GlastoEls

Ruddy heck - relax! This is a 19 year old kid who fancies / needs a change. When else are you equipped to deal with travel than that age? No family, no commitments.

The US thing isn't going to happen for them - for now - there's no visa. Other alternatives are far better placed - Australia, Canada, etc. But the OP should travel now EXACTLY BECAUSE it's out of the box, and an experience. Worry about integrating when the OP is 35 and has genuine responsibilities.

kimilseung

At your age I would say you should go off and do some proper travel, none of this namby-pamby English language speaking country nonsense. You say you want to make something of yourself, well if you have any get up and go and any sense of adventure, then get off the beaten path a bit. A little effort will be handsomely rewarded.

Remember there are no piles of skeletons in far flung destinations from people who could not communicate that they wanted food nor because they could not get transport to somewhere else. Communicating the basics is doable, can be fun when you get creative, and you will pick up some basic language whether you plan to or not.

You can work as you go in many places, teaching English can be quite rewarding in East Asia, lets you experience the place you are in for a period of time at a reasonable standard of living in less affluent places.

if your level of adventure is close to zero, go to America or Australia.

If your level of adventure is low...go to India (maybe do a cheapish degree, that will be recognized in the UK), trek in the Himalaya or visit the Nazca lines.

If your level of adventure is mid level, trek in the Karakorum, hitch hike in Mongolia.

if your sense of adventure is higher, then, ride a horse across Mongolia or trek in one of the old soviet republics.

I wish I had been a tad more adventurous when I was your age. Travel can be a learning process, and starting with the more accessible trips can help to open you to more rewarding things, but do not limit your opportunities. I think planing to spend a year or two in the USA could easily limit those opportunities.

I am currently trying to get my nephew out of the English-language-country-travel-syndrome too.

GlastoEls

Agree with that. I did the JET Programme - teaching English in Japan - for two years, 2002-2004. Ruddy hard work, and I wouldn't do it now, but at 21 (immediately after Uni) I was perfectly equipped.

Sally Redux

I quite fancy Mongolia since it was featured on 'House Hunters International'.

Lahhdra

This post ended up very long. You have been warned!!

A hah! At last I can reply! (This is slighty off topic but...)

So i've been reading all of your posts and listened intently. I would like to reply to everyone but I guess thats just not realistic, so here's a wall of text instead!

I seem to have given everyone the impression that moving to the USA is my dream and i'd love to live out the rest of my days there. This isnt exactly correct, but I can understand why people might think this given the forum we're on. Moving to the USA would only be a temporary thing for me to do now because of the circumstances I've already explained. What I want is a chance to go to go a foreign country and learn to be an independent adult for a few years. As I have already said (I dont mean to be repeating myself too much but i'd rather be clear here) - I feel as though my life is stagnating. During this time I should really be leaving the house and learning to be an independent adult. As it stands i'm an unemployed (man) who still lives with his parents and has far too little social interaction with people outside of the house. That isn't where I want to be. And its certainly not where I want to be in another 5 years or so. And i'm not here, in this situation, because i'm lazy or unintelligent or unambitious - i'm here because nothing in this town, or even this country, motivates me.

So arrives the prospect of going to a different country. If I can lead my own independent life for a while - even if its working a dead end job with minimum pay - then at least i'll be learning how to survive on my own and find out what I really want from this life (if not the biology thing). I'll become the well rounded, self sufficiant adult that I always thought i'd become when I was growing up. I will have done something with my life. It is the stepping stone to bigger things like real travel that some of you are suggesting.

Okay - back to the USA thing! Didnt mean to drone on for too long there, you get the picture. America looked like a great option, but clearly its a no-go. Thanks for the information guys! Its a disapointing truth but its one we cant escape so I may as well just accept it and look for somewhere else. After doing a bit of research, I've decided I would rather go to Canada than NZ or Australia. And even further than that, probably either Vancouver or Toronto - though I'll need to do some more reading and get some more opinions before I settle on one.

So now we come to the actual 'how do I do this' part. As I said before - I dont know where to begin. This is where I feel like I need the help at the moment. .....In fact, i'm not going to beat around the bush, I feel right now like I need someone to flat out hold my hand and teach me how they made such a move for themselves. I'm not incompetent but theres an awful lot to plan and work out. However.. since i'm now thinking of Canada will this thread have to be closed or moved to another section or what?

