[Ringo]

This will be my first post, although I've been reading Roosh's blog for over a year and visiting the forum for about six months.

For all of my life I've dreamed of living abroad for a few months. Now, for the first time, I actually have a chance to go.

I'm looking for a place where I can have a good time, swoop girls and just learn to live by myself.

I can pick pretty much anywhere in world, as long as I can work there to take care of all my expenses. It can be as a waiter, dishwasher, receptionist, whatever, but I must not be negative in cash. Just gotta make enough to pay for a place to live, food, alcohol... no luxuries.

Places that catch my attention:
Brisbane, Australia:
Pro:
- absolutely beautiful place, great weather, beach city.
- easy to get a job
Con:
- expensive ticket
- need to get a student visa, which allows only 20hours/week of work
- need to study in order to be able to work. Courses are expensive (almost AU$3.000 minimum)

Vancouver or Montreal, Canada
Pro:
- many friends have been to Vancouver and lived there. All loved it, no exceptions. Montreal seems more exotic, exciting.
- visas are easy to obtain
- easy to get a job, not much problems supporting myself with what I earn
Con
- shitty weather, cold as fuck in winter
- boredom

TL;DR: If you were 20, broke and could move anywhere in world, where would you go?

My background:
I am brazilian, lived in Sao Paulo for all my life.
Speak english fluently, also spoke german and french well (now I'm rusty, but can still get around fine).
I'm a journalism student, 20 years old, 6"2 and slim (about 77kg). Messy dark hair, dark eyes, white skin, girls tell me I look like young John Mayer.

[Deluge]

Brisbane isn't a beach city. It's a bit inland, the beaches are like 15 km's away from the city center. Other Australians cities like Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast have decent beaches which are WAY closer. Brisbane also has substandard nightlife compared to the rest of the East Coast. If you want to come to Australia, go to the Gold Coast instead, its a bit south of Brisbane, another poster described it perfectly as being Australia's watered version of Miami Beach.

Being Brazilian would be a DHV for Aussie, well at least the young ones, provided your decent looking and not like an omega. Make sure you play that up if you come down here.

I can't speak for Canada, but word from my Canadian friends is that quality in Montreal is the highest in the entire country.

[T and A Man]

Seriously, Brisbane is NOT a beach city, if someone told you that, they are lying or don't know what they are talking about. It has Moreton Island and Stradbroke Island just in front of the mouth of the river, and the bay it creates it is not much more than a swamp. Brisbane's beaches in the south start at Carrara, or basically the northern tip of the goald coast, and in a northerly direction, you gotta go past Redcliffe.

Brazilian is good value in Australia. If your body is in good condition, such as a good beach body, then you'll kill it. A great beach body means you'll be f*cking chicks in the public change rooms of the beach.

Now not recommending, but look into it further is Cairns. My brother did journalism in Cairns. It is a tourist gateway and pretty much its sole industry outside of agriculture. Only a small population, around 90,000, but has a lot of transient population, Japanese, Chinese and British.

Also in regards to the working permit on a student visa, the limit of 20 hours I believe only applies during semester. Once semester has finished, there is no limit.. well unless it has been changed in the last 5 years.

If I was broke and could move anywhere at age 20, I would pick Perth. Nowhere else in the world I know of has a temperate climate, and where even a completely unskilled moron can be on $120k+ within 6 months. Then I'd look to move away as quickly as possible.

A course like this I would look at ... http://www.polytechnic.wa.edu.au/course_...A5OlcxNzEM

Technical colleges I think finish around November, and don't recommence until Feb or March, giving you 4 months POTENTIAL experience on a mine, and a chance for them to sponsor your for PR (permanent residency).

I can not compare Montreal as I have never been there sorry.

[bface]

After living in gold coast for 6 months I just wanna get out of here.

I hope you have some qualifications if you go to Brisbane. Way too many backpackers and not enough jobs from what I have heard at the moment.

And I'm not too fond of Ozzie girls, they all look the same at least in Brizzy/Goldie.

But then I have yet to meet a Canadian that is not weird in one one or another. But might be different in their country.

I would recommend switching places every few months. Never get's boring and you get to really experience to place opposed to just being a tourist.

