The Travelling Myth

scdublin

I wouldn't say the OP or others of the same opinion are bitter as such....they just don't have the same view as people who have travelled because they haven't done it. Like I can't say Australia is bloody amazing because I haven't been...

cloptrop wrote: »

how you went to see some band you can see here in a different country and that makes your story better than the time I seen them in Dublin , or any boring holiday story .

In reference to this remark I can say though, that I've experienced living here and abroad...and have to admit even the things you can do here like go to see a band etc are totally different experiences in other countries, and in my opinion are more fun. And unless you've experienced both, you can't really give an unbiased opinion. You can't compare the two and slam other peoples opinions, when you personally haven't witnessed the two.

SMASH THE UNIONS

Scanlas The 2nd wrote: »

You can do that at home in your twenties. I ask again, what can you do in your twenties that you can't do in your sixties when travelling. You can still see new cultures etc in your sixties.

1. Many hostels will not accept travellers over 35 years of age. They are generally for young people.

2. You may not be in the greatest physical health for trekking through the desert or up mountains.

3. It's highly unlikely that you will strike up a romance with a fellow female traveller, since they will all be youngsters and you will probably have your own wife back home/tagging along with you.

4. You may have other obligations back home that will prevent you from travelling - mortgage, kids/grankids, hospital appointments.

Unless of course by "seeing new cultures" you mean through binocular lenses from a coffin cruise ship.

tok9

cloptrop wrote: »

Yes if you want to go do it, but be wary that not everyone cares so if you are going to travel just so you can bore everyone about it when you get home dont.

Well fortunately that is not my reason for travelling.

As I said if you're not interesting in hearing about travelling then don't. The idea that people go travelling so they can tell people they went travelling is ridiculous.

Antisocialiser

Can't be bothered wading through the last 10 pages of ****e but in general the OP has a point.

The practice of young irish wans heading off to Australia just seems so thoughtless.

Also on the escaping reality bit; I don't see many people in committed relationships with good well paying jobs running off to Oz to work on a building site and get wrecked every night. Seems to be a way to do something nice and different if you've been stuck in a rut for a while. I suppose there's not much wrong with that but it seems a little sheep following the herd in most cases.

BillyMitchel

Scanlas The 2nd wrote: »

CiaranC wrote: »

Scanlas The 2nd wrote: »

What can't you do that's so great at 65 that you can do in your 20's?

Ride other 20 year olds

You can do that at home in your twenties. I ask again, what can you do in your twenties that you can't do in your sixties when travelling. You can still see new cultures etc in your sixties.

You're just not in the same physical shape. You really think think you could trek miles a day across a south American jungle at 60+ in 40 degree heat? Trek across Africa? Simple fact you also aren't as healthy you might not be dying but if we're bitten or caught some tropical disease your survival chances are pretty slim especially if you're in some remote place in the arsehole of nowhere.

Could you hike Kilimanjaro when your 65? No you wouldn't be allowed. Could an average person jump in a cage and swim with great whites in south Africa at 65? I highly doubt they wouldn't be allowed.

A 24 hour flight to Australia would be hard enough for someone at retirement age without going backpacking across new Zealand or where ever.

Going on holiday a couple of times a year is not in the same catogory as what most folk do now a days.

Obviously there is always exceptions but the majority just wouldn't be able.

SMASH THE UNIONS

Antisocialiser wrote: »

Can't be bothered wading through the last 10 pages of ****e but in general the OP has a point.

The practice of young irish wans heading off to Australia just seems so thoughtless.

Also on the escaping relating bit; I don't see many people in committed relationships with good well paying jobs running off to Oz to work on a building site and get wrecked every night. Seems to be a way to do something nice and different if you've been stuck in a rut for a while. I suppose there's not much wrong with that but it seems a little sheep following the herd in most cases.

Answer these two questions:

1. Have you ever been travelling?

2. If you won a free 6 month back-packing trip across South America, would you refuse it? Of course not. So is it a money thing? You obviously would like to go travelling. Methinks you are just poor.

Scanlas The 2nd

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

Scanlas The 2nd wrote: »

You can do that at home in your twenties. I ask again, what can you do in your twenties that you can't do in your sixties when travelling. You can still see new cultures etc in your sixties.

1. Many hostels will not accept travellers over 35 years of age. They are generally for young people.

2. You may not be in the greatest physical health for trekking through the desert or up mountains.

3. It's highly unlikely that you will strike up a romance with a fellow female traveller, since they will all be youngsters and you will probably have your own wife back home/tagging along with you.

4. You may have other obligations back home that will prevent you from travelling - mortgage, kids/grankids, hospital appointments.

