i think not

Serious question here peeps

How the hell am I supposed to make it through the next 4 and a bit months at a job I hate more and more each day, before I can finally leave on my RTW trip????? Seriously, HOW?? I don't think I can take much more, I've got a really demanding job and an even more demanding manager, who is prone to enormous mood swings, the brunt of which I always seem to get. When I was trying to make a career there it was just bearable and I put up with it, but now I've got my sights set on a whole other target I just can't be bothered to put up with her sh*t. Today I came the closest I've ever been to snapping back at her with exactly what I thought, which in the short term would have made me feel better but would have made the rest of my time there impossible. The catch is I still need to earn all the money I can before I leave, and the pay is great, so I know I HAVE to stick at it, but I just need to know how I can make it bearable. PLEASE help me before I do something stupid and tell her to shove her job where the sun don't shine.

I need practical advice. Anything at all that helped you get through your final time at work before leaving.

Thanks, from one desperate office monkey!

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Don't worry, be Happy

I have 74 days to go. 2 months ago I felt like you. Now I'm overwhelmed with preparations: buying things, selling things, renting out my apartment, getting the first couple of visas, scheduling my jabs, etc-etc-etc. These activities are like Prozac for me. I dont care for work any more, I have more important things to do.
I hope that helps... :)

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is it better elsewhere?

I feel your pain. I am down to about 70 days and it is a bit better now than it was two months ago. I was going crazy at the four month mark because four months seems like forever when you are dying to leave a job you hate, but I was making myself miserable by dwelling on how much I hated it. I tried to focus on the things in my working life that I do like such as going out to lunch with friends, working downtown since my next career won't be in the city, etc. as a way to get through the days. Also, I take a sick day now and then to keep my sanity. That and reading about the trip on the internet whenever I get the chance. Just think about the freedom you will have when travelling and how it's right around the corner.

I agree with all above - if knowing others are suffering alongside you helps at all, believe me when I say you are not alone! I have 7 full weeks left until I can pack up work, and 11 until we leave - I can barely wait... But, as was said above, suddenly it'll be very near and you'll have loads to do and it'll start flying by. In the meantime, just think of all the great adventures your hard-earned salary is going to pay for! That should keep you going. If your leaving for travelling also markes the end of your time in that particular career (as mine hopefully does) you could also start trying to make preparations/do research into what you want to do when you come back. That always helps me, now I have mentally switched off from what I am currently doing a bit.

I resigned from my job yesterday and I only hav 4 weeks to go before I leave London and then end of December I am off!!

I got through it by making lists, plans of what I want to see, buying a new thing every week and basically just day dreaming about the trip!

I have a c*** of a boss and every time he said or did something that made me want to snap back, I just smiled to myself and thought how I was going to wipe the smug smile off his face when I resigned and sure enough, yesterday his jaw hit the floor when I waltzed in and handed in my notice!

Also, think, like I did that every day extra you stay there is an extra little bit of money towards your travels!

Keep your chin up buddy!

Cath

I'd hate to travel with you. You seem a little high strung. Quit your job. That's right. I'm calling your bluff. Quit your job...do it now!

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For all that's wild...

#5, not highly strung at all, just beside myself with 6 squillion different thoughts going round my head all at once.
I 'quit' 2 months ago, that is I told them I'm leaving (details are too boring but i had to tell my boss in August). It was a weight off my mind at the time but now I have other things to deal with.

I tried switching off but sadly I work for a company that makes it plainly clear they don't like it if you come in, do your job, and go home. The extra aggro of doing just that isn't worth it, as a result I do at least an hour of (unpaid!) overtime every day. Sh*t sounding job huh? Why do you think I'm leaving :-)

I guess it'll sort itself out, at the end of the day it's just a couple of months till the end of the year and then just 2 months before I go, so it should pass fairly quickly. I'm already busy planning, buying stuff, working a saturday job, researching, looking into tickets, visas, saving my a*se off blah blah the usual

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'd have loved to have seen your boss' face Cath!! haha
*peaceful thoughts* heading home at the end of another crappy day. Just another 102-odd working days to go.........

Lee

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Don't worry, be Happy

It's an absolute nightmare. I remember the wait for my RTW - 5 months from booking ticket, 12 months from starting to save.

My advise would be to forget about your trip for as long as you can. The more you think about it, the more it will get to you. Despite what everyone tells you, very little planning is required.

