I'm still figuring it out so don't feel qualified to answer properly, nor do I think sharing all the little personal details will add much to the discussion.

I will however, recommend Studs Terkel's "Working" (Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do: Amazon.co.uk: Studs Terkel: Books book. It's probably in my top 5 books of my life and is basically around 200 interviews with people from as many varied walks of life as you can think of (from yacht broker to production line worked) on the topic of "What do you do all day and how do you feel about what you do all day". It's a little dated (mid-West US, circa 1950-1970), but the main points haven't changed and I found it a breathtaking read.

Best wishes for the future my friend,

Dave'

I absolutely love my job. It's what I have always wanted to do. I teach math at community college. My students are adults, so they want to be there. What could be better?

Oh yeah, loads of time off.

thanks mate ! , hopefully you will come to grab some asian s there, it is nice trip from uk to thailand , and you have gsa, so it will be a shame not to take it and get dirty

s445203 - perhaps a Studish Terkelish book might find a market among the general "stay at home" public if written about those who overland internationally on motorcycles why and how they do it.

Thanks for reminding me that it is not "one thing after another" but "the same thing over and over again". I have admired Terkel's works since graduating with a minor in Leisure Studies, no joke, from the University of South Florida's Institute on Leisure with world renown expert on leisure Dr. Max Kaplan at the helm, you don't even want to ask the titles of paper I wrote - but I will tell you anyway - after spending an all expense paid summer camping, loving and goofing off at several provincial parks in Canada I wrote a scholarly paper detailing campers' desires regarding communal or private camp fires, this all went well until I camped at Oka national park near Montreal - where the indigenous Tribes were effecting armed resistance to any white mans' campfire - communal or otherwise.

Viva Leisure Time!

Long ago - before many of you reading here were born...I developed a great affinity for Canada and Canadians and their attitudes toward work and leisure... today I am pleased to report that more than one Canadian parks a motorcycle at our parking facility in Buenos Aires.

There is another thread at HU Bar re "why you do it" I really have enjoyed reading this and that thread. Hopefully my posts are not too off topic.

Damn this Spanish wine is good , but so is Malbec

Xfiltrate

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Motorcycle Parking Buenos Aires, Argentina
www.xfiltrate.com
Discover how to legally Buy, Tour and Sell a motorcycle in Argentina

i work to make money, not because i want to work. but the best job i had was when i was living in a house full of travelers doing farm work in australia. the job its self wasnt good or bad, but the people i met and lived with while doing it actually made it a highlight of the trip.
pretty much you dont feel like such a failure working for minimum when your in another country. when a home working for minimum, it hurts my soul.

Tell me about it..

I've just got a job as a van driver... £6.20 an hour.

Do I have that little value of my own life that I sell it for £6.20 an hour ????

Okay, it's only while I'm back at college doing my welding and fabrication course but It still hurts.

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

Mate, it's not what value you put on your life, it's the open market rate that puts the value on it.

Depressing, innit?

It's resetting the balance.

I worked for PlayStation for a few years. I did literally NOTHING and got paid for it. Working a 4 on / 4 off shift. And they'd let me take MONTHS off for travelling.

When I say nothing, I really mean NOTHING !! Happy times.

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

I work because I need the money and knowing that I have to work, I tried to find a job that I enjoy.
I work as IT-architect/Specialist for a big company and sometimes I hate the politics and bureaucracy but I do like the technical challenge.

I am 55 now and I have to work another 12 years until retirement. having a wife, five children (and five grandchildren), four cats and a mortage unfortunately means that I was not able to save for early retirement but I won't wait for retirement to travel.

Every year I try to spend two weeks alone on my bike. I have done trips in South Africa and the US but mostly in Europe (http://jkrijt.home.xs4all.nl/trips/index.shtml ) I am healthy now, I have a nice bike now and I can afford to travel a few weeks every year so I enjoy my life now as much as I can. I hope that I can travel a lot more after retirement but that won't stop me from traveling now as much as I can.

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Jan Krijtenburg

My bikes are a Honda GoldWing GL1200 and a Harley-Davidson FXD Dyna Super Glide

My personal homepage with trip reports: https://www.krijtenburg.nl/
YouTube channel (that I do together with one of my sons): motormobilist.nl

Yes, I enjoy my job, but a dream job, I don't think I'll ever dream about work. I dream about time off and what sort of mischief I can get up too. I believe life is about living and enjoying. Find a job that you can enjoy and that will help you live the kind of life you want- and that way life is nothing but enjoyment.

