Anyone here do the FIFO life? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Anyone here do the FIFO life?

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mimico_polak

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So looks like I may be going away to a new gig soon (same company) where I'll be flying out for a 2 week stint, then back home for a 5 day stay full time. Technically 7 days but 2 are travel days (more like 1.5 due to the remoteness of the site).

Anyone do this type of life? Any suggestions on what to do to keep one's sanity? It'll be very tough being away from the wife and the little guy (15 months) but financially it's a fairly substantial rise, and it'll help knock down the debts, as well as fatten up the savings accounts for the next little while. Wife is onboard with this, so long as I come home every time, or she can fly out to meet me in either AB / BC during my time off.

Not sure what the conditions are but I understand we have a rec room, gym, cafeteria, and it's in the backwoods of BC so there's no leaving the camp due to wolves / bears / other critters.

One of the reasons I wasn't rushing a bike purchase (still looking for the RS) but I'll have maybe a few hours per stint when I come back but would be nice to have a bike again.

Any recommendations are highly recommended, and looking forward to some input from some of the people here. I'm sure it'll be tough, but frankly it's easier than moving the entire family to another country for a different gig that may be coming my way.
 
My best friend did something perhaps a little more extreme as an engineering consultant:

-Fly out Sunday night
-M-Wed In the plant/office at 7am-7pm, then back to hotel for dinner and work in room until 12/1am
-Thursday in the plant/office from 7am-6pm, fly back to Toronto
-Friday In the downtown office for team meetings, review
-Satuday off
-Sunday night fly out and rinse/repeat

He last about 8 months and couldn't take it anymore, developed some severe health issues that 3 years later he's just getting under control (all doctors agreed it was stress related). He was well over 6 figures but it wasn't worth leaving the wife and other family for such long stints.

Hopefully yours is a bit more low key.
 
been doing that for over 10 years
it ain't all fun and games

best advice I can offer is to focus on the work
try not to make any friends with bad habits, or none at all
go easy on the unlimited food, and try to get to the gym

the pay is nice, but you will miss a lot of your kids growing up
with a youngin like that, you'll be surprised how much they'll change in your time away
 
Have lots of clients in that game.

1) Be mindful of the booze, drugs and gambling -- if you have any issues with any of these you'll be a mess in 3 months or less.
2) Make sure you go home on time off -- if not it's a life of liquor & whores then divorce.
3) The crowd is rough, choose your friends carefully, never extend trust -- make co-workers earn it.

The money is good because the job and lifestyle are extremely difficult. Definitely give it a shot, but make sure you have another option if camp like doesn't work for you.
 
as MM brought up marriage, yes, it is tough on a relationship
most guys that do this for awhile end up divorced, and not always from drink and girls

after being away for a long time, you get home dog tired, just want to chill and sleep in your own bed
wife says lets go out for dinner and celebrate you're home! you've been eating camp food and that's the last thing you want

she's been stuck with the kids and expects some mommy down time that's been well earned
you want to have a beer and fall asleep on the couch watching the hockey game

it is rewarding, but very tough on the family
 
Wow good input thank you.

One of the reasons we agreed on me going was because both of us came from homes where our dads would leave for a year or so as there was no work back home. I'm sure it'll be tough and not seeing my son grow up scares me somewhat. I believes he's at an age where it shouldn't affect him too much, as I'd never sign up if there were baseball games, hockey, or anything else to attend regularly.

The MIL lives with us, so I hope that'll help my wife out, and one thing we are happy about is that the camp is booze free with zero tolerance.

Sometimes i I wonder if it's the right call and honestly I'm worried, but it's something I've wanted to try and in my career it's something that eventually comes up and needs to be done for some experience outside of the GTA.
 
My view, as it relates to the little guy, as I have never done what you are planning to do.
I spent a boatload of time with my older boy and I cherished every moment. I also did a lot of OT to try and make sure that I could provide for him.
Fast forward 8 years and my second child was born. My wife was working longer hours so I spent twice as much time with this guy. I feel like I saw so much more with him growing up than I did with my older boy. I don't have many regrets, but missing out on time with the guy when he was small is one.
You gotta do what you gotta do buddy, just my two cents.
And don't go listen to Cats In The Cradle.

Sent from my purple G4 using Tapatalk
 
is it mining?
mining operations in Canada tend to have no nonsense camps
completely dry as it's a serious safety hazard to have booze available
get a bunch of guys away from home working consecutive 12 hour shifts
last thing you need is drunks and hungover workers

sounds like you have a good support system at home
lots of families also make this work too, good luck!

if you keep in mind that you are there for the work/pay only
and the camp is just somewhere to eat/shower/sleep, you'll be fine
the guys that try this thinking of a fun social life are the ones that get in trouble
 
A cousin's hubby works at a diamond mine in NWT and seems to enjoy it. His kids are grown and he has grand kids so a mix of who he misses and doesn't. Good food, accommodations, recreation hall etc, laundry. Well into the six figures and decent benefits.

