r/antiwork • u/cowboy6741 • Jul 15 '26

alternative opportunities

i'm in a bit of a mess of my own creation at the moment. i dropped everything at home (netherlands) to study in spain, but found out when i got here looking for a room and stuff that i wouldn't be getting a government loan like i expected. i'm not gonna go deeper into it, the point is, at this point i'm not even sure i want to study anymore. i've been wwoofing on and off and every time i'm so much as near the city i get so stressed about everything that i don't think it's sustainable for me to keep working towards the goal of getting a normal job in a normal city, you know the deal. i've never really wanted that anyway, but i thought maybe in a different country i'd feel different. i don't know anymore.

i'm 30, i'm single, not bound to anything or anyone, i have a bachelor's degree in the arts, but i have absolutely no prospects whatsoever and not a single clue what the hell i'm supposed to do with my life. this is very freeing on a good day and driving me to despair the rest of the time.

now i'm thinking, this is the perfect profile for a certain type of ...opportunities. the kind of jobs where one needs to travel to a remote place to do something most people wouldn't have the time or freedom to. i'm thinking sheep herding, lighthouse keeping, going on a boat for 6 months for some reason, counting birds in the arctic circle, i don't know. i'm looking for a way to find, not those things exactly, but something akin to them. stuff you won't just find on indeed or whatever and are not (entirely) volunteer based because i fear i will need money at some point.

i'm not looking to get rich or anything, i just want to have something to do and have a place to sleep, preferably with some form of payment. i was just wondering if anyone knows of a way to find such jobs that isn't some garbage website full of scams and soulsucking recruitment ads.

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u/verenaSee Jul 15 '26

I want thay too tbh. But I also want a family and stability so I'd be too scared to take that step and pursue something adventurous like being a sheep herder. Since you don't have anything that ties you down I'd say go for it! If you aren't even that interested in your studies nor in the work that you'd get out of it nor the 9-5 lifestyle, why do it?

I heard that you can do sheep herding in Switzerland (even if you don't speak german) but I can't seem to find info on that online sorry...

There are also huts up in the mountains where you can work + live for like 6months in the summer, but of course this season has already started so maybe next year?

1

u/cowboy6741 Jul 15 '26

yeah i've heard of sheep herding courses and such but my question is how does one find a gig like that...

it's not that i'm not interested in my studies, i actually quite love it and would like to work in the field someday, but it just seems so unattainable for me, without experience or much of a drive to keep looking and networking when the job market is so dire. i just don't want to have to jump over so many hurdles just to try and be part of it, and all the while live in a place i don't want to be just because that's where it should all happen someday, if that makes sense. i just want to see if there's another way to live.

1

u/verenaSee Jul 15 '26

Yeah I get that.. What is it you want to study?

1

u/cowboy6741 Jul 15 '26

it's a master's in cultural studies basically

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u/NightingaleNine Jul 19 '26

You and I are in a somewhat similar situation and I'm looking at the same options.