Where to go?

MilitaryRoad

Hi folks,



First of all, I'm posting this here in this forum because I'm a single guy, early forties, so it seems the best place to look for the opinions of people who might be in my own position but all opinions of course welcome. I'm hoping this won't get moved because I'm hoping for opinions from guys who might have found themselves in my situation here...


Basically I'm about to inherit a few quid from my late fathers estate, it's not life changing money but it's a substantial sum. I was until very recently working in aviation, everything was going dandy. Then Covid19 hit, I was temporarily laid off, then ultimately lost my job when the TWSS ceased on 31st August.


I'm lucky I suppose that I also have a background in software, but I'd need to spend about 6 months doing a refresher course to get me up to speed on the latest technologies, Ive found an online course that I'm up for and this would probably get me back into the workplace.


The reason for this thread is that I want to just go away somewhere to do this online course, I've no mortgage or rental commitments, no kids, and am single so I can go anywhere really.



I've asked friends for advice and I've been told to try Thailand, Arranmore (an island off Donegal which is the most attractive option at the moment!), I'm a very basic living person, I would do self catering, am not really into fancy hotels at all, I'm not mean but I don't need extravagance.


Just throwing this out there to see if I can get any ideas, advice or guidance from lads who may be a bit more travelled than me!

Jimmy Twotimes

I'd echo Thailand. Live it up and then get the course done.

When you get there, get on Tinder and let the girs come to you. Just being white will give plenty of status.

MilitaryRoad

Jimmy Twotimes wrote: »

I'd echo Thailand. Live it up and then get the course done.

When you get there, get on Tinder and let the girs come to you. Just being white will give plenty of status.

Some friends are saying Thailand because it's cheap to live there, this would be very much a working holiday, no dating or any of that.

Pawwed Rig

MilitaryRoad wrote: »

Some friends are saying Thailand because it's cheap to live there, this would be very much a working holiday, no dating or any of that.

If you are going Asia I would recomend Cambodia before Thailand. Nicer country imo. Cheaper too.

completedit

St. Petersburg, Russia

JustAThought

completedit wrote: »

St. Petersburg, Russia

Sounds like people want you to spend your fathers life work on prostitutes in third world countries - is this what you think he’d like done in his memory or with his gift to you ?


I heard of a friend who had travelled home with his ex prostitute Thai ‘partner’ and when her holiday visa expired ahe had to return to Thailand - but no foreigners were being let in at the time. Worth also considering.

Plus as regards other popular cheap holiday destinations like Indonesia and Bali the governments are clamping down there tok and want long term westerners out or paying the price - lots of Auzzies currently having to leave Bali or find the e100 a DAY tourist overstay visa. Of course part of their issue is that because of the last of testing and protection/ precautions in that country other countries will not let them in unless they go to lockdown quarrentine or airlines will not fly them or are charging through the roof for tickets - to reflect that the planes are flying almost empty for H&S / staff protection reasons.

I’d weigh up whether what you could get into ( ie NZ & oz borders shut) was worth it versus whether anywhere was open or able to enjoy it when you got there and throw in their infection rate and if you would get treatment or be left to languish and how much this would cost you because you can bet your travel insurance will not cover it.

It might be worth sitting on your inheritance rather than rushing to spend it and not have much in return after 6 months other than 4 new walls while you work and 8 or 10k spent with little adventure to show for it. If/ when things have calmed down a bit then you can decide once you have your new qualification and career ahed of you once you have costed it and researched it where your dreams will take you. You might then still have enough to put down roots somewhere exotic by buying a second home ( like a little villa close to a vineyard in Italy or Tuscany) or a houseboat in Amsterdam, or an appartment in a buzzy Spanish city, or a few acres with a gîte by a lake in France with incredible cooking and café life and beautiful women who will ohlalal you without being third world hookers just waiting to get pregnant, alimony and live off your hard work and financial back for the rest of your life as most do.

America? No - 250,000 dead.
Spain, Italy, France etc - epidemic with severe lockdowns.
Sweden - beautiful women, massively expensive, everything open atm. Not in the EU for medical care.

Denmark -monstorously expensive, beautiful women.

Germany - some amazing cities and beautiful
mountain towns - Frankfurt, Hamburg, Bavaria - skiing and great food and beer, good people and lots of them speak good enough english, beerfests etc ( are beerfests still running!?). Lovely women willing to practise their english on you!

I wouldn’t rent in Ireland !

Pawwed Rig

JustAThought wrote: »

Sounds like people want you to spend your fathers life work on prostitutes in third world countries - is this what you think he’d like done in his memory or with his gift to you ?

