So I've just turned 19, and I am not going to school nor do I want to anytime soon. However I do not want to get trapped working in a grocery store for the rest of my life.

 

I stumbled upon a concept that is new to me, but seems really cool. It is called a working holiday. I have always wanted to travel and see the world, mostly Europe. I live on the West Coast of Canada, and am looking to move to the UK.

 

I have found pretty reasonable flights in. On top of which the UK government wants me to have $3000 CDN = 1600 Pounds. Which I believe I can save up rather quickly.

 

So I know there are a lot of Briths and mainland Europeans on here. My question is for you, does this sound like something you would do? Is it a good idea?

Do it! Thought about doing this, still think about it sometimes.

Along with my own "Into the Wild" experience.

My mum did this when she left college and went to Australia for a year, she said she really enjoyed it. I would love to do this as well when I'm older though where I don't know:/

What are the costs of living like in London? Jobs easy to come by?

 

I'd like to do an Into the Wild type thing, maybe through Europe!

Not sure the cost but I know housing is very expensive in London

What are the costs of living like in London? Jobs easy to come by?

 

I'd like to do an Into the Wild type thing, maybe through Europe!

 

You want to live in London? Are you sure? It's really expensive and that's an understatement.

Do it! Thought about doing this, still think about it sometimes.

Along with my own "Into the Wild" experience.

 

Do it now. Experience Vamcouver. :p

You want to live in London? Are you sure? It's really expensive and that's an understatement.

 

Yeah looking into it Manchester is looking more like the place to go.

I'm sure you can find out a lot about work & travel programs on the net. :)

If I were you I'd plan things way in advance though.

All I know is that lots of people do that in Australia but even there it's not that easy to find a job just by walking through a town (to exaggerate it :P)

 

If you want to travel around Europe for a while without working as well, you should have a look into interrail! http://www.interrailnet.com/

I did this after my A levels and travelled through France, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, it was great fun.

But even for this you should plan it in advance and check hostel + train availabilities.

In Spain you had to make a reservation for trains and sometimes all trains to a certain destination were booked for days. That's the reason I haven't been to Gibraltar that time. :bigcry:

 

Good luck with your plans! :nice:

Yeah looking into it Manchester is looking more like the place to go.

 

Three cities you should try out ahead of London are indeed Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. All have utterly fantastic music scenes and feel real unlike the contrived touristy parts of London of which there are few. Other than the popular landmarks and posh parks London may as well be Birmingham.

I am looking at doing it through a student exchange program. They help you find jobs, accommodations and help with all red tape stuff. The two sites they offer in the UK are London and Edinburgh.

 

The only reason I would take London over Edinburgh is I would want to see Central Europe too. London is close to Paris and I can go from there. I have tentative plans to meet a National Hockey League Team in Moscow for a week or so.

 

Im getting the consensus from people that London ain't all that great. So Im leaning towards the Edinburgh option right now. But Im 3 months from having the funds to get the Visa so I still have time to mull over everything.

 

Still I like the help an opinions.

Have you thought about studying in the UK/ Europe? If you just wanna go for a year or so, you might be able to come here as an exchange student.

 

What type of work would you be looking for?

 

I used to work with an American guy in my old job and he really struggled financially. He had to have at least £800 in his account so he would be able to pay for a return flight if he had to leave, which was a lot of money for him and the job was quite badly paid.

I thought you didn't want to study? :uhoh:

 

But if you're not totally ruling that out then I'm with .sally!

An exchange program might be the easiest way indeed.

 

And London is a great city!!!

It is expensive, yes. But I got to know the city many years ago by visiting a friend who lives there and she just dragged me through London for 10 days without doing any sightseeing stuff and I fell in love with London immediately.

There's a reason why I lost count of how often I've been there. :P

Like you said, you can reach any other city from there easily.

If you have enough money to not be "imprisoned" at home all the time and live from pasta with ketchup you can have an awesome time there haha

Im not planning on studying. Their are programs through student unions that allow you to take working holiday. So I'd work and play, no studying. Im doing this to avoid studying.

 

I would only need to keep about 500 Pounds in my account, as I have next to free NA flying. Im trying to save up as much as possible now so I can have that when I land.

 

Im young I dont mind living off cheap food and taking the sacrifices from that. Im just worried about housing costs, and getting a job, but this program should help with both.

Im not planning on studying. Their are programs through student unions that allow you to take working holiday. So I'd work and play, no studying. Im doing this to avoid studying.

 

I would only need to keep about 500 Pounds in my account, as I have next to free NA flying. Im trying to save up as much as possible now so I can have that when I land.

 

Im young I dont mind living off cheap food and taking the sacrifices from that. Im just worried about housing costs, and getting a job, but this program should help with both.

 

What type of job are you hoping to get? The minimum wage is very low if you're younger than 21 so you might struggle if you're thinking of doing retail or waitressing work.

 

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/TheNationalMinimumWage/DG_10027201

 

 

As for the cities, I don't really like Edinburgh, it's far too touristy for my liking. I much prefer Glasgow.

 

I don't know if I would like to live in London, although I've just applied to a university there. I might actually end up there because the uni is good and it would be quite stupid to turn them down if I get an offer from them and don't get into my first choice uni. I'd be so scared to actually move there though.

Yeah I am 100% open to working anything and everything. Im currently a butcher, so I really dont know what I'd want to do. The wage isn't that great, but on par with where I am with adjustment.

 

Like I said the program only offers two cities, I'd probably try to move out to Glasgow soon after. But for almost free they help with jobs, housinf, banking and tax info.

 

I know a couple people going to school outside of London and they really like it. They have done lots of traveling .

My friend's at uni in London and she doesn't like it very much so I guess I'm a bit biased. I don't think it's got much to do with London though, she just doesn't like living in a big city.

What type of job are you hoping to get? The minimum wage is very low if you're younger than 21 so you might struggle if you're thinking of doing retail or waitressing work.

 

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/TheNationalMinimumWage/DG_10027201

 

 

As for the cities, I don't really like Edinburgh, it's far too touristy for my liking. I much prefer Glasgow.

 

I don't know if I would like to live in London, although I've just applied to a university there. I might actually end up there because the uni is good and it would be quite stupid to turn them down if I get an offer from them and don't get into my first choice uni. I'd be so scared to actually move there though.

 

You're so right about Edinburgh being far too touristy. I hate Scottish Nats trying to make it look like the outside of a shortbread tin. Glasgow is the real deal.

^ It's like they're trying too hard to be Scottish.

 

I remember when we went to Scotland for a week, we decided not to buy any presents in Edinburgh because we couldn't be bothered taking it all the way to Glagow and then back to Liverpool. However, it turned out that there were hardly any touristy shops in Glasgow and we really struggled to find presents for the family.

So I'm getting to consensus that Glasgow is better. Like you said they have a good music scene which is important to me as I'd want to go see a lot of random bands...random to me now at least.

So I'm getting to consensus that Glasgow is better. Like you said they have a good music scene which is important to me as I'd want to go see a lot of random bands...random to me now at least.

 

The music scene in Glasgow is brilliant. All the big bands play at the SECC which is so easily accesible with regular trains. I'm going to see Arcade Fire in Edinburgh this year but they are literally the first big band I'm seeing over there (but Arcade Fire were in Glasgow last December anyhow). You can get to other sides of the city with an subway system. Takes minutes for example to get from Ibrox in Govan to the city centre on Buchanan Street. Great night clubs as well as underground music scenes. I think the general banter with people in Glasgow is better as well.

So you all agree that I should move over to the UK though? I feel the need to leave Vancouver and find myself in the world.

 

Yeah Glasgow gets all the big bands I'd see. Its essential since I'll probably miss Pearl Jams NA tour and Coldplays.