I think it would be a OK if you could plan the working part. I'd hate to spend a trip having to deal with "networking" and all the other rubbish that goes with trying to get grubbing little suits to part with their cash. Knowing I had to be somewhere on a certain date to work for X weeks would be OK.

Ted, if you are looking at welding as a transferable skill, take great care with the certification and training records. We have endless trouble with the attempts of local authorities to create closed shops by this route. If you are thinking Canada/USA, do their certification even if it's the lowest level as well as or instead of European/UK stuff. A certified welder is skilled employee, while any fool (such as myself) can tack bits of metal together given enough practice. Pay levels of course reflect this and you can still take on car body repairs even if certified.

This can work the other way too, my UK HGV ticket is restricted to 32 tonnes but the yanks never cared. You would need to know this though, there is next to no money for driving rigids over there.

Andy

As a welder my advice is to stay away from welding .
You'll ruin your health and be treated like shit by your employers especially if you decide to work in the oil and gas or mining industries .
There is a shortage of skilled trades at the moment but I've experienced a few booms and busts and believe me the busts last a lot longer than the booms . Resource industries have an on/off switch , you're better off working in a steadier industry .
High wages in "The North" are because of the high cost of living , which you won't really experience until you've lived there for a while . $20 /hr isn't very much as you'll probably only work for 4-5 months of the year .
There's also a reason that nobody wants to live in the north - think about that for a bit .
If you are going to go welding , stay on the "clean side", TIG welding specialist equipment and that sort of thing , but be warned it takes a long time to become proficient . Welding is the hardest of the trades because it is an art , purely a physical and mental skill and takes dedication .
It's better if you are small so that you can crawl into tight spaces and best to start young , if you're over 30 - don't bother .
You'll also be tested constantly and if you can't pass the job tests - you're done - adios amigo - don't let the door hit you on the way out .

To work from your own shop is nice , but you HAVE to have a niche market and sell to people who will actually pay you for the time involved .
Every Tom ,Dick and Harry will come banging on your door at all times of the day and night and want something welded up for pennies .
Good welding equipment is expensive and so are good premises .If you think you can cobble stuff together out of an old garage with a "buzzbox" welder , think again .

Welding can be great and rewarding but according to my welding instructor buddies only about 5% of those entering the local BC welding school at "C" level make it to "A" level and are working in the industry .If you want to work in Canada you'll have to have Canadian certification and every province is different , AND structural and pipe welding qualifications are different .

So have a think about it Ted , it's not something you can walk right into and make big bucks right away .
As a foreman , I don't even consider guys qualified unless they have 5 years of work experience under their belt - I don't have time to wipe their snotty noses and teach them their job and also pay for their expensive mistakes .

Learn how not to Weld just by watching this video

This is what old welders turn into ,
Amazin Blaze Weldin Service - YouTube

All the best .

__________________
Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

Aah, the holy grail! A job you enjoy! I've been looking for this all my life. The jobs I've done include working in a climbing shop (tedious after a year or so), working as a cycle mechanic (tedious after a couple of years) and news photographer (a hideous, soul destroying way of making a living - and I'm talking 'news' here, not 'pap').

I ticked 'It's OK' for my current situation, because actually I do two jobs and that's the average! -

1) I work as a civil servant which has good flexibility and promotion prospects and pays the bills, but is also furniture chewingly tedious. I'd give it up tomorrow if I could.

2) I also write children's books. (www.dannylansing.com) I have been working my arse off at this for six years and made almost no money out of it. I now have two published and a third on the way. I am amazed at how difficult it is to make money out of writing. As it stands, I would have made a hell of a lot more money over the last six years if I'd just spent the time doing a paper round. Having said that, I absolutely love it!

I often dream about what it would be like to be able to jack in the day job and commit to writing full time. It would be fantastic. I normally come home after a ten hour day, eat my dinner and then switch on the latop and write for a couple of hours - firstly because I have to (books don't write themselves!) and secondly because I love it.

It is exhausting frankly. I am totally knackered all the time. But I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that one day it will all pay off and I will be able to spend the rest of my life doing a couple of big 'research trips' a year and writing the rest of it.

If you look at any success story, whether it be an athlete or a business person or anything else, there is nearly always an enormous amount of work behind that moment of glory. And a great personal commitment to the venture.

Who knows if my work will pay off? I don't. But I really hope it does, as the alternative is another 30 years in a bowler hat and I wouldn't wish that on anybody!