You know you can actually visit these places without availing of the services of prostitutes. I have done it (although I did accidentally end up in a brothel in Phnom Penh at one stage with my girlfriend at the time).

listermint

Alright buddy, nice predicament to have.

.fyi you can't go to Thailand.its off limits to foreign travel as is alot of places people might recommend in Asia.

So, I'd say stay closer to home tbh.

You could.... An this is out there. Buy or do up a camper van. Travel Europe and do the course on the road. Could keep to the southern regions for the weather. Portugal all the way over to Croatia.


Sell it on return when done. For me I wouldn't recommend going further afield . Restrictions can come at any time.

completedit

JustAThought wrote: »

Sounds like people want you to spend your fathers life work on prostitutes in third world countries - is this what you think he’d like done in his memory or with his gift to you ?


I heard of a friend who had travelled home with his ex prostitute Thai ‘partner’ and when her holiday visa expired ahe had to return to Thailand - but no foreigners were being let in at the time. Worth also considering.

Plus as regards other popular cheap holiday destinations like Indonesia and Bali the governments are clamping down there tok and want long term westerners out or paying the price - lots of Auzzies currently having to leave Bali or find the e100 a DAY tourist overstay visa. Of course part of their issue is that because of the last of testing and protection/ precautions in that country other countries will not let them in unless they go to lockdown quarrentine or airlines will not fly them or are charging through the roof for tickets - to reflect that the planes are flying almost empty for H&S / staff protection reasons.

I’d weigh up whether what you could get into ( ie NZ & oz borders shut) was worth it versus whether anywhere was open or able to enjoy it when you got there and throw in their infection rate and if you would get treatment or be left to languish and how much this would cost you because you can bet your travel insurance will not cover it.

It might be worth sitting on your inheritance rather than rushing to spend it and not have much in return after 6 months other than 4 new walls while you work and 8 or 10k spent with little adventure to show for it. If/ when things have calmed down a bit then you can decide once you have your new qualification and career ahed of you once you have costed it and researched it where your dreams will take you. You might then still have enough to put down roots somewhere exotic by buying a second home ( like a little villa close to a vineyard in Italy or Tuscany) or a houseboat in Amsterdam, or an appartment in a buzzy Spanish city, or a few acres with a gîte by a lake in France with incredible cooking and café life and beautiful women who will ohlalal you without being third world hookers just waiting to get pregnant, alimony and live off your hard work and financial back for the rest of your life as most do.

America? No - 250,000 dead.
Spain, Italy, France etc - epidemic with severe lockdowns.
Sweden - beautiful women, massively expensive, everything open atm. Not in the EU for medical care.

Denmark -monstorously expensive, beautiful women.

Germany - some amazing cities and beautiful
mountain towns - Frankfurt, Hamburg, Bavaria - skiing and great food and beer, good people and lots of them speak good enough english, beerfests etc ( are beerfests still running!?). Lovely women willing to practise their english on you!

I wouldn’t rent in Ireland !

What! St. Petersburg is unbelievable. What are you talking about prostitutes for?

JustAThought

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

You know you can actually visit these places without availing of the services of prostitutes. I have done it (although I did accidentally end up in a brothel in Phnom Penh at one stage with my girlfriend at the time).

As a single man travelling alone and staying 6 months he would have a walking target in his back and be beseiged every time he walked up a street or went to a public beach - and thats before the pumps moved un and made him a tatget. As for Cambodia he would have no chance whatseoever and be harssed from dawn to dusk. There is a reason these countries are known for their sex ‘tourism’ and why Thai bride is now a casual phrase in our language.

JustAThought

listermint wrote: »

Alright buddy, nice predicament to have.

.fyi you can't go to Thailand.its off limits to foreign travel as is alot of places people might recommend in Asia.

So, I'd say stay closer to home tbh.

You could.... An this is out there. Buy or do up a camper van. Travel Europe and do the course on the road. Could keep to the southern regions for the weather. Portugal all the way over to Croatia.


Sell it on return when done. For me I wouldn't recommend going further afield . Restrictions can come at any time.

Good dvice - lockdown and green list countries change weekly! Cyprus, Poland( supposed to be beautiful nd full of stunning women) Lichtenstein, Germany... but for all their quarrentine regulations my reatrict your travel when you get there - even of any tom, dick and harry is aLlowed into this country to roam around as they please.

