Time to decide what to do

Dan

Dan

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So I've come to one of those decision making times in my life, and I have put off making any decisions about it up until recently. I am about to finish my engineering degree. I haven't applied to any jobs, my girlfriend is going to another city to work for the summer (probably breaking up with her), I have about 5 grand in the bank and no debts. I have Canadian and American citizenship. My family is scattered in separate cities and countries.

Basically in 2 weeks from now I will have complete freedom and independence. So, what to do? Things I have thought about:

-get an engineering job ($$)
-join the army
-bicycle down the West Coast
-fly to Mexico or Brazil
-start walking and see how far I get
-sleep a lot and watch tv
-start painting
-visit relatives in Japan
-buy a motorcycle (and everything else will fall into place)
 
Well, let's take a look at that list:

- Get an Engineering Job (That's money and a career -- this is a good one.)
- Join the Army (If that's a dream of yours, do it. Just enlighten yourself about war -- in an Ogrish/LiveLeak IED/Beheading/Ambush/Firefight/Chechnya/Gore/Execution/Starving Children in Africa kind of way.)
- Bicycle down the West Coast (Why the hell not? :) )
- Fly to Mexico or Brazil (It's nice to see the world, but that can cost a lot)
- Start Walking and see how far I get (Just don't make a pit stop off in the Detroit Projects)
- Sleep a lot and watch TV (Good to do on those heavy free-life decisions)
- Start Painting (Good hobby to preoccupy yourself with, but can also be expensive)
- Visit Relatives in Japan (That's nice to do -- but then you're money's gone)
- Buy a Motorcycle (That 5,000 will be near kaput, depending on what you get)

My idea's in (bubble).
 
If I were in your shoes, I'd travel for 2-6 months using the money you've saved. Then come back and start your career in engineering. You've been doing education for a long time, you deserve some freedom and learn about yourself. When you are ready, come back and start your next rite of passage.
 
I'd definitely go out backpacking if I were you, before you get stuck at a job. You can always work while travelling, so you don't have to lose money while doing it either.
 
Could you arrange to get into an engineering job that will start in exactly one year?

You should bicycle down the West Coast, then sell the bicycle once you get to Mexico, then 'start walking' - and see how far you get. To Brazil, perhaps.
 
You should bicycle down the West Coast, then sell the bicycle once you get to Mexico, then 'start walking' - and see how far you get. To Brazil, perhaps.
Click to expand...

This man just saved you a lot of money.
 
sea said:
Get a job. You don't want to blow all your savings and find yourself 3,000 miles from home with no way back.
Click to expand...

I'm already pretty far from home as it is. My mom is in Ontario where I grew up. My dad is in arctic Norway, brother is in Montreal, sister is in New York. Mom's relatives are in Japan and California, dad's relatives are mostly in the Northeast United States. I'm in Vancouver, but nothing is keeping me here.
 
sea said:
Get a job. You don't want to blow all your savings and find yourself 3,000 miles from home with no way back.
Click to expand...

This.

Don't want to burst your bubble but 5k really ain't all that much, especially considering how most of your options there require quite a significant amount of money.

Get a job. Get paid. Build up at least a 5 - 6 digit bank account then go nuts. Always take care of serious matters first, then go have fun.
 
Take 1 year out to either travel a wee bit or relax and unwind. Take a year after that to get a job at a consultancy as a graduate and train yourself up a wee bit in your field.

After that, take yourself and your degree around the world by going contract. Contract engineers get paid well and you can apply for a job/visa in the majority of western countries. :D
 
-get an engineering job ($$) (i would go out and see a bit more of the world before i get stuck into being a wage slave)
-join the army (Im with bill hicks on this one. Just dont.)
-bicycle down the West Coast (get a motorcycle licence and do the same.... more fun!!)
-fly to Mexico or Brazil (for a short vacation sure! however if you intend to travel for longer i would probably go somewhere more exotic and further afield)
-start walking and see how far I get (start motorcycling and see how far you get!)
-sleep a lot and watch tv (you get to do plenty of that aged 60+ so why start now? :P)
-start painting
-visit relatives in Japan (Awsome choice tbh. cant really say anything but... 'japan is win!' nothing like trying to find your way in such an alien culture. The asian countries around the pacific rim make up a completely different world!)
-buy a motorcycle (and everything else will fall into place) (i think i may have mentioned something about that? :E)
 
short vacation > work a year (its over before you know it) > go spend money in japan.

-dodo
 
I say work while you're still in the mood, and once you get a sizable money stash (Not hard being an engineer, I hear) then you can either retire way early or do what you want. As for hobbies, I would suggest that you go visit your family around the world. You get free lodging (unless your family are way stingy) and can travel easier.
 
I hear Japan is the worst tourist destination in the world if you travel without a group. They don't know any englsih whatsoever. Not only do they have no English education, but they also, unlike South-East Asia, get no tourists whatsoever, so people aren't motivated to learn it. I spoke to two people who had got lost in Tokyo and hadn't found their hostel in eight ours. No one, not even the police, knew how to read a map written in English.
 
It depends what type of engineering job you can get. Civil Engineering for example, provides loads of opportunities to travel abroad. My dad for example worked in Egypt, Qatar, Nigeria, Sudan and Ethiopia before properly settling down. Would be freaking awesome.
 
hey but thats FUN !! : D *books ticket*

-dodo
 
Join the Army, and fight the glorious battle in Iraq.
 
Coming from a man that got out of school and straight into the work force, enjoy life first, for the love of god. You DON'T want to be stuck in the dredge of doing the same thing day in and day out....get out for some time*Hell 1/2 a year is good enough* and just do ANYTHING but work. You'll get burnt out on work a bit slower.
 
