Escape Plan

March 6, 2007 11:46 AM

If you were 24, had just graduated from university and paid off your debts, was leaving your dreary Toronto temp job at the end of the month with $4000 in savings, and was looking to get out of the city and do something interesting for a few months, where would you go/what would you do?
posted by pcameron to travel & transportation (50 comments total)

I'd wait until I was 25, so I could more cheaply rent a car in the USA, and go on a looooong road trip, spending at least a week in Arches and a week in Joshua tree. With lots of books.
posted by notsnot at 11:51 AM on March 6, 2007

I'd buy an interview suit and get my resume printed before I ran out of savings and was forced to take another dreary temp job.
posted by DU at 11:59 AM on March 6, 2007

I'd go teach in Asia.
posted by Menomena at 12:03 PM on March 6, 2007

DU, worst. answer. ever.


Kinda depends on what you want to do. Me, I'd go to the southeast with my kayaks and paddle every day and live out of a van until the snow in the rockies started to melt, then I'd roll to CO or CA. Or go rock climbing.

As for you, give yourself a few months to indulge yourself in something you love. Books, movies, whatever. But keep busy, and try to set up a safety net (a job to come back to).

If you want to travel, you could try backpacking around europe, but... meh. I loved NZ, and you could do some WOOFing there, but it really depends on what sort of experience you're looking for. What do you like to do?
posted by craven_morhead at 12:10 PM on March 6, 2007

Tramp steamer to South America.
I. Am. Not. Kidding.
Take a camera and a typewriter and capture it all so you can tell your grandkids and mine about this.
Whatever you do,
GO!
SOMEWHERE!
FAR FROM HOME!
posted by Dizzy at 12:14 PM on March 6, 2007

SWAP -- "Work in Britain. Work in Ireland. Work in France. Work in Australia. Work in New Zealand. Work in the USA. SWAP Working Holidays offers these and other countries to Canadian students and youth aged 18 to 35 who want to work abroad."
posted by Otis at 12:15 PM on March 6, 2007

Well, it's what I'd really do. Then when I land my omgONEMILLIONDOLLARSPERYEAR job, I'll ask to start in a month and drive across the country, drinking in the sights and meeting people while I'm relaxed.
posted by DU at 12:18 PM on March 6, 2007

Like Otis said, SWAP. See some more of the world and gain international work experience.
posted by sueinnyc at 12:19 PM on March 6, 2007

I agree with DU. I don't get the whole "travel around the world with me and my backpack" mentality. Get a job. Work hard. Fly business.
posted by phaedon at 12:28 PM on March 6, 2007

also consider WWOOF which despite it's name is not only about working on organic farms. this can complement SWAP nicely.
posted by paradroid at 12:29 PM on March 6, 2007

I agree with DU. I don't get the whole "travel around the world with me and my backpack" mentality. Get a job. Work hard. Fly business.

Why not both? I was in the exact same situation as pcameron. I just went to Europe and backpacked, meeting up with some friends who were already there. One of the best experiences of my life. I still tell stories about it: About living in a cold, broken-down villa in the Florence countryside with some German girls. Fixing up a moped and then have it be so underpowered it had to be walked up every hill. Getting in with a community of Art-restorers in Madrid, etc etc.

So I say why not both? After that trip, I came back, savings almost depleted and got a job with a Silcon Valley company that was 1/100th the size it is now. Yes, don't be a lifelong backpacker. But also don't be that guy who will always take his vacation..."next year" You only get to live your 20's once.
posted by vacapinta at 12:37 PM on March 6, 2007 [2 favorites]

Go somewhere far away, where cost of living/traveling is cheap. Once you get a real/serious job and lifestyle, impulsive freestyle traveling may just be a dream.
posted by gnutron at 12:42 PM on March 6, 2007

I agree. Don't be a lifelong backpacker. Do both if you can.
posted by phaedon at 12:54 PM on March 6, 2007