Pawwed Rig

There are areas where this certainly happens but is far from the norm outside of these areas. Most places are the same as anywhere else with people trying to live their lives as best they can. Phnom Penh in particular, I found the industry purely by accident. It definitely wasn't in your face

s1ippy

Laos has 0 covid.

JustAThought

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

There are areas where this certainly happens but is far from the norm outside of these areas. Most places are the same as anywhere else with people trying to live their lives as best they can. Phnom Penh in particular, I found the industry purely by accident. It definitely wasn't in your face

You must have been blind - people travelling alone are a target and the place is full of pimps watching, turning up at hotels on scooters, hanging around you offering you literallg whatever you wNt. Thailand tourist locations are FULl of bars with nothing but Thai prostitutes in them - not a white female to ve seen. Most good hotels have security to keep them out and many bars, reataurants and hotels with swimming pools have signs on the gate explicitly saying No Prostitutes. No political correctness there. Any man with a Thai ‘girlfriend’ in a general area in a hotel or pool area or decent restaurant is asked to leave and take his prostitute with him. I spent about 3
months there and a month in Cambodia - it was an eye opener.

fits

St Petersburg is indeed lovely but it’s expensive and I expect it would be a struggle to live there without Russian. Prostitute comment was beyond odd.

Arranmore would be cool and good broadband. Dingle might be another option. Good connectivity there too.

lucalux

Can I ask why you want to go?

Is it peace and quiet, isolation?
A different social scene?
Exploring a new area?


Arranmore is lovely, as is Dingle as suggested.

Dingle is better serviced really, but more expensive.

Arranmore would be isolated to a huge degree, Donegal is on lockdown now and coming into the winter on a northern island, well it would be very quiet.

Do you want to be by the sea specifically?
Are you looking to spend the time on your own, or will you want to socialise much?

I figure Dingle is great if you want more company, there's more people passing through in winter than Arranmore - though the music and food festivals etc will probably not happen as usual this winter.

Leitrim and Roscommon are cheap as chips and you could get a lovely place for less money, lakes abound so you could be on a lake shore or with a lake view.
Not a lot going on in winter.

I wouldn't travel abroad for the moment with the regulations around travel being so precarious, but that's just me.

If I wanted total peace and quiet and not much socialising I'd go to the island or the wilds of Donegal etc.

If I wanted a more sociable time I'd head for the Dingle area.

Padre_Pio

I've been thinking about Lanzarote for the winter. Direct cheap flights from Ireland, warm, cheap, no tourists, so accommodation is dirt cheap. Its not much more expensive to rent an Airbnb for a month than my rent in Ireland.

Average high temp in January is 20 degrees.

You'd pick up basic Spanish too.

Jimmy Twotimes

I wasn't thinking of prostitutes when I suggested Thailand. My proposal is go on Tinder and meet normal Thai women.

Anyway seems pointless traveling atm. May as well do your course in Ireland. I would certainly do some travelling once the pandemic is over.

MilitaryRoad

When I started this thread, I was asking for some travel advice from guys in my own situation who may have travelled and found somewhere cheap to live for a few months. A female friend told me to look at Thailand because it is a cheap place to live. I was hoping for a sea to swim in a few times a week if the weather was good, I've zero interest in prostitutes or dating or Tinder or meeting anyone no matter where I end up.

MilitaryRoad

lucalux wrote: »

Can I ask why you want to go?

Is it peace and quiet, isolation?
A different social scene?
Exploring a new area?


Arranmore is lovely, as is Dingle as suggested.

Dingle is better serviced really, but more expensive.

Arranmore would be isolated to a huge degree, Donegal is on lockdown now and coming into the winter on a northern island, well it would be very quiet.

Do you want to be by the sea specifically?
Are you looking to spend the time on your own, or will you want to socialise much?

I figure Dingle is great if you want more company, there's more people passing through in winter than Arranmore - though the music and food festivals etc will probably not happen as usual this winter.

Leitrim and Roscommon are cheap as chips and you could get a lovely place for less money, lakes abound so you could be on a lake shore or with a lake view.
Not a lot going on in winter.

I wouldn't travel abroad for the moment with the regulations around travel being so precarious, but that's just me.

If I wanted total peace and quiet and not much socialising I'd go to the island or the wilds of Donegal etc.

If I wanted a more sociable time I'd head for the Dingle area.

Thanks so much for your curiousity and your thoughts, I'll mull over it and reply later...

bobbyy gee

I would pick Asia but a lot of countries will not let you in or out

Wanderer78

Keep going, and only stop when the money runs out, you won't regret it, best of luck with it

spaceHopper

My two cents is "Van Life" but spend a few quid on a good camper van with good heating, shower and toilet and plenty of space, solar too. I've a small camper for surfing.

