If you REALLY had to leave Britain, where would you go?

Germany.

wir sind alles euro jetzt innit.

Nam. I was there, man.

Austria. Absolutely fantastic place. They mtb through the summer and ski/board during the winter. The air is clean, the mountains beautiful, the food very nice and friendly people 🙂

I’d head to South of france. Good wine, good cheese, Fine women, and the Maritime Alps. Hot climate and amazing beaches. You can get by with a little french and enthusiasm. Its beautiful.

Monaco. Hitchhike, save your cash. Go where people have money > time and do the things they can’t/won’t do. loads of jobs in hotel/service industry. Get a job in a hotel = free food and probably a community of similar people with cheap accomodation in mind.

Then build up your base of contacts, you’ll meet people travelling round seeing the world.

From there, I’d take a job on a yacht, there will be plenty going, they need the hands to legally travel, particularly through the canals.

Central America, Costa Rica for me.

read this surf/board travel blog, it’s not relevant but it’s COOL. 8)

http://www.arestlesstransplant.com/

Gibralta – My mum moved there 10 years ago. She got a transfer from Nat West Bradford to Nat West Gibralta – really easy to do as its British territory. English speaking- its basically England but warm and dry and close to some of the best riding in Europe.

I love visiting with the bike – quite tempted to move myself. I want to try and find some crazy freeride lines down “The Rock”

Now this is by no means a recommendation – just sharing ok?

I used to work for a Finance House. One of my customers was an Assistant Bank Manager looking to tidy up some debts and do some fairly substantial home improvement.

I lent her £50k.

She…….left the country.

I can only assume that she’s spent the last 6 years riding round the Alps because we couldn’t find her anywhere else.

Hmmmm…………….

Spain sounds like it ticks most of those boxes. Although getting a job could be tricky, it’s like 95% employment or something…

These should help:

https://www.couchsurfing.org/

http://www.wwoof.org/

Teach English in Southern Spain. Plenty of work around, even if you have no qualifications. The shittest teachers I’ve come across have the best qualifications. Some of the best have bugger all apart from being a native speaker.

France, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, anywhere in Europe and alpine I guess. Definitely not Australia; it’s where they store dust.

Find a way of getting to Whistler/BC.

I looked into BC, but the working holiday visa doesn’t apply to >35 yo (I’m 43 too).

Would love to live in Canada, specifically Whistler or somewhere with similar levels of awesome riding. Was in Whistler for summer 2011 and it was amazing. It’s a bit expensive though, and hard to find work if you have no experience in customer services/bar/kitchen staff.

Malta. Not sure about the biking but there were English people working in Marks And Sparks when we visited.
All speak English and last weekend it was 18′

In the pyrenees…

http://www.tefl.com/jobs/job.html?jo_id=55142

South Africa

You’re 35? Just end it all

New Zealand – work in a back packers for free accommodation whilst you find your feet, Rotorua would be a good destination.

OK, here’s my take, for what it’s worth.

Forget Oz, US, Canada etc. It needs to be somewhere in the EU so that you can work without any issues (and get back easily if it all goes pear shaped). You also want mountains and good weather. Spain sounds obvious, but cost of living would still worry me.

Personally I’d consider Bulgaria. EasyJet flight to Sophia for next to nothing and you can live very cheaply. Language is tricky, but the Bulgarians love to speak English and there are pockets of Brits out there already, some of whom seem to get by just fine with very little Bulgarian. Winter in the mountains could also be an issue, but that would be true of any place with proper mountains and you could always head to the cities (or Black Sea) for winter.

Definitely not Australia; it’s where they store dust.

Genuine LMFAO!

They call the soil “gutless” here in Perth. Well that would be because it’s sand.

If your worried about visa’s etc then why not start your own country.
this guy did http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand

I could have started this thread myself! My current predicament is very similar except for a few details.

I did the Whistler thing a few years ago when I was young enough but it was a bit of a disaster as I worked for a joke of a company and never got paid. Whistler is far too expensive to live in unless you get paid properly or have a financial safety net. I failed in both areas and had to come home early, sell my bike and work off the debt. I had a good time but I was aiming for self sufficiency and a long term stay so I was gutted about it for ages.

I’m currently stuck in the northeast which is a hateful, desolate, shit hole and I’ve just been made redundant for the 4th time in 4 years. I lost my house and had to move back in with my parents which is like living in 1955. The silver lining is that while working at my last job I lived like a monk and saved almost everything.

I now have 2 bikes, a tent, a van and a camera. I’m going to the first 3 rounds of the downhill world cup this year which starts in Scotland then goes to Italy and I’ll have a month to kill until round 3 in Andorra. While I’m in Europe I plan to meet and mingle with as many people as possible and take advantage of any and all opportunities that come my way. I’m hoping to not come back and spend the winter somewhere warm and pleasant like southern Spain or Portugal. I have no idea what is actually going to happen but I can not wait to get started.