My packing consisted of getting whatever clothes I was taking out of the wash bin about 30 minutes before I left for the airport and stuffing them into my rucksack, and I bought my India guide book at Heathrow to read on the plane. Admittedly, its not a good idea delaying your trip to the airport because you are awaiting a replacement credit card from the bank, but it came off for me!

Seriously, forget about going and life in the office will become a lot more bearable.

11 weeks til i leave.

The only thing keeping me sane in the job i am dying to leave (it's a great job, i just would rather not be doing it right now) is to look forward to things in small amounts.

like i'm resigning in five weeks. So that's my goal. Just five weeks to go. That's not very long.

Once i get to five weeks, i guess the countdown will start until i leave the country. Only six weeks then.

Not long at all when you think about it!

I don't agree with #7 at all. If i forgot about going i would shrivel into a ball of messy waste like substance. It's the only thing keeping me from walking right up and resigning this instant.....

i agree with muiisal. i set little goals for myself to make the wait a little less painful. i also think: one week before i begin my one-month-to-go countdown to resign. then after i do that, then i'll have 4 weeks 'till my one-month-'till-i depart countdown. etc. etc. i think i've gotten better at the waiting game now that i only have about 3 months to go. you should have seen the posts i put up at my
6-5-4 month marks. they were horribly depressive. i just didn't know how the hell i was going to last. now though, even though i still can't wait to leave, i think i'm just kind of too busy making money, enjoying the friends & family while i still have them, and overall just enjoying the beautiful city that i live in and which i'm not going to see for a long-long time. it helps too that it's the beginning of basketball season.

10.

4 months?
i have to wait 6 months till i leave, maybe 5 months till i quit!
I've thought about getting a more relaxing job for the meantime but bothways it seems stressful, i dont know what to do!
The way i figure, i'll take as many sickies as i can get away with, take some weekly holidays too to spread the time out, and thank goodness that its the festive season coming up which will make things go quicker!

I have already avoided everyone at work to the point that im a wall flower, i sit here quietly and hope that no one bothers me (but of course they still do)- even the sight of them annoys me! I spend every minute i can escaping to forums like this to plan for my trip, and learn italian on the web! I guess if you keep yourself busy time will go quicker.

Anyone got any other ideas?

11.

I know how you feel.

When I did my first OS trip a couple of years back, it's all that was on my mind, and it really, really started to affect my work. But don't fear, I know it's so cliched, but time really will fly right on by. Look at what's coming up, christmas, new year's (my birthday!!!, sorry no-one here know's me, I just thought I would throw that one in), by the time they all go, you will be heading off in no time.

I am planning on heading off in about 8 months for another assult on the world..this time SE Asia and the USA...can't wait!!!, and I have just found out I need to start looking for more work as my current work contract is not being extended due to lack of work. So, now, to be able to afford and save for what I want to do, I am going to have to find a job ASAP...that to sucks, cause I loved my job.

Time flies when you are having fun (an even bigger cliche)...but true, enjoy your time here, and just think of your shit job as a place to go to get your money to have even more fun.

Good Luck, and Stay sane

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I think you are meant to say something witty here...nope...cant think of anything !!!

12.

There is no way I'd stick around for four months seething at a job I hate, good money or not. If I were you, I'd take the reins and tell them to go self-copulate. Then find something else for the short term making whatever you can. Life is too short to put up with pains in the ass, especially the self-inflicted variety.

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More about me and the places I've been

Take the time to talk to people who can't possibly offer you anything and you'll be amazed at how much you gain.

13.

Maybe a reality check would do you some good Pick up a newspaper and turn to the international section,there you'll see that your percieved hardship is but a dream to some folk who live daily in fear of their lives or under the curse of hiv and aids or who have so toil away for hours in a field just to earn enough to feed their famillies.

Live isn't so bad for you is it?

You have come a long way since you first decided to go travelling,you've made your plans ,saved your money and now you are within sight of a great adventure.Just do your time it'll soon pass.
Have a great trip

14.

sounds like you're not getting laid, either

15.

To #12, I'd love to jack this job in and find something more agreable, but to do that would mean putting off the trip, which in my view is more of a pain in the arse than putting up with the crap for the next few months.

To#13, YES I am fully aware that in the scheme of things my problems pale into insignificance, but these problems are the ones I'm lucky enough to have and the ones that are keeping me up at night. Is it so bad that I simply asked for some advice on how to deal with them? I don't think so, so if you can hear me all the way up there, get off your high horse.