Unless of course by "seeing new cultures" you mean through binocular lenses from a coffin cruise ship.

1. If you've saved throughout your life you can afford better accommodation easily.

2. This is one reason I agree its possibly better to travel younger, but only if you like physical activities in the first place.

3. You can strike up all the romances you want in your own country when young, travelling just for romance is a bit desperate.

4. If you are retired you will probably be able to spare a few months here and there to travel. No work after all. More money too to enjoy your travelling.

cloptrop

scdublin wrote: »

I wouldn't say the OP or others of the same opinion are bitter as such....they just don't have the same view as people who have travelled because they haven't done it. Like I can't say Australia is bloody amazing because I haven't been...



In reference to this remark I can say though, that I've experienced living here and abroad...and have to admit even the things you can do here like go to see a band etc are totally different experiences in other countries, and in my opinion are more fun. And unless you've experienced both, you can't really give an unbiased opinion. You can't compare the two and slam other peoples opinions, when you personally haven't witnessed the two.

But the people that stayed at home have experienced staying at home so the fact you say you have experienced more is silly really . I made a start on my life , family etc , the traveller just dodged that for a few years , now most of them are 30 , boring and are annoyed that everyone else has grown up , with little all else to do except go back on the road .
Telling me I missed out because I didnt go to austrailia which is pretty much as broadening as going to santa ponsa at this stage is pure ignorant.

fishy fishy

lots of people are missing the point here - its not about who is better - the travelers or the ones at home.

if you read the op's post again, you will see that it is HIM that has a problem with the travelers having fun while abroad.

He cannot seem to accept or respect other peoples right to do things their way. His opinion is that it it his way or the highway.

LLU

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

Answer these two questions:

1. Have you ever been travelling?

2. If you won a free 6 month back-packing trip across South America, would you refuse it? Of course not. So is it a money thing? You obviously would like to go travelling. Methinks you are just poor.

Hmmm, nice to see such an open minded contribution. How did you become so open minded? Did you travel a lot? :rolleyes:

tok9

Just a point - I wouldn't consider going to Australia as travelling. Most people who go there go to work and waste whatever money they get.

Australia wouldn't be top of my list of places to go to...

Antisocialiser

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

Answer these two questions:

1. Have you ever been travelling?

2. If you won a free 6 month back-packing trip across South America, would you refuse it? Of course not. So is it a money thing? You obviously would like to go travelling. Methinks you are just poor.

1. Yes

2. Yes I would. I am in a good job and a long term relationship. If i could get a 6month career break and take my missus with me I'd consider it but I wouldn't leave now to go labouring and drinking in Oz for 6 months. I might if all i was doing in Ireland was labouring and drinking i.e. was stuck in a rut.

Sorry what's your point?

You're come across awfully bitter. Did going to Oz "change your life"?

http://theultimateplaylist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/willy-wonka-wilder-300x300.jpg

bhovaspack

An emotive subject, clearly.

Might not be the most popular thing to add, but I think that once you reach a certain age (say 27-30ish), you're pretty much the person you'll be for the long haul. Traveling at any age is very rewarding, but when you're still young it can be a real game-changer. Every culture is blinkered in some way, and a year in another country can put a very new perspective on things.

Having said that, some of the most interesting and intelligent people I know stuck around, didn't bother with travel.

Each to their own.

I don't get bored by people's travel stories, by the way. But when I meet a person who has only travel stories, and nothing to say about books, politics, climate change, children etc, well, I judge that person to be a bit of a bore.

It Ain't What You Do It's What It Does To You

I have not bummed across America
with only a dollar to spare, one pair
of busted Levi's and a bowie knife.
I have lived with thieves in Manchester.

I have not padded through the Taj Mahal,
barefoot, listening to the space between
each footfall picking up and putting down
its print against the marble floor. But I

skimmed flat stones across Black Moss on a day
so still I could hear each set of ripples
as they crossed. I felt each stone's inertia
spend itself against the water; then sink.

I have not toyed with a parachute cord
while perched on the lip of a light-aircraft;
but I held the wobbly head of a boy
at the day centre, and stroked his fat hands.

And I guess that the tightness in the throat
and the tiny cascading sensation
somewhere inside us are both part of that
sense of something else. That feeling, I mean.

- Simon Armitage

scdublin

cloptrop wrote: »

But the people that stayed at home have experienced staying at home so the fact you say you have experienced more is silly really . I made a start on my life , family etc , the traveller just dodged that for a few years , now most of them are 30 , boring and are annoyed that everyone else has grown up , with little all else to do except go back on the road .
Telling me I missed out because I didnt go to austrailia which is pretty much as broadening as going to santa ponsa at this stage is pure ignorant.

