What do you do?

[Yggdrasil]

Im 17 years old and am curently doing AS levels and I've got to a stage where I dont know where to progress or even if I should stay at school. The one dream I have for my life is to travel and to have time for crafts such as bushcraft and bowmaking etc but this generally isnt enough to pay the bills. Im posting this thread to ask you guys what you do for a living and how much time u have for travel etc. Hopefully this will spark an idea in my head and give me an idea of something to work for. (I also may talk to a few of you about this if the moot around the campfire )
Thankyou.

~yggdrasil~

 

[stotRE]

Hi Yggdrasil
I spent ten years in the army as a combat engineer and during my time i also learn't carpentry and joinery which i have city in guilds qualifications in.On leaving the army i started out on my own as a timberframe carpenter which allows me to do a job that i really enjoy( building barns etc).
I enjoyed my time in the army and made many friends that i still remain in contact with but to be honest i would tell anybody considering entering the army to remember that yes they do give you alot of oportunities but they also take alot from you,that includes your freedom to make long term plans(holidays,hobbys etc).

It is difficult as i remember being your age and having to make decisions that could effect your future and the truth is that you cannot always make the right decision but to not make any decisions is criminal as you rob your self of opportunity.

The answer is in yourself and it dosen't matter how wild or hairbrained it is because if you want to do something bad enough you can achieve it even if others mock or laugh at you(they are the people that lack bottle!)

If money is not important to you then it dosen't matter as long as you have enough to by kit or pay the rent but you could also look at working abroad(canada,alaska etc)and maybe find adventure and meet interesting people or maybe do a stint as a volunteer in Africa or south america

As for time to practise bushcraft you make as much as you need good luck

 

[Toddy]

Hello,
Okay, we sort of did this thread a couple of weeks ago, so I suspect you'll get fewer answers than the question really deserves.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=5403&highlight=living

Can I suggest that you do as well as you possibly can with your exams, apply for several university/college courses and then figure out an itinery that will expose you to as many different types of work as possible (might help the old finances too ). If your parents agree to a year out, make the most of it!

Off the top of my head, why not find out about:--

SNH, National Trust and English Heritage have volunteer work events on specific sites, ranging from historic ruins to country sites.

RSPB run volunteer/subsistence work parties, heather burning in Sutherland/scat tracking of pine martins in areas where they are altering habitats, etc.,etc.,

Grampus do traditional handcraft/skills exchange courses with other European countries; they pay all your expenses but don't give you any cash, and ask that you write up your work with them and maybe talk with other interested people.

The Crannog Centre on Loch Tayside accepts volunteers to do some research/repair/public demonstrations work. You wouldn't get paid for this but they do provide accomodation for successful applicants. The focus is on archaeology/history students but since you're not settled on a course yet, I'm sure they would take that into account. I don't know about Butser, Flag Fen, etc., but they've got to be worth a try.

There's a Europe wide organic farming exchange network who help interested young people work abroad. I met a Frenchman a fortnight ago who is now working in Scotland but had just spent two months in Spain and three months in S. America before that, through this organisation. He's going to New Zealand in August. He's done everything from flower picking to herding llamas. He was putting up marquees at a Green Futures fair at a New Age Lifecentre last I saw him with 50 acres of mixed woodland to play in

Some of the larger re-enactors groups have their own land and are delighted to teach traditional handcrafts as well as living skills in exchange for maintainance and labour.

Most of the forest groups organise work weeks and weekends, usually with basic accomodation and food provided.

There are dozens of sites like this throughout the country (and the world)
It'd be an interesting and effective way to spend a year between finishing school and going into further education, and all of the skills you'd acquire would be useful regardless of whether bushcraft remains a hobby or becomes a full time involvment.

The other thing that would be very worthwhile would be to complete some first aid training and get some water sport proficiency certificates if you haven't already done so. All, and any, of the above would look good on your cv, and might help you find a career you really want.

best of luck with it all,
Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Andy]

I'm a student doing computer science. I thought about joining the MOD and going through uni with them. It would have taken care of the money side of things but you then need to serve 6years with them afterwards (or it might be 5). There are a few interesting things you can go from there and some would have paid a lot of money whilst been a job I'd have liked.
What put me off was the whole thing about being away from a family (I hope to get one) I've known two girl who didn't see much of their dads when they weer younger and never really got close to them.
If your going down the line of uni but aren't quite sure what you want to do my advice would be to do a more genral degree. There's a lot out there for you whatever you want to do so you should find something.
The best bit of advice I can give you is finish your A levels, AS levels on their own are worthless.

