work and travel – a work and travel blog

becoming a Canadian Wilderness Adventures Tour Guide

23/11/201809/12/2019 by Kyle, posted in work and travel

Summer is over and it’s time to draw this chapter to a close. After Winter 2017/2018 at the Tube Park I needed to progress into a job that would enable me to grow, something more than just to get by. I considered trail building at the WB Bike Park, I considered being a WB Bike Park Instructor. However I was after somewhere where I could learn, improve my skill set and engage more on multiple levels. I bounced the idea off close friends, one in particular said “Kyle – have you considered becoming a guide at Canadian Wilderness Adventures“.

Looking through all these photos it is all too easy to think, hey man that’s the best job ever! But let me tell you this gig is no easy ride. There is always more to the story than what first presents itself. Hopefully this post will help potential or aspiring new guides a little along the way, that is the intention or for the rest of you at least with a little curious bed time reading.

We started off with so many and ended with so few. You could say only the strongest survive. Maybe that was half the point. Maybe that was half the appeal. Maybe when you read past all the dazzling marketing spiel, that’s just Whistler.

In Ernst. Do you like a challenge? Can you commit?

Training – First Aid

Requirements:

Canoe (min 40 hr first aid)
SnowShoe (min 40 hr first aid & mandatory BC Class 4 License)
Jeeps (min 40 hr first aid & mandatory BC Class 4 License)
ATV/mechanized machines guide (min 80 hr first aid & asap BC Class 4 License)

Level 3 certification is required for the first aid element: either the 110 hr Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) (only really needed if you are also considering ski patrol) or the 80 hr Wilderness First Responder (WFR).

Whistler can be a struggle enough, especially with transport so keep life simple, keep it local. I went for the Wilderness First Responder 80 hr course with Sirius, André led the way, top guy! I felt this was the best fit to me, present and future.

Training companies operating in Whistler:

Sirius Wilderness Medicine https://www.siriusmed.com WFR 80 hr $850
Whistler Adventure School https://whistleradventureschool.com WFR 80 hr $1000
Pacific Alpine Institute www.pacificalpineinstitute.com OEC 110 hr $1075

Training – BC Class 4 Drivers License aka the holy grail

A Class 4 License is not officially required to be a guide, although really, well it is. Get it.

Top Tip: get your BC Class 4 drivers license as soon as you can. The admin and work it will take will surprise you so get on it asap!

Why? Apart from Canoe guides where there is always a canoe shuttle driver present you will need your Class 4-unrestricted License to give you the legal capacity to pick up and return guests from the village to base. That is a core responsibility of the guides, it puts you up a pay a bracket and it puts you a step up on the all important schedule = more work = more pay = rent gets paid.

Sorry to say, but this is a process, mentally prepare for it so you don’t get the wind knocked out of your sails, especially if you are not from North America (majority of young workers in Whistler). The process is stuck in the Stone Age, it took me 5 months, no joke. Try and be patient and go with it. Seek guidance from your fellow guides, we will help, we’ve all been through the pain and all have some good advice to pass on.

So first thing first. Check out the Class 4 requirements: https://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing/types-licences/Pages/Get-your-commercial-driver-licence.aspx

Then visit your local ICBC office:

ICBC Whistler: https://goo.gl/maps/5YjqFWjSmfE2
ICBC Nesters: https://goo.gl/maps/VfTjs5dP3Y52
ICBC Pemberton: https://goo.gl/maps/9qsNpvxvBDw

Get your paper work in order from your home country. This will take 2-3 weeks.

Paperwork processing Canada side will take 4-8 weeks. No they will not accept electronic confirmation. When your home country sends the letter do not open it. An opened envelope will render the mail invalid, yes seriously!

Pass your theory test. $15 a pop (for me the hard part)

Top Tip: read the book. I skim-read it. Error! That won’t work. You need to photographic memory the living hahula out of this thing. Like cover to cover. Because of questions no many years of driving experience will prepare you for. My favourite “when you use your high beam lights at night, you must switch them to low beam when a vehicle approaching is within at least ……. meters. 200 m, 250 m, 150 m or 100 m?” Whoever decided an exact distance should be measured and then recalled by drivers, driving at night and then thought it valuable enough to put in what is considered a high level test is beyond me.

https://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing/Documents/drive_commercial_veh_full.pdf

Also try out the various on-line tests:

Book your practical test: wait 4 weeks or so for a slot to open (options also in Squamish, Vanc)

Pass your pre-trip and practical test. $45 a pop (for me the easy part)

Top Tip: 1 (pre-trip) show the examiner that you check the function of your own seat belt as well as those of your passengers (easy to forget). 2 (practical) if you are asked what you should do after you have let off your passengers and take some time out before setting off with a set of new passengers. Answer: get out and walk around your bus to ensure there are no new obstructions, e.g. kids, especially kids.