I'm not saying you missed out...that's not for me to say. Also, I haven't been to Aus so I can't say whether it's incredible or not. I'm just saying it's easier to have a broader view on both things, when you've actually experienced both things.

SMASH THE UNIONS

Antisocialiser wrote: »

1. Yes

2. Yes I would. I am in a good job and a long term relationship. If i could get a 6month career break and take my missus with me I'd consider it but I wouldn't leave now to go labouring and drinking in Oz for 6 months. I might if all i was doing in Ireland was labouring and drinking i.e. was stuck in a rut.

Sorry what's your point?

You're come across awfully bitter. Did going to Oz "change your life"?

http://theultimateplaylist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/willy-wonka-wilder-300x300.jpg

So you're saying you would refuse a free back-packing trip across South America? Yeah right you liar. Now I know you're trolling. You're so stubborn that you won't concede any points to the other side.

It's the people who go straight to work right after college and get tied down to the bird they knocked up that are the sheeple. Following everyone else. On the other hand, how many people can say they spent a summer volunteering in the favelas outside Sao Paolo.

Not sure how the Willy Wonka pic is relevant.

Brain Stroking

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

The only people coming across as smug here is the "too cool for travelling" brigade. Typical Irish begrudgery. A few people decided they didn't want to spend their entire lives on this little wet rock and so decided to see the world, and they get mocked by the wage slaves left behind in Ireland. Anybody who goes straight to work right after college is wasting their youth. You have the rest of your life to work.

Are you the OP coming from the opposite smug side of the spectrum? Going down your route of analysis the bold bit makes you as guilty as the OP

Eve_Dublin

keithclancy wrote: »

The phrase 'find yourself' is a bit deliberately facetious, to illustrate a point (it's calling a spade a spade tbh).

But 90% of people that I know who've gone travelling have done so because of lack of options. They need to figure out what they want after finishing their degree, want one last 'adventure' before they start 'real life', are going because their friends are and it sounds like a bit of craic, or simply need the work, and so on. Nothing wrong with those, don't get me wrong I'm not knocking it in any way, but all are a means of 'finding yourself'. You could also call it 'experience for the sake of it experience', a phrase which has popped up on numerous occasions in this very thread. People filling a hole, a void in their lives.

Again, I am NOT knocking this, but if you're already having crazy experiences every day at home why do you need to go halfway across the world? If you already know what you want to do and need to get working on that ASAP to both get experience and try get a foothold, then you're wasting time by travelling, no? I'll remind you that that phrase was brought up in the context of people insisting to me that I needed to pack my bags now, else I was somehow missing out on life (as if I've never left the country before as is :pac:). And that also ties in with the absolute smugness that I hate that returns home with an awful lot of these people, who gained nothing from travelling but a stick they think they can beat others with.

100% of people I met travelling went for fun and not lack of options, myself included. It was a very expensive trip (no money given by rich parents btw) In fact, I was accepted for a masters course but went travelling instead because I chose fun over study. Not everyone is career focused Leggo and not everyone is trying to get a foothold in anything. Some people choose to take their time deciding what they want to do ultimately, myself included but I didn't do any of that thinking while travelling...I was too busy having fun! Made me decide to move to another Latin country though...

I know the smug kind you talk about but perhaps you're simply mistaking people wanting to tell their stories as smugness or a desire to rub it in? I came back, wanted to tell friends and family stories because to me they were exciting, got the distinct impression they didn't want to hear them, so I left it there. Just because someone is telling you how much fun they had, doesn't mean they're trying to rub your face in it. Like any news, you want to share it...but I understand why people don't want to hear about it either.

Antisocialiser

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

So you're saying you would refuse a free back-packing trip across South America? Yeah right you liar. Now I know you're trolling. You're so stubborn that you won't concede any points to the other side.

I value my job and my relationship and all the other wonderful ties I have in Ireland. I don't want to go to South America for 6 months and set my career back 3 years thanks.

On the other hand, how many people can say they spent a summer volunteering in the favelas outside Sao Paolo.

Sure count how many people you know who have done that, one hand yeah? Now try and think of everyone who went to Oz for boozing. Thought as much.

It's the people who go straight to work right after college and get tied down to the bird they knocked up that are the sheeple. Following everyone else.

Each to his own tbh. I was asked to comment by OP on the travelling myth and I did that. Simply upping sticks and doing exactly what you were doing in Ireland in Oz has become thoughtless and the 'norm' for people who feel stuck in a rut.

