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General Travel Tips and Advice Have you traveled before?- Please share your tips and advice with fellow Tpunks!

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Old 02-27-2005, 06:33 PM   #1
foofiter
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I have some concerns that I am addressing and I would like to hear what you have to say!

Here it goes. A goal I am considering is finishing college (this May) and working until my debts are paid up (15k student loans) and have $10,000 USD in the bank. At that point I want to quit my (very nice, well paying) job and travel the world for at LEAST 1 year. I will do whatever work I can find on the way and live the life of a wandering worker. My concerns lie here:

1. Career - How do you guys, that travel for months at a time, do it? I know that some are students and have the summer off. From a long term perspective, it will not look good on a resume if you have these 3 month gaps every summer. It looks like job-hopping. I am definately interested in getting into travel writing and other travel-related jobs but I am unsure where to look or even what kind of jobs are out there that would fit this need. I would love to live in the EU for a while since they have longer vacations that the USA (Germany is mandatory 6 weeks). WorldWideMike: I would love to hear how you do it. I know you travel all the time and any input you could provide would be considered golden by me. Please do not say teaching English. That is definately not something I would enjoy doing. I would do it only as a last resort. I am not against moving out of the country to achieve this goal (in which case I will have to find info on getting visas/citizenship). I would just like to have the option of a career that I can come back to restart if the need arises. I would die a happy man if I was able to work/travel my way around the world for the rest of my life.

2. Retirement - If I spend every dime and minute on traveling I will be unable to save for my retirement. This is a secondary concern but it is important. I cannot rely on social security. It will be gone when I am 65. I must have some plan in place even if it means working later into life. I would like to hear how you heavy travelers are able to save for retirement (if at all).

3. Working Abroad: I have heard of a few under the table jobs and such but I am looking for experiences that you guys have had. Any places/areas that are especially good for under the table work? I am willing to stay in one place for a while if it allows me to accumulate money to extend my trip. I am interested in hearing about fruit picking, bartending, and almost anything else that I can do to earn some hard cash.

Sorry for the long post but I am trying to decide on this matter and wanna hear some input. Thanks guys!

foofiter

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"I didn't get to where I am today worrying about how I am going to feel in the morning." -- Ron White (Blue Collar Comedy Tour)
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I am traveling around the world until I find something that makes me want to stop. I am an aspiring photographer and hope to find whatever it is I am looking for...
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Old 02-27-2005, 08:58 PM   #2
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Dude foofiter for one thing travelling abroad can be put on a resume. I have talked to more than a few CEO's in my life and almost all of them approved of my travelling lifestyle. It shows initiative, the ability to think on your own, creativity, and other such things. Employers love well-travelled people.

WWM works for an airline. The rest of us travel on credit cards

I chuck money in a retirement account when I can. 50 bucks a month is what I try to do. If I can continue that I will have 3.4 mil when I hit retirement age.

Thats all I can help with!
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Old 02-27-2005, 10:16 PM   #3
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You can always move somewhere abroad to work. Thats what I'm doing. I hope to secure contract based work and then between contracts, travel for a couple months. I'll be seeing everything that I didn't have time/money to see and at the same time furthering my career - the best of both worlds.

The UK has a highly skilled migration program which favours people under 28 years old. You actually get bonus points for being young. If you have a degree, a decent amount of experience and are young, you'll be in a pretty good position to qualify.
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Old 02-28-2005, 03:32 PM   #4
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Skorch,

I would love to hear some more info on that program! I will have a degree very soon. I have been working in IT and Finance jobs since I was 14 (I am now 22). Any info you can provide would be great! I actually sent my resume to some places in London and Amsterdam on monster.com last night. Anyone else out there feel free to pitch in as well!

foofiter

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"To Alcohol! The cause of--and solution to--all life's problems." -- Homer J. Simpson
"I didn't get to where I am today worrying about how I am going to feel in the morning." -- Ron White (Blue Collar Comedy Tour)
"I was born to lose and destined to fail." -- Mike Ness, Social Distortion
"Eat healthy, exercise daily, die anyway" -- My motto
"Everyone I know, goes away, in the end...I will let you down, I will make you hurt..." -- Johnny Cash (NIN Cover of "Hurt")

I am traveling around the world until I find something that makes me want to stop. I am an aspiring photographer and hope to find whatever it is I am looking for...
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Old 02-28-2005, 11:53 PM   #5
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Unfortunately, IT is a very difficult area to get in on the HSMP from what I understand, but there are supposedly a lot of opportunities to get work visas for finance jobs... In fact, finance is probably the main area where you'll see Americans working in London. Usually, though, it happens when you work for a US firm and get transferred to a UK office. Just apply to the ones you see on Monster and see what they say! If they really want you, they can sponsor you for a visa.

