When sun holidays become summers of work

Bard

Hi -

I'm considering flying away on a 2 week package holiday on my own and not coming back - staying for the summer to work. It might be a little late to sort out a package holiday itself but flying one-way to somewhere like Heraklion may be relatively cheap.

I'm just investigating it at the moment but am curious about going over to Crete (Hersonnissos most likely) for the 3 months of June to August to live and work. Other destinations (Cyprus, Zanté, Malta, wherever..) could also be options... I'm only starting to check this out now (again, yes - late, I know).

Has anyone done this before - and would anyone have any suggestions?

ntlbell

IIRC you do bar work so I can't see a problem in picking up some work

Bard

I part-time manage a bar (from Thursdays to Sundays) at the moment, yes.

Was just wondering if anyone had done this before and had suggestions re: airlines, destinations, where to go, where to stay, etc. etc.

ntlbell

anywhere with blue skies bars and tourists i would have guessed

just get the cheapest ryanair flight to anywhere in spain and enjoy yourself..

there's no point planning these sort of adventures.

Bard

Well I'd thought of that - just point myself somewhere, show up, and see what happens, and while I see your point and get the excitement of that (no, really!), I'd still prefer to have some sort of a plan to ensure it works out and I won't just be back in two weeks... hence this thread

Not entirely pushed on Spain, mind...

linola_c

Hi this is exactly what im going to do and it is far from too late for gettin a cheap deal!Now altho the irish tour operators are cheap - if u go to www.cheapholidaydeals.co.uk- they are super cheap. Im planning on gettn ryanair flight to london and flyin from there. At the moment im thinkin either rhodes,crete or greece or even cyprus!The only concern i have is the return flights?im havin problems locating airlines tat fly to them?Have u found any?PM me!!!!

RATM

Bard with jobs in resorts you really have to show up to get one, its unusual to be given one over the phone or by email.
You could email the Oirish pubs in Greek/Cypriot resorts and see if they have anything. Most likely they will have their bar managers in place at this stage but you should be able to find bar work pretty easy as you have experience.

But like I said you must be there, this is simply because people like yourself will be calling into pubs/clubs with CVs looking for work at the moment and they are not going to give someone a job over the phone over someone they've met in person.
You just have to take the risk but as long as you're proactive in seeking work (walking around pubs EVERY day ) then its not much of a risk imo.

Finally it might be a good idea to find a place where there are a few resorts along a beached coast within a few miles of each other- this way if you cant find work in one resort you can simply up sticks and go down the road and try elsewhere. Gives you more options.

Bard

Ok, showing up and getting one is now the plan...

It looks like I'll be heading to Argassi on June 6th on a 2 week trip (depending on how much more that costs than a 1 week trip, which I've gotten an excellent quote on). It's quite a good resort itself and is close (walking distance) to Zanté town and a couple of other spots - plus I've been there before, so it looks like a good plan to me. Should have it all confirmed tomorrow.

RATM

Good stuff. Also remember to ask pub/restaurant owners where you can find rooms to rent (for when your two weeks is up) , they may not have a job for you but they are often a good source of info on cheap rooms in the area.

Best of luck with it and let us know how you get on

v.e.r.b.a.l

and ask around the other workers to find out what the usual wages are, because trust me in Greece, they´ll try to pay you way less than they should!!!

Bard

Thanks for the advice guys... have it all taken on board.

Unfortunately, the good package deal I found yesterday had gone by this morning when I called back in and although I tried around I could find nowhere that had a full package (flights and accommodation for two weeks for one for the dates I wanted) so I've gone with flights only in the (fairly realistic, by all accounts) expectation of being able to find cheap accommodation on arrival.

Cheers - will update this thread when there's more - and will blog about it too!

Bard

Am in Zakynthos now (Laganas) and have decided to just leave it at a 2 week holiday and not look for work here as my job at home offered me a raise to stay... which was nice of them

Only here a day already and it feels like longer... and I've still got 13 days to go! Woo!

Bard

Feck feck feck feck...

Wish I brought my DJ stuff with me & looked for a job here now. Chances would have been fairly decent at getting one.

Still, having a kick-ass holiday