Im in a similar position. Only im in major debt due to my school, completely broke, and dont have any real options besides getting a job.




So, I guess the only way its similar is that I just finished getting my degree also.
 
Dan said:
-bicycle down the West Coast
-fly to Mexico or Brazil
-start walking and see how far I get
-start painting
-visit relatives in Japan
-buy a motorcycle (and everything else will fall into place)
Click to expand...

One of these. Take a break, and then you can spend the rest of your life doing some boring job.

Not that I would personally be one to take a break, but I hear it's a good experience to go traveling :thumbs:
 
Fly to Mexico, join the army, and buy a motorcycle- in that order.

Seriously though, how did you land an engineering degree AND no debt with 5k in the bank? You lucky bastard. Do whatever you want, I say.
 
Hectic Glenn said:
If I were in your shoes, I'd travel for 2-6 months using the money you've saved. Then come back and start your career in engineering. You've been doing education for a long time, you deserve some freedom and learn about yourself. When you are ready, come back and start your next rite of passage.
Click to expand...

This.


I plan to do this after my schooling. :D
 
You're getting your engineering degree?
Go to england and teach a bunch of high school drop-outs in a backwater town in a free, underpaid school how to live life and have fun. You'd better be black and have a last name that's all french.

If anyone gets this reference, I give you a section of my internets.
 
You haven no section of the internets. It was revoked.
 
I'd say travel before going for a job.

Engineers get awesome pay in the Army/Airforce/Navy over here, presumably the same in USA so if it's not something you have moral problems with it's quite a good career.
 
After college my brother took a short 3 week trip to France/Switzerland with 2 other friends. He knew french and had a friend in Switzerland. When he returned then he got a job. He was glad he took the trip before being tied down with job responsibilities and car payments to keep up (he didn't have a car/apt until he got a job). He wished he could have gone for longer or again this year but it didn't happen...he's way too busy now.
 
The Monkey said:
I hear Japan is the worst tourist destination in the world if you travel without a group. They don't know any englsih whatsoever. Not only do they have no English education, but they also, unlike South-East Asia, get no tourists whatsoever, so people aren't motivated to learn it. I spoke to two people who had got lost in Tokyo and hadn't found their hostel in eight ours. No one, not even the police, knew how to read a map written in English.
Click to expand...

Tokyo is definately confusing if you don't have a tour guide, but honestly... that's why they have the business cards for the hotel, so you can flash them to a taxi driver and the taxi driver will take you straight there.
 
Invest all of your money in lottery tickets, win, and retire. If you are lucky. If not, you can be a hobo.
 
Dan said:
-join the NAVY
Click to expand...

/fixed*

Seriously, if you want to apply your engineering knowledge in the armed forces, the NAVY or Air Force is the best way to go (in the U.S. anyways), but...

Dan said:
-get an engineering job ($$)
Click to expand...
...be sure you do it before this^

Also, the armed forced lets you travel the world for free, *disclaimer* > This is not without risks and sacrifices though, so make sure it's what you really want to do before you sign those papers.

Then again, what good endeavor that's worthwhile is without risks or sacrifices? It is military duty after all. ;)
 
I'm pretty set now on bicycling down the West Coast this June. Go see my aunt in L.A. It is probably the cheapest, seeing as I already own a road bike. I gotta check up on the laws about which roads can be ridden on and camping on public property. I figure I can do that at roughly the same expense as regular living.
 
Logo%20Template%20-%20Army%20Strong%201.jpg
 
Travel. Now really is the perfect opportunity for you, you won't have this kind of freedom again until you retire. There's always something tying you down.
I would obviously also recommend buying a motorcycle, but afterwards. First of all because if you fall in love with bikes, you won't bear to part with it long enough to go travelling, and travelling the world on a motorbike is suicidal for an inexperienced rider (not to mention expensive). And if you do go down that route, now or in the future, for god's sake take it seriously. If you jump on a big powerful bike (or even a small one) without the right training and the right attitude, you sign your own death warrant. And if you ride around with no protective gear like most riders in the US seem to, you're certain to suffer gruesome lifelong injuries if you come off at any kind of speed.
Biking is great, but it's also deadly serious business. It's not something you can afford to go into on a whim - it's natural selection in action. If you approach it with anything less than the utmost respect and the appropriate level of skill, you will die. Nothing else on this earth will punish you so severely for a moment's inattention, clumsiness or red mist. Forewarned is forearmed, so they say. Don't do it if you aren't going to give it 100%. It's infinitely more challenging than driving, and the consequences of making even a minor mistake are often fatal.
Back to travelling - one great way to "see the world" is to teach English. You can get a CELTA certificate which is pretty much the gold-standard worldwide fairly cheaply, and it takes a month full-time. With your degree in hand, that will give you the opportunity to work in basically any non-English speaking country worldwide that you can dream of. I've got the cert myself and I was planning to go and work in Shanghai - it's one of my regrets that I didn't.
Japan is the best paying country for EFL teachers in the world - so if you were thinking of going there anyway...
 
Dan said:
I'm pretty set now on bicycling down the West Coast this June. Go see my aunt in L.A. It is probably the cheapest, seeing as I already own a road bike. I gotta check up on the laws about which roads can be ridden on and camping on public property. I figure I can do that at roughly the same expense as regular living.
Click to expand...

When I finish Uni (if, when, who knows?) I'm cycling from Lands End to John O Groats, which is basically the UK from bottom to top (874 miles), take some time out for travelling Europe then find some work. Maybe.

I can't wait. :D
 
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