I have travelled. I will travel again. I follow my own path and I am happy with the way the things in my life are progressing.

cloptrop

scdublin wrote: »

I'm not saying you missed out...that's not for me to say. Also, I haven't been to Aus so I can't say whether it's incredible or not. I'm just saying it's easier to have a broader view on both things, when you've actually experienced both things.

But nobody can experience both.

Eve_Dublin

cloptrop wrote: »

I think that people that went travelling are really smug about it and go on and on and on about it. They think it gives them some sort of better world view than everyone else because they hiked an inca trail . I used to get 3 buses to work when I started my apprenticeship, I think that gives me more to offer an employer than the fact you got chased by bulls in spain. .[/B]

I've also worked me arse off and I've travelled. There's time for both. Some people are smug about it, not most. And really, tis a sad day when every decision I make is based on whether my potential employer will be happy.

listermint

looks like my sig has always been smug, dam me and my smugness. This conversation is very yawny.

Everybody is different embrace everyone as you would like to be embraced. Lets none of us be smug and lets all hug.

Grab it like you own it ohhhh yeaahhh

Agricola

bhovaspack wrote: »

I don't get bored by people's travel stories, by the way. But when I meet a person who has only travel stories, and nothing to say about books, politics, climate change, children etc, well, I judge that person to be a bit of a bore.

This. The best people to spend time with are always the ones who have more than one dimension to them. When I meet someone who talks incessantly about only one topic, I would rather be anywhere else frankly.

There are plenty of people who go abroad and just do what everyone else does and one of the main aims of it is to come back an boast about it on their return. But there are plenty of people also who actually go to see and experience things that are completely alien to this little island. They are like kids talking about christmas when they're remembering things they did, places they saw, people they met and I really like to listen to people like that. Its very easy to separate the travel junkies who have a passion for it, and the people who go to tick boxes with which they can blather about ad nauseum.

listermint

cloptrop wrote: »

But nobody can experience both.

Em.. let me see. Just to be clear here.

I left a great job where i was head of an engineering team. Went off mid 20's to see what i wanted to see. Had a great time and some bad times. Wouldnt change a thing and have some stories that were personal to me but struck me in the moment.

I then came home and got another great job and i have a very successful career ahead of me.

Ive had both sides of the coin and i wouldnt judge anyone for choosing what to do with their lives.

What i will say is dont regret anything EVER. because you cant dial it back.



And dont be smug or annoyed with people its petty and will do nothing for you in the long run. as was i assume the original premise to this thread.

scdublin

cloptrop wrote: »

But nobody can experience both.

To me anyone who has stayed here for a good amount of time but also travelled/lived somewhere else for a while has experienced both sides of the argument.

Brain Stroking

listermint wrote: »

Em.. let me see. Just to be clear here.

I left a great job where i was head of an engineering team. Went off mid 20's to see what i wanted to see. Had a great time and some bad times. Wouldnt change a thing and have some stories that were personal to me but struck me in the moment.

I then came home and got another great job and i have a very successful career ahead of me.

Ive had both sides of the coin and i wouldnt judge anyone for choosing what to do with their lives.

What i will say is dont regret anything EVER. because you cant dial it back.



And dont be smug or annoyed with people its petty and will do nothing for you in the long run. as was i assume the original premise to this thread.

Smuggest post ever

Chairman Meow

It wouldnt annoy me so much if Irish young wans and youngfellaz went somewhere other than ****ing Australia. Every second douchebag you meet has done the 'omg i went backpacking in oz' ****, Im sorry but i just dont give a toss. Wonderful, you got pissed and worked on a building site, have a gold star, so original.

listermint

Brain Stroking wrote: »

Smuggest post ever

its only smug if you add an s to the mug

listermint

Chairman Meow wrote: »

It wouldnt annoy me so much if Irish young wans and youngfellaz went somewhere other than ****ing Australia. Every second douchebag you meet has done the 'omg i went backpacking in oz' ****, Im sorry but i just dont give a toss. Wonderful, you got pissed and worked on a building site, have a gold star, so original.

'You dont give a toss' 'but it annoys you'


This is silly man, let people do what they want to do. why should someone elses choices in life annoy you? Annoyance is just another unnecessary stress on life.

Eve_Dublin

Chairman Meow wrote: »

It wouldnt annoy me so much if Irish young wans and youngfellaz went somewhere other than ****ing Australia. Every second douchebag you meet has done the 'omg i went backpacking in oz' ****, Im sorry but i just dont give a toss. Wonderful, you got pissed and worked on a building site, have a gold star, so original.