This is slightly off-topic but I wanted to mention anyway: On the culture thing. It seems when I mentioned the 'media' it set off quite a lot of alarm bells. I know I was rather flippant with my phrasing, but I actually consider myself a rather grounded person. I fully understand that things are not as they may appear in books or on T.V - and I know 100% that America is not just 'England but bigger and with accents'. If I had moved there for a while I would definatly know to expect changes and I have this same mentality towards Canada. I will only expect the unexpected!

Anyway I kind of feel like I missed a hundred things I wanted to say here (like the prospect of proper travel that kimilseung talks about) but I think thats enough for now.

Thanks again to everyone for being so helpful! If you have any more questions i'll be glad to answer them.

kimilseung

What! do tell more. Given that most people live in a round tent, even in the capital many live in a ger, and if its not a ger its an ugly apartment.

Sally Redux

Yes the 'house hunter' had a look at a ger, and a couple of apartments. He seemed pretty happy horse-riding a lot and became romantically involved with a local woman who was helping him set up a school of English.

I was in a pissed-off mood and told the family I wouldn't mind moving to Ulan Bator

MoshiMoshi

If someone's new to travelling, there's no shame to a soft start! Somewhere like New Zealand is a good place to get used to backpacking and looking out for yourself. You can work your way up to Mongolia from there

It might be worth noting that, for the kind of overseas English-teaching jobs that potentially offer a 'Western'* level of pay, a degree is often necessary, if only to qualify for the visa. But if you don't have debt or other financial commitments back home, then a local wage is not a problem.

(By 'Western' I just mean it can support being exchanged for your native currency and sent home to pay Mastercard or whatever.)

Oops, I see the OP has just replied -- Vancouver and Toronto are both great possibilities. If the Canada forum here is too emigration-oriented then maybe you can check out backpacker forums like Lonely Planet's 'Thorn Tree'?

Bob

Just start a new thread in the Canada side of the site, but include a link to this thread for background for the folks out there...and good luck!

kimilseung

Agree NZ could be a reasonable start, its on travelers circuits and routes and has a lot to offer itself, I think the original plan for the USA would make it harder for that to happen, less of a travelers circuit and what there is, is less inclined to adventurous travel. Travelers hang outs can lead to a great social life, the OP states that not much of a social life at present, I think it might be important to have someplace that has a travelers culture. NZ would, but I do not think US does (though I might just have missed it as I am no longer a traveler)

Getting a visa can be problematic in itself, can be a lot less money, limit job opportunities and make it more difficult to up and go. A friend of mine (who may or may not be an actual friend) worked several times without a visa, went the visa route on the final year, at much less money in order to have something that was documentable.

Great point about LP forum, it will probably be much more suited to OP needs.

meauxna

You're 19. In the US, most 19 year olds are still living at home.
Not me of course. Back in my day, we were made tougher. I was living on my own at your age and self supporting, on a dead end job with minimum pay.

Why not just move out of your parents' house?
Oh, you want a foreign country. Well, all of the EU is open to you visa-wise, and what I eventually did was go traveling. It's the best confidence cure I know and can be done on almost any budget.


Your first step is researching. Based on experience, you will come in asking for every detail, and the details will overwhelm you at this point.
Spend some time reading in the forums, picking up the lingo, seeing what replies other people get to YOUR questions. That worked for me. Read the linked article in my sig.. it teaches you how to get started on your own and shows how that will net you better results when you do ask for help.

People love to talk about themselves. Look around, it won't be hard to find those here who will prove that true.
My dad says the best thing a broke guy can do is take a rich guy to lunch. Seek out the people you want to be like, and find out how they did it. The interwebs make this much easier now!

PS: but you've inspired me to finally capture some of these threads for other people's reference, so lookie there, you're helping others already.

BMP

Cultural differences blah blah blah....

I lived in the States for over 2 years and now have a USC wife.

There are some differences yes (the most clear to me being the religion) but reading these posts you'd think that its Mars.

The one thing I'd say is that variety of people as a race is much much greater than the variety of people as a county.

In other words I found people in the States who were good friends and similar to my friends in the UK, I found people I disliked in the States similar to people i disliked in the UK.

I refuse to make any generalizations about the UK this or the US that..

And actually I though American TV was quite a good reflection of American society - as much as TV can be...

Nutmegger

Then perhaps you are thinking of walking before you can crawl -- how about initially asserting your independence by moving to a different part of the UK, getting on your feet job-wise, and meeting some new people. Then you will be primed to start thinking about moving overseas. As Meauxna suggested, it does seem that traveling in Europe, where you are free to move and work at will, would be a great start to the experiences you desire.

Sally Redux

I think it's worth mentioning as it's something that can catch people unawares.