A job opportunity has come available in Afghanistan, working within the army camp, the hours are crap, conditions are bad, prob not safe to do any mountain biking, prob wont get my own gun, but it's 10 weeks there, 3 weeks off and potentially around £100K tax free which is a lot more than im on now.

From what i can see the pro's are:
debt free in 2 months
loads of money
sun tan
when i come back I will have enough money to travel the world with my mountain bike

cons:
no mountain biking
legs blown off / killed
crap social life

If i went i'd only do it for 2 – 3 years max (assuming the job lasts that long) but then could I give up the money once im used to it? But I guess I'll have to come back sooner or later to spend it.

Would you go or not risk it?

Are you insane?

Yeah I'd go. If your in camp and dont go out you'll be ok….probably.

Yeah, why not?

yes.

it's not like you'll be out on patrol … is it?

If inside the wire it'd be okay. It depends on the actual job; if mind-numbing then it would be hard to take all the other hassle, otherwise you might find it quite rewarding.

Also opens up door for work elsewhere too; methinks Africa/Iran will be windows of opportunity soon 😕

What job is that then?

I'd rather earn £150k here and pay tax…

NO

Depends on you & your circumstances. I'd hate it, but might try it for a bit for the £££.

yes but not for three years of that shit!

No thanks 🙂

well if i had a job offer here for 150K id rather stay here too, but thats not on the table

3 weeks off, so hardly no options for biking, just go somewhere else. Personally I wouldn't want to be part of the war machine, though.

Me, no.
But could be a life changing experience- never mind the money.

Watch Iron Man, than ask yourself "how good am I at electronics".

On a more serious note, is there any independent source for identifying how dangerous it might actually be – some of my friends work in Pakistan and observe that, in the area where they work, it's probably safer than many UK city centres – but they wouldn't go near the border areas. wondering if Afghanistan would be similar?

what does the job entail?

yeah I can go anywhere i want in that 3 weeks so i will be mountain biking. i just meant no biking in the 10 weeks inbetween

Sounds like an ideal case of do it for 12 months and have a bit of shitty time but then come out debt free with enough cash for 2-3 years off afterwards.

Got a mate who's been there for 2 years, he's going back on Sunday. Some of the stories he tells though 😯

would you be doing something you're happy to do?

plus you might blow a huge part of the salary in the 3 week off stints, he said, reflecting on his own personality…….

i'd probably do it to file under 'interesting experiences', which is what life should be about.

My current work colleague knows someone whos doing a similar job out there now, 90% work is done within the camp which is unlikely to be unsafe but 10% of the time you have to venture out but you have armed soldier escorts, which is when you'd be vulnerable

You only live once.

So why not?

Are you single with no ties? If yes then yes. It'll be a life changing experience that could set you up financially for life and open a lot of doors career wise.

Tempting, although not for 3 years! 6-12 months maybe although now the Afghan 'army' seem to be shooting up people inside the base perimeters it's a bit more risky than the odd shelling…

You only live once.

So why not?

Because you only live once.

got to be 12 month stints to get the tax free (from my limited tax dodge experience)

I'd jump at it with both hands. Bored with my job? Moi?

I personally would take the job. Mortgage free within a couple of years. Savings in the bank. If in a large Army base I'd be quite happy, plenty of facilities. If in a forward operations base for 10 weeks at a time under attack on a regular basis then I'd be wanting a gun just in case.

Not sure my other half would be too happy.

I'd do it for sure. Sod no biking, you could do crossfit or p90x or something and get ripped as well.

if 30yrs younger then yes ❗
would go now if I thought our ageist society would give me a job again 🙄
not sure family ie kids, grandkids would be happy tho 😕

If single, I'd think about it. If you don't like it and come back after a month, you'll still have a load of cash in the bank. I assume it's around triple your current earning potential?

i'm single(ish) not sure my gf would agree, but no kids, no other ties apart from my 4 week old bike.

I'd go for that, I currently do longer stints abroad with considerably less time off, although I'm not in Afghanistan, although neither am I on £100k 🙁

Cheers, Rich

How dangerous? Dunno, but call up an insurance company for a life cover quote and tell them you have a job in the UK. then phone up and ask for the same cover for teh same job but in afganistan and see what the difference in the premium is or even if they'll cover you at all. that should give you an idea

tempting, but mainly cos I'd like to go somewhere like that and take loads of photographs (and thus probably get blown up).

I said no to similar situation. Doing IT work on us marine bases. I was up for it but parents and wife weren't. I thought it was rather selfish of me to put them through th worry. There is more to life than money I suppose.

Now with baby on the way I definitely won't be going.

Like a shot (to coin a phrase).

If you have no ties / commitments – Do it, you don't want to spend the rest of your life thinking "what if?" – as your on a base you should be able to do some sort of fitness training making you fitter when you get back on the bike. 😮

Also try and live on the same money as you do here and stash the rest in an off-shore account so your savings don't get taxed.

I'd go! 100k!! three weeks. why not

Depends on the base, if its one of the big ones where the americans have built themselves a mcdonalds, then yeah I think I'd jump at the chance. Could set yourself up quite nicely.