Travelling alone dilemma

metamorphosis

Ok folks - some of your good advice would be much appreciated.
I am currently sorting out the idea of Heading to New Zealand come this summer/autumn. My friends are over there on a year visa at the moment, they would not be there when i could go over. I have been unable to find anyone who is interested in going over. At the same time, my friend is planning on teaching in south korea come autumn and asked if i was interested. To be honest i am kind of set on New Zealand but the idea of heading over on my own is muffling things at the moment. I would not have a problem doing this myself but do not know if it would be the wisest? Have many people fecked off alone? What were your experiences?

Cheers.

Denerick

Its something I plan to do in the next couple of years. Personally, I see no real problem in travelling alone if you're going to go to an urban area with a job pre-arranged. You will be lonely for a while, but you'll have the chance to meet new people on a grand scale (You would be held by back by the prejudices of your Irish friends - speaking from experience here to be honest)

sarmer

I travelled in NZ alone and it was brilliant!! I had been travelling with a friend in asia and Oz but she didn't want to go to NZ so I ended up going alone, I was terrified but had a fantastic time!! If you join a bus tour like Kiwi experience or Stray (I went with them and it was great), you'll meet tons of people and it won't feel like you are on your own at all! I understand your concern about safety but NZ is very safe, I never once felt unsafe. Most people there are travelling on their own also so everyone is eager to make friends.

Definately go, you'll have a ball!!

Peggypeg

Well never having travelled for more than 2 weeks I have to say that is the most exciting thing I've ever heard!! I really would love to do that with all my heart! My advise would be to go to the place you really want to go to, I've always dreamt of NZ myself so it's where I'd go if I could. Try what Sarmer said, join a group over there and you'll be fine. Just go for it I say. Have an absolute ball OP!! How exciting!!

dory

I travelled alone for 15 months. Was incredible. Would absolutely recommend it. I didn't want to be tied down by anyone. I blogged about it if you're interested: http://blogs.bootsnall.com/cybersusst

Lots has been said about this on the travelling forum, you should read some of those threads.

LegacyUser

travelling alone isn't bad at all, you get to meet lots of interesting people, do what you like, clear your head. as long as you make sure you have decent quality accomodation ready for you when you arrive and enough money then you should be grand. if things don't work out the way you expect you can simply move along without having to convince someone else first. traveling alone has its distinct advantages and also kind of forces you to mingle with others

to be honest i would rather go to south korea than new zealand. now I have never been to new zealand and while i know it's a lovely country to look at the problem is there are a huge number of people who also go there for the year and are unable to find employment

south korea is a bit different, it is more densely populated and fairly good public transport. you have the problem with presumably not being able to speak korean but unless you go to the backarse of nowhere (very hard to find in south korea) most people will know enough english to get by. if you go to the pubs you should also find a few irish people but you are not nearly as likely to bump into people from school as you are in australia and new zealand.

nz/australia seem to be tough ould places to get a job with the sheer number of similar-minded people from here going over there. unless you are absolutely loaded and don't need work you might just end up picking oranges in the blistering heat. i know i'd rather teach some fecker how to speak english any day, and it probably pays better too

metamorphosis

Cheers lads for the input. Yeah this has put my mind at ease about travelling alone. I have been thinking that by teaching in south korea, where the money is quite good, i would be able to save that little bit more and could always pop off to NZ after. Some serious thinking to be done.

Sanjuro

Hey OP. The only experience I have of travelling alone was when I fecked off to Brisbane alone for a week before heading home from Australia. But it was a great experience.
An ex of mine went to New Zealand on her own two years ago. She absolutely loved it and from the photos I've seen, had an absolute blast. She's now in Australia with her new boyfriend but they were home there for two weeks and wouldn't stop raving about how good a time they're having. Obviously it helps to go with an attitude that's open to meeting new people and experiencing new things, but as long as you maintain that attitude, you'll have a brilliant time.

Best of luck!

Barracudaincork

OP i lived in NZ for nearly 4 years and if you dont get your butt on that plane this summer, i will hunt you down and make you listen to Cliff Richards full album collection! You would be mad/crazy/insane/stupid not to go!

The kiwi's love the Irish and i have never ever known anyone not to be welcomed or looked after anytime they travelled around NZ.

Its a beautiful country with so many wonderful people you really would be crazy not to go!

How Strange

rfc1288 wrote: »

to be honest i would rather go to south korea than new zealand. now I have never been to new zealand and while i know it's a lovely country to look at the problem is there are a huge number of people who also go there for the year and are unable to find employment

IMO, this is good advice. If you're interested in living and working somewhere for a while then NZ isn't a great option as their jobs market is stagnant at the moment so there's very little chance of getting work. If however you just want to travel around then NZ would be great.

