Jakkels

I'm 25 years old and a Masters Graduate in Environmental Management from South Africa. I'm currently working but hate my job. So I decided to look at travel options until the end of the year when I can start looking for work again in 2014. I was thinking of going to South America (or any place other, where something like this is possible) and travel and work part time to just cover my expenses as I only have enough money to get by for about 2 weeks. I'm willing to just work for food and accommodation. I don't care what I do. I can stack wood or teach English, do household jobs and also farm jobs, anything that comes up. I don't want to go there and make money. My goal is just to survive and have an adventure for about 3 months. I want to find out if someone has done something like this and if it is possible. Can anybody help please? I will appreciate it so much.

janisj

welcome to Fodors Jakkels. You will get more/better response if you re-post over on the South American board. (See the 'Change Forum' pull down menu . . . )

Do realize that in many countries tourist/visitors working is not legal w/o special visas.

suze

How's your language skills? Spanish or Portugese?

thursdaysd

What janisj said. You need to check with the embassy website for each country you are considering to find out whether you a need a visa even as a tourist (e.g. as a South African citizen you don't need one for Argentina), and then whether you need a work visa for paid employment (e.g. for Argentina you need an invitation from an Argentinian employer in order to apply for a work visa).

Not all areas of South America are cheap. You would find living costs lower in southeast Asia.

Iowa_Redhead

You might also have better luck on the ThornTree forum. I think that's aimed at a different sort of travel than Fodors. As the others have said, there are definitely some legal issues in play.

crellston

Jakkels, other are right, repost in the South America forum. For now, my wife and I are on a long trip in South America. It is quite common here to work for food and lodging. We spoke with a Hostal owner only yesterday about helping in her Hostal for a few months in return for acc. And food. It will help if you can speak reasonable Spanish. Also check out WOOFERS - willing workers on organic farms. Less need for Spanish, but maybe harder physical work , usually only for a4 hours a day. There are a couple of guys on the SA board who are doing or about to do this Brendensadventures is one and I am sure they would be happy to share info

Improviser

Well if South America were the only area the OP was interested in, posting on that sub-forum would make sense. However, the OP has clearly stated, "South America (or any place other, where something like this is possible)", so that would mean posting on ALL sub-branches that might be applicable, not just SA.

Your problem Jakkels is the legality of working in another country. Unless you have some skill/trade that is in demand somewhere and that can get you a work visa, you have little hope of working legally. Working illegally (and that includes working in hostels for room and board)can and does have consequences sometimes for those who do.

Even WWOOFing is not always legal for someone on a tourist visa. Some countries allow it (Canada for example) while other countries do not (USA for example). So if you wanted to pursue that possibility you first have to determine which countries allow it and funnily enough, WWOOF itself does not provide a list of those countries. Food for another topic but basically, WWOOF is in the business of selling memberships and telling you that you cannot work legally in country X doesn't help them do that. Therefore, before deciding to WWOOF in a country it is up to the individual to do their due diligence to determine whether they can do so legally or not.

So you have a couple of choices. Look for illegal work and risk the consequences. Look for where you can legally work as a tourist with organizations like WWOOF, HelpX, et al.

But the biggest stumbling block I see is your comment that you would only have enough money for 2 weeks. Presumably, you would also have a return ticket. If you don't have something lined up beforehand (which is very hard to do), expecting to find work within 2 weeks is not very realistic.

Nor is it realistic to expect you can, "travel and work part time to just cover my expenses". Most jobs will either only pay enough to exist on or will only provide room and board. A job that will pay enough to fund travel on top of that is not very likely without a specific skill/trade in demand.

Where in any case do you see the time to travel in this 3 month period? Do you actually expect to find a job for 3 weeks that earns enough to then pay for say 2 weeks of travel and then find another job for 3 weeks to pay for another 2 weeks of travel, etc.? That isn't going to happen. The best you can expect to find is a job for 3 months that lets you stay there. Work to extend time in a place is one thing, work to fund further travel is much different.

It has been suggested you visit the LP Thorntree. It is correct that topics like this are posted daily on that forum. The answer given daily is the one I have just given you.

suze

People suggest posting on the destination branches because hardly anyone reads "Travel Tips" on Fodor's.

Improviser

If you are willing to be honest about it suze then you would have to admit that this does not 'fit' on any one sub-forum since it covers the entire world. "(or any place other, where something like this is possible)", is what the OP wrote. So that would mean posting it on every geographical sub-forum if you were going to try and post it where more people read.

There isn't even a 'world' sub-forum to catch posts like this. But there is a 'Trip Idea' sub-forum, this one. Logically, then this is the only place to post it to cover the entire world.

There are many travel related topics that do not fit into geographical sub-forums. What then do you suggest those wishing to post such a topic do?

If someone wishes to ask for example, 'We are taking a 2 year hiatus to sail around the world in our sailboat and are looking for ideas on a good home schooling program. Can anyone suggest a good homeschooling course provider?', where should they post?

If someone posts a question here that relates to only one or perhaps 2 geographical areas then suggesting cross-posting on other sub-forums to get more coverage makes complete sense. But in this case it does not. Nor will it for many other questions.

Rather than saying 'hardly anyone reads' this sub-forum, why not just try and answer the OP's question. You are after all reading this thread whether anyone else is or not.

