Tired of being a slave to the corporate machine- HELP!!! Travelling alone as a woman

flangemagee1

Bonjour to anyone that may have stumbled across this post,

To get straight to the point...after months of endless thinking over what I want to do next, I've decided to quit my job and go travelling alone.

I currently work in the banking sector (yawn), a typical officey job, 9-5 shtyle! In the beginning when I first started this job I think I was just so grateful to be employed (what with the recession depression) that I didnt really think about whether I liked it or not. To the rest of the world my friends and family it looks like im in a daycent enough number, and gettin on just fine but in reality im not and feel like this job is swallowing me up! glupppp!! and The longer i'm there the more ive come to hate my job. The stress, the deadlines, the corporate bull****.. (where is Bull**** man when u need him) I just cant take it anymore... Its not moi.

But hi, thats enough of feeling sorry for myself. As the saying goes 'change nothing and nothing will change' so thats why Ive decided to leave. i plan on leaving by the end of this year to allow myself to save up a bita mula for this ol trip. Im planning on 3-5 months worth of travel, before I come back to Ire and have to figure out what im goin to do all over again. As Im a lady, and my friends have no interest in leaving for a few months to travel.. im flying solo, solo, solo. Im thinking Europe and America- as Ive travelled parts of Asia before and dunno have safe they would be to travel as a female- not to stereotype a whole contintent , but ya get me. Travelling alone as a women is I believe far riskier than for a man so is there any women out there who can perhaps suggest some places they think I should visit? or any pratical advice or details of your own experiences travelling alone... any info would be mucho appreciatedio!
Cheers lads and ladies!

MyNameIsMethos

If it's the corporate world that you wish to escape, then I'd suggest starting your journey with a bit of WWOOFING; few better ways to sort of re-centre on oneself & get the gist of a place on the cheap Also, in my opinion anyway, there's a far greater percentage on genuine people to be found in places like these; could be useful in getting you started with a solo jaunt.

If the mood takes, then check out wwoof. net; it has links to all the national sites, which are handy for info.

Gatica

Aside from travelling to a country where women have no rights or where there's a really high crime rate, I think you should be grand travelling as a single woman. I thought SE Asia would be fine. It's a fairly chilled out place. The US and most of S America too would be grand.

bcklschaps

Ah ha .. another dreamer thinking of leaving the job to go travelling the world.

Well here's my sobering advice. (from personal experience, I might add)

- After 3-4 weeks I was sorry I had left the job and wished I had just taken a long holiday instead.
- Very few places live up to the hype,
- Travelling is drudgery and bloody expensive
- most of the people you meet are instantly forgettable
- homesickness creeps in quick enough and starts to taint just about everything you do.
- ohh and prepare to be out of work for a while when you get home ...cause there are NO feckin jobs


But if all that hasn't put you off

Then I think the WWOOFING suggestion is a very good one. Wish I had thought of it when I was going through my own growing pains.
My other advice, plan you trips carefully, budget realistically, and have as many contacts etc. lined up as you can.
Travelling alone can get lonely and the only way to cure to the loneliness is to spend money .. and the bills can mount up mighty fast.

flangemagee1

thanks all for your thoughts and advice.

I wouldnt say im a total dreamer though l, I have travelled before though parts of asia and worked for a year as an english teacher in south korea so dont think the homesickness would affect me too much if its only a short stint of travelling of max 6 months.

I am grateful to have a job, however life is short.. and i dont want to waste my time or get comfortable in a job i have no passion for.

Theresalwaysone

flangemagee1 wrote: »

thanks all for your thoughts and advice.

I wouldnt say im a total dreamer though l, I have travelled before though parts of asia and worked for a year as an english teacher in south korea so dont think the homesickness would affect me too much if its only a short stint of travelling of max 6 months.

I am grateful to have a job, however life is short.. and i dont want to waste my time or get comfortable in a job i have no passion for.

Dont mind the previous joker. His/her post is hugely subjective.

Go for it. Regardless of what happens you won't regret it. Back yourself to work things out re a job and don't stress over it.

bcklschaps

Theresalwaysone wrote: »

Dont mind the previous joker. His/her post is hugely subjective.

Go for it. Regardless of what happens you won't regret it. Back yourself to work things out re a job and don't stress over it.