[wolfpack10]

Regarding Canada:
For Ladies, the french girls in Montreal have a reputation for a reason, and if you can speak a little french, you are good to go. The downside is, it has the some of the worst weather in North America (out of big cities).

Vancouver is a beautiful city, decent weather, rains a lot but by Canadian standards its good. Ive been a few times, didnt find the people all that great though, really unfriendly and stuck-up.

Other suggestions:
Cape Town, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Complaints about the weather from locals, but being Canadian I laugh at them. A tad dangerous though.

New Zealand. Cant speak on the female front, but great country.

[garygroundwork]

if u r young and good looking dark and foreign yeah u will kill it in oz. loads of young single, drunk horny girls in clubs. i would recommend manly in sydney (quality women everywhere) and gold coast in queensland. expensive places but get a part time job and earn aussie coin. dont know about canada.

[Marco]

I would not recommend OZ much, spent there a month in the gold coast 10 years ago, great parties, nice people, even good travel - I would recommend to do a trip there.
But I would not live there, it is not cheap, a bit boring, girls are so so, the hot ones are not easy.
Vancouver is very nice city, but been there only couple of nights.

For me it would be Cape town hands down - amazing city, great nightlife, great people, I spent there a lot of time and practically lived there, you get to know some people and invited to private parties, girls are fucking amazing and easy going
All the area around is so beautiful with wineries and awesome scenery.
Very good steaks and food in general, relatively cheap prices, atmosphere is good.

[Ringo]

P Dog, T and gary,
Thank you for the great info.

Quote:

Also in regards to the working permit on a student visa, the limit of 20 hours I believe only applies during semester. Once semester has finished, there is no limit.. well unless it has been changed in the last 5 years.

I might be mistaken, but I believe that after your course is over, you have one month to work without the 20 hour limit.


bface,

Quote:

I would recommend switching places every few months. Never get's boring and you get to really experience to place opposed to just being a tourist.

Good advice! It's definitely part of my plan.


Marco and wolfpack,
Never thought of going to Cape Town. I'll do some research. Thank you!

[Luckystar]

If I were you I would drop Vancouver because the city sucks. It also has pricey rents. Not a cheap place. Brisbane, I can't comment on because I've never been there.

Montreal stands above for obvious reasons.

Assuming you are looking for a western university degree, I would consider Berlin. Still a cool city with tons of nightlife, and only a short trip to Scandinavia or EE for world class girls. You speak german, so something to consider IMO.

[OSL]

If I was broke and not in university I would defintley not move to Australia or Canada. Those are probably among the last places I would go, if we are not including places like Liberia.

-Bangkok
-Chiang Mai
-Saigon
-Philippines
-Bali
-Kunming
-Chengdu

Those would most likely be my spots.

[Moma]

(11-21-2011 08:38 AM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  

If I was broke and not in university I would defintley not move to Australia or Canada. Those are probably among the last places I would go, if we are not including places like Liberia.

-Bangkok
-Chiang Mai
-Saigon
-Philippines
-Bali
-Kunming
-Chengdu

Those would most likely be my spots.

These seem to be all Asian strong areas. What if the guy is not into Asian lizards? Would you still recommend these areas?

[mikeymike]

Living in Vancouver, I'd disagree with luckystar in that the city sucks, it's an amazing city just depends on what you're looking for. If you're wanting an active nightlife, city sucks....clubs close early, women aren't the hottest you'll find around, but good looking women and not loaded with fatties it's a fit city overall. They're not the easiest to pick up while just heading out on the town you'd have a lot more fun in Montreal with nightlife and women. If you're wanting hot weather year round you won't find it here. It's very expensive if you want to live anywhere near downtown, you could support yourself and live downtown but unless you're making good coin you're not going to have a lot of cash to play around with and doing anything is expensive from eating out to drinking, even pre-drinking before you head out, is far more than you'd find most places. What it does offer is awesome outdoor activities, world class ski/snowboarding less than 1.5 hours away and the smaller mountains are even closer. You can ski into the early spring and the rest of the year there's everything mountain biking, hiking, kayaking and every sport you can handle. If you're active you will not be bored and this is how you end up meeting people once you're outside of college here. Getting a job at the resorts is usually pretty easy and loads of the workers up on the mountains etc are from out of country so it gets pretty social up there. People aren't so much stuck up as wolf said but they don't go out of their way to be friendly, if you are social you'll find people receptive and you head out to a pub during hockey games try not having a good time with everyone around but smiles on the street and people going out of their way to say hello etc not gonna happen. You don't top best cities in the world to live without a reason but it's a place that you settle down in have a family in or if you love being active, not if you're young on a budget looking to have a great time partying meeting chicks unless you come for seasonal resort work... way more receptive cities and montreals the only one in Canada I'd recommend for that. Avoid Toronto shit hole of a city.