Also grazing the info in this thread with great interest.

Good luck!

having cycled/camped across Spain and France for a few months some years ago, I would definitely consider riding down through france to the pyrenees or the alps and making a fist of working as a guide/chalet girl etc.

You can live quite cheaply if you’re off the grid for a while.

Sharkattack – very jealous, your trip sounds amazing.

I would say anywhere in the Alps, probably Sauze d’Oulx

But given that money might be an issue and it’s so damn cheap I’d like to give Andorra a go. I went there skiing last month – bloody lovely.

Might have trouble convincing the mrs…

Sauze d’Oulx

Fantastic place, Shame i’m not allowed back after an incident with Snow, an uppy downy bollard and fireworks 🙁

Kenya would be a good option, nice and cheap. You could afford a housekeeper to look after you and clean your bike.

Definitely not Australia; it’s where they store dust.

Don’t worry, we’ve worked out a way of selling our ‘dust’ to the Chinese for $150 a tonne, so we’re set for oooh.. the next fifty years or so 😆

But back to the OP, no definitely not Australia, we’ve got enough eurobums hanging around here already…

I’d go to anywhere in Canada today if I was offered a job.

Anywhere with mountains and snow

wrecker – Member

I’d go to anywhere in Canada today if I was offered a job.

thered – Member

Anywhere with mountains and snow

serious question: have you thought about Sweden?

it’s full of snow/mountains/lakes/elk/bears, it’s not full of people. You can even get your lift-assisted Dh kicks at Are.

And it’s part of europe, so working there is easy.

Fantastic place, Shame i’m not allowed back after an incident with Snow, an uppy downy bollard and fireworks

Pictures or it didn’t happen 😀

Spain.

Bar job for a bit.

Meet folk in the evening, ride during the day.

Given your budget, I’d be thinking French/Spanish/Italian ski resort. Easier to get a job at the start of the ski season and then use the winter to make contacts there. Come May you’ll hopefully have wangled yourself a suitable job for summer. Good luck whatever you decide.

Balaerics
Canary Islands

Lots of sunshine. Some trails , PP rated Tenerife one of the best riding destinations hes ridden.

Spain / Spanish so in EU .
Huge holiday destination so lots of job opportunities
You already have some Spanish
You should be able to live cheaply enough to survive the ‘winter’

My friend lives a colonial ex pat lifestyle in Zambia , loves it but you need more cash to get yourself out there.

Thanks for all the ideas everyone.

Andorra was first on my list until I found out I can’t work there, it’s not in EU and apparently difficult to get work permit 🙁

Spain makes a lot of sense, I’ve travelled around loads of it, beautiful country. But the unemployment rate there is a bit worrying. Something like 50% for 18-30 year olds?

Has anyone been to the “Hippie” commune near Orgiva? I’ve heard about it but not sure what the reality would be like?

Balearics, Mallorca is meant to be pretty good in places and there’s some good Freeride stuff on the Island

Portugal sounds great but I don’t know what to expect regarding work opportunities there. Has anyone been to Lagos?

French/Italian/Swiss alps, very appealing but I am unsure how easy it would be to get a job in bikepark? Liftie, dish-washer, driver? Anyone know if jobs like this are reasonably achievable?

Canada: god I wish it was possible again this year 😥

USA/Australia/NZ: be nice but can’t afford flights/no working Visa

WWOOF-ing:
Now this is high on my list as a possibility
I tried it once in 2005 in BC, wierd is an understatement, we managed to find the freakiest place possible:

“Psychic” nasty lady
One-eyed Hells Angel
Completely remote up dirt-track
Alpaca with a bob hairdo that had apparently “lost it’s connection to the universe” so “Psychic” nasty lady fed it “Bovine Uterus”!!??
Horror hut with bucket toilet
Drinking water from stream “Don’t worry we don’t think it’s got Beaver Fever!”
Pack-rats scratching at walls and roof of Horror-Hut as soon as dark fell.

I’m hoping for a more mellow WWOOF experience next time

Arrakis

Botswana

Spain gets my vote. I lived out near Murcia for a bit on the Mar Menor, wish I could go back!

Balearics would be a good choice, plenty if touristy work to get you started, also cycling very popular, maybe get some work with some of the tour riding companies once you are established out there

A bit of googling says work permits for tourist/hospitality jobs in andorra are not that hard as long as you get all the paper work sorted.

Lagos is nice and the algarve has a pretty strong biking scene, both xc and downhill.

Brazil. It’s the miracle country that will take over when China implodes in a mire of pollution and corruption. Stunning women too.