They had fun though. I doubt they're trying to be original...just wanting to have some fun. I don't get this bitterness directed at young people wanting to go to Oz. Not my bag cos I'm in my early 30s but would've really appealed to me back then. Did the J1 when I was 21 purely for fun. No pretense about finding myself or experiencing a different culture...I wanted to work to get money to party in the sun. What I want from holidays and trips now is different but I'd never expect young people to want the same things as me. They won't have time like that again and they should enjoy it as much as they damn well can! That's what being young should be about! We'll be dead long enough.

bhovaspack

Eve_Dublin wrote: »

They had fun though. I doubt they're trying to be original...just wanting to have some fun. I don't get this bitterness directed at young people wanting to go to Oz. Not my bag cos I'm in my early 30s but would've really appealed to me back then. Did the J1 when I was 21 purely for fun. No pretense about finding myself or experiencing a different culture...I wanted to work to get money to party in the sun. What I want from holidays and trips now is different but I'd never expect young people to want the same things as me. They won't have time like that again and they should enjoy it as much as they damn well can! That's what being young should be about! We'll be dead long enough.

Agree with this. It's not actually that difficult to be original. If I put my underpants on my head and recite a decade of the rosary, I'm probably being original, but not having much fun, and nor am I expanding my horizons particularly either. And being in Australia is no doubt original for each person, since it will be the first time they have done it, regardless of whether lots of other people have done it.

Eve_Dublin

bhovaspack wrote: »

Agree with this. It's not actually that difficult to be original. If I put my underpants on my head and recite a decade of the rosary, I'm probably being original, but not having much fun, and nor am I expanding my horizons particularly either. And being in Australia is no doubt original for each person, since it will be the first time they have done it, regardless of whether lots of other people have done it.

Exactly. Although I'd argue it's almost impossible to be original nowadays...wearing your underpants and reciting the rosary is, like, soooo 2003? :rolleyes: Original schmiginal. When you're young, fun is where it's at and as you say, it's the first time they've experienced it, so it's a novelty for them.


That's not to say I condone those idiots who take it too far and smash up hostels etc. That ain't fun.

VEN

paying loads to go somewhere and look at somethings, take the photos etc? could never understand it when you can buy a book or use google earth. ya can't take it home with you. total waste of money.

Priori

Price of Turnips wrote: »

The one thing i have noticed about myself travelling is,how your re-create yourself with strangers, the lies(white-lies) that you tell people you dont know, gives you a picture of who you really want people to see you as.
i think lies are good,IF you remember them and work on them coming true....for example- "What did you study in college?"
"Me, oh i mastered in Blah Blah blah"
once you keep it as a goal to complete some day

Seriously?

In that case, I'll go around telling people I'm the president!

kowloon

The problem I have with travelling is the travelling. I've been a few places but no longer have the patience to put up with the waiting to get there, even if I had the cash. I even try to get as much of the shopping done online.

I'll travel to see penguins but that's about it.

kowloon

Eve_Dublin wrote: »

They had fun though. I doubt they're trying to be original...just wanting to have some fun. I don't get this bitterness directed at young people wanting to go to Oz. Not my bag cos I'm in my early 30s but would've really appealed to me back then. Did the J1 when I was 21 purely for fun. No pretense about finding myself or experiencing a different culture...I wanted to work to get money to party in the sun. What I want from holidays and trips now is different but I'd never expect young people to want the same things as me. They won't have time like that again and they should enjoy it as much as they damn well can! That's what being young should be about! We'll be dead long enough.

Here in the decadent west you're not old. When your face looks like a weathered scrotum you may call yourself old.

OnTheCouch

Contrary to many on this thread, I actually tend to agree with most of what the OP is saying, as much of what they touched upon could apply to myself.

In my early 20s, I did the usual J1 holiday and after that even lived in the United States for a year. However, whereas travelling across the whole of North America would probably have sufficed for most people, for me this was only the start.

For the best part of the next decade, my life became a bid to travel, each destination being more exotic than the next. I would work for three or four months at a time in order to fund the next adventure and for obvious reasons never built up any continuity in my career. I was lucky in addition to have a flexible landlady who didn't mind renting out my room to other lodgers when I was away.

So, after having experienced places as diverse as Panama, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Morocco, Turkey, Bolivia and Thailand on these trips, what was I left with? Well, to acquiesce with many on here, for the most part they were great experiences, plus, given that I nearly always travelled alone, gave me a far greater confidence and self-assurance than I would have had had I stayed in Europe.

I won't lie either, I did appear to be becoming more popular, at least on a superficial level. By dint of having travelled extensively, by the law of averages I was going to have a few stories to tell and I enjoyed the attention this brought me. There were always dissenting voices mind you, along the lines of 'Is he just going to be reckless all his life?' or 'How will he ever end up getting married/buying a house?' I believed these people at the time to be boring, staid, with jealousy towards me masking a lack of desire to push themselves out of their comfort zone. In any case, I thought all the aforementioned things could be done later in life.