[KingofScotland]

Brisbane has a fake beach, some sand planked down round an artifical lake, probably not what you were after. Fairly dull city IMO, nightlife mostly centred one round area called 'The Valley' and what a horrible sight it is come Friday night. Pissed up idiots brawling and shouting, people puking in the street, rubbish strewn everywhere. Bouncers on the bars are all dick heads. Not a place to live, expensive as fuck too though you may be able to get a working holiday visa which allows you to legally be employed.

[Soma]

(11-21-2011 12:08 AM)bface Wrote:  

But then I have yet to meet a Canadian that is not weird in one one or another.

Funny, I've always thought that about the Swiss.

[hydrogonian]

(11-21-2011 08:38 AM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  

If I was broke and not in university I would defintley not move to Australia or Canada. Those are probably among the last places I would go, if we are not including places like Liberia.

-Bangkok
-Chiang Mai
-Saigon
-Philippines
-Bali
-Kunming
-Chengdu

Those would most likely be my spots.

I'd be interested in hearing about Kunming and Chengdu, YMG, and how you'd compare them. I've done some research on Kunming in the past and it seemed great from a cultural and outdoors standpoint, although less so for making a living - the standard way that westerners make a living (ESL).

[Ringo]

I'm really appreciating everyone's suggestions! Thanks, guys.

Luckystar,

Quote:

Assuming you are looking for a western university degree, I would consider Berlin. Still a cool city with tons of nightlife, and only a short trip to Scandinavia or EE for world class girls. You speak german, so something to consider IMO.

I've heard great things about Berlin. However I assume the visa situation might be a bit of a headache. Does anyone have info on this?
By the way, I don't think I made this very clear, but I'm just looking to spend some time abroad, working in low requirements jobs. Right now I have no interest in studying or applying to a university.



YMG,

(11-21-2011 08:38 AM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  

If I was broke and not in university I would defintley not move to Australia or Canada. Those are probably among the last places I would go, if we are not including places like Liberia.

-Bangkok
-Chiang Mai
-Saigon
-Philippines
-Bali
-Kunming
-Chengdu

Those would most likely be my spots.

Those seem like unusual choices. What kind of jobs would you recommend looking for in these places?

[rudebwoy]

Whether your 20, 30 or 40 then Eastern Europe is your best bet.
Scandinavia would be my first choice but it ain't cheap.
If you speak German and French why not try those countries maybe even Switzerland.
Montreal is the best city in Canada but I don't think you could handle the winters.
Vancouver rains alot which to me is worse than snow.

[WesternCancer]

(11-21-2011 03:16 PM)mikeymike Wrote:  

Living in Vancouver, I'd disagree with luckystar in that the city sucks, it's an amazing city just depends on what you're looking for. If you're wanting an active nightlife, city sucks....clubs close early, women aren't the hottest you'll find around, but good looking women and not loaded with fatties it's a fit city overall. They're not the easiest to pick up while just heading out on the town you'd have a lot more fun in Montreal with nightlife and women. If you're wanting hot weather year round you won't find it here. It's very expensive if you want to live anywhere near downtown, you could support yourself and live downtown but unless you're making good coin you're not going to have a lot of cash to play around with and doing anything is expensive from eating out to drinking, even pre-drinking before you head out, is far more than you'd find most places. What it does offer is awesome outdoor activities, world class ski/snowboarding less than 1.5 hours away and the smaller mountains are even closer. You can ski into the early spring and the rest of the year there's everything mountain biking, hiking, kayaking and every sport you can handle. If you're active you will not be bored and this is how you end up meeting people once you're outside of college here. Getting a job at the resorts is usually pretty easy and loads of the workers up on the mountains etc are from out of country so it gets pretty social up there. People aren't so much stuck up as wolf said but they don't go out of their way to be friendly, if you are social you'll find people receptive and you head out to a pub during hockey games try not having a good time with everyone around but smiles on the street and people going out of their way to say hello etc not gonna happen. You don't top best cities in the world to live without a reason but it's a place that you settle down in have a family in or if you love being active, not if you're young on a budget looking to have a great time partying meeting chicks unless you come for seasonal resort work... way more receptive cities and montreals the only one in Canada I'd recommend for that. Avoid Toronto shit hole of a city.

