I got a job working at a bar in hostel in the south of Turkey. It was absolutely awesome and I loved it!!
I got the job just by emailed a hostel I had heard was good and asked them if they needed some work. They responded that they would absolutely take me for a month. I the month of June where I had nothing planned and I needed to get out of the schengan zone so Turkey was the perfect choice. The flight was actually pretty cheep to get from Budapest so I was sold. I didn't really work out the details of what I would be doing but I knew it was a great hostel, right on the beach, and with wonderful people. It turned out even better than I could have imagined.
When I got there I was given the run down on what I had to do for my work. I met the other girl who worked there- the sweetest and most incredible Australian girl bels. It was so perfect to have her. She was nice and hilarious and having a good co-worker is what really made the experience worth it everyday.
We would either work the morning shift, which was from 8am to 4pm or the evening shift which was from 4pm -12pm/1am depending on how busy the night was. Overall it was pretty easy work but sometimes it was hard and frustrating to be there working on our own. The guy we worked for would usually sit on his bottom and tell us what to do. Sometimes he would just make up stuff for us to do or get snappy about something
I met some wonderful people on the bus ride down, like I mentioned before, and so they took be rock climbing on my days off.
After they left I spent the rest of the time going to the beach, on runs, or just relaxing on the balis.
When I was working it was a lot of stocking fridges, making orange juice, loading and unloading the dishwasher, and chatting with people at the bar. When it was quiet (aka all afternoon) I was allowed to play around on my computer and watch movies.
We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner included which were all delicious. It was a pretty good deal. We got accommodation, snacks, and all drinks (alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks). It worked out really well and was worth it.
Accommodation and and breakfast/dinner would have cost me $18 a day for a dorm (and we had a private room!). Add to that lunch for about $4-5 and drinks (which I had maybe 4 nights a week) at $4 a beer times 2-3, and water or other drinks at $3-4 daily (you couldnt drink the tap water). That means weekly I would have spent around $275 a week (if I was aiming on the low side) and then times four weeks would have been $1,100 or more. That is a LOT of money I saved for in all honesty not that much work.
The best part was that we made an awesome group of friends who stayed for 2-3 weeks while we were working. Basically we formed the most epic family ever and it was oh so perfect. They were ridiculously hard to leave. They kept me entertained on both sides of the bar. They pulled up a picnic table at every meal so they could be at our side.
Sometimes I was over it. Sometimes I didn't want to be stuck behind the bar. Sometimes my boss was a jerk and things were high stress. But it was an awesome month for saving money and creating great experiences.
It was a month I wouldn't trade for anything and it let me travel longer on the little budget I do have.
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