Easy on there .. my opinions are no less valid than yours or anybody elses...thank you very much.

MyNameIsMethos

bcklschaps wrote: »

Easy on there .. my opinions are no less valid than yours or anybody elses...thank you very much.

It is true that all opinions are valid, though that means that his opinion that you are subjective is valid also.

It is very good advice not to build up any travel, as the ideal very rarely lives up to the reality and, unless you find some perfect place, the world tends to repeat itself.

From the other viewpoint: it can be a valuable life lesson to go travelling half-cocked ideologically. Character building&whatnot; we find ourselves best outside comfort zones.

bcklschaps

MyNameIsMethos wrote: »

It is true that all opinions are valid, though that means that his opinion that you are subjective is valid also.

It is very good advice not to build up any travel, as the ideal very rarely lives up to the reality and, unless you find some perfect place, the world tends to repeat itself.

From the other viewpoint: it can be a valuable life lesson to go travelling half-cocked ideologically. Character building&whatnot; we find ourselves best outside comfort zones.

Thank you .. but actually it was the "Dont mind the previous joker" bit, that got on my goat

littlevillage

bcklschaps wrote: »

...

- ohh and prepare to be out of work for a while when you get home ...cause there are NO feckin jobs

You can sing that :-(

Don't want to take this discussion off point, but what the government is doing to massage the jobless figures is nothing short of a scandal. Forced Emigration, dodgey Job Bridge schemes, welfare cutbacks, Landlords who refuse rent supplement, crackdowns on fraudsters ... being unemployed is no joke. So unless your job really reeks ..I'd wait until we are in a boom again before jetting off to Frijiliana...

P.S. The next boom will be in about 50 years time.

flangemagee1

my job absolutely reeks...

flangemagee1

has anyone actually done this sort or thing? as in get up and just go...??? would love to hear from you!

Daisies

flangemagee1 wrote: »

has anyone actually done this sort or thing? as in get up and just go...??? would love to hear from you!

I did it, 4 years ago, recession just kicking off, people thought I was crazy leaving a permanent, well paid job. But, I had dreamt about travelling since I was a kid. I spent 4months travelling, a year living and travelling in Oz and then came back to Ireland. Had a job for 6 months before I got offered an amazing opportunity to work in Africa so 7 months after arriving back to Ireland I took off again. Spent 18months living and travelling in Sub Saharan Africa and am back in Ireland.

My field is quite specialised and as such it's not been too difficult to pick up 3 days work here and there. Wouldn't change a thing. Travelling truly changed me and gave me some of the best times in my life. My motto is, you'll rarely regret doing it but you'll always regret not doing it.

Theresalwaysone

bcklschaps wrote: »

Thank you .. but actually it was the "Dont mind the previous joker" bit, that got on my goat

Fair point. Apologies.

Daisies wrote: »

I did it, 4 years ago, recession just kicking off, people thought I was crazy leaving a permanent, well paid job. But, I had dreamt about travelling since I was a kid. I spent 4months travelling, a year living and travelling in Oz and then came back to Ireland. Had a job for 6 months before I got offered an amazing opportunity to work in Africa so 7 months after arriving back to Ireland I took off again. Spent 18months living and travelling in Sub Saharan Africa and am back in Ireland.

My field is quite specialised and as such it's not been too difficult to pick up 3 days work here and there. Wouldn't change a thing. Travelling truly changed me and gave me some of the best times in my life. My motto is, you'll rarely regret doing it but you'll always regret not doing it.

As did I. Left a job working in Insurance straight out of college and decided to go to Oz. Worked there for a year or so, fell in love with Melbourne and decided to do SE Asia on my way home.

Met loads of people in Asia, some of which are my very best friends now. Came back to Ireland in January 2012, for about 4 days, before a travelling buddy I'd met in Thailand rang and asked did I want to work in Vietnam. Did that for about 8 months and then back to Ireland. Picked up a job handy enough, 6 weeks looking, 2 offers.

Been here two years nearly now and I'm off back to Melbourne in 5 weeks to spend the next 4 years working for someone I met in Melbourne the first time and living with people I met while in Asia.

Honestly, couldn't recommend more strongly just going if you are sick of the grind.

Civilian_Target

Could be a good move OK. You have only one life, so don't waste it in a boring job!