You could work in South Korea for a year and then head off to NZ on a two month holiday with money in the bank.

metamorphosis

Barracudaincork wrote: »

OP i lived in NZ for nearly 4 years and if you dont get your butt on that plane this summer, i will hunt you down and make you listen to Cliff Richards full album collection! You would be mad/crazy/insane/stupid not to go!

The kiwi's love the Irish and i have never ever known anyone not to be welcomed or looked after anytime they travelled around NZ.

Its a beautiful country with so many wonderful people you really would be crazy not to go!

My friends there are loving it. They wont be there too much longer. They told me that the people are great and have been filling me in on everything. I have never been a homebird so the idea is really presuading me.

How Strange wrote: »

IMO, this is good advice. If you're interested in living and working somewhere for a while then NZ isn't a great option as their jobs market is stagnant at the moment so there's very little chance of getting work. If however you just want to travel around then NZ would be great.

You could work in South Korea for a year and then head off to NZ on a two month holiday with money in the bank.

Just when i think i have made up my mind along comes more wisdom. I do want to work in NZ so i think logically going into a relatively well paid jon for 6 -12 months would be wise as i could pocet a little cash ... just incase i didnt get a job in NZ.

dolliemix

I've travelled alone on numerous occasions. Australia, Argentina, Europe, Russia, Mongolia and China. I've also travelled with friends. South East Asia, Peru, Bolivia. I'd agree with all the above posters who tell you to go for it.

Don't know if the others would agree with me but when you're traveling alone (I'm female) people tend to look out for you and take you under their wing....to the point that it's hard say 'no' sometimes cos they're being so nice!!

As long as you use cop on, traveling alone is very safe.

Pocket Pillager

Well that's the plan anyway, finances holding up! Will be travelling on my around the world for the preceding 7 months. If you wanna join me and all is going well with you PM me and we could arrange something. I intend going there whether I have company or not anyway but some company would be nice! Looking forward to hearing from you if you're interested!:)

rcarroll

Hey UL student, I went to cuba/mexico with friends (1month), then carried on through Central America and South America by myself (8mths) and can honestly say travelling alone is far easier and better - most people are travelling alone, and in hostels it's harder to meet people if you're in a group but dead easy alone. I found bar the odd few days here and there I'd always be travelling with people I met on the road.

practicality wise it's easier alone as booking tickets/rooms etc an be harder to find for a large group and often if you're on ur own ppl will squeeze you into buses/tours etc.

travelling with friends ties you down and can cause friction when one/more want to do other things or gets sick. also, if ur worried about security/who will look after you when you're sick I found being a girl alone, like Dollimix points out, meant that locals were incredibly kind and worried about me all the time. men in C/S.A. have a very macho culture, which leads them to want to protect women, in turn, women over there often wanted to protect and mother you! when i got sick, I met two fantastic Irish girls who nursed me back to health with the help of the hostel. so go for it!

Bigdeadlydave

Ive always wondered what people actually do on these 6mnts plus traveling holidays....
Do you go over, explore a bit, get a job for a few weeks then move on again?

littlemizz99

Hiya,
Dunno if this is the right forum for this but I was thinking of heading to Korea teaching in Sept myself. I have a friend out there who plans to stay for another 6 months or so from Sept but Im also kinda wondering about travelling alone!!Id have to get out there and get set up myself and I may be miles away from where my friend lives!!
Was just lookin for some advice or for anyone who fancies heading to Korea in September!!

StormWarrior

When I was getting sick of university, I decided to drop out and spend my student loan living in India for 5 months. I went alone, I had never been there before. I didn't like India and came back much sooner, but that wasn't because it was a problem travelling alone, it was because India is horrible! I stayed in a hostel and on my first day met other people my age, some of whom were also there for a long time. I always had other Europeans to hang out with, there were loads of Brits and Swiss people, and I also made good friends with a Finn and a South African who I still keep in touch with.

Another time I wanted to go to Sweden Rock festival but none of my friends wanted to go, so I put a message on the festival's website and met loads of other people who were going, I ended up arranging to stay in a house with some other people and made great friends with them, especially a Spanish girl, a Swedish boy and a Norwegian boy, all of whom I later went to stay with in their home countries.

Once on holiday in Denmark with my then-boyfriend we stayed in a hostel and made friends with a load of other people who we ended up hanging out with the whole holiday.

I'm sure you'll make friends there immediately. There are always other people there looking for fellow travellers to have fun with.

MysticalSoul

The best holiday I ever had was one where I went off on my own (to Canada). Also a friend of mine went to Australia for six months holiday after whe was made redundant in a previous job, and both of us have said it was the best thing we both did. I met other travellers on my own hol and I would certainly have no qualms about doing so again.