Advice please! graduating college, have dept, and want to travel

Hi new friends,

I have been dealing with some internal conflict for some time now about what direction I will go after getting my bachelors degree. I am graduating from a top engineering school with a degree in environmental engineering and have good work experience, but I want to travel before I jump into my career, otherwise I fear I will never get to travel. I desperately wanted to travel abroad in college, but I had medical issues that prevented me from doing so.

The problem is, I have no money. I have lots of student debt and medical bills that will require monthly payments after graduation (after deferring). I currently have a part time job which barely makes the rent every month. I was considering WWOOFing (I love the outdoors and farming/food production) or doing helpX, but it seems like money is still required though its relatively cheap.

I have a friend currently teaching English in Korea and that sounds AWESOME to me! They paid for his flight and his apartment, and he makes about $1700 USD per month. I did some light research on living costs and have found it typically costs $1000-1400 USD per month to to live in South Korea after food, transportation, entertainment, utilities, necessities, etc not including housing.. After living costs, it seems like I would be able to make some payments towards my loans and debts, but I would be cutting it close. I know loan payments and medical bills are very negotiable, but I will be cutting it close month-by-month.

My questions to you:
With your experience and knowledge, what do you think I should do?
Just get a well payed engineering job and save up money to travel?
Teach English abroad? Any other temporary work recommendations or opportunities I should explore?

Thanks in advance

Teaching in South Korea would be a good if you want the experience of living abroad. Bear in mind you wouldn't get that much time to travel though. It is also possible that you would be placed in a rural town - I have met people who were and they didn't enjoy it. However, the people working in the cities seemed to have a good time.

If I was you, I would work for a year, save up money and then take a year off to travel. It depends on where you are from but in Australia, many young people do this and it isn't really frowned up by employers.

My personal recommendation - get a job; get some experience; clear some of your debt; save to travel - then take a career break and set off. You are young and the world isn't going anywhere. What's a couple of years when you have your whole life ahead of you. Its not much fun travelling with less than zero cash.......

Travelling whilst in debt might be fun in the short term but you will return to the same financial worries you have now. Teaching abroad is full of pitfalls, time for travelling around rapidly evaporates and you can be stuck in a rut. Beware tales of the "great life!" from friends, they are often not so great in reality. As said above, work, save, sort out your debts then go forth and enjoy the world!

Dave

Yes, you need to pay off that debt pronto. Teaching english might not allow that to happen as fast as you'd like.

I am always a fan of working onboard cruise ships , with jobs that pay 2000-3000 per month and zero expenses, you can stash money decent away. They have an environmental officer position which pays more than that, but that might be hard to get right out of school. Also, you could be a tour guide in Alaska or get into the national park system up there. They will use your skills. Actually there are a lot of people who work the seasonal job thing, heading to Alaska for a summer and the lower 48 for the winter.

In my opinion, you have a specific degree so you need to find a job that uses it. You'll ultimately make more and that way you dont have to explain a year or two (or seven) living in another country not refining your craft.

Broadly speaking, engineering jobs are amongst the few bright spots in the current U.S. economy. I don't know how rapidly your degree will go obsolete, however. As an American, you know (or should know) that "gap years" and the like are not mainstream behavior here, and would require some explanation to a potential U.S. employer.

I'm not sure how you are defining "travel"--do you mean attending full moon parties in Thailand, hitting X Asian countries in Y days, just getting out of the U.S., or something else? Perhaps you could find a position via the Peace Corps and kill 2 birds with 1 stone: get out of the U.S. AND work as an engineer (albeit under more primitive conditions).

If you are American, why don't you look into jobs in the resource sector (mining mainly) in Australia. They pay huge money ($80K is reasonable) with all housing food etc for 2-3 weeks on site then they fly you somewhere "home" for 4-8 days break. That way your work is using your degree so adding to your CV as well as allowing travel on your days off. I know of one construction site in central QLD which actually flies its American workers home to the US every 3-4 months!! The govt has just been asked to approve the importation of thousands of foreign workers.

As a newly minted engineer you have one of the few diplomas that can result in a job. English teachers scrape by with their liberal arts degrees, but are still - when armed with CELTA or TEFL - much more qualified than you are to teach English. Might not be so easy to get a Korea job like your friend did. Might be alot better move to go into an entry engineering position abroad where you will be building your career and perhaps, as in the case mentioned of mining engineers, doing the type of schedule that older engineers want to grow out of. Its a great idea while you are young to explore a range of career positions in different places because, believe it or not, most older people do not want to work abroad.

Also debt increases, doesn´t stay stable. You want to take care of it in order to feel truly free in your life!

A lot is being placed on the "engineering degree". Forgive me if I am wrong but is environmental engineering classed by employers as being in the same category as mechanical/chemical engineering for example? I understood it to be akin to environmental management studies.............

Dave

Hi all, thank you very much for taking the time to read my post and reply.