However, to return to the point of the OP, the sceptics were correct. In my early 30s now, I have not been able to find work since my contract ended last August, despite having applied for over 300 positions since this time. I have had to return home to live with my parents due to financial constraints and am barely self-sufficient.

Now I believe myself to be talented enough to hold down a full-time job so where does the problem lie? Disregarding the possibility my CV has a poor layout or the fact I don't follow enough jobs up via phone or email, one can only arrive at a overwhelming conclusion, my constant travelling denied me the chance of building up crucial professional experience.

In an employers' market, the fact that I am woefully short of experience for my age is a huge black mark against my name. I only wish now I had been a little more selective with my travelling, instead of wanting to turn my life into a never-ending bus ride.

So to conclude, travelling is a wonderful thing and can really develop a person in the right way. But going down the other extreme can also be very detrimental to a person's professional development.

Eve_Dublin

kowloon wrote: »

Here in the decadent west you're not old. When your face looks like a weathered scrotum you may call yourself old.

No I'm not old but getting absolutely ****faced every night and day and picking veg and sharing flat with 10 others really doesn't appeal to me anymore. Been there done that. Plus the hangovers are worse and I'm baloobas after a glass of wine :P

Eve_Dublin

OnTheCouch wrote: »

Contrary to many on this thread, I actually tend to agree with most of what the OP is saying, as much of what they touched upon could apply to myself.

In my early 20s, I did the usual J1 holiday and after that even lived in the United States for a year. However, whereas travelling across the whole of North America would probably have sufficed for most people, for me this was only the start.

For the best part of the next decade, my life became a bid to travel, each destination being more exotic than the next. I would work for three or four months at a time in order to fund the next adventure and for obvious reasons never built up any continuity in my career. I was lucky in addition to have a flexible landlady who didn't mind renting out my room to other lodgers when I was away.

So, after having experienced places as diverse as Panama, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Morocco, Turkey, Bolivia and Thailand on these trips, what was I left with? Well, to acquiesce with many on here, for the most part they were great experiences, plus, given that I nearly always travelled alone, gave me a far greater confidence and self-assurance than I would have had had I stayed in Europe.

I won't lie either, I did appear to be becoming more popular, at least on a superficial level. By dint of having travelled extensively, by the law of averages I was going to have a few stories to tell and I enjoyed the attention this brought me. There were always dissenting voices mind you, along the lines of 'Is he just going to be reckless all his life?' or 'How will he ever end up getting married/buying a house?' I believed these people at the time to be boring, staid, with jealousy towards me masking a lack of desire to push themselves out of their comfort zone. In any case, I thought all the aforementioned things could be done later in life.

However, to return to the point of the OP, the sceptics were correct. In my early 30s now, I have not been able to find work since my contract ended last August, despite having applied for over 300 positions since this time. I have had to return home to live with my parents due to financial constraints and am barely self-sufficient.

Now I believe myself to be talented enough to hold down a full-time job so where does the problem lie? Disregarding the possibility my CV has a poor layout or the fact I don't follow enough jobs up via phone or email, one can only arrive at a overwhelming conclusion, my constant travelling denied me the chance of building up crucial professional experience.

In an employers' market, the fact that I am woefully short of experience for my age is a huge black mark against my name. I only wish now I had been a little more selective with my travelling, instead of wanting to turn my life into a never-ending bus ride.

So to conclude, travelling is a wonderful thing and can really develop a person in the right way. But going down the other extreme can also be very detrimental to a person's professional development.

As you said at the end, you're an extreme case. I know only one other guy like you. Year older than me and managing a hostel in Germany now. I think he's off to Africa next. I don't think you can say your case is the average though and most people couldn't afford to do what you did. I for one, don't earn enough to save. Moving in with my boyfriend next month, so will hopefully be able to save a bit and head off again next somewhere for a few months. I think a couple of month stints here and there is no harm. If I was to do it again, I probably wouldn't have gone for 11 months but there you go.

gara

I don't get the allure of Australia at all -I've seen all the 'Oz' photos and heard so many 'Oz' stories and so far, the only single difference is 20 degrees celsius.

If you told these same people to pick fruit in Termonfeckin for ten hours a day, they'd laugh at you but apparently it's a 'life-changing experience' if you take out an enormous loan to do it in a Darwin desert!

