My five year plan - Impossible, Plausible or Possible?

If you want to move to America (and actually get a job), move to Alaska. All the sane people leave every Winter, which frees up a lot of work.

@mandude: grunt work that is...

@bemusedchunk: Grunt work's better than no work. Besides, I made $1,300 a week as a farmer, which I landed after only being there a few days. The pay can be pretty good. Of course, the offset is the slow descent into madness.

The "get a job" and "save money" portions of this plan are wise, but the "move to NYC and make it big" aspect seems a little over-ambitious.

@mandude said:

The pay can be pretty good. Of course, the offset is the slow descent into madness.

That actually sounds pretty good right now, reality is getting boring.

@mandude said:

@bemusedchunk: Grunt work's better than no work. Besides, I made $1,300 a week as a farmer, which I landed after only being there a few days. The pay can be pretty good. Of course, the offset is the slow descent into madness.

What do farmers farm in Alaska?

Oil.

@TooWalrus: As someone who loves the wilderness and hates reality, I don't recommend it. Although, it might have been the people I know (which arguably could have been products of living in Alaska themselves).

@Bocam: People.

@mandude said:

@TooWalrus: As someone who loves the wilderness and hates reality, I don't recommend it. Although, it might have been the people I know (which arguably could have been products of living in Alaska themselves).

@Bocam: People.

So 30 Days of Night wasn't lying

Has anybody pointed out that he's not going to find a youth hostel in New York?

@Bocam: Haha, cool. Never knew about that.

Really, we farmed potatoes, but sometimes I was left to wonder what really went on; my boss had an autopsy table in his shed. Adding to that, when we had hunted a moose, and were skinning it, he wouldn't stop going on about how it was just like skinning a human!

Granted, he was also a doctor, but that didn't make it any less unsettling.

Might be a ridiculous question, but have you had a job before?

@Spoonman671 said:

Has anybody pointed out that he's not going to find a youth hostel in New York?

Haha, this made me laugh.

I was going to ask if the US even HAS hostels. I've lived here all my life and have never seen one...

@Spoonman671 said:

Has anybody pointed out that he's not going to find a youth hostel in New York?

There are a few still around, but they are really really shitty.

I really think you should finish your high school education before making any big changes in your life. You should get a G.E.D. or the British equivalent. Many businesses require at least that before hiring. I tell you, the office I work in placed an ad in the local newspaper over the weekend regarding two open positions. Both were labor intensive, but one more so than the other. Friday we must have had over a dozen applicants and today close to two dozen. With that many applicants, many won't make it to "phase two", the second interview. That has to do with our company's minimum requirements. If you can sit in an office and confirm to the gentleman across the table that, yes you do have a high school equivalency certificate, then that will at least keep you in the "maybe" pile. Of course, there is the food services industry, but their turnover is pretty high due to minimal pay. Oh, and don't do drugs. A lot of businesses make you pee in a jar and if you fail, well...

Does it have to be New York, because if you're talking about the city, it's one of the most expensive places to live. Queen's NY is #5 on the most expensive list, Brooklyn is #2 and Manhattan itself ranks at the top. You'll burn through $12,000 pretty quick on your own there. If you look up "cities with lowest cost of living USA" you might find a more affordable destination. The American Southeast as well as parts of the Midwest are very reasonable. I myself live in Florida and it's a little different than the rest of the south due to its high population of retirees. It ranks around the middle compared to other parts of the nation. How would you feel about Miami?

I applaud your energy, but I think you need to do tie up a few loose ends at home before you make the trans-Atlantic migration. Maybe adjust your priorities.

Of course, if you're handsome and suave, you might be able to woo an American girl and get married. That'll get you on track for a green card.

@Moriarty said:

• strangely enough my thoughts have been in english for over 5 years.

This may sound completely crazy but I have never even thought about what language you think ideas in if you are bilingual. What if you're deaf?

P.S I admire your courage.

Considering that everyone else has pretty well covered your plan...

Might I ask WHY you want to write?

Again I stress that getting a work permit for the US is insanely tough. And the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Services) is a hell hole that seems to be the model for the extra judicial prisons the US is running around the world.

If you believe yourself fully bilingual find a company in the EU that needs translators. Someone that does a lot of business in Brazil perhaps. Maybe they'll take a chance on you. And then after building up a resume see if a company in New York would be willing to sponsor your visa. But getting that first job will be a killer without credentials.

I wish i had your optimism and starry-eyed view. Good luck with your plan since it's going to be a tough road ahead.

I guess im going to be the guy that says your plan is a complete fairy tale. You're not going to be let into the country, period. You dont have a high school diploma? Really? Who the hell drops out of secondary school?

Ok, so at your age i was in a similar spot mentally, the only difference being i live in NYC (brooklyn to be exact) and have been looking for a way out ever since. I'm now 31. I remember the same drive to get out of the house, to live on my own to "live the dream"

I held two advanced degrees at 27. I could only find a job as a graphic designer that paid real shit, around 20,000 a year, and that job had nothing to do with my degrees. I worked that from 24 to 27. That is not really enough to live on your own in NYC, so i lived at home, having to explain to all my dates i was flat fucking broke so thats why we couldn't "go back to my place". It was only through luck and bullheadedness that i found myself in a fellowship program to get my teaching degree (a third advanced degree) at the age of 28 that required me to work for FREE for half a year. In return i only had to pay $6,000 for my degree.

Keep in mind 28 was also the age i got married. The only way either my wife and I could finally move out of our parents houses and get an apartment was to combine our salaries, so if you want to live here, get a full time room mate or three.

With your lack of education and marketable skill, my unsolicited advice is stay the hell away from NY, no matter how romantic the idea is to you. Really, it is just a shithole run by crooks and adored by hipsters that happens to have a few good museums. Go somewhere cheap to live and get some experience in something that will eventually get you to new york if you are so determined to be here.

Hey, maybe we could switch, my entire life growing up in brooklyn i dreamed of living in a vast beautiful countryside.

Oh, and my first degree was also in writing, and i am still hard at work on writing projects, but i feel that panic of now or never much less as i need to consider my wife and two year old.

As an American...DONT COME TO NEW YORK BRO

If by 9th grade, you mean you only went up to the 9th grade before dropping out of high school, I strongly advise getting a Portuguese equivalent of a GED.  You will be hard pressed finding something outside of a bottom of the barrel manual labor job without one.

@Moriarty:

Skimmed the thread and I don't think this has been covered yet.

Your plans are your plans, so you do what you want. But I would actually suggest looking into New Orleans instead of New York if you're set on looking for an entry point into the movie/entertainment industry. We give huge tax cuts to movie makers so they've been coming here in droves for the last couple years since it's relatively cheap to shoot films here. There's always something being filmed, and a large number of people here are in some way affiliated with the industry. The rent is also astronomically cheaper in general than New York, as well as the ease of finding low-skill jobs such as food service or bartender jobs. And as far as making the shift from Europe, it might be less of a culture shock than New York, since it's usually touted as the "most European city" in the US, since the demographics here extremely varied, as well as the history. You also might just have the time of your life here like most people that visit do. Just don't let yourself go too wild, or it'll bite you in the ass.

I know that probably reads like a vacation brochure, but I'm just putting it out there for your consideration.

Good luck!

I have a question Moriarty, did anything that anyone said on this forum change your mind about any aspect of your plan?