Backpack. First flight to Indonesia/Bali/Thailand. When you run out of money, teach English. See what happens next. Keep a journal. Do things that you'll remember for the rest of your life-- make love on a beach at dawn, swim in the South China Sea, see the Great Wall, get drunk in Hong Kong, meet people from all over the world. Take photographs. Come home in a year, or two, or never. Wander. Get a cheap flight to South America. This kind of travel may not be a reality for much longer: do it while you can.
posted by jokeefe at 12:55 PM on March 6, 2007

Don't listen to DU his or her ilk ... take the $ and go far away from home. Once you get yourself there, travel cheaply but don't kill yourself. Traveling on your own in a strange place will last you the rest of your life and will be an experience you will not forget. It will in fact probably HELP you land a (better) job when you get home because employers like to see that kind of thing on a resume or in a cover letter.

As for what to do, well, that's up to you and what interests you. Me, I went to the Middle East (Egypt, Jordan, Syria) for about 6 weeks. You might prefer South America or SE Asia. Whatever it is, just do it. You will probably not have this kind of opportunity again. Take advantage of it.
posted by nomad73 at 12:56 PM on March 6, 2007

Okay, from personal experience: I travelled between the time I was 19 and 21-- Europe, the Middle East, a month in house with a courtyard and a fig tree in Greece, etc. I will remember those times for the rest of my life, and I've never regretted putting off University until I was 22. There's no rush; you've just graduated; take some time and figure out what you want and what you really want to do.
posted by jokeefe at 12:59 PM on March 6, 2007

D (ad, is that) U ?
posted by Dizzy at 1:02 PM on March 6, 2007 [2 favorites]

I didn't travel in my twenties. I'm kicking myself for it now. Go!
posted by maudlin at 1:03 PM on March 6, 2007

Yes, and DU, shoo. There are only a few times in one's life when you're free to choose to go anywhere and do anything. This is one of them. (One of the others, I'm finding out, interestingly, is the day that your kids are old enough to live on their own. The backpack/Asia scheme is actually looking pretty good to me as I careen towards 50, and it's the first time in two decades that I've been free to consider such a thing).

So pcameron, get on out there. Take six months if you can. With a university degree of any stripe you can get a job teaching English just about anywhere in Asia. If you buy a car and polish your resume, you may get some pats on the back from those more concerned with long term security, but you really don't want to find yourself in ten years, with a house and a mortgage and a family, wondering What If.
posted by jokeefe at 1:06 PM on March 6, 2007

Oh, and btw, pcameron, I could put you in touch with a friend of mine who found herself in exactly the same situation as you after graduation. She headed for Taiwan, has been in Asia now for two years, just landed in Korea. My email's in my profile.
posted by jokeefe at 1:09 PM on March 6, 2007

The first thing I'd do is invest $1-2,000 in something high-yield. When you're 35 and it's turned into a down-payment on a house, you'll be happy.

Then I'd hit the road for as long as I could, working along the way to extend the trip, documenting everything I could with pictures and a journal.
posted by donpardo at 1:10 PM on March 6, 2007

Go learn a language! In Guatemala!
posted by ORthey at 1:11 PM on March 6, 2007

It would help if we knew what your major was.

But four thousand would give you a really nice two-week vacation overseas. A round trip ticket to Thailand would take a good chunk of that money already.(But Thailand IS cheap while you are there.)
posted by konolia at 1:25 PM on March 6, 2007

Go learn a language! In Guatemala!

Or possibly more usefully for a Canadian, in French Guiana. Go there, look at the Euro banknotes, and shake your head at the weirdness of using them as currency in South America.
posted by Aidan Kehoe at 1:28 PM on March 6, 2007

(PS being 48 now, I regretfully agree more with DU. I spent my early twenties adventuring and being broke. Fun was temporary-not having a good financial grounding for my adulthood affected me for many years. There are ways to get your wanderlust wiggle out in later life, trust me!)
posted by konolia at 1:29 PM on March 6, 2007

Travel the world. Travel the world. Travel the world. And then when I was done doing that? I'd travel some more of the world.