WWOFing is a good suggestion, and France might be a good place to start. In September they start Les Racoltes, collecting the grapes to make wine - followed by parties on the farm in the evening. It's tiring work, but fun I'm told.

Personally, I had a nice voyage like this in 2006, I started in Greece in September, meandered North until Germany, then east to Ukraine, and flew home from Poland 2 months later. While on the road, I landed an interview in France, so after the trip, I interviewed in France, and ended up working there. My only regret was that I started in Greece, should have started in Poland and gone South instead, chasing the end of the summer rather than the start of the winter.

By the way, having traveled in Western Africa, while there is a certain underlying danger, I didn't ever get the impression that it's more dangerous for ladies than for gents.

Bruz82

bcklschaps wrote: »

- After 3-4 weeks I was sorry I had left the job and wished I had just taken a long holiday instead.
- Very few places live up to the hype,
- Travelling is drudgery and bloody expensive
- most of the people you meet are instantly forgettable
- homesickness creeps in quick enough and starts to taint just about everything you do.
- ohh and prepare to be out of work for a while when you get home ...cause there are NO feckin jobs

I think travelling was not suited to this individual cos it could not be further from the truth from my experience. To say most of the people you meet are instantly forgettable I find incredible........Ive done a fair bit of back backpacking in my time and I would say over 90% of the people I have meet were all sound. I find that alot of the "travellers" have the same mentality...i.e. you on holidays, there to have a have a good time, very friendly, good sense of humor etc etc.......as well as the locals. I meet some amazing people from the slumps in Rio to the safaris operators in Kenya to the welcoming kids in palestine.
I got addicted to travelling after 6 months in South America and yes I did come back without a job.......9 months everyday looking ....but I still wouldnt change that for the experiences Ive seen, people Ive meet and things ive learnt.

There is no dress rehearsal in this life so go for it !!

rockthecazba

Do it, do it, do it!

I'm currently 4 months into the same thing. Quit my job and took off solo, and I'm a girl! After working for a few years I really wanted to go but timing wasn't great with friends so decided to try it alone. Didn't think I'd like it to be honest but honestly the best thing I ever did. I started in Australia and New Zealand which was an easy transition and then into Asia where I am at the moment. Most people I met were actually travelling solo too and everyone is so open to meeting new people. Don't be concerned about being female and alone- obviously you need to have your wits about you but that goes for Ireland or anywhere.
If your concerned stick to the well travelled spots- the only place I felt mildly intimidated being a female alone was lombok in Indonesia but it was mainly due to how forthcoming they are in approaching you. Theyre poor and tourism is there bread and butter so not surprising but can get annoying .
Any questions feel free to pm cause it was only six months ago I was asking for advice on this forum about going!

sashafierce

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lc180

sashafierce wrote: »

Wow Im thinking of travelling the USA alone..but im scared! Any suggestions on if its safe and where go avoid?

If you want advice on the US it might be better to give more information, its a pretty big country, were exactly are you thinking of going while there and for how long?

sashafierce

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flangemagee1

rockthecazba wrote: »

Do it, do it, do it!

I'm currently 4 months into the same thing. Quit my job and took off solo, and I'm a girl! After working for a few years I really wanted to go but timing wasn't great with friends so decided to try it alone. Didn't think I'd like it to be honest but honestly the best thing I ever did. I started in Australia and New Zealand which was an easy transition and then into Asia where I am at the moment. Most people I met were actually travelling solo too and everyone is so open to meeting new people. Don't be concerned about being female and alone- obviously you need to have your wits about you but that goes for Ireland or anywhere.
If your concerned stick to the well travelled spots- the only place I felt mildly intimidated being a female alone was lombok in Indonesia but it was mainly due to how forthcoming they are in approaching you. Theyre poor and tourism is there bread and butter so not surprising but can get annoying .
Any questions feel free to pm cause it was only six months ago I was asking for advice on this forum about going!

Im starting to think about Oz too myself.. I know its swamped with Irish there at the mo, but even if I got the visa, did the bitta travelling n do the odd bitta farm work to keep me goin it would be great, then like you said on the way back through asia.

Civilian_Target

sashafierce wrote: »

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That'll be a nice trip. Basically, the US is safe. Most people will tell you to avoid Detroit (which is on your route) but honestly, it's one of the most impressive places I've ever been to. Chicago is also cool.