Pass your medical (you have 45 days to complete and submit it from receiving the form) I did mine a few weeks before my practical so once I passed the practical I was good to go!: $125 for what is essentially not much more than an eye test.

Additional paper work processing fee: $40

You are likely looking at roughly $200+ for this fun time ride.

Good news! Smile nicely and Canadian will reimburse some of your Class 4 fees so KEEP YOUR RECEIPTS.

ATV & Buggy Guiding

For the majority it’s the machines that most guides will go for. It provides the thrill and the cool factor, but is also potentially the most dangerous so it takes the most training and time to get signed off on.

Top Tip: tail tail tail. Every spare day you have, jump on a machine with the current guides, listen, watch and learn. No guide is the same and often no way is the right way, different styles, different strengths and weaknesses, different ways of doing things. The core however is the same, learn this and keep it safe. The more often you do this the better chance you give yourself of getting signed off. Sign off = work = rent gets paid

Top Tip: know the terrain. Go out on your own or with fellow colleagues, drive, get used to the trails, look out and take note of your hazard call out points, draw your own map, write down the trail names. Know it, before you guide it or as some will say ‘ride before you guide’.

Top Tip: don’t break yourself, if you do, do it so you can at least still drive a Jeep one handed, ey boys. No work = no pay = *$%@ rent

Top Tip: don’t get sick. Same formula = no work = no pay = *$%@ landlord

Top Tip: there is no tip about tips, because well I guess there is no recognized internationally understood standard about how and when to tip. Some guides will believe they have a knack, a trick. In my experience it totally depends on the guest and not necessarily the guide. Hot topic? Maybe. Top Tip: always maintain a top level of service, look after your customers, be curteous, maintain the balance between safety and fun. Add value in your own way. It may be additional information regarding flora and fauna, local knowledge on where to go, where to eat, other interesting activities to do, local history, fun play list on the Jeeps or for some just cracking out their arsenal of jokes. Actually it’s all about the jokes, just tell jokes.

10-40: Not sure I should write this as a tip, but Top Tip: don’t have a 10-40 (emergency accident). Most of the time it will not matter how good a guide you are, shit will hit the fan at some point. For me luckily not this season. For the most part there is nothing you can do and it’s no ones fault, accidents happen so do your best to limit whatever it is that could happen from happening. Key: Have fun – Keep it safe. As a qualified guide you are trained to deal with situations if they happen, keep your head, remember your training, radio in your team. There are a lot of experienced and capable colleagues ready to help. Remember key: make safe, stabilize, extract, 1 hr golden window.

Canoe Guiding

Perhaps my favourite and also most difficult of the guiding jobs. Away form the noise and fumes of the machines canoe guiding gives you the opportunity to escape back into nature and really connect with your customers. With this tour I feel you have to guide the most. I don’t mean just chatting along and telling stories with the parents or singing along with the kids, yes that is part of it, but it is one size fits all with this tour so customer ability can swing in polar opposites. You can quite easily go from leading from the front/mid pack in a morning session to transferring guests and towing the back canoe along in the afternoon. Out of all the tours I found this was the one where you had to teach the most. Not just in the pre-trip safety speech, but throughout the tour. Here helping customers overcome their fears, building confidence and developing communication skills was just as important as having fun.

Conditions vary too. Some days it will be onto a smooth glassy Alta Lake as bald eagles soar above with the sun beating down as you flow into the tranquility of Lily Pad Lane before entering the gentle meanders of the River of Golden Dreams. Other days it will be battling against the chop created by a stubborn head wind, hugging the shore line for shelter before trying to escape the flesh eating branches of a swollen, fresh snow melt river ~~of golden dreams~~.

