Hi lgdelacruz92,

Could you talk to your boss and appeal to his charitable side? Say you really want to go but you also really want your job when you come back. Say you’ll go as an ambassador of the store/company and that you’ll write a press release for him/store/company.

“Mr. Smith owner of Pet Supplies Inc. is a proud supporter of Agro Farm in Puerto Rico. Lester, an employee of Pet Supplies, goes and brings back sustainable organic food knowledge for Fluffy.”

Have your boss get some publicity for it!

Good Luck,

Inky

Lester

I want to share with you a wise quote I recently came across from an actress here in England (can’t for the life of me remember her name, but this quote resonates with me so strongly) – always make sure you have the bus fare home. What I’m trying to say is – if you do decide to go for this incredible opportunity, make sure you have the means to get home and that you have somewhere to go afterwards.

I agree with Anita – from the sounds of it, there are many WWOOF opportunities and I daresay you should be able to find another opportunity to do something similar in the future. Maybe you could ask the farm in Puerto Rico if you are able to work there further down the line, when you will have some savings behind you?

It never hurts to have a back-up plan.

Best of luck in your future endeavours

Joe

Dear Lester:

I used to live in Santa Monica and visited Santa Barbara many times. I know about the standard of living there and indeed, it seems hopeless, your salary vs the rent alone.

In your original post you wrote: ” I recently just got a job and the job is okay. It pays enough for me to afford a place to stay and basic necessities. It’s okay but I’m quickly getting bored every single day.”

In your more recent post you wrote: ” The truth is the job is not okay. I hate it. I feel like I’m wasting every second of my life doing it. I feel like a slave. I work a job that I completely hate..”

We do tend to make believe the truth is not as bad as it is, don’t we?

And then the numerical truth, the income vs the rent is a very exact part of the truth.

Since living in Puerto Rico has been a lifelong dream and since you’ve always been interested in organic farming and since you hate your job every single day and since you can’t save, given the low income and high expenses (so you are basically, as you mentioned, a slave of some sort), then it does make sense to leave to Puerto Rico.

Between slavery and a lifelong dream, it is a no brainer.

anita

Dear Lester:

Thinking further: if you have two options only: this job you are in now OR Puerto Rico, then it is a no Brainer, Puerto Rico. But let’s see the bigger picture: there is a third option. If this job is only very temporary, necessary at this time to fill in your resume and it is a stepping stone for a better paying, fulfilling job (which it too will look good in your resume and be a stepping stone to a yet better paying and more fulfilling job), then there is this third option. Then you focus on the bigger picture, the long term plan.

To determine the possibility of the third option, you will need the guidance of a person experienced in your field, in your industry, who knows the ropes and how you move forward toward better pay and better jobs otherwise. You will need the guidance as HOW to do it, how to proceed and succeed. I am not such a person.

So, my summary: if it is between your current job FOREVER and Puerto Rico, then the latter. If there is a third option that will make use of your formal education and a carefully constructed resume, then the third option would make sense. It would make sense because then you will have a long term plan and you will look at this job not as a-forever curse but as a … well, stepping stone.

anita

Dear Lester:

I like your thinking. So you are pretty clear about what you want and what you need: you do want to travel, first stop being Puerto Rico. You need $5000 to do so. Your passion and dream is to build a farm.

I like moving to Chicago and paying something like $300 rent there, getting a job there. You hate your current job, so there can only be improvement on the job you find in Michigan- unless it is a back breaking job (watch your health and physical safety above all!)

It doesn’t make sense to try to save money in Santa Barbara. In a two bedroom apt you will only save a couple of hundreds dollars a month and… you hate the job. Doing a job you hate is really bad for your health and you will pay the price over time. Better quit this job, move out to Michigan/ elsewhere where the rent is low and a job is possible. I think it is a good idea.

anita