people who work away
Discussion
I spent about five years working away from home and hated every minute of it, the money was good but that is all. It is definitely a single persons game in my eyes and you really have to like your job, but the living out of a suitcase and stopping in hotel rooms soon grinds you down.
Also I have learnt that employers are great at saying "it will only be a couple of days a week" in my experience they say that to get you on board, you are then constantly away from home and Sunday nights packing your case are soul destroying. I used to always get the feeling that all my family and friends are getting on with life, while you are stuck in a hotel room or sat alone in a pub with a pint just existing.
The other downside is the food, pub meals, fast food or s
te from the supermarket will be all you eat and you soon start to put the weight on. But I suppose that everybody is different and some people love working away but it is not for me, and if my current employer sent me away now then my notice would be in the very next day.
Also I have learnt that employers are great at saying "it will only be a couple of days a week" in my experience they say that to get you on board, you are then constantly away from home and Sunday nights packing your case are soul destroying. I used to always get the feeling that all my family and friends are getting on with life, while you are stuck in a hotel room or sat alone in a pub with a pint just existing.
The other downside is the food, pub meals, fast food or s
te from the supermarket will be all you eat and you soon start to put the weight on. But I suppose that everybody is different and some people love working away but it is not for me, and if my current employer sent me away now then my notice would be in the very next day. Didn't mind it at first but after 8 years of 1 to 2 nights a week sometimes more or less etc Im Starting to really hate it.
But the biggest problem by far is weight gain. I'm usually with colleagues or sometimes even customers.
So that's Chinese and beer night one, Indian and beers night two.
Full English every morning, working away lunch is covered too.
It's literly killing me.
I have no will power.
But the biggest problem by far is weight gain. I'm usually with colleagues or sometimes even customers.
So that's Chinese and beer night one, Indian and beers night two.
Full English every morning, working away lunch is covered too.
It's literly killing me.
I have no will power.
OpulentBob said:
I'm about to be sent away to India for 6 months. Don't really want to go but the £ and the CV mean I can't really turn it down. Unaccompanied, so no GF. This thread makes me
I really do hope you've spent time in india before deciding on this. i go there for a couple of weeks each year and although i enjoy it when i'm there it really is full on!bompey said:
OpulentBob said:
I'm about to be sent away to India for 6 months. Don't really want to go but the £ and the CV mean I can't really turn it down. Unaccompanied, so no GF. This thread makes me
I really do hope you've spent time in india before deciding on this. i go there for a couple of weeks each year and although i enjoy it when i'm there it really is full on!ts for the first 5 months. I wouldn't ever spend my own money to go there, let alone for 6 sodding months.OpulentBob said:
bompey said:
OpulentBob said:
I'm about to be sent away to India for 6 months. Don't really want to go but the £ and the CV mean I can't really turn it down. Unaccompanied, so no GF. This thread makes me
I really do hope you've spent time in india before deciding on this. i go there for a couple of weeks each year and although i enjoy it when i'm there it really is full on!ts for the first 5 months. I wouldn't ever spend my own money to go there, let alone for 6 sodding months.I've been working offshore for 26yrs. To start with it's all a bit of a novelty being away. Then you grow to hate it. Then you just get used to it and crack on. Then as King Herald says, you just get sick of it and want out.It takes a strong relationship to tolerate the time away as well. This industry in particular is littered with divorces, marriages that have fallen victim to the demon of absence. Something to give careful thought to, because no job is well paid enough to sacrifice everything for.
Same here, 23 years offshore. I met the wife when I was already doing it, 20 years ago, so she knew what she was in for, but it gets harder and harder to leave home each time I go now.
The last couple of years it has got really tedious, the down-turn, with several rounds of depressing lay-offs and shed loads of new safety drivel, slogans, and procedures to try and rescue a dying industry.
The last couple of years it has got really tedious, the down-turn, with several rounds of depressing lay-offs and shed loads of new safety drivel, slogans, and procedures to try and rescue a dying industry.
Oldred_V8S said:
Have travelled a lot with work but now try to avoid overnight stays wherever I can. After 6 years of no pay reviews, a huge reduction in benefits, along with the company saying we all need to work smarter (as we take on more than one job) I am loathe to give up my evenings and weekends. I would sooner spend my time with family, friends, working on my car and doing stuff I want to do, rather than activities geared to supporting my following weeks work.
I have been in the corporate world for many, many years. I have been the one working evenings and weekends, kissing my Son goodbye on his 9th birthday as I left for 6 weeks away on business. When you see people doing this, giving their all to the company, only to keel over with heart attacks and never being spoken of again, it focuses the mind.
Work is vastly over-rated.
Quite right.I have been in the corporate world for many, many years. I have been the one working evenings and weekends, kissing my Son goodbye on his 9th birthday as I left for 6 weeks away on business. When you see people doing this, giving their all to the company, only to keel over with heart attacks and never being spoken of again, it focuses the mind.
