Propitious places to move to & unusual living situations for having 3 or 4 days a week free to work on personal project
November 19, 2009 9:39 PM Subscribe
I'm working on a project that requires at least 3 or 4 full days attention each week. What are some places in the US or world I could move to, &/or unusual living situations, that would give me a good chance of doing this?
Other considerations:
• Part-time job terminating Jan 1, and definitely want to move elsewhere (currently live in Boston)
• Have $5000 savings. Will probably also be able to continue receiving unemployment (about $1,000 month) if I move out of state (but not country, obviously)
• Age 30. US Citizen.
• Languages: English, Russian
• Skills: Writing and editing, visual art, Russian translation (but no graduate-level degrees to show this)
• BA from Liberal Arts college + semester (2 terms) at Oxford
Any and all reasonable options considered.
• Preferred urban environment: vibrant arts scene, inspiring architecture, not overrun with college students or sports fanatics, ethnically and age-ally diverse
• 'Ideal' destinations: Montreal, France
• Hypothetical order of preference: 1. Montreal & France (tie) 2. EU, Scandinavia, & Turkey 3. Eastern Europe 4. USA & Canada 5. South America 6. Asia 7. Australia/New Zealand 8. other
• Preferred rural environment: the more (interesting) people around, the better
• "unusual living situations" = housesitting - caretaking - living in some cabin - (earnest) meditative community - collective farm - kibbutz - teaching abroad - or anything else
• If it's helpful to know— the project is of a literary nature (a novel and other writings)
Finally, what are the very best resources (books, websites, magazines, etc) that might be of help?
Other considerations:
• Part-time job terminating Jan 1, and definitely want to move elsewhere (currently live in Boston)
• Have $5000 savings. Will probably also be able to continue receiving unemployment (about $1,000 month) if I move out of state (but not country, obviously)
• Age 30. US Citizen.
• Languages: English, Russian
• Skills: Writing and editing, visual art, Russian translation (but no graduate-level degrees to show this)
• BA from Liberal Arts college + semester (2 terms) at Oxford
Any and all reasonable options considered.
• Preferred urban environment: vibrant arts scene, inspiring architecture, not overrun with college students or sports fanatics, ethnically and age-ally diverse
• 'Ideal' destinations: Montreal, France
• Hypothetical order of preference: 1. Montreal & France (tie) 2. EU, Scandinavia, & Turkey 3. Eastern Europe 4. USA & Canada 5. South America 6. Asia 7. Australia/New Zealand 8. other
• Preferred rural environment: the more (interesting) people around, the better
• "unusual living situations" = housesitting - caretaking - living in some cabin - (earnest) meditative community - collective farm - kibbutz - teaching abroad - or anything else
• If it's helpful to know— the project is of a literary nature (a novel and other writings)
Finally, what are the very best resources (books, websites, magazines, etc) that might be of help?
This post was deleted for the following reason: poster's request -- taz
Response by poster: To clarify-- I don't mind college students or sports fans, per se, but would prefer a place where they blend in with other types of people and activities and aren't incredibly conspicuous
posted by cotesdurhone at 11:22 PM on November 19, 2009
posted by cotesdurhone at 11:22 PM on November 19, 2009
Have you not already asked the very same question here several days ago?
Moving to a foreign country - practical considerations:
Considering you mentioned that you have only $5000 in savings (enough to pay for a plane ticket, visa, first two months' living expenses and deposit, and miscellaneous settling-in fees), I assume you need to do part-time work as well. You can't work on a tourist visa and it is quite hard to get work permits for some of the more-developed countries (especially EU countries). In conclusion, urban areas for most of these countries that you list would be most probably off-limits, unless you have another source of income you are not stating here.
Therefore, you might want to look at working holiday visas. According to this website, if you are a US citizen, you could get a temporary work/ working holiday visa without being a student in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and Singapore. So if you want to live in a city and work part-time, hello Dublin.
For rural environments: you could work on a farm (anywhere in the world) in exchange for food and a bed, which is actually illegal in some countries, though many people do it.
Or you could try applying to a writing retreat, which fits most of your criteria. But that usually needs a record of publications and/ or a degree in writing at Masters level or higher.
posted by moiraine at 4:39 AM on November 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
Moving to a foreign country - practical considerations:
Considering you mentioned that you have only $5000 in savings (enough to pay for a plane ticket, visa, first two months' living expenses and deposit, and miscellaneous settling-in fees), I assume you need to do part-time work as well. You can't work on a tourist visa and it is quite hard to get work permits for some of the more-developed countries (especially EU countries). In conclusion, urban areas for most of these countries that you list would be most probably off-limits, unless you have another source of income you are not stating here.
Therefore, you might want to look at working holiday visas. According to this website, if you are a US citizen, you could get a temporary work/ working holiday visa without being a student in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and Singapore. So if you want to live in a city and work part-time, hello Dublin.
For rural environments: you could work on a farm (anywhere in the world) in exchange for food and a bed, which is actually illegal in some countries, though many people do it.
Or you could try applying to a writing retreat, which fits most of your criteria. But that usually needs a record of publications and/ or a degree in writing at Masters level or higher.
posted by moiraine at 4:39 AM on November 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
Move to Asheville NC! You could live cheaply in a rural setting, but still have access to a city with arts, music, food. Seriously, great place to be to work on projects. Especially in spring, summer this place is full of life and energy.
posted by Rocket26 at 8:15 AM on November 20, 2009
posted by Rocket26 at 8:15 AM on November 20, 2009
Response by poster: Yes, moiraine, I did post a similar question last week. However, it was not worded precisely, long-winded, and the style unfitting for the venue, and most people thought I was asking about general writing advice. Hopefully this one will elicit more relevant answers.
posted by cotesdurhone at 9:18 AM on November 20, 2009
posted by cotesdurhone at 9:18 AM on November 20, 2009
this is exactly why I live in Montreal. it's a beautiful city, the cost of living is bizarrely low and there are a lot of artists here for precisely that reason.
some general caveats and advice:
1. if you don't speak French, you will have a hard time finding work here. but there are all manner of government programs in place to help you learn and pay you a living stipend while you do. tracking them down should be your first priority. (sorry I can't be more helpful than that, my google-fu is failing me.)
2. because of the conditions attached to the government funding that most Canadian publishers depend on, you would have a harder time getting your work into print here. at least until you were properly immigrated and a permanent resident.
mail me if you want to know more by way of details.
posted by spindle at 10:13 AM on November 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
some general caveats and advice:
1. if you don't speak French, you will have a hard time finding work here. but there are all manner of government programs in place to help you learn and pay you a living stipend while you do. tracking them down should be your first priority. (sorry I can't be more helpful than that, my google-fu is failing me.)
2. because of the conditions attached to the government funding that most Canadian publishers depend on, you would have a harder time getting your work into print here. at least until you were properly immigrated and a permanent resident.
mail me if you want to know more by way of details.
posted by spindle at 10:13 AM on November 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
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It's going to be hard to find an urban environment with an arts scene that doesn't have college students or sports. Coming from Chicago, I can definitely endorse that as a comfortable location for literary projects, but you've got the Cubs...
posted by LSK at 11:03 PM on November 19, 2009