Matt

__________________
http://adventure-writing.blogspot.com

http://scotlandnepal.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

I've been a bartender, night club manager, Phys ed teacher, Remedial Massage therapist, Pilates and Gym owner/teacher and somewhere in the middle a Firefighter for 23 years which I'm still doing.
Every day I go to work much of it is spent laughing with the 8 other guys I spend 48 hours with in a 4 day shift.
More like family than co-workers.
Every day is different. I can spend 10 hours on a day shift without a call, working out in the gym, watch a movie with the guys, read a book, a bit of training and pinching myself somedays that I'm actually getting paid to have fun and hang out. Or I can be flat out, hot tired and/or dealing with the odd dead body or two.
I get 4 day weekends every week and get 1 month off every 4 then every 5 months in-perpetuity till I retire or drop off the perch.
Its a great job to indulge other passions, careers and travel.

The money is not amazing compared to many careers but its decent and the pension is pretty damn good.
As far as non-portable jobs go, I cannot think of many jobs where you could work full time and take of 3 continuous months to travel every year if you juggle your leave around. Plus I get 3 months long service leave after 10years then 6 extra weeks every 5.
No complaints here

Sounds great. I reckon if I didn't have a medical condition that made it impossible, I would have had a serious crack at fire-fighter. The combination of it being a proper 'hands-on' job, being of real community benefit and being, I expect, properly exciting at times, always really appealed.

Still, gotta play the cards dealt to you...

Matt

__________________
http://adventure-writing.blogspot.com

http://scotlandnepal.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

hate my job from my guts ! its destroying me , but then again they pay me good, in my poor country so i keep my mouth shut ;p

i dream of being a scuba instructor somewhere i have license, or underwater welder, or military services, non of those i have in my country

I voted a resounding " I hate my job "

However, Needs Must.

In better times I have left jobs in my specialised field due to moral reasons. I simply cannot abide dishonesty or not working to 100% in all aspects of being a professional, but due to the situation worldwide in trying to get employment I am having to work for a company that grinds against every sense of " doing the right thing ".

The job itself is ( or should be ) very rewarding, training new members of the armed forces in various skills and trades that they will need in the field....the kind of job that demands you do the best you can to help and advise and even go beyond what the job requires on paper if need be.

But when you add a civilian organisation that simply values profit and economy above all else in charge of the training...then you get a very unpleasent experience in the way of a working day. Maybe I am at a disadvantage by being ex-forces and actually caring about what I do and the effects it would have if not putting 100% into the job.

The company appears to lurch from near miss to accident on a daily basis without any discipline to the idiots involved, it appears to be company policy to do the least possible work and investment for the max financial return...and if you help the soldiers/customers...then that is a bonus to them rather than being our main aim.

I will leave the instant I get something better.

Matt... Total respect and Kudos to you for continuing with your writing. I love the paper round comparison. You know yourself, money doesn't make a man happy.

I wish you the best of luck. I'll try and spread the word about your books.

By the way... How and where do you buy them from ?? You're website could really do with a shop section.

Ted

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

You are right - that's a good point! I need to add a function for buying signed copies direct from myself.

In the meantime, they can be bought on Amazon or Bookstore.co.uk (and probably elsewhere online). A fair number of Waterstones branches have them as stock too, in Scotland anyway. I believe a few of the big ones in England too.

Any spreading of the word is much appreciated, book promo is a long and tiring road if you aren't JK Rowling or haven't been on the X-Factor.

Matt

__________________
http://adventure-writing.blogspot.com

http://scotlandnepal.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

Really?! You sound like someone who has never known need. Dont fool yourself, money makes people happy.

A rather sweeping judgement from very little information. I'm probably the poorest person I know. (Cash wise)

I've had lots of money and I was miserable...

I've got far less now and I'm far happier.

Do you need money to travel..... Yes, you do ! How much though. That's the question.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I think a certain amount of money is required for happiness; I believe this has been studied and it has been postulated that the optimum amount, after which more does not make one happier, is about 30k GBP per year.

I can definitely say that i love my job. I began studying law in the early 70's and I have been working as a personal injury attorney for motorcyclists for almost 40 years now. I'm also an avid rider, so it gives me a great opportunity to stay connected socially and professionally with a community that i really have loved my entire life.

I love the desert .. when the mercury it`s 40c me and the lizards are sitting on the rocks waiting for the sun to come out ,,,, so why in the HELL am i working in a sushi factory were it never tops 0c !!!! OH YEH training for this years trip to Iceland (and the money)

I have worked as a teacher since 1997. I was drawn into special education, and bit by bit, started to hate it year after year. 2 years ago, I began working as a teacher in the Arizona prison system, and have pretty much loved every day of it. There are no school administration issues, no pain in the ass parents demanding everything, not much in the way of barriers anywhere. The students' stories are quite interesting, and I even get to work with some notorious criminals (as opposed to everyday, run of the mill criminals)