I've been working at my current IT job for a year. It's okay, but one thing is starting to really irritate me. I would actually like the job plenty, but two of the people I work with are the laziest, slack-ass dogf**kers I've ever worked with in my life (and I've been working full-time for close to 30 years).

My supervisor had an annual performance review with me last week (it went very well), and asked me if there was anything he could do to help me in my work.

"Yeah," I said. "Get ***** and ***** to get off their fat arses and do some work for a change!" (Well, I didn't phrase it quite like that.)

It has really started to bring the job down in my eyes. The problem is that my workplace is heavily unionized. Without getting into an argument about the pros and cons of unions, the fact is that these two long-time employees have it good with lots of seniority, so they know that as long as they do the absolute bare minimum necessary, they can't be laid-off or fired.

When the monthly stats go off to management, month after month you can see me completing two to three times as many tasks as them; most months I do more than the two of them put together. Now, graphs and charts don't give you a full picture of what work is really getting done, but it's clear that they just aren't pulling their weight.

It's sad, and I actually feel embarrassed for them. I've always had a good work ethic, and I would be ashamed to be openly slacking off like this.

I've only been there a year, but I'm thinking that it's time to update my resume and maybe start looking at what else is out there job-wise.

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Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

Awesome thread.

I love my job for numerous reasons, the most significant is I get loads of time off. I work and work hard just like everyone else to pay the mortgage, take holidays and keep a few toys here and there. I am extremely fortunate to have found a job that I actually enjoy. I work in aviation logistics on a 2 on 2 off roster and like most here the position is often thankless and very long hours although I enjoy it bar a handful of absolute dipsticks.

In every job I’ve held in my 50+ years I found the percentage of dropkicks has not diminished. Not being one to mince my words has often paid off and has at times put me in it too. I once told my boss that I was here for me not you, went down real well……. In that particular position the proportion of oxygen thieving, ladder climbing, backstabbing, brown nosed, lying, bludgers was astounding, I still to this day cringe at the thought. Still I stayed in the position for 10 years because it suited me, and I got 90% off airfares ;-)

I managed to build my dream home on acreage with my own two hands, a horde of Makita’s and a few very good mates. Being single without children (not for want of trying) and being inflicted with a plague of travel bugs, finding this site earlier this year has fuelled my desire to burning point, (Bewdy Grant) “I have seen the light”

The end result is there will always be the bludgers and A-holes to put up with but just think of the perks and the end result. I have worked like a dog, put up with an inordinate amount of crap over the years. I am extremely fortunate to have got to a point where I can just sell up and ride, perpetually.

Everything I own bar the guitars & tools is on the market

Well ! After hating my job for the last few years and watching it affect my life, I will be leaving it at the end of March 2013 (careful, as the don't know yet), shipping my bike to the US east coast and spending 7 months travelling through the States, Canada, Alaska then the Pan Am to Argentina. I have to be home for Christmas or (she tells me) I will be single and homeless !!
Am I excited ? ........Oh yes
Am I scared ? .........Oh doulble yes !!!:confused1:

Dont have a clue what I will do when I get back but.. Carpe Diem !!

You think your job sucks? Let me tell you about the people I work with.

First, there's this supermodel wanna-be chick. Ok, I'll admit, she's pretty hot, but damn she is completely useless. The girl is constantly fixing her hair or putting on her makeup. She is extremely self centered and never considers the needs of anyone other than herself. She is dumber than a box of rocks and I find it surprising that she has enough brain power to breathe.

The next chick is exactly the opposite- she might even be one of the smartest girls on the planet. She has endless career opportunities but she's still here with us. She is a zero on a scale of 1 to 10. I doubt she even showers, much less shaves her "womanly" parts. I think she might be a lesbian, because every time we drive past the hardware store she moans like a cat in heat.

But the jewel of the crowd has got to be the f***ing stoner. And this guy is more than just your average pothead. The guy is baked before he comes to work, after work, and even during work. He probably hasn't been sober any time in the last 10 years, and he's only 22. He dresses like a beatnik throwback from the 1960's, and, to make things worse, brings his f***ing giant dog to work. Every f***ing day I have to look at this huge Great Dane walking around half stoned from the second-hand smoke. Hell, sometimes I even think it's trying to talk with its constant bellowing. Also, both of them are constantly hungry, requiring multiple stops to McDonald's and Burger King every single f***ing day.

Anyways, I drive these f***tards around in my van and we solve mysteries and s***.

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Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com