Work is vastly over-rated.
My experiences of working away (5days a week):
Worked a lot of hours and some good exeperiences.
Eating hotel food, with no self-cooking facilities. I was the fattest I've been, until I started buying dinner at Asda salad bar and taking my bike with me.
-staying in a suite hotel in the US was far better than in a Holiday Inn in the UK.
I was single at the time, but missed out on seeing friends at home and very soon got fed up boozing and chomping meals with colleagues I worked all day with and had little in common with.
I Met a lot of heavy drinking, workaholic, (multiple)divorced men who didn't necessarily go home for the weekend to their 2nd or 3rd family....
Worked a lot of hours and some good exeperiences.
Eating hotel food, with no self-cooking facilities. I was the fattest I've been, until I started buying dinner at Asda salad bar and taking my bike with me.
-staying in a suite hotel in the US was far better than in a Holiday Inn in the UK.
I was single at the time, but missed out on seeing friends at home and very soon got fed up boozing and chomping meals with colleagues I worked all day with and had little in common with.
I Met a lot of heavy drinking, workaholic, (multiple)divorced men who didn't necessarily go home for the weekend to their 2nd or 3rd family....
I do 3 months away, 3 months at home.
Pro's;
Money
You meet some interesting people who have and are having lives that make (most of) ours seem distinctly dull
You meet some really good people, who you immediately hit it off with (male and female)
I get to see the world
I have 3 months solid (6 months a year) at home, getting paid to do whatever the hell I want
Cons;
fking airports
Being away from loved ones for 3 months
Missing birthdays, weddings, stag do's, boys weekends etc...
Those people you meet and instantly like... theres a high chance you'll never meet them again
Having to sort out your life via the internet - simple things like banking, car tax, MOT etc... Also big things like buying property or cars or legal bits, you have to do from abroad or wait until you're home.
To conclude; I love it, suits me perfectly just now but i do appreciate it's not for everyone and probably takes a certain type of character to be able to do it and hold down solid relationships.
Pro's;
Money
You meet some interesting people who have and are having lives that make (most of) ours seem distinctly dull
You meet some really good people, who you immediately hit it off with (male and female)
I get to see the world
I have 3 months solid (6 months a year) at home, getting paid to do whatever the hell I want
Cons;
f
king airportsBeing away from loved ones for 3 months
Missing birthdays, weddings, stag do's, boys weekends etc...
Those people you meet and instantly like... theres a high chance you'll never meet them again
Having to sort out your life via the internet - simple things like banking, car tax, MOT etc... Also big things like buying property or cars or legal bits, you have to do from abroad or wait until you're home.
To conclude; I love it, suits me perfectly just now but i do appreciate it's not for everyone and probably takes a certain type of character to be able to do it and hold down solid relationships.
16plates said:
Cons;
fking airports
Being away from loved ones for 3 months
Missing birthdays, weddings, stag do's, boys weekends etc...
Those people you meet and instantly like... theres a high chance you'll never meet them again
Having to sort out your life via the internet - simple things like banking, car tax, MOT etc... Also big things like buying property or cars or legal bits, you have to do from abroad or wait until you're home.
This ^^^f
king airportsBeing away from loved ones for 3 months
Missing birthdays, weddings, stag do's, boys weekends etc...
Those people you meet and instantly like... theres a high chance you'll never meet them again
Having to sort out your life via the internet - simple things like banking, car tax, MOT etc... Also big things like buying property or cars or legal bits, you have to do from abroad or wait until you're home.
Having to leave my young daughter for a month or two at a time, and she'd have no idea where I was, and she'd waddle round the house calling da-da trying to find me, and she'd hear another kid at nursery calling her dads name and she'd rush over thinking it was me......
Then coming home and she wouldn't look at me, refused to let me touch her for a day or two, unsure who I was etc.
I reckon I've spent approx 15 of the last 23 years away from home, as my first ten years offshore was 8 on, 4 off.
OpulentBob said:
I'm about to be sent away to India for 6 months. Don't really want to go but the £ and the CV mean I can't really turn it down. Unaccompanied, so no GF. This thread makes me
Go in with a sense of humour and you'll be OK. Don't expect everything to go perfectly, and if stuff doesn't happen on time/at all, don't take it personally. It's just a culture thing. The plus side is that Indians are, on the whole, a fantastic, hospitable and welcoming lot. Learn a few words of the state language, and a few words of Hindi, and they'll love you for it.
Stick with vegetarian food where possible - less likely to get the s
ts, and it tends to be better in any case (although it varies by state).There are more types of Kingfisher than you would imagine, and none of them have the ABV on them. Ask for Kingfisher Premium.
And if all else fails - think of the money!
Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff