Words of advice or encouragement needed

Hello

I'm trying to figure out what my next move should be, and was hoping some of you friendly folks might be able to enlighten me, or at least give me some words of encouragement. I am trying to make a RTW trip or some sort of long-term trip happen in the near future but seem to be hitting some roadblocks. I was planning to leave in 2010 but decided to leave ASAP when I got laid off last spring. Unfortunately, I'm still stuck at home because I'm having difficulty getting my house to sell. The good news is that I've managed to scrape together enough from part-time jobs to keep my savings mostly intact, however I don't know how long that will keep up.

I had a pretty extensive plan originally (10 months covering Japan, China, SE Asia, Middle East, E Europe) but now I just want to leave for as long as possible. I'm in no rush to return and have nothing at all (except the house) tying me down. As for cash, I only have about $11k USD right now, but could probably triple that if my house sold. I've considered renting it out except that I need the cash and I don't realistically see myself coming back.

Any suggestions? Maybe someone's been in a similar situation and can give advice? I've been dreaming of doing something like this for years, have put it off several times, and feel that I can't put it off anymore.

As now seems to be a bad time economically to sell the house i would think about renting again. If you can get enough money renting to cover the mortgage completely then you are home dry, but if you can cover the mortgage and more while you are away then you actually have an income whilst you are travelling - my friend did this and was laughing. Also you have something to come back to - even if you dont want to live in it anymore a couple of years down the track the economy may have got moving again and it be easier to sell. Makes good sense.
Enlist an agent who will take care everything whilst you are away for a small fee. This will make things worryfree too.

I think your savings whilst not massive are enough to get you moving and i would aim to be working your way round, perhaps investigate which countries you can get working holiday visas or investigate teaching English etc etc then you can top up your funds as you go to enable you to keep going for longer. Working abroad is all part of the experience of travel in my book too - you find that you are prepared to do all sorts of things you would never even consider doing at home.

Finally - I would say - stop stalling, stop dreaming and go get out there - set a date and go book your flight. You will not regret it, it has been by far the best thing I have ever done in my life. Good luck!!

Thanks. I actually got an offer right after I posted this, but it was rather low. I did counter but I'm not sure it's going to go anywhere. I thought about it some more since then and decided if the offer falls through then I'm just going to forget about selling and rent it out. You might be right about just leaving with what I have, I'm just worried that $11k won't last that long, it seems like most people start off with far more!

I know this is a bit off-topic Zuleika, but is there anywhere in particular that you would recommend I head? I was planning to head towards Asia to start, but am not sure what country would be a good starting point for someone like me. I would be open to teaching English, but am not sure if it's difficult to just show up (just fly to say, Japan or Thailand or some other Asian country) and get work, or if it needs to be arranged ahead of time, before you leave home. Since I'm American, I think the only working holiday visas I qualify for are Oz and NZ, but those are two other options I'm open to considering.

Either way, I'm determined to get out of here by October!

I was planning to head towards Asia to start, but am not sure what country would be a good starting point for someone like me.

It seems like most everyone starts in Thailand because, well, the flights are cheap. SE Asia is pretty much the poster boy for stretching your money as far as it will go.

As for teaching. As a rule, countries that pay well (Japan, Korea, Taiwan) have more stringent guidelines for visas and job qualifications. Almost always need some sort of teaching certificate, and some also require a university degree (in anything). In countries with lower pay scales, it's often a big deal for a school just to have a native English speaker on staff, and arrangements for visas are similarly simplified. I don't know Asia well, but my sister had no problem with just showing up and getting a job in Mexico. I also have a coworker who did the show up and get a job thing in Taiwan...apparently there's big business in fake degrees and teaching certificates to meet the visa requirements, so it is possible.

You will, of course, not be able to save as much in countries with lower pay scales...but you'll almost certainly still be very well paid by local standards and should have positive cash flow.

$11k can be quite a bit. I only stretched that much for 5 months. But I wasn't targeting super-cheap countries - about a month in more expensive parts of Europe, and a couple more months in mid-priced countries like Jordan and Turkey. Also it was $11k CAD, which is a bit less. Avoid flying as much as possible, plan your route to take advantage of low-priced countries, and minimize your time spent in big cities or tourist traps. It can go a long, long ways if you plan well.

Hi there - I agree - Thailand is probably best for starters. It eases you in gently and then you can decide from there. It really is a backpacker mecca and you will meet lots of others there for ideas on where to go next. You can get a single flight there, take proof of funds (bank statement) just in case but they never ask for proof of onward. Then travel around. You have Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia.(check for visa requirements) From Singapore I then flew to Australia - spent a year working round there and then NZ - another year working around - then I travelled through the US back home to the UK from there. But you could go home via SA if you still have enough funds.
I didnt do the teaching thing but my friend did in Thailand - she had no qualifications or work permit and it was just a matter of rocking up and asking.

Good for you setting a date - at least you have something to work towards now.
I started out with £4000 - which last me 4 or 5 months - by which time i was in Australia and finding work. I stayed away 2.5 years in the end - so it is definately viable to do, starting with not so much money.

I've had so much happen over the past few months, that I thought I'd post a follow-up in case anyone's still following this thread.

I finally gave up on selling my house and decided to rent it out. So far so good, I'm actually getting enough off rent to make a (very small) profit! Definitely the way to go...

I was planning to head to Thailand in October, but due to an interesting twist of fate, I ended up in Japan of all places. Made a lot of friends there, even met a girl who shares my live-in-the-moment enthusiasm Somehow what was supposed to be a short two-week stopover stretched into over a month. I was thinking of pushing on to China, but decided to cut things short and came back to the US a few weeks ago due to a death in the family. The last few months have definitely given me a "this is what I should be doing" wake-up call however, and I've been looking for ways to get back out there ever since.

I'm waiting to hear back on a job right now - nothing exciting but at least I could rebuild my savings in a hurry, then take off again in a year! If I don't get it, I'm considering taking off again this spring instead, hopefully finding work this time around. SE Asia and China are still a possibility, although I'm also looking into Australia or NZ since I still (just barely) qualify for a working holiday visa.

Thanks for the update. I was just thinking about your thread and wondering how it all went.

KathrynD wrote:Thanks for the update. I was just thinking about your thread and wondering how it all went.

Agreed! Really enjoy these updates. Can't wait to keep abreast of further updates when you get back on the road, too!