You will never regret it.
posted by miss lynnster at 1:36 PM on March 6, 2007 [2 favorites]

Yes, you can wander later in life... but for many people, if they haven't wandered already then they don't want to when they're older... or they have commitments and can't. It's far cheaper to travel at 24 than it is with a family.

More importantly, having your mind opened at a young age to what life and people around the world are like will definitely affect what kind of human being you will become in adulthood. If everyone (especially Americans) had to spend at least a few months of their life experiencing other cultures before turning 25, I personally think this would be a much better & kinder world. YMMV.
posted by miss lynnster at 1:43 PM on March 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Here's why you should take DU & donpardo's advice -- travelling broke is ten times more interesting. Buy yourself a plane ticket somewhere, give yourself fairly minimal spending money, and see how long you can make it last.

When I was travelling, all the interesting things that ever happened to me happened because my funds were fairly low. I met the most fun and open people hitchiking, staying in the $4 hostel, while looking for some random place to camp out for free, travelling by bike from point A to point B, suffering the cross-country bus, working random jobs I traded for housing (oh, and friends learned enough sailing skills to travel around the country working on ships -- earning money, not spending it), etc. I can remember almost nothing from the well-funded phases of my travels.
posted by salvia at 1:54 PM on March 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Give yourself a few months for traveling. The chances that there will be a better opportunity for travel in the future is slim. You probably aren't going to have a omgONEMILLIONDOLLARSPERYEAR job in the future. You probably will be married. You probably will have kids. You probably will have a mortgage. You definitely will be older, if not old. You will probably have a manager that can't afford to let you go right now, but can't afford to pay you any more either.

If you keep your wits about you and stick to a plan (I'm traveling abroad for 3 months, then I'm coming back) then satisfying your wanderlust shouldn't set you back that much.
posted by substrate at 1:58 PM on March 6, 2007

No need to travel the world. Just get a Sensory Deprivation Tank and travel to the other side of the Universe.
posted by ElmerFishpaw at 2:00 PM on March 6, 2007

i millionth the travel suggestions, particularly thailand which has been both my favorite trip and one that seemed particularly accessible for people who haven't travelled a ton. yeah, your round trip ticket might cost $2000, but then depending on your budgeting you could tramp around for months, and even still save $1000 or so for start-up expenses when you get back.
(if you decide to travel i would keep that in mind, and consider how much you will need for at least a security deposit unless you'll be moving in with someone you know, etc.)
posted by lgyre at 2:00 PM on March 6, 2007

You could also live off of your $4K in a number of other places while doing an internship in some field you would otherwise find difficult to break into (e.g. film/fashion/art, or blacksmithery, publishing, printmaking, depending on your interests). Or you could also take a bunch of classes and learn to do something, either to get some more interesting/lucrative work prospects on your horizon, or to better enjoy your future downtime.

Personally, I did the internship, because I knew which job I wanted and that was the most efficient foot-in-the-door (film/tv). Since then, it has not been difficult to find time to travel or to save up another $4K. In fact, with my next extra $4K I'll probably go to Japan and stay for long enough to take an intensive language class and/or a culture class (like ink painting or tea ceremony).
posted by xo at 2:04 PM on March 6, 2007

Don't blow this opportunity. $4,000 is a great financial foundation. Invest for your future, and keep on working.
posted by mylittlehipster at 2:11 PM on March 6, 2007

