new traveller/ woof -ing

Hi everyone, recently i've been thinking about going to europe. i've never travelled outside of Canada yet. I'm 20 yrs old, (right now im not in my home province of SK cuz of katimavik..) and i'm thinking about going to europe from maybe august to november. i have some questionts that hopefully someone can advise me on:
first of all, is this a good time to be travelling? i'm thinking about germany, switzerland, austria or iceland, and maybe starting out in the u.k. because english is spoken there. how much time should i allow myself before i leave to get my passport and work visa? (is it a pain in the ass to try to get this stuff from outside of my home province?) i'd like to move there to work (under the table sounds a lot simpler..) so i can afford to stay for a few months. is this a bad idea? i've read so many stories of people who move somewhere, then just find these sweet jobs at bars and stuff.. are they really that plentiful? should i have most things planned out before i go... or just live one day to the next after i go? another thing i recently discovered was the WOOF programs... (world organization of organic farmers i think??) has anyone done this? and how was it? well i think thats all for now.. so any responses would be GREATLY appreciated. THANK YOU so much

Matt

Hey, you only live once, so why not head to Europe and have some fun?! Till the end of August you’ll probably being paying a premium, in comparison to September to November. You may want to fly into Heathrow and fly from there using a smaller carrier, just because it’s cheaper; but again, if your flying after the beginning of September, sometimes you can score a great deal. Over the last few years I’ve lived in UK, Italy and Germany, and have never had a problem with the English barrier. In smaller towns, just try to find the younger generations and always have a dictionary handy. Actually, I found that some of the terms the English used I had no idea what they were talking about – “Dear, why are you ‘necking’your beer?â€

hey thanks for the reply. ok, that reminds me, i'd like to live in a somewhat smaller centre(maybe), to try to avoid the majority of other tourists and touristy-fakeness. unless of course those places are worth seeing. but i think it would be a cooler experience to live in a smaller place where there aren't people like me passing thru all the time.. is this a bad idea? would it make it much more difficult to find work? also, i would probably be travelling on my own. is that a bad idea? should i be going with at least one other person? thanks a lot.

Matt

Go it alone and explore the world. It's good to flex your independence muscles. Plus, you won't have to share the bathroom or closet space Just make sure that you are as careful as yu are at home. Use your street-smarts, and you'll be fine. I'm 26 and a female, and I've always felt safe where ever I've been. Personally, I stick to to well-lit streets, dress conservatively, and have developed thick skin (ignore the whistles and strange utterings some people make).

As for living in a smaller town, no problems there - just it might be a tad harder to find a job. The up side however, is that you'll get to see how their culture really is (most of the time at least). Some of the larger cities are amazing, but are too modern so they remind me a lot of North America - Berlin specifically, but I had a blast there and will go back!!! You must at least see a few of the major cities for their museums though. Smaller towns like Rende Vecchio, and San Remo in Italy, or Eze in France, or even Derby, England, are simply charming. I lived in all four, and had no problems. I suggest bringing a pocket dictionary, and try to learn the language - they appricate that