Guys, I'm at a bit of an impasse here and I literally don't know what to do. I'm loving living in Dublin because I've met some seriously cool people and the city is wonderful for the most part. Where I find myself struggling is with finances. I am not overspending on a personal level, I've completely cut out buying coffees and eating out for the most part so I could save money there. I go out once every other week with friends and cut out shopping as well. With that being said, I find myself constantly struggling with money here. It's a frustrating situation to be in considering my living situation in Canada was so much easier and carefree. Mind you, I didn't have much spare time from working like a slave, but I always had money.
One of the reasons I'm here in Dublin is to gain access to the rest of Europe for travelling which I'm doing my best to take advantage of. I just came back from Germany and have trips to Scotland and the Netherlands coming up as well which I'm super excited about. However, I find that because I'm planning these trips, the costs associated with them are eating away at my limited budget and I find myself barely scraping by in between. I know this is part of the experience and all but I also wonder if there's not an easier way to do all of this that will still leave me with more money at my disposal. I've been toying with the idea of finding a part time job to do for a couple of months just to get extra money. I've also been toying with the idea of moving out of Dublin to Galway or Cork perhaps to cut down on my living expenses but with that would come more difficulty for travels. It's such a tricky situation because there doesn't seem to be an easier way to go about things and I think that frustrates me more than anything. I consider myself fairly resourceful and I literally can't figure out a solution that works for me. You know, I expected things to be different here in Dublin but I never expected to be living paycheck to paycheck either and I haven't had to that in years which is frustrating you know? I'm in my thirties and don't have anything because I pissed away my savings just starting out here in Dublin so I don't even have a cushion to fall back on. Without that security blanket, it makes everything more real because I really do have to watch everything I do to make sure I can afford my rent at the hostel, food, paying my credit card down, and travelling. Not to mention all of these things come out of a fairly minimal budget. All of this is making my head want to explode if I mist be honest. I feel awful for complaining you know because this opportunity is such a great one that there's almost a sense of being ungrateful that comes along with my complaints but that couldn't be further from the truth. I think I'm just looking for ways to get the most out of this while also keeping myself afloat and able to live the way I'm accustomed to. I think I need to just get used to this life of barely scraping by until I get back to Canada right? Do I find another job, move from Dublin?? I don't know but I do know that I need to figure something out because I feel slightly trapped and I don't want these feelings to ruin my experience here. HAPPY VEG
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So, they say that travelling is the best medicine and that travelling solo is one of the best things you can do for yourself. I certainly agree with the sentiment that travelling is one of the best things I've ever done but whether I'd rather be doing all of this travelling with someone is up for discussion. I miss the companionship of some of my besties back home or my family perhaps. I love the idea of strolling through the city streets with someone else who is also experiencing everything for the first time as well. There's something special about sharing those experiences with someone you know?
Now don't get me wrong, I also love being able to do everything I want to do in my own time frame. It's so freeing to go to a place alone and wander the streets taking photographs and going to the places that I want to go but there are times where I just wish I had someone I loved to chat with you know? I usually meet people in these hostels and have some great convos but in between everything, it's kind of lonely. Is that strange? You know, I honestly couldn't tell you if I was more of an introvert or an extrovert because I honestly feel so much of both especially in times like this. Anyways, Hamburg was super great! I got to meet up with a friend I met back in Dublin and we went for drinks and I had a fabulous time. My experience with the hostel was less than great however, it smelled constantly in my room, looked dilapidated, and the receptionists were mostly kind of impersonal. The hostel experience wasn't enough to ruin my trip of course, I got to do so much fun stuff. Toured the chocolate factory and whipped up a beautiful (looking) chocolate bar that left a bit to be desired in terms of flavour, visited the naughty district and saw some seriously beautiful architecture. Hamburg was definitely one of the prettiest cities I've ever seen. Next up, I've got Glasgow, Scotland in March. I've done my research about the places I want to see with one being the Scottish Highlands because they are just so astronomically beautiful in photographs. I'm really looking forward to this trip :) Anyways, that's all for today's reflections lol HAPPY VEG Holy shit guys, I'm so exhausted. As I type this post, I've officially been up for over 24 hours. I went straight home from work where I took a shower, ate some food, and then basically headed to the airport. I have a strong feeling today is going to be a write off because it's only 6 and I can barely keep my eyes open lol
I found my hostel easily enough and it appears that the area I'm staying in is literally surrounded by sex. There's basically porn everywhere you look and I was propositioned twice until they realized I liked men lol It's going to be an interesting stay here in Hamburg to say the least. My hostel is fine, it's kind of grungy but I mean, I paid 35 euros for three nights so I wasn't expecting a palace. I'm definitely still trying to get used to this hostel culture though because I must admit, I wanted to go with a hotel but I was turned off by the higher costs in Hamburg. I was still tempted though because I live in a hostel so going away on a trip to stay in a hostel isn't necessarily something I'm dying to do but one cannot deny the savings. My plan here is just to hit a few museums, take a lot of pictures, eat some good food, and meet up with a friend whom I met living at the hostel who has since moved back to Germany. I have to try and be cost efficient which is not really one of my strong suits so I'll definitely be trying to stop myself from spending every minute of the day lol I have to say, this whole living abroad experience really has been crazy you know? You get to live and learn about a new place, have access to Europe with cheap flights available constantly, and meet new people every day which in my case has always been difficult but it's really forced me to step outside of my anxiety a little bit and just roll with things. I honestly never saw myself staying in a hostel two or three years ago like, this was so outside of my comfort zone and here I am now. I'm really grateful for everything this experience has given me and I'm totally looking forward to what the remaining half will bring! Cheers for now! HAPPY VEG So I kind of came to the realization that I'm already half way through my trip here in Dublin and I'm kind of conflicted on how I feel about that. Obviously I'm looking forward to getting back to my fam and friends back home but I've also had the pleasure of meeting some wicked people here too and it will definitely be sad to leave them all because I know I won't be able to make it back to Europe for quite some time because of the expense. Knowing this, I am determined to make these last 6 / 7 months as exceptional as possible and I intend to cram as many trips as possible into this time frame.
I'm headed to Hamburg Germany next week and I'm hoping to be able to visit Berlin as well on one of the days because a trip to Germany without visiting Berlin seems incomplete to me. What I'm most excited about is to be able to actually speak some of the German I've been slowly learning over the past year and a half because I'm not able to use it on a regular basis. It'll be super fun to order a coffee or food at a restaurant and attempting to speak solely in German. I'm sure I'll be stuttering my way through my sentences but hey, that's the fun of learning right? Aside from Hamburg, I'm headed to Scotland in March and I'm going to be visiting the Scottish Highlands which I'm extremely excited about. The beauty of the Highlands is undeniable and I can't wait to be surrounded by mountains and beautiful scenery plus, maybe I'll spot Nessie ;) I'm going to try to visit several other countries in this short time I have left as well. I really want to go to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Austria, Italy, and Spain since my last trip to Spain kind of fell through. I'm really going to have to focus and refrain from spending on basically anything so I can funnel all of my money into these trips because to be honest, I make just enough to pay my bills and eat so it's quite a challenge. There's this illusion of being to travel all across Europe that came with this experience but the reality is that you also have to survive here so it's not as easy just to drop everything and travel as I would have liked. This experience has been fun and such a learning experience and I'm excited for what the last half of the trip brings me! HAPPY VEG |
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