I knew a guy that did the DEW line stuff decades ago and he mentioned the gambling. The FIFO wasn't that frequent and some guys that took on the jobs to make a pot of money for a house down payment lost it at the card tables.
 
@JavaFan - yes it's mining in northern BC. Our company has the work management contract up there, hence the job. We also have on in Australia, but that would involve packing the family and going there for a few years.

sounds like a great place if you know how to gamble! LoL personally gambling is a vice that I've never really liked. I'm too frugal,and always worry about blowing my money. Won $300 once on a single $20 in roulette....walked promptly away to be able to keep it!

@JoeBass - us that is my largest concern. I'm going to miss my son horribly. I already do. Skype and the like will help, but nothing beats being here.

One reason son I ant this is the bump would mean almost 2x wife's salary so I'd like her to take on some less work. She won't quit as she says she'd go nuts, but at least if baby 2 is coming it'll help out.
 
My son in law does it, engineer in an oil patch. He's pretty frugal (dutch) , and doesn't gamble. His "camp" has a zero tolerance on drugs and booze, and a no gamble policy (lightly enforced) . I understand the food is great and they have a movie lounge, ping pong, continuing ed with bonus money earned for training and a pretty solid social program knowing if you dont keep guys busy, mischief follows.

Its a good way to make bank, it takes discipline.
 
One problem with lifestyles is that not everyone's brain is wired the same way right from birth. Some people can handle non traditional family situations and some can't. Is there a consultation to see if there are any bad vibes?

When I got into my field of work our daughter was a year old and I had to run a project in Ottawa for a few months, red-eye out Monday and return late Friday.

Some negatives:

Spend the weekend doing chores that could have been done in the evenings. No family time.

I get home and look forward to a non restaurant meal while the wife needs a break from solo parenting and wants to go out.

Away on an expense account I could eat anywhere but end up wandering around a mall to kill time and eat fast food.

Used the boat twice. The second time was a demo to sell it.

"Absence make the heart grow fonder" is a cliche not a fact. I'm not suggesting anything other than the lifestyle doesn't suit everyone.

The financial bits are easy to calculate but the psychological ones aren't.

Was this to be a limited time experience for some start up coin or does one get hooked on the cash flow?

If it doesn't work out what is involved in bailing out early?
 
mimico_polak said:
@JavaFan - yes it's mining in northern BC. Our company has the work management contract up there, hence the job. We also have on in Australia, but that would involve packing the family and going there for a few years.
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I would expect there to be far less of the BS problems associated with remote camp life
in a setting like that the mining Co will own the camp and it will be within the mine property

the reputation of the booze, drugs, gambling hoes etc are from the oil patch camps
many of them are private- off site, and as such the oil co's cannot set the rules

in a mine Co camp behavior is strictly controlled, completely dry, no gambling, no BS of any kind tolerated

in the years I've been doing this, I've been at 6 different projects
in Canada, Africa, Afghanistan and currently Saudi Arabia
only place I ever saw any of the cliche bad behavior was a brief stint in Fort Mac
 
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I personally don't have any experience with it. But we just got a new hire that did this for 3 years and couldn't take it.

He was a single guy who liked the money initially but got burnt out.

I think it comes down to individual personality. So best of luck to you if you decide to go.
 
how is the new gig, OP? are you out west now?
I packed in the middle east and ended up in N. BC
quite a bit more picturesque
 
jc100 said:
How you could swap Belleville for northern BC is totally beyond comprehension.
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haha...I do miss seeing the teen moms with the strollers
and the mid 40's crowd in the power chairs chain smoking on the way to Bingo

still have the Belleville place, just working out here, Saudi was getting stupid
 
Hey all, just thought I'd follow up and let you guys know how life is over here....it's fantastic! Outside of missing my wife and little guy (daily Skype / Facetime calls keep us connected) it's actually a pretty good deal. I'm learning lots, and overall the site is fairly well run. The food is good (great some nights), the rooms are good, water is warm, food is stupidly plentiful, and I'm enjoying the time here in this environment. It gets boring in the evenings as after dinner everyone blasts off to their own rooms, to the gym, cinema room, or to go fishing in the river. We are not allowed to go hiking unfortunately. But the area is full of bears (finally saw 7 bears a few nights ago....might take the truck for a run today along the main road), wolves, wolverines, and moose. Lots of bald eagles, seals and the like within the community as well. There's no hint of alcohol / drugs or any sort of abuse in my view, however I'm sure it's well hidden. But overall the camp is very quiet, clean, and fairly well run. We've got about a 12km drive along dirt roads to site