The work is physical. I personally like that aspect. The canoeing itself will provide you with a good arm and core workout. You’ll need a strong back to lift the canoes in and out of the water, portaging and then lifting them on and off the trailer. Top Tip: If you have a bad back skip this one. If not persevere, you’ll get strong quick.

MTB e-bike Guiding

Much like canoe guiding the MTB-ebike tours gave me the opportunity to mix it up a little and add variety to my week. The tours give you and the customer the chance to explore the old growth forests trails with trees over a thousand years old whilst reconnecting with nature and tails of the first settlers of the 1900’s. Depending on ability you can tailor fit the tour to the group, either as a gentle scenic ride or spice it up with hitting some soft features and flowing through the berms on the way down. Both work equally well.

Good resource article: http://hikeinwhistler.com/index.php/whistler-hiking-trails/callaghan-lake

Other

In quiet season or when you are struggling to get out on tour for whatever reason, fill your time, get paid and get your hands dirty. Trail work, landscaping, or just stacking wood, take what you can and always try to be the yes man.

The Staff Party

The CWA staff parties are known to be legendary in Whistler. no photos here, soon enough you’ll get to hear the stories.

Best work/life hack

TOFU: Take Ownership, Follow Up. See-it fix-it, pick it up, shut it, help it, report it.

Company Background

This article from the local Pique Newspaper says it better than I ever could. read on:

https://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/whistler/a-quarter-century-of-good-times/Content?oid=11629403

Summery

So in essence when the operations manager Josh Livermore wrote to me before I took on the job “this is understandably a serious commitment, so please look into whether it’s the right fit for you” he was right. It is. It is also a process. A process that some will give up on, but for those that stick with it, for now at least I can in all honesty say this was one of those jobs that just got better and better with time! Thanks guys we made it! #canadian01

Now. Bring on Winter!!

working at the Whistler Blackcomb Coca Cola Tube Park

27/06/201809/08/2018 by Kyle, posted in work and travel

If you are looking for a first season outdoor job with the mountain, but are looking for something a little more dynamic than being a Liftie then the Tube Park could well be the place for you!

Be in no doubt this is a 100% team based work environment so if you prefer to work solo, muck around and slack off then move on now. The park’s function, guest safety and your fellow colleagues sanity rely on everyone pulling together and working as a unit through sun, rain, cold and those deep pow days where all we ALL want to be is on the mountain. Start and maintain this work ethic through the season and you’ll find this is a great place to work for your first season in Whistler!

Training typically starts around late November, doors open early December. Full on-site training is given, including cash desk and systems operations if you so wish. A basic first aid medical course is also provided and paid for by the mountain. Accidents will happen so get yourself prepared and train up. In fact I would recommend taking up the opportunity to train up on all that is offered to you.

Wages are currently set at $13 an hour, the rate for the 2018/2019 season could well be higher. Expect to work 4 days a week, averaging 30-40 hours a week. Over the season I averaged 37 hours (inc sick days & days off). Work days are long and physical, staff are in 1 to 2 hours before opening (11 am weekdays – 10 am weekends) to set up the park and 1 hour after closing (6 pm) so typically expect to work 10 hr days. The plus side, the concept of a 2 day weekend is long gone – hell yeah!

The work is physical, during set up and pack down there is a lot of lifting, pushing, pulling and of course snow shovelling etc. Just walking around up and down a hill in snow is in itself tiring. The fun factor for the customers comes naturally from the tubing of which tubes can be pulled together in groups of 4 depending on lane conditions. Expect to have to give ‘that extra push’ or ‘spin’ if the customer so desires. After one or so hours as a Starter this work is physically exhausting. I am fit and after 1-2 hours of giving the full customer experience I was dead – hungry dead hungry! Good news is that if the team is working together, breaks and rotations from station to station around the park should happen smoothly every hour or so, you will get to rest and no, no need to join a gym if you work here! I got lean fast!!

Top Tip: buy the best outdoor work boots and gloves you can afford, your toes and fingers will love you for it.

Tube Park from above

first aid course – recommended even as a re-fresher

setting up the tubes for season open

blue ain’t your color 😉

team – early season morning set up 🤟

lane set up…everyones favourite, burlap for days!

sun set – work from dawn till dusk

sun, mountains and snow – the best feeling

With the right kit you’ll be smiling into the night even on the sub 15C days

Team 2017/2018 – Fresh Tracks!

on a cold winters day – the cash desk can be a welcome relief

With the hard work comes the perks (core perks mentioned here). Pierre Ringuette is a great boss, put the work in, support him and your team and you’ll get your pay back. Hot chocolate, tea, coffee, oranges, apples, hand and foot warmers for days! They are just the day to day basics, if you are lucky you may well even be treated to a day of Fresh Tracks – a must Whistler experience!

Last and not least the fun factor. I’ll stick my neck out and say that the majority of the young people coming to Whistler for a ski season are not coming to work essentially. They are coming to get away from it all, have fun and shred the mountain. That’s fine, we all want that, but if your lazy hungover ass starts impacting on the day of your other most probably also tiered hungover cold colleagues then think on. Man up, battle on and help each other out. Respect your team, work as a unit and you’ll have a great time pulling moves to the Tube Park radio, throwing snow balls, creating ‘snow art’ or going for after work beers down in the village…and the best part of all…seeing customer faces light up from fear and trepidation to bursts of laughter and joy after a ripping a tube down the hill – smiles for days that skip no generation. This video and the smile on the child’s face at the end sums it up perfectly 🙂 #happydays Coco Cola Tube Park team 2017/2018 thanks guys 🙏

how to get a ski season job in Whistler

24/03/201809/08/2018 by Kyle, posted in work and travel

ok I am going right off the bat with this one. For the most part if you do not already live in Whistler/North America you are going to have to commit big for this trip even before leaving the comfort of your own couch. Accept that now or look elsewhere. If you are still reading let’s start to look at the ‘how’.

I am going to focus this post mostly as a hints and tips guide for those not already living in Whistler, i.e. those most in need. Hopefully this goes some way to point you in a few right directions and helps eliminate some of the minefield of questions you probably have buzzing around your head.

Let’s kick off. You essentially have two early choices to make.

1. Working for the Mountain, Whistler Blackcomb (WB)

By working for the mountain (now owned by Vail Resorts) you will enter yourself into the volume jobs market. Lift Operations, Tube Park, Parking, Maintenance, Ski School, Snow School, Guest Services, Retail, Food and Beverage. Apply early enough and you are pretty much guaranteed a job of some kind (base rate for 2018/2019 $13/hr*), staff accommodation (2017/2018 season $12.65** a night) an Unlimited Ski Pass worth $1,289 and access to a wide range of various free or heavily discounted mountain events and activities. I can only say that working for the mountain is great for your first season! The support team at HR (The Cabin) is second to non as are the team at Staff Accommodation at Glacier Lane. The pay is well under par, but balance that out with the subsidised staff accommodation, the unlimited lift pass, the range of events, competitions, discounted meals and activities etc. etc. it’s a win! The list is almost endless, you will get out as much as you put in so if you choose to go this route max it and get involved as much as you can.

WB jobs list: https://jobs.vailresortscareers.com/whistler/go/Whistler-Blackcomb-Jobs/3521600/

Top Tip: research all the different jobs available, think about what brings you joy, in-door or out-door and imagine doing it for 5 months straight 4-5 days a week, 35-42 hrs per week. That should help bring it down to a short list. Then apply the ‘zero f**cks’ given factor ” just get my ass here” and you’ll be down.

2. Working for a private company

The winter jobs in this catagory essentially include all things retail, food and beverage and winter sport tourism. Wages are most certainly better (+$16/hr), but you have a zero chance of getting staff accommodation, although some companies will provide you with a ski pass or at least a discounted one. Working as a server in the bars and restaurants will certainly earn you the most dollar, tips can be crazy especially for the girls, but consider why are you coming here? Is it for the money or something else. For me at least, making a wod of cash was never a focus point.

Job groups:

Ski pass info: https://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/plan-your-trip/lift-access/passes/unlimited-season-pass.aspx

So here comes the chicken or the egg part. How to apply for the job

You can apply to options 1 and 2 almost certainly directly. However most if not all will require a face to face interview and sorry no, video conference is still not widely accepted. If you are living in Europe or Australia for example chances are that hoping over for a quick chat is out of the question. For North America various job fairs are set up across various cities for direct face to face with WB staff which help somewhat. However the rest of you are left up shit creek without a paddle.