This. Although I would agree the people can be a bit stuck up when it comes to certain things. Unreasonable amounts of hipsters and people who shop at whole foods. It also seems like there is a divide between asian people and white/other race people, people will refer to certain clubs as asian clubs etc. Nothing racist just where they hangout I guess.

Like you said most places are pretty expensive to live in and doing things is also expensive but there is a lot to do. I don't think I'd come here strictly for partying. If you ski go to whistler and party with the ski-bums, just watch out for diseases.

[hydrogonian]

Making a living is the first filter, and the most important, so you have to tell us what you are planning to do, or what you can do, to take care of that part of the equation.

Plenty of us would like to live in the places on earth with the so called "highest quality of life" but have now way of making a living there. Vancouver is frequently qualified as one of the "HQL" places, at least on paper.

So, what can you do that will make you a consistent paycheck, that will be enough for rent and expenses, in a foreign land?

If you have no specific plans in this way, then I suggest Asia. This is the only place that looks may play a part in hiring you, probably to teach English, but your accent has to be very, very good as well. I don't think that there is a big market for Brazilian Portuguese, but if there was it would be in either Japan or Korea. I recommend Japan, but its expensive to get started there. See if you can get a job before you arrive. However, I have a feeling that there are a significant amount of Brazilians in Japan already, especially given your large Japanese population in Brazil.

Asia is all about appearances, assuming that you can actually do what you are getting paid to do. Additionally, there are places in Asia where you could go and scrape by doing something menial if you can't get a better job. If you can't get hired in Japan, Korea (not recommended) or Thailand teaching, then you can try Cambodia. I'm pretty sure that if you can speak English and have a heartbeat, then you can get a job teaching there.

I don't think that you will be able to survive, yer round, in North America or western Europe without any skills nor family.

[Luckystar]

If you aren't interested in school and just want a good time in a cheap place, then go to POLAND.

Don't pass go, don't collect $200, just go directly to Poland.

Thank me later.

[Downunder]

(11-22-2011 08:21 PM)Luckystar Wrote:  

If you aren't interested in school and just want a good time in a cheap place, then go to POLAND.

Don't pass go, don't collect $200, just go directly to Poland.

Thank me later.

totally agree with Luckystar - if i were 20 again Poland would definitely be on top of my list. Was there in my mid 20s back in the late 1990`s and it was pussy heaven!!! Today might be a different story,but young Polish girls are stunning - nutcases sure - but hot!!!

[Batata]

Any major city in the United States.

[Alfonzo]

I can't speak for Australia but between Vancouver and Montréal Go for Montréal .
Vancouver is a bieautiful city well you have a nice view. The architechture it's okay.
Montréal you don't have the view but the architechture is better and the vibe .
The winter yeah it's cold but, womens are hot so you should be okay and It's way more
cheap than Vancouver. Also you speak english and french. You have 2 aces in your pocket right there.
And you speak portuguease I guess and we have an important portuguease community in Québec .
Also your Latin so forget Vancouver with their Asian you will be bored, trust me .

[expat26]

I´d live in Ibiza

[Bad Hussar]

If money was no object I'd choose NYC or London, but then I like megacities.

Maybe more realistically since you mention you want to fund your travels by working e.g as a waiter, I would say Whistler for the winter and Vancouver for the rest of the year. Living costs not completely out of control if you use public transport and share living accomodation.

Ironiocally I would not recomend Cape Town unless you had a reasonable income or fat wad of cash to supplement any earnings. Like many developing areas it can be tougher to live on a budget there than in richer areas since the infrastructure for people living on a tight budget (e.g. good, safe and reliable public transport) is not highly developed. The rich decision makers have their luxury German cars so see less reason to invest in this. but the city is spectacular. Maybe the most beautifull in the world.