 

[Moonraker]

Im 17 years old and am curently doing AS levels and I've got to a stage where I dont know where to progress or even if I should stay at school. The one dream I have for my life is to travel and to have time for crafts such as bushcraft and bowmaking etc but this generally isnt enough to pay the bills. Im posting this thread to ask you guys what you do for a living and how much time u have for travel etc. Hopefully this will spark an idea in my head and give me an idea of something to work for. (I also may talk to a few of you about this if the moot around the campfire )
Thankyou.

~yggdrasil~

I hesitate to say it but I will, my simple advice would be to sod the bills and live the dream.....life is way too short to be 'sensible' at your age If this sounds unresponsible, I wonder how many people given the same opportunity again would follow the same path they did before... from my experience exams results and degrees mean a lot less than life skills and aptitude in the real world. And travelling is something that will give you those. You will have plenty of time to be sensible later

Putting my 'sensible ' hat on for two moments I would second Andy's advice and get the A levels under your belt, which at least will give you a wider choice in the future. Then pack your rucksack and go

 

[spamel]

I'm also in the Corps of RE, did an apprenticeship as a Fitter RE, basically a plant or diesel Fitter, call it what you may. I joined up in '92 and time has flown by. I have got C & G qualifications, C+E driving licence, HAZMAT qualification to transport dangerous goods, I have qualified as a club pilot in paragliding courtesy of the Army, and a whole bunch of other things such as travel to Oman, the Falkland Islands, Africa and the Balkans. I have worked with helicopters slinging loads and abseiling from Lynx, I,ve done a bit of sub aqua diving in the Ascension Islands and looking back, I've had a really good time. I joined the Engineers because I wanted to shoot guns and blow stuff up, but unfortunately Dem's days don't come along that often!!

The forces isn't the be all and end all, some people stay in for a few years, others make a career of it. You won't know what you want to do with it until you get in. If you do go down that road, you may decide early on it is not for you, it happens. I had a Troop Commander who joined up to pay off an expedition he went on to find a Siberian Tiger or something. They didn't find the creature they were looking for, but the cost was such that the Army was a good way of paying it off. He is a Captain now, and seems to be doing OK.

Whatever you do decide to do, enjoy it. If you don't, maybe you should consider a career change!!

 

[Graham_S]

i'm in kind of a similar position to you, the only difference is i'm a bit older
i'll be leaving the RAF after 15 years next october (d*mn defence cuts) and i'll be looking for a new career.
however i have enjoyed my time, i've learned lots of stuff and i've been all over the world. you could do worse than a military career. get them to pay you through uni, do your time and if you like it stay in, if not get out and try something else (but you'll have a degree, experience, and less debt). 5 years isn't that long really.

 

[Gail]

Hey Yggdrasil, as they say "The world is your oyster"..... and it most certainly is.

You can do whatever you like with your life - I still haven't found my vocation, having been a zoo keeper, chocolate maker, children's farm manager and had various (tedious) desk jobs.

Get out into the world and volunteer for all sorts of things - needn't cost a packet, british trust conservation holidays cost around £60 for a week out in all weathers meeting all kinds of people.

You are certainly going about things in the right way - make your own destiny !

 

[greg2935]

You should do what makes you happy: I wasted alot of time trying to make everyone around me happy, only to wind up a miserable git. Once I did what I wanted to do, I was a lot happier (even though I was poorer).
I still do not have time for all my interests, including BC, in truth I could spent 1000 lifetimes and still not see and do all I want to.
Do what you want to do but bare in mind, there is a consequence for all your actions, if you mess around early in life, you will probably not have the money later in life to enjoy, if you work hard and get that fantastic career with lots of money but little free time, you will have money, but not the health to enjoy it.

 

[RobertsonPau]

I would agree with a lot of waht has already been said, do what you want to do. But, have something to fall back on if the dream doesn't work out. It's the one regret that I have in my life that I waited until I had tried all the other stuff out before I went and did my degree, so at 33 I was looking at starting at the bottom of many ladders.

