Some Advice Please? (Great Falls, Shelby: apartment, rental, motel)

[Dan90]

Hows it goin' folks? Dan here.. just found this site a bit earlier, but let me get to the point. I'll be 19 in November. I'm planning on headin' out to Montana very soon. Will pretty much be going with what i carry on my back, most likely takin a greyhound all the way out there.

Won't have too much cash on me and I might be looking into heading out to Great Falls, not sure though. I'm in South Florida right now and been here for most of my life.

Anyways, wonderin' if anyone would mind giving me some advice before i head out on my adventure. Looking to relocate to a small town, friendly people and hopefully not too hard to find some work for a bit.

Montana has the greatest attraction on me, its hard to describe. It feels right. I know its right.

If you read, Thanks.. really looking forward to everyone's tips.


- Dan

[ElkHunter]

Jobs are few and far between unless your looking for food service like McDonalds. Depending on where you finally decide on, housing could be tough also.

What do you plan on doing when you get there? As in living and working arrangements?

I personally wouldn't try it with no money and nothing lined up. Montana can be pretty rough during the winter. We've already had snow and winter weather alerts.

[seven of nine]

Agree with EH
This is not a great state for casting your fortune. The weather is brutal, IMO try something on the west coast. You can die from exposure here rather quickly. Good luck

[emilieboyles]

Consider the community colleges in eastern Montana...Dawson Community College or Miles Community College. They both have dorms, lots of funding packages,..Miles offers instate tuition for some out of state students. Both are very small with small classes and many of the students from out of the area, particularly at Dawson, seem to be on adventures as well. Both have distance learning classes. Miles has a great nursing as well as biofuels course. Dawson has a great ag and law enforcement program...both have general programs as well. Dawson also offers a CDL program that after you've been here 30 days to establish residency they will pay for all but the drug test..about $140 for a course worth seveal thousand. As a trucker, like the nursing program at MCC, you can get a job bout anywhere in MT...and if those don't work out, hang around enough of the right places to get to know folks from the oil fields and pick up a rig job with drilling picks up again.

[rickers]

Welcome to the forum. I moved to Montana with 2k in my pocket, the economy was in OK shape and it was really tough on us. We also moved here during the late spring with lots of work experience and perfect rental histories. Landlords here will seldom rent to someone who doesn't have a job (unless you are a local kid with parents to fall back on close by) and at least some rental history and it would be really hard for a 19 year old to get a job without a home living in a car in the winter in Montana. If you want to live here you need to bring lots of money and try to line up a job before you get here. It helps to have a small motor home or a camper rig to stay in at first as the motel rates will break you real fast until you get a house or apartment. I know these replies may not be what you wanted to hear but this is a tough state to just up and move to. Good luck.

[Dan90]

Any advice is good advice Thanks, but life is short. I don't want to limit myself because of weather . I'm really excited, i can't wait.

Anyways just puttin' this out there, anyone need a ranch hand let me know or anything else for that matter.

[rickers]

I think that just about any willing person could just waltz right into a job at the Crossroads detention facility outside of Shelby. It's a lousy job I've heard and they have trouble keeping workers. A stepping stone job just to get into the state is what many take those prison jobs for.

[AQHA]

Originally Posted by Dan90

Any advice is good advice Thanks, but life is short. I don't want to limit myself because of weather . I'm really excited, i can't wait.

I like it. DO IT. When you're 19 you can do this. It sounds exciting to me, don't let anyone talk you out of it. You're going to get cold at times, hungry lots of times and probably regret doing it many many times, but the rewards will be great.
You will see new land, meet interesting people and have a story to tell the rest of your life. You have been sitting in a classroom the last 13 years of your life getting your free education, now its time to go out and educate yourself. Work will not be hard to find, a young man with a strong back and a willing attitude will always find work.

Kudo's to you, live your dream.

[Dan90]

Originally Posted by AQHA

I like it. DO IT. When you're 19 you can do this. It sounds exciting to me, don't let anyone talk you out of it. You're going to get cold at times, hungry lots of times and probably regret doing it many many times, but the rewards will be great.
You will see new land, meet interesting people and have a story to tell the rest of your life. You have been sitting in a classroom the last 13 years of your life getting your free education, now its time to go out and educate yourself. Work will not be hard to find, a young man with a strong back and a willing attitude will always find work.

Kudo's to you, live your dream.

Thanks alot bud