WB Partners Programme

The way the mountain get around not having to do face to face interviews for the hundreds of positions available across the mountain and the headache of coordinating that whole interview and accommodation process is by using agencies. Each agency or ‘partner’ typically looks after a particular area.

Top Tip: if you go down the 3rd party route apply early, I mean very early. February, March, April latests. These positions fill up fast!

Working Holiday Club

The Working Holiday Club is looking after most of the high volume jobs, i.e. Lift Operations, Tube Park, Parking, Retail and Food & Beverage. Because the volume is so great the vetting process is pretty chillax here and their back end service is pretty much bare bone essentials. A ticket in is around $2,250*.

Top Tip: Don’t be fooled by the name. Working for a 5 star resort is no holiday, do not come here with the mind set to doss around on the job. Standards are high and tolerance levels low. The ‘holiday’ part comes from the lifestyle you can lead, being surrounded by the magic of the mountains, the abundance of terrain, epic pow days, the après (questionable vs. Europe) and the night life (pretty decent!). There is a big chunk of party life here for sure, but work is work, just like any other.

Oyster Worldwide

Oyster’s core is essentially about taking care of the Whistler Kids ski school programme. As a result they have a more in-depth vetting processes. A package including getting your level 1 ski instructors course, one nights stay in a Vancouver hostel, transfer to Whistler, a hoodie, a group meal once a month and to be fair an excellent support network UK and local i.e. local rep Tory, should you ever need advice or additional support. Tory is in fact A1 gold, her alone is almost worth the eye watering $8,350* fee. Oyster also have other more basic job roles available including Whistler Kids kitchen staff, hotel work or new for the 2018/2019 season Tube Park, which are all available for around ca. $4,500*.

Alltracks

Alltracks offer a similar program as Oyster, but are more orientated towards the adult/older kids ski school programmes. Expect to pay in the region of $7,800*.

Full list of WB Partners: https://jobs.vailresortscareers.com/whistler/content/Whistler-Blackcomb-Hiring-Events/?locale=en_US

So there you have it. If you live outside of Whistler you essentially have to go through these agencies to work for the mountain. Aside from the guaranteed job (provided you don’t majorly screw up the telephone and face to face interviews) is the guaranteed staff accommodation at an unbeatable rate, membership straight into the mountain community and a lift pass worth $1,289*. These companies are affiliated partners of the WB-Vail cooperation, but the fact that is hard to dispute is that aside from the Working Holiday Club which offer a bare bone service, costs-in are high!

Top Tip: Try and get over the cost aspect as soon as you can, work some extra shifts, accept it and make your peace, come get on a plane and come have the time of your life!

There is always more than one way to skin a cat – another way – coming over early

Sure a ‘hop’ over could be an option (return flights around $1,200 from the EU or AU), but you would have to get your accommodation sorted first. Hotels (starting at ca. $500 a week, most at $1,000) and Airbnb is expensive, there are 3 Hostel options, but do not expect to pay the €12-22 euro a night you can get in Europe inc.breakfast. Hostel prices start at around $35-$55 a night excl.breakfast. If coming over in October/November when most of the local job fairs*** are on and paying for short-stay hostels until season starts (generally mid/late November) and hope that you get a slot in staff accommodation is not viable you could look at going for a more mid-term plan and going all out for a season in private accommodation. Rents in shared accommodation generally float around the $750-1,000+ area. However this makes no sense if you are looking for a staff accommodation job and I guess most land lords will have little interest in taking you in for 1 or 2 months (but you never know Sept-Oct is low season).

Hostels:

Whistler Lodge Hostel: https://goo.gl/maps/kvecaHyjxAD2
Alpine Lodge Hostel: https://goo.gl/maps/PLFQ3o19Vi82
Southside Lodge Hostel: https://goo.gl/maps/tFDt1uEKeTF2

Private rentals:

*all prices in $CAD at the time of print (March 2018). [GBP to CAD @1.8] [CAD to GBP @0.55] [CAD to Euro @0.63] [CAD to AUD @1]

**to be updated once staff 2018/2019 accommodation rates are released

***please cross check the dates

If you have useful comments, hints and tips for newbies to Whistler please leave in the comments section below – thank you 🙂

arrival in Whistler & staff housing

03/03/201809/12/2019 by Kyle, posted in Life Stories

After a couple days in Vancouver I joined up with my group and headed north, up the sea to sky highway, route 99 to Whistler. Looking out of the bus window and gazing up onto snow crested mountains it all started to come together. Taking it all in I found myself drifting into to thoughts of my mothers time here. The fact that she had travelled along the exact same road 43 years ago. I felt a connection, that fuzzy skin tingling kind of sensation you often get with a good movie. I felt content and full of anticipation about my arrival in what was going to be my new home. I knew then I had 100% made the right decision.