And to #14, Australian huh? Never have guessed.

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Don't worry, be Happy

16.

Lee, you seem a bit touchy mate,you are going to have to learn to chill out a little my friend if you want to have a decent trip.Looking at the way you react to people on here i wonder how you are going to manage when things don't go your way on the road,how for example are you going to deal with buying a train ticket in say Beijing when no one will help you find the right counter and when you do find it they wont sell you a ticket because they don't like the look of you,what will you do then? you can't just say "Chinese huh? never have guessed."

17.

Good luck! But try not to wish time away because vacation time always goes much faster than work time so once your trip finally comes up you will want time to stop!! Just suck it up and be excited that you have this awesome trip on its way and that you make enough $$ to fund a RTW!! It will be here before you know it!! Have fun!! ;)

18.

hippie crack... makes the grass look greener, or so i hear

19.

Quick 2 cents: Lee, you sound sensible to me, and in China you won't have to put up with anything as insensitive or rude as #14 and #16. "Can't buy a train ticket" - oh my!

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Why should I feel lonely? Is not our planet in the Milky Way? Thoreau

20.

as everyone here has said...i know how you feel! there were so many times that i almost said. "you can take this job and shove it up your ass cause i am leaving anyway!!!"...but i somehow never managed to...i stayed for a 14 months and i had times just like what you describe...i agree with the others...stay focused and look at how far you have come, saved, etc....focus on your trip and just try to keep the perspective that you will be gone soon...imagining myself on some beach helped when i really wanted to kill someone.....i am giving my notice today and then i leave in about 6 weeks....i remember 8 months ago i was feeling the same...so hang in there and good luck!!!

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littlegreen

21.

My thanks to everyone who has written helpful or supportive comments. Although hearing that other people feel the same doesn't make me feel better about my situation it does help to know that others have been there and got through it, and the fact that nearly 300 people have looked into this mesage kinda suggests there are others out there needing the same guidance I was looking for.

I'm sure I'll be able to make the last part of UK life bearable before I leave on what is going to be an amazing year (maybe longer).

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Don't worry, be Happy

22.

Nah, we didn't need the guidance. We just know that when a thread hits 20, there's a 50-50 chance that a flame war is going on. And we guessed right. ;-)

My advice, as stated by others, is just be passive. It is only four months. Anybody can put up with anything for four months. At least anything not involving hunger or danger or the loss of a loved one. That's what you have to keep in mind. That's how I help myself in times like yours. Hell, I have 2 years to go before my RTW!

Have a safe trip.

RMM

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Mall-Wart. Your source for cheap plastic crap.

23.

If it gets THAT bad then throw a sickie for a week and get out of town for awhile.

I am planning on doing a RTW trip and it looks like i will have to wait for two years !

Many people have been and are in your position mate. Chill.....

24.

Hey,

it's actually quite comforting to hear how many other people are counting down to whatever day until they leave. I've got 152 days to go - which seems like loads! But I do spend a considerable amount of work time on the TT and general other travel related things! Even if it's just playing with the globe on my desk . . .

One thing that helps me is taking every day as a step closer to departure - I've got a measuring tape on my wall (at home - they don't know that I'm leaving work yet) and I cut off one centimetre every day. Sounds silly, but it works! Just seeing that tape get shorter makes me happier. Before I went travelling for the first time I had a crappy shop job that paid by the hour - so I worked out my daily budget for travelling and saw each 3 hours or whatever spent at work as a day travelling!

Keep smiling :)

kat5

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Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage is another story.

There's no place like 127.0.0.1

25.

I am in the final few months' countdown as well, so I totally know what you are going through. I am usually a very decisive person and I HATE to wait for anything. Yes, I am whining, I know. :-) The biggest frusteration for me is that I am pretty much self imposing a wait time for my trip. I have the funding, but I am trying to finish a project. Could I quit? Yes. Absolutely. But darn, it will be better if I can exert some self control and stay until March. So I am totally familiar with your angst.

I've played mind games with myself. I have countdowns to countdowns to countdowns. Now that the sailing season is over, it is even more difficult. But I figure that Thanksgiving (US) and Christmas season will take me into the new year, and from there, well, it will only be a couple of months. I have to get past "single awareness day" in Mid February, but other than that, I'll be home free!

Good luck waiting it out. Other people are right there with you!

Cat