That gives you options, firstly can you get Social Welfare here and get a free course like a "spring board" course from a university. Either see Ireland (winter is coming) or head to europe and move around stay on cheap AIRs of wild camp. At the end of it you still have the van to sell.

https://www.donedeal.ie/campers-for-sale/campervan-master-2009/25990935

https://www.donedeal.ie/campers-for-sale/fiat-ducato-campervan-deposit-taken/25916813

Well, I've been living in Asia for some time now, and I'd recommend heading that direction.

The thing about Asia is that corruption is very common, which is just something you'll come to accept, and learn to deal with. Same with the money/wealth-focus that's common. Most countries are safe for foreigners, since the governments have serious interest in maintaining their tourism revenues.

Vietnam would be pretty high on the list since it's a up-and-coming destination, and they seem very interested in avoiding what China became. As with most of Asia though, you'll have to put up with scams, and corruption, but it's a lovely country, with great food, and extremely cheap for living. It'll develop quickly too since many western companies are heading there as an alternative to China.

Cambodia is similar to Vietnam in many respects... although while it's a lovely country, China has had a lot of influence in it's development, so I'd wouldn't recommend it for the future. Great for a holiday, but living there, not so much. It's likely to lose a lot of it's charm as it further develops under Chinese oversight.

Thailand is a great country, but in many ways it's turned into Spain, with the expat scene, and the tourism focus. Scams, a lot of low end crime, and prostitution. I love the place, but it's not somewhere I'd like to live for extended periods.

S.Korea and Japan are wonderful places to live but are relatively expensive. Think of living costs similar to Ireland. Japan has a reputation for being expensive, but at the same time, can be done quite cheaply with a little preparation. The advantage of Japan is that it's highly developed, and corruption is extremely low. They've also been relaxing the visa requirements

Asia provides many options... and a huge variety of interesting destinations for a weekend or such. I'm based now in China, but I can fly around cheaply. Its a good adventure for a single male (no prostitutes required)...

MilitaryRoad

Deleted User wrote: »

Well, I've been living in Asia for some time now, and I'd recommend heading that direction.

The thing about Asia is that corruption is very common, which is just something you'll come to accept, and learn to deal with. Same with the money/wealth-focus that's common. Most countries are safe for foreigners, since the governments have serious interest in maintaining their tourism revenues.

Vietnam would be pretty high on the list since it's a up-and-coming destination, and they seem very interested in avoiding what China became. As with most of Asia though, you'll have to put up with scams, and corruption, but it's a lovely country, with great food, and extremely cheap for living. It'll develop quickly too since many western companies are heading there as an alternative to China.

Cambodia is similar to Vietnam in many respects... although while it's a lovely country, China has had a lot of influence in it's development, so I'd wouldn't recommend it for the future. Great for a holiday, but living there, not so much. It's likely to lose a lot of it's charm as it further develops under Chinese oversight.

Thailand is a great country, but in many ways it's turned into Spain, with the expat scene, and the tourism focus. Scams, a lot of low end crime, and prostitution. I love the place, but it's not somewhere I'd like to live for extended periods.

S.Korea and Japan are wonderful places to live but are relatively expensive. Think of living costs similar to Ireland. Japan has a reputation for being expensive, but at the same time, can be done quite cheaply with a little preparation. The advantage of Japan is that it's highly developed, and corruption is extremely low. They've also been relaxing the visa requirements

Asia provides many options... and a huge variety of interesting destinations for a weekend or such. I'm based now in China, but I can fly around cheaply. Its a good adventure for a single male (no prostitutes required)...

Thanks a mil for sharing your travel experiences with me... The way things are looking here in Ireland, I won't be going anywhere soon with the travel restrictions being tightened on a weekly basis.

H3llR4iser

Sorry for being late to the "party", I haven't been on boards as much as I used to be lately.

About "where to go", well, it's entirely personal - and entirely up in the air at the moment.

IT/software wise - as you're doing courses, you might also want to look into the project management aspect of things; See the industry is fraught with two big issues: the technical side of the career path is a dead end, where you basically can only reach up to a certain level/pay (unless you end up working for some of the big ones - Microsoft, Google etc) with very little chance of getting into management; On the other side, a lot of project managers don't come from a technical background and know jack sh1t about the software (or hardware, for that matter) development process, leading to p1ss poor management.

A technically competent project manager in the IT industry is pretty much unicorn material and can make a huge difference in a company. Just sayin'.