I would go to vietnam and buy 2-3 suits and 15 dress shirt and also do interesting things. Vietnam is the new/ worse Hong Kong but no one will expect a 25 year old to have top of the line suits and a vietnam suit is basically well tailored department store quality that will fit you pretty perfectly.
posted by I Foody at 2:12 PM on March 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Via Rail has a really cheap all-you-can-travel-in-30-days ticket (or they did several years ago, when I used it) which is even cheaper in the winter, since it's off season. I took a three-month trip - the first and last months were spent in Toronto and Edmonton respectively, staying with friends, and the middle month was spent travelling the rest of Canada (excepting the Maritimes, where I am from, and the Territories, where I didn't know anybody who'd let me couch surf). I planned carefully and stayed with friends (some of them people I'd only talked to online), and was able to do the whole trip for about $3k, most of which went towards three big expenses - the train ticket, the plane ticket I used to get to Edmonton from Vancouver (the 30 days ran out), and the trip from Churchill to Hudson Bay to see the polar bears - which you're too late for (has to be October), but maybe there's something huge like that you've always wanted to do.

Train travelling is great because you see the countryside slowly enough to really feel like you've travelled and really see it (neither of which happens in a plane), plus since you're not driving you can sleep when you want without losing time, and use the train time to journal or write letters or meet crazy Australians who want to play Black Betty and ply you with liquor.

I'd recommend putting aside $1k for rent and stuff to get set up when you are done adventuring.
posted by joannemerriam at 2:18 PM on March 6, 2007

Some people will tell you "don't travel because you'll end up broke." But everyone I've ever known who has travelled and budgeted for it realistically has told me it was the best decision they've ever made. In fact, I don't know anyone who's super duper in debt because of travelling. I've got a friend helping develop sustainable communities in Tanzania and teaching their leaders about safe-sex practises. She saved up thousands of dollars from working at Starbucks, just so she could have this experience. I've got a friend who's doing a year-long student exchange in Ireland, and she's travelled all over Europe because the flights are relatively cheap once you're in the continent. They're having the best time of their lives. I've known many people young and old (e.g. over 35) who have taught English in Asia, and not a single one of them has regretted it, quite the opposite actually. One of them is a prof who had only finished his BA at the time, and the trip exposed him to the field he is in today (telecom regulation). Four thousand dollars will only cover you for a short trip, and while it will still be lots of fun, going for at least 2-3 months will be more worth it. That why I'm making the Asia-teaching suggestion, it's because you'll have your ass covered financially. Yes, you might end up in a job one day where you will be doing business trips, but will it be fun? Will they be outside North America? Will you actually land such a job? You never know... That's too many ifs for me! Same for putting aside time and money for vacations once you've settled down. Will your kids and spouse be into it? Will you be able to afford it? Etc.

Everyone is telling me to travel when I graduate. If I didn't have a bf who was so averse to the idea, I'd take off for a few years myself.
posted by Menomena at 2:43 PM on March 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

I still am dear friends with people that I met in youth hostels in 1989... they've been a part of my life for more than half of it. Travel is not something you just do to blow money & regret... it's something that enriches you and your entire life. It makes you a citizen of the world.

I left America the first time with $300 & a credit card (that I didn't max out) & I survived just fine. If anything, better.

And I agree... the expensive luxury trips I've taken since have been far less memorable. I now do budget adventure travel even when I don't need to, because traveling the way the locals would (instead of having people cater to me in air conditioned buses & 5 star hotels) offers a deeper insight into local cultures & people. I'm not a tourist, I'm a traveler.

Although once in a while a comfy bed with Egyptian cotton sheets is a good thing.
posted by miss lynnster at 3:00 PM on March 6, 2007

Get Colleen Kinder's Delaying The Real World - PLENTY of ideas for your situation. Travel, jobs (not just office ones!), volunteering, your own enterprise...all sorts of things.
posted by divabat at 3:18 PM on March 6, 2007

Amsterdam baby...hellllll yeahhhh
posted by evilelvis at 3:34 PM on March 6, 2007

Go travel. As others have said, SE Asia is a great starting point if you haven't done much travel before. It's inexpensive and there is good infrastructure. If you start in Thailand you can easily reach Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. Don't miss Angkor Wat.