Live your dreams but keep an eye on reality, if you want a family, your own house, and spare cash to spend on shiny kit.

Paul

 

[greg2935]

Very good Advice Paul, I'm more or less in the same boat, 36 and starting at the bottom!

 

[Spacemonkey]

I'm an embalmer covering West London. I've been doing it for 12 years (my god-has it been that long???) along with a couple of years working in various mortuaries doing post mortems (it's not like on TV-the doctors just examine the organs, but we have to remove them, replace them and stitch everything up again) and in that time must have dealt with over 15000 bodies in various states of decay and all the mess and aromas that go with it. I have now had enough and it's time for something else. At the moment though, it pays the bills and allows me to work part time and still get a good full time salary. Trouble is that holidays aren't easy to arrange cover for, and you can't refuse to do a job when it needs doing. However, it's much better than a proper job-I'd die behind a desk! I have used the proceeds to buy a small 20 acre farm in Spain so that I can live the Good Life/River Cottage dream (delete as applicable depending on age...) and hope to move out full time within 3 years. My advice? Get your A levels, and get them good. Then take a year out to travel the world as mentioned before. Then if the need fits, do a degree. Always useful, even if some aren't worth the paper they're written on. Most employers seem to think that only people with degrees are intelligent, and that every one with a degree is intelligent. Sadly this is far from true, but hey, you'll need it later if that's the kind of career you want. As a student, you can get a part time job and you don't need to spend a bomb in the student bar on cheap cider-you could save it for summer expeditions.

One thing my job has taught me is to live life as if each day is your last, because for some people it is, and you'll never know when it is yours. Never leave an argument with someone unsettled, as you may never see each other again, and then you'll spend the rest of your life in regret. Best of all don't argue with people in the first place. As Chuck Palahniuk said: "Rule 1-Don't worry about the small stuff. Rule 2-EVERYTHING is small stuff."

 

[stotRE]

One thing my job has taught me is to live life as if each day is your last, because for some people it is, and you'll never know when it is yours. Never leave an argument with someone unsettled, as you may never see each other again, and then you'll spend the rest of your life in regret. Best of all don't argue with people in the first place. As Chuck Palahniuk said: "Rule 1-Don't worry about the small stuff. Rule 2-EVERYTHING is small stuff."

Never a truer word spoken
Where do you have your land in spain?
My wife is Catalan and we have a house in El Vendrell which is near Taragona

 

[RobertsonPau]

Greg2935

That was a few years ago and I'm now 36, and still looking!

Paul

 

[Spacemonkey]

Never a truer word spoken
Where do you have your land in spain?
My wife is Catalan and we have a house in El Vendrell which is near Taragona

It's a vill called La PAlma D'Ebre, near Flix in Catalunya. It comes under Tarragona...

 

[stotRE]

is that near the riu d'ebre (the river)
been down there a couple of times on by way to valencia,very flat and marshy but lots of rice on the delta (shame about the goverments plans to re-route the river to the south of spain).
Don't know what impact that will have on the enviroment

 

[Moonraker]

is that near the riu d'ebre (the river)
been down there a couple of times on by way to valencia,very flat and marshy but lots of rice on the delta (shame about the goverments plans to re-route the river to the south of spain).
Don't know what impact that will have on the enviroment

Just go to:

http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/gbr/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm

and punch in 'La Palma D'Ebre' and it shows the location stotRE

 

[Spacemonkey]

The river's the same, but about an hour up stream, in the mountains. What plans to divert the river are these????

 

[stotRE]

Just go to:

http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/gbr/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm

and punch in 'La Palma D'Ebre' and it shows the location stotRE

cheers mate

 

[stotRE]

The river's the same, but about an hour up stream, in the mountains. What plans to divert the river are these????

Don't mean to alarm you as now that Mr Zapatero is in power with his partid socialista but under mr Aznar(Partid popular) he was trying to force through a plan that was called "Plan hydrologic" that meant water from the Ebre would be diverted to Andalucia and Murcia as a mass irrigation network.
This was going to be a massive project on a similar scale to the AVE fast train but i think that the socialists where against it.
I'll ask my wife tommorow to find out more and i'll check the internet.
Sorry mate as i didn't mean to stress you out over something that may not happen but i know that there is strong resistence to this plan so it will probably not go ahead!