These people are in d.e.n.i.a.l -there is nothing fun about picking fruit in any part of the world and a lot of these inflated 'Oz' stories are because people have invested so much time, hope and money that they don't want to look like idiots by admitting "actually, no this is sh1t" and wanting to save face is understandable

cloptrop

OnTheCouch wrote: »

Contrary to many on this thread, I actually tend to agree with most of what the OP is saying, as much of what they touched upon could apply to myself.

In my early 20s, I did the usual J1 holiday and after that even lived in the United States for a year. However, whereas travelling across the whole of North America would probably have sufficed for most people, for me this was only the start.

For the best part of the next decade, my life became a bid to travel, each destination being more exotic than the next. I would work for three or four months at a time in order to fund the next adventure and for obvious reasons never built up any continuity in my career. I was lucky in addition to have a flexible landlady who didn't mind renting out my room to other lodgers when I was away.

So, after having experienced places as diverse as Panama, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Morocco, Turkey, Bolivia and Thailand on these trips, what was I left with? Well, to acquiesce with many on here, for the most part they were great experiences, plus, given that I nearly always travelled alone, gave me a far greater confidence and self-assurance than I would have had had I stayed in Europe.

I won't lie either, I did appear to be becoming more popular, at least on a superficial level. By dint of having travelled extensively, by the law of averages I was going to have a few stories to tell and I enjoyed the attention this brought me. There were always dissenting voices mind you, along the lines of 'Is he just going to be reckless all his life?' or 'How will he ever end up getting married/buying a house?' I believed these people at the time to be boring, staid, with jealousy towards me masking a lack of desire to push themselves out of their comfort zone. In any case, I thought all the aforementioned things could be done later in life.

However, to return to the point of the OP, the sceptics were correct. In my early 30s now, I have not been able to find work since my contract ended last August, despite having applied for over 300 positions since this time. I have had to return home to live with my parents due to financial constraints and am barely self-sufficient.

Now I believe myself to be talented enough to hold down a full-time job so where does the problem lie? Disregarding the possibility my CV has a poor layout or the fact I don't follow enough jobs up via phone or email, one can only arrive at a overwhelming conclusion, my constant travelling denied me the chance of building up crucial professional experience.

In an employers' market, the fact that I am woefully short of experience for my age is a huge black mark against my name. I only wish now I had been a little more selective with my travelling, instead of wanting to turn my life into a never-ending bus ride.

So to conclude, travelling is a wonderful thing and can really develop a person in the right way. But going down the other extreme can also be very detrimental to a person's professional development.

See what I mean , they just go on and on and on about it.And the how many times has this thread had posts that started with "well I travelled" or " I did the J1 thing " . I dont care it is not important in my decision whether your point is valid or not. You people just cant wait to say it.

FizzleSticks

This post has been deleted.

Defiler Of The Coffin

I'm not really sure what the topic of this thread currently is but anyways....

Travelled Australia myself for a year. Don't really think it enlightened me that much but I did meet some great people and see some awe-inspiring sights. It gave me more confidence to do things on my own as well, I was definitely out of my comfort zone a lot of the time. Did meet a few Irish though who told me all about their drinking escapades and how they were over there just to get locked and all that sort of thing, got sick listening to it after a while. There may be a problem in certain places in Australia with drunken Irish troublemakers but the Aussies are well able to drink themselves, and there are plenty of other nationalities over there who like to drink heavily as well.

Travelling really is what you make of it. I have one friend who worked six months in a bar in Brisbane and then flew to Melbourne where he worked in another bar for six months. Barely travelled at all. But still he was happy with that and didn't give a damn what other people thought. At the other extreme I met a Dutch guy who had been travelling for years throughout all these exotic places, he even went to Afghanistan! Didn't believe him until he showed me the visa. There's no one 'correct' way to travel for anyone. Some people just don't care about other cultures or places. Grand!

Have to admit though I've never really come across the smug-know-it-all type who has travelled the world and is now a person of utmost culture. Maybe I just move in the wrong circles but most young people really do just go for the craic, hell I barely knew a thing about Australia before I went but because it was so far away and the friends were going I thought "yeah, why not?".

Each to their own...

Defiler Of The Coffin

gara wrote: »

If you told these same people to pick fruit in Termonfeckin for ten hours a day, they'd laugh at you but apparently it's a 'life-changing experience' if you take out an enormous loan to do it in a Darwin desert!

These people are in d.e.n.i.a.l -there is nothing fun about picking fruit in any part of the world and a lot of these inflated 'Oz' stories are because people have invested so much time, hope and money that they don't want to look like idiots by admitting "actually, no this is sh1t" and wanting to save face is understandable

You're missing the point. People don't go picking fruit in Australia for the job itself, they do it because it's casual work, easy enough to get a job in, lets you get money together fast, allows you to see parts of the country and in most cases qualifies you for a year extension on your visa.