As for the Netherlands - the country is very small and has a relatively high rate of unemployment for an overall highly prosperous population... so other than under-the-table jobs in the tourism industry, you need to be sponsored by a potential employer, and they have to show proof that they NEED you. Because of this notorious work visa environment, there's been a site created that helps foreigners who want in on dutch jobs: http://www.undutchables.nl

Good luck!
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Old 03-01-2005, 02:12 AM   #6
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Hi foo! A quick couple of points I have learnt from the last couple of interviews I have had. Don't be afraid to put travel on your resume. I think it's better than having gaps of nothing.

I was travelling most of last year and put it on my resume with positive results. It's been a talking point and in the past two interviews they have asked me where I have been, what was my favourite place etc. They even tied it in with one question to make things easier for me. "What was your biggest challenge when you were travelling and how did you overcome that?"

Anyway I got the job - meet ev the new 'trading representative' ! *bows*

I'm quite interested in your background foo considering I have a finance and electronic commerce degree and now work for an online trading co.

ev
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Old 03-01-2005, 08:45 AM   #7
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I do my traveling by working for international non-profits. It usually allows me to move to a different country and from there I can travel to other countries.
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Old 03-01-2005, 09:25 AM   #8
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Hi foofiter,

As Jake said, I work for an airline. You may notice on my travelogs, too, that my trips aren't for very long periods of time, either. Well, at least not since I joined the work force after graduating college.

There are a number of jobs that give reasonable time off. You mentioned teaching English as something you DON'T want to do...but what about teaching as a profession? Normally, they get their 2-3 months off in the summer. Many work other jobs, or go to classes, but YOU could use it to travel. Teaching (despite my lack of really wanting to do it) was a close #2 to Journalism when I was figuring out what I wanted to do with my life -- simply because of the travel.

Construction workers earn all their money in the nicer seasons (at least in the Midwest), then don't work as much in Winter. You could use that "down time" to travel. Anyway, I know you were talking abotu IT and Finance, so Construction's probably not your bag. Mine neither, but I tossed it in there as an example.

I say follow up on what the others were telling you...try to find a job with a company overseas. And don't be afraid to take a "foot in the door" type of job, either, that would normally be below your expected entry level. You can move up once you get there...or if you don't like the company, move on to another.

Good luck, and feel free to post what you find out in your search...

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Old 03-01-2005, 12:04 PM   #9
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WorldWideMike: Thanks for the info! I am searching dilligently for a job overseas.

Kingcrazylegs: I would love to hear more about international non-profits. I assume you make a reasonable salary. Hit me with some details!

foofiter

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"To Alcohol! The cause of--and solution to--all life's problems." -- Homer J. Simpson
"I didn't get to where I am today worrying about how I am going to feel in the morning." -- Ron White (Blue Collar Comedy Tour)
"I was born to lose and destined to fail." -- Mike Ness, Social Distortion
"Eat healthy, exercise daily, die anyway" -- My motto
"Everyone I know, goes away, in the end...I will let you down, I will make you hurt..." -- Johnny Cash (NIN Cover of "Hurt")

I am traveling around the world until I find something that makes me want to stop. I am an aspiring photographer and hope to find whatever it is I am looking for...
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Old 03-01-2005, 02:00 PM   #10
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hey foo,
i have been in London for 8 months now, i am an IT graduate who came over here straight after uni expecting to walk into an IT job. but the IT bubble has burst it's very hard to get a job in the industry atm for 2 main reasons (these may not apply to you)

1. i am only on a 2 year working visa when companies are taking on graduates they are looking for long term prospects
2. those jobs that are shorter terms like contratct work you need experience.

so im stuck in catch 22, i cant get a job becasue they want experience, i cant get the experience cos i need a job.

you however have been working in the industry and at the end of the day its work experince that an employeer looks at (although the bit of paper does help)

saying that though there is plenty of work available in london, so as WWMike said if your willing to lower your expectations you will definetly without a doubt find something, and once you have your foot in the door aim for what you want to do.

another thing about the UK it's all done via recruitment agencies. so you need to get your CV to some good recruitment agencies

some of the bigger ones over here are
reed.co.uk
www.hayspersonnel.com/

and if you are planning on finance then dude there are hundreds of them
the TNT normally has about 20 pages of finance jobs each week.
heres a few of the agencies in this weeks. (just google them)

walker hamill
marks sattin
fss
goodman masson
joslin rowe
robert walters

not sure of the relevence but it's something to have a bit of a look at
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