I spent much of my 20's travelling, and part of my 30's as well. I still managed to get a graduate degree, a job I love (that pays OK, but not great). And I have a family, a house, a car, RRSPs and outside investments. Just be responsible and have fun!
posted by Cuke at 4:33 PM on March 6, 2007

Mmmm. Being in your 20s and sitting in a Thai beach hut (Koh Samui? Koh Phi Phi? Phuket?) with an 80¢ plate of pad thai & a $1 beer. Good times.
Prices subject to inflation/deflation since I was there...
posted by miss lynnster at 5:14 PM on March 6, 2007

If I may, get your ass to Beijing and stay the summer. Seriously. You can travel, sure, but nothing beats living someplace exotic. And Beijing has literally tens of thousands of English-teaching jobs quivering in anticipation for you to fill them. Plus some of the best opportunities for other jobs. You don't even have to deplete your savings, in fact you could likely add to them. They throw money at you in this city. There's a great nightlife, a great local culture, great food, travellers and residents from everywhere in the world, the cost of living is ludicrously low, infrastructure and services are as modern as anywhere (probably more modern than what you're used to), and um, well, there's a few Beijingers on mefi (including me) who'd love to have another in the mix. And I do second the traveling, but with a base in Beijing you've got access to the $20 trains to anywhere in the country (and some places outside of it).

I have lived here for two years though, so take it with the bias it's said with.
posted by saysthis at 6:16 PM on March 6, 2007

I'd go to the Yukon.
posted by Dasein at 6:49 PM on March 6, 2007

What I did last time -- leave Canada and never go back.

You're young enough still to get working holiday visas for Australia, the UK and a number of other countries, if you want. I'd go Australasia, work a bit, wander, and then hit South East Asia to blow the wad (or stay and work more) when you're ready to head back home. Alternately, do the same with the UK, then to Europe. I did both during my twenties, and both rocked.

Also, Mexico. Head down to La Paz in Baja, hang out at the bars near the marina (the Barba Negra used to be the place to go, but I think it's gone now), get yourself a deckmonkey job on a boat, sail.

Ah, to be young again.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:21 PM on March 6, 2007

Oops. 'last time'='at that age'
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:22 PM on March 6, 2007

Can you dance?
posted by miss lynnster at 10:07 PM on March 6, 2007

By the way... that reminded me of this speech that Matt Harding (the dancing guy) gave. It might inspire you a little...
posted by miss lynnster at 10:36 PM on March 6, 2007

I was you, except in a podunk town on the US West Coast. But same story: temp job, 4k in the bank. I have been in China for three weeks now and have started teaching part-time at a private English school. Working 12-16 hours a week I can cover all my expenses, get out of town for 4-5 days at a time, and have some leftover RMB to go towards larger travel plans.

But I'm doing it because I wanted to travel and experience something different. Figure out what you would do regardless of your financial situation. Why do you want to get out? If you don't want another dreary temp job, maybe the right answer is getting serious on the job market.

Hope something here is useful for you.

Also, it's good to see the dancing guy is still at it...
posted by anotherbrick at 11:17 PM on March 6, 2007

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I made my details vague on purpose so I could solicit as many ideas as possible from all over the spectrum. I've actually been backpacking in Asia, for four months last year, and I have definitely not gotten the travel bug out of me yet. I am hoping to leave the country again, but this time to DO something (ie volunteer) rather than travel around.
posted by pcameron at 7:27 AM on March 7, 2007

Great! Not sure if you know about Transitions Abroad, but you should really check that site out. Lots of helpful advice and leads there.

Have fun! And KEEP AN ONLINE TRAVELOGUE. I did that last year and it was amazing, I had friends, family & strangers reading it every day so I felt like I was traveling with 500 people! They LOVED it! :)
posted by miss lynnster at 8:00 AM on March 7, 2007