Whistler Blackcomb (WB) aka the mountain have 3 staff housing sites. Glacier, Brio and Westside. Most units are set up pretty much the same, 4 people per unit, 2 people sharing a room (bunkbeds – yey!). The units are compact and functional. It works. It’s actually ok. Key for me was to have engaging flatmates that were fun, clean, respecting and tidy. I got lucky and we all live together quite easily, happily and stress free. Sure it could be bigger, better, blah blah etc. etc., but it’s not forever, for a short time it works! Rent is $12.65 a day and is billed bi-weekly at $177.10. There is a wax room, small gym and yoga studio all on site. At 18 Below Base II (5 min walk) staff meals are also provided for $7 for a pretty decent sized feed. Combined with various planned activities WB do a great job here.

Roomies. Day 1 photo. From left to right: Jack, me, Scott, Tom.

Some first impressions of Whistler & Blackcomb

drool @coastmountainbeer

cutting tracks

anyone for golf?

Christmas charades

top of 7th heaven

heart melter

first run around Lost Lake

Christmas in Whistler

Blackcomb Glacier ice cave

bearded lichen

lakeside bowl

playing around on Lakeside bowl

views for days 🙂

Epic views from the Peak2Peak

shredding it under Peak2Peak

First time down down Spanky’s Ladder

Whiskyjack happiness

Spanky’s crew

Glacier staff housing is ski-in skit-out right onto Blackcomb mountain. For me it’s a 10 minute walk to work. To get into town there is the option of the free number 7 bus (operates 5:45 am – 2:40 am). A walk/run down the village run/staff hill ski slope (5 min) or the option to take the Excalibur Gondola (operates 8:00 am – 6:30 pm).

Best things about staff housing

Your roomies (if you get good ones)
The rent at only $354.20 a month (all bills included)
100% reliable hot showers with gusto…sooo good!
The rooms are always warm!!

Worst things about staff housing

Your roomies (if you get bad ones)
No oven to cook with (makes cooking options somewhat limitted)
Bunk beds (several factors here!)
Will need a good deep clean when you move in
Internet speed maybe slow to begin with (invest in a new router and/or call the operator)

Extra staff housing info

Bus connections Vancouver to Whistler

Bus connections Vancouver to Pemberton

https://www.pembertonrides.ca/

working on a horse ranch

18/02/201821/11/2018 by Kyle, posted in work and travel

Before I made my way up into the mountains I wanted to experience a different side of Canadian life. I was informed about workaway.info on a surf trip in Spain in 2016 from a fellow workaway who was looking after the hostel there. It works a little something like this: After you’ve payed your $34 USD a year you get access to a global community of people who are looking for workers. The agreement is they offer you food and board and they get the benefit of whatever skills you have to offer – done deal. You can do this pretty much anywhere in the world. This could range from building work on someones house, looking after their kids to working on a farm, a hostel, a yoga camp, a dog rescue centre or in my case a Horse Ranch.

I was lucky enough through my cousins to have grown up spending many of my summers at riding schools in the UK. Mucking out stables, grooming horses and playing around in the hay in exchange for the odd free riding lesson.

That stayed with me into my teens, but drifted away the older I got. However through my adult years and whenever I got the chance (usually holidays) I took the chance to go riding.

Before I left the UK in 2017 I went back to one of my local riding stables and volunteered as a children’s riding assistant for a couple months to brush up on my very rusty horse handling & riding skills.

Working on a horse ranch combined many of the key elements which I identify as my ‘personal key success factors’ or core values. Namely being outdoors in nature, working with my hands and stimulating my mind. In this case I was not only working with the horses, I was also landscape gardening and helping build new horse stables with a team of other workaways/paid staff/contractors.

