UK fire away

lost in texas

If you´re talking about loans, then that makes it your money until you pay it back-- so there would be no ethical issue anyway. Even if its grant money, I say travel is as valuable to your education as anything else you do in school. Of course, I used student loans to buy a car, so don´t ask me.

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"Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds."
-- FDR

rousseau5550

I was looking at visiting Southern England (i.e. Plymouth) because i have family there. Thats a problem though, because i can't visit everywhere....arrg too many choices

__________________
Places that I have visited: France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada (Qc, Ont, BC)..

Places left to visit: The rest of the World..



http://www.facebook.com/1Alexandre.Rousseau
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