To clarify a few points:
By "travelling", I mean getting out of Southern California and experience life elsewhere in a different setting and culture.
Dave, my degree is a true engineering degree, it is very similar to mechanical and aerospace engineering with a sustainability/earth science technical focus. 3/4 of the courses I've taken are also taken by mechanical and aerospace engineers.
Also, I am in no hurry to pay off my debt. I would be making the minimum payments while I work and that's why I feel I would be cutting it close if I were to accept an English teaching job. Even if I just accept a good paying job and don't go anywhere, it would take me many years to pay off.

I will continue to look and apply for domestic and international jobs in my field, I just haven't come across any that are labeled as temporary. I am hesitant to apply for normal full-time positions without any experience of what life is like outside of SoCal.
I will also throw out an application to several english teaching positions just to keep that open as an option as well. I hear the timeline for those often take several months.

Thanks again everyone!

Forget about teaching English, just about any dummy can do that and earn peanuts for doing it.Use your Engineering degree and earn some real money, pay off your debts and see the world! And dont forget you are required to sign a contract to work a stipulated period teaching English which is probably the same in the Engineering field except the $s are in the latter.
Kereru in post 6 is spot on when suggesting you look into a mining job in Australia The mining companies such as BHP and Rio Tinto are desperate for skilled labour and employ people outside Australia to fill the vacancies. Generally you work in remote locations and live in mining camps. These are usually fly in fly out to your principal town/city of residence. Many work 14 days on and 14 days off. I have just returned from Bali and Thailand and there are numerous mine workers over there on the down time. And they live well as they are earning big $s. If this interests you use the net and track down some of the recruiting agencies who will give much more info than I can provide.

New Zealand is another option. With your degree, you could look at the Christchurch rebuild, geo thermal exploration (as a power source) in the North Island, mines on the west coast etc.

Thanks for enlightening me.

You are not a teacher therefore you have not the ability to teach English correctly. Many consider it an easy way to make money and as an extra bonus on a CV but fail to think of the kids they "teach". Did you ever suffer from a bad teacher? You are more highly qualified than most, add some practical experience to that and you will benefit tremendously in the future.

You want to spread your wings after so long in school, I appreciate that. However, the world will wait and the years ahead are for cementing the foundations on which to build your life. Take a month in SE Asia (about the cheapest place to have fun) then get back to reality.

IMHO

Dave

I am hesitant to apply for normal full-time positions without any experience of what life is like outside of SoCal.

As somebody who has lived in 5 different parts of the U.S., with the fifth being a seasonal tourist destination, I can vouch that living some place for a year as a "normal" (i.e., employed) person certainly gives you a better feel for that place than vacationing there. However, by that reasoning, you would come back from overseas travel still ill-equipped to decide where to live and work in the U.S. So, I'll add Teach For America to my previous suggestion. They are particularly interested in STEM education, and they cover a large range of sites across the U.S.

I agree with others who said you'll earn more with your engineering degree than teaching English. Perhaps look into resource/mining sector jobs in Australia - they are looking for people at the moment. The work hours are long, often in remote areas, but the pay is good and you'll get good professional experience that can lead to other things, you'll get good money, and be able to hack into those debts. And, the Australian culture isn't too different to the US culture, so it might be a good first step in terms of travel. (I'm Australian and have lived in the US for a couple of years).

I'm a Texan who worked and traveled for 2.4 wonderful, laughing, life educating years in Australia. Go there. Not just the east coast party scene.

You'll always be greatful as I am. And still laughing at the memories.

That was 45 years ago.
I've learned things through very slow travels, that aren't taught in school. Good warm folksy, other culture things.

Surely you can get an engineering job outside the U.S.
And pay your debt from there.

Be sure to take a book of paper checks with you. So you can send money to your albtross education loan.

You have to authorize bank transfers, in person, b4 you go.
That's if you have an account in your working/living country.

Travel outside the U.S. slowly enough to make friends and get the drift of other p.o.v. ways of life. Not just to "see" things that are so old you can't relate.

Most of us yanks think borders are the edge of outter space. Sad. *see profile

If you have a degree in environmental engineering, use that as a way to see the world. I'm an expat and there is an entire world of overseas jobs out there beyond teaching English. Some of the big engineering firms have branches all over the world; Aecom comes to mind, but there are plenty of others. There are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are involved in projects in your field, check out some of those. Check out the UN website, there are opportunities there as well. Have you considered a career with the US embassy? Talk to your professors and see if they can point you in the direction of some international opportunities.

I commend you for wanting to escape SoCal, not many people realize what a soul-sucking place it is. Pursue some international opportunities and get that career underway. Who knows, you might land a job abroad that covers some of your living expenses and allows you to tackle that debt.

With your experience and knowledge, what do you think I should do?
Catch a cheap bus to Mexico and do the WWOOFing thing.

Just get a well payed engineering job and save up money to travel?
If you have debt, you should pay it before you travel, but don't wait too long, very few people are able to pull off backpacking with a baby...

Teach English abroad? Any other temporary work recommendations or opportunities I should explore?
Yes but it's more expensive to go to Korea than to Mexico. Don't be afraid of exploring your own backyard. Don't go to Cancun, but explore your neighboring country.