Iowa_Redhead

<<<If someone wishes to ask for example, 'We are taking a 2 year hiatus to sail around the world in our sailboat and are looking for ideas on a good home schooling program. Can anyone suggest a good homeschooling course provider?', where should they post?>>>

Probably in the forum for their home country. If they're currently in the US and/or plan to return to the US, putting the child into US schools or colleges when they return then a US based program is probably easiest.

Improviser

So what you are saying then Iowa is post on a branch intended for questions relating to travel in the USA even if your question is not about travel in the USA. Post not on which branch makes most sense but rather on which branch might get more readers and you can in any way possible pretend there is a link to your question.

This thing about 'not many people read this branch' to me indicates a lack in the number of readers, not in the poster. The poster gets it right but gets told 'don't post it here in the right place, post it in the wrong place because more people will read it.'

I see the apparent logic in that of course but don't you see something wrong with that picture?

I cannot recall on any other travel forum seeing someone being told to post on an incorrect branch because they would get more readers. In fact, just the opposite. If someone posted the example question I gave, they would be quite likely be told it did not belong on the US geographic branch because the US geographic branch was for travel questions about the US. They would be told to post on the most appropriate branch for their question, regardless of how many people regularly read or responded on that branch.

So for example, while many more people read and respond on the Thorntree US branch, the sample question would be directed to the 'Live on an Ocean Wave' branch which has far, far less readers and responders. But that is where the question would belong.

Do 100 readers with little or no experience in relation to the question really get you more than 5 readers who do have experience in relation to the question? That is the the assumption being made when telling someone, 'post on a geographic branch even if your question doesn't belong there, you'll get more readers.'

janisj

We KNOW what you think - you have posted the same junk more times than one can count. You were wrong the first time, you were wrong the 6th time, you were wrong the 15th time and you are STILL wrong.

Why do you even want to participate since we are all so very uninformed, provincial, naive, stoopid, beneath you w/ your VAST knowledge????

Fodors wants the forums organized a certain way - it is their site.

Iowa_Redhead

<<<This thing about 'not many people read this branch' to me indicates a lack in the number of readers, not in the poster. The poster gets it right but gets told 'don't post it here in the right place, post it in the wrong place because more people will read it.'>>>

Nobody is being told that they did something 'wrong' in posting here, simply that there aren't many readers of this board. Off top of my head, I'd guess there are under 30 who read this board and respond on a semi-regular basis and it's probably closer to about 10-15. The odds of that small group knowing a good answer or resource are pretty slim. In posting their question elsewhere they have a better chance of getting an answer. The people on the US board are most likely to have experience with things in the US, such as homeschooling programs, so asking about something in the US on the US board is logical. The OP seemed to be mainly interested in South America so that's a logical place to start asking for more info.

The Lounge forum is now closed so I only suggest to repost there if they're an older poster and have access to that forum. That's a great catch-all for questions that may or may not be travel related or simply cover the entire planet. That would be a great place to start for a question about home schooling programs based in the US, but completely irrelevant if the poster doesn't have access to that forum.

Improviser

Janisj, as I've said to you before, show me where Fodors says it wants people to post on a site that does not match their question. It's NOT YOUR site.

Fodors has chosen to limit the site to primarily geographic sub-forums with a few other sub-forums thrown in. This sub-forum is the most appropriate for the question the OP asked.

Whether you deny that 50 times or not doesn't change a thing.

Iowa, the home schooling was just an example. Let's stick with what the OP was asking about. Working somewhere in the world. I don't see a problem with deciding to cross-post the question on every geographic branch in order to try and reach some knowledgeable people. I don't have any problem with saying post on all. But that is not the same thing as saying 'post on another because you will get more readers'.

The OP posted here and in fact got a response from a knowledgeable poster, me, that basically tells her all she needs to know. If she were not satisfied with that answer alone then I also gave her advice on where to post her question to get responses from more people who are familiar with the issues. It isn't on the S. America board here, it is on the Living and Working abroad branch of the LP Thorntree Forum where this is an everyday question believe me.

Iowa_Redhead

<<<I don't see a problem with deciding to <u>cross-post the question on every geographic branch in order to try and reach some knowledgeable people</u>. I don't have any problem with saying post on all. But that is not the same thing as saying 'post on another because you will get more readers'.>>>

No, that's pretty much the exact same thing just directing to a single logical branch rather than all branches.

Improviser

Which single branch do you direct the OP to when the OP has clearly stated, 'any place' Iowa? You're not making sense. There is no single logical sub-forum for this OP's question, except this sub-forum.

Iowa_Redhead

The OP specified South America in both the title and the post. If that's their main interest with the rest of the world as a secondary possibility then it's logical to try that forum as a starting point.

Improviser

Grasping for straws Iowa. "I was thinking of going to South America (or any place other, where something like this is possible)"

I see no indication of a primary vs. secondary in that. What I see is 'here or elsewhere' ie. equal in interest.

If that OP were to return and say SA is preferred then you would have a point. As written however, you do not. This sub-forum is as good a starting point as any other if not better since it covers all geographic areas.

catspajamas

There are a lot of volunteer (non-paid) opportunities in Antigua, Guatemala. Organic farming, making chocolate, and lots of NGOs. Room and board in exchange for living in a pretty cool part of the world.

Improviser

The only thing wrong with that idea catspajamas is many of those 'volunteer' jobs cannot be done legally by someone on a tourist visa.

Read what I wrote in response number 6 or so about WWOOFing. That's an example.