Normally hosts are after workers who will stay for a month or longer. I got lucky and was accepted for 2 weeks @bark2ranch. For me a perfect length of time to get a different angle on Canada and get back to some childhood roots before starting work up in the mountains.

have you used workaway.info before. Do you have any tips or advice for others?

everyone has a story

20/12/201721/11/2018 by Kyle, posted in Life Stories, work and travel

The more I touch with people on this subject the more inspired I become. Stories of escaping the day to day, stories in search of change, a new life, a new direction or simply new experiences and adventure.

The question “why”

When I made the decision to finally commit and announce my decision to quit it all and leave Europe I was actually quite taken aback by the amount of surprised reactions I got. For me I had mentally prepared for that decision in some way or another for a long time, for me the concept felt natural, I was ready. However, I quickly got the feeling that for many the concept seemed very align.

A few reactions I got and I quote:

“Why would you leave your job, are you crazy?”

“Are you having a midlife crisis?”

“Is this a spontaneous decision, or have you planned it?”

Others would include

“I would love to do that, but I could never make the final step”

“I wish I could go traveling too”

My most memorable was from my pharmacist just before he injected me in the arm with jab 1 of 3 of my Rabies vaccinations.

“what gave you the idea to go travelling?”

…I was rather taken aback by the use of the word ‘idea’ like it was some singular moment of clarity. The fact of the matter is that it was never just one idea, it was many, combined together, with structure, ideas, emotions…it was an evolved process.

How it all began

When it came to big travel trips I was always one of those people, always talking, never doing. For me world travel was always something in the back of my mind. A lot of my friends did the gap year thing after university, I however went straight into work. I had £20,000 in student loan debts to pay off, I had a career I wanted to build and most of all I wanted to start putting my 5 years at university to good use. I had something to prove to my myself, I had ideas I wanted to develop and to see how far I could take them. But in the most part, like most of us in the cold light of day, I just needed the money to start coming in.

I worked hard and climbed the ladder fast. I spent 8 years working @metabo UK, it was not always easy, I was lucky to survive several redundancy culls, I took on extra roles of those past, survived the crisis of 2008 and then got offered the break I was perhaps always looking for. In 2012 I packed my bags and headed off to Germany. I accepted a role offered by my parent company to work at the headquarters @metabo DE as the European Promotions Manager. A varied role which incoperated aspects of Product Management, Product Design, Sales and Marketing. This was perfect for me, challenging and interesting work in a company I knew, had great respect for and already 8 years experience. The new role established itself quickly, we grew, standardised and set up measurable, repeatable processes. We had some great product and sales successes! I was lucky enough to be given enough freedom to develop my own ideas as well as those of my fellow colleagues, our customers and the demands of the market. One of the most fun projects was:

I was never sure how long I would stay, perhaps only 2-3 years, perhaps forever, it was never fixed in stone and left always open. As one of the few ‘foreign’ workers in the headquarters I was grateful to Metabo for that contractual freedom. 5 years later and my German pension was secured and all my career ambitions had largely been met. I was not the type who wanted to continually climb the corporate ladder. I had done enough of that over the years, pushing for promotion after promotion, bonus after bonus. I had also seen in others and experienced for myself the side effects of taking on too much, I did not want my job to erode into my private life more than it already had. I had struck a good balance in Germany, they know what they are doing there and they put special emphasis on their feierabend, but I was still aware of the dangers of taking on more and more, I had done that back in the UK in my early carrier days, I had got the hat and the t-shirt, the doctor was not impressed!

The more I grew, the more I really began to understand what the buzz term ‘work life balance’ really meant. It is one thing to say it, but to really start to begin to feel it, that is what is important, not just on the odd day, but regularly. Another life saying; ‘work to live, not live to work’ however I most certainly do not wish to work so I can just live. Existence is not the key. Stuck in one place, continuously working to earn the right for a few short holidays, retire at 65, maybe get 10 years of good quality retirement with questionable health and then kick the bucket, is that what it is really all about?

The more thought I put into it, the more I thought about where next. Stay with the same company, push for another promotion, change companies, same industry, different industry, same old story, go back to the UK, settle down and put up with a country split in two over the consequences and chaos of Brexit. Was this all about career decisions or was there something more? What is with this saying “you only live once”. What did that mean to me? What next? #thiswayorthat

What’s your story?