I did it myself in Queensland for a few months. The job itself was tedious as hell but the pay wasn't bad and the craic used to be good in the hostel afterwards, at the weekends a gang of us used to go to beaches and other towns and generally have the craic. It's another way of meeting people and doing something you will never do again. Lifestyles in the countryside are different to the cities, most people didn't even bother with footwear in the town I stayed in.

Defiler Of The Coffin

Should this thread be merged with the "Hostel in Oz bans all Irish from staying there" thread?

af_thefragile

I'm always too broke to travel anywhere exotic or fancy...

I don't get how people manage to go "travelling around the world" for a couple of months, like where do the get the money for it when they're just students or just out of school/college with no job or anything.

Eve_Dublin

Are people focusing on Oz and NZ on purpose just to prove how unworthy travelling and what a waste of time travelling is? People travel to other places. Why does a young 21 year old represent me just because we both left the country? You can't put in the same boat like that. You'll find Irish in all corners of the world.

Is this a discussion on young people going to Australia or people travelling?

gara

Defiler Of The Coffin wrote: »

You're missing the point. People don't go picking fruit in Australia for the job itself, they do it because it's casual work, easy enough to get a job in, lets you get money together fast, allows you to see parts of the country and in most cases qualifies you for a year extension on your visa.

You're missing the point spectacularly if you think I believe the allure of fruit-picking is what brings people to Australia -obviously the grotty hostels and GAA jersey filled bars all feature too but personally, if I'm going to fork out thousands for a holiday, fruit-picking in a deserted field in the backarse of nowhere isn't exactly getting much bang for your buck. I can think of much better holidays to have with the cost that it entails to spend time picking fruit in the southern hemisphere

Defiler Of The Coffin wrote: »

I did it myself in Queensland for a few months. The job itself was tedious as hell but the pay wasn't bad and the craic used to be good in the hostel afterwards, at the weekends a gang of us used to go to beaches and other towns and generally have the craic. Most people didn't even bother with footwear in the town I stayed in.

See, this is precisely what I mean about people's inflated recollections of ridiculously menial events Down Under -'not bad' pay and a bit of 'craic' is the bloody least I'd expect if I'd spent my life savings to spend my day bunging blueberries in a basket -but then again, I wouldn't really find people not wearing shoes especially amazing either

average hero

A lot of it is 'Keeping up with the Jones'.

What annoys me is people who think they are well travelled just because they've gotten hammered in a different country. I try to pick up a few local words here and there when away and the lads always look at me like 'what's he up to?'.

Why I get annoyed at people who think they are 'open-minded' about travel or 'well-travelled' is that they will have gone to one of the following:

Spain: Leaving Cert holiday to get hammered.
Amsterdam/Eastern Europe: Stag weekend to get hammered.
USA: J1 (to get hammered)
Thailand: Beach parties, and to get hammered.
Australia: To get a job because this country is a failed state blah blah blah and to get hammered.

etc etc

A lot of it is to get hammered, and to keep up with the Joneses.

Funny that these same people will look at me like I have three heads when I tell them I am studying Russian and hope to teach English over there for a few months..!

Eve_Dublin

average hero wrote: »

A lot of it is 'Keeping up with the Jones'.

What annoys me is people who think they are well travelled just because they've gotten hammered in a different country. I try to pick up a few local words here and there when away and the lads always look at me like 'what's he up to?'.

Why I get annoyed at people who think they are 'open-minded' about travel or 'well-travelled' is that they will have gone to one of the following:

Spain: Leaving Cert holiday to get hammered.
Amsterdam/Eastern Europe: Stag weekend to get hammered.
USA: J1 (to get hammered)
Thailand: Beach parties, and to get hammered.
Australia: To get a job because this country is a failed state blah blah blah and to get hammered.

etc etc

A lot of it is to get hammered, and to keep up with the Joneses.

Funny that these same people will look at me like I have three heads when I tell them I am studying Russian and hope to teach English over there for a few months..!

Really? People who go on stags to Amsterdam would say they're "well travelled"? Huh! Wouldn't have thought so...that hasn't been my experience. Usually those people would say they've been to Amsterdam for a stag and got smashed...

By the way, tenner bets you'll end up getting hammered in Russia at some point! And got forbid, you might even have some fun!

Makes me laugh at how many people are so upset at how others choose to live their lives and spend their money. Why do you care so much?

gara

Eve_Dublin wrote: »

Makes me laugh at how many people are so upset at how others choose to live their lives and spend their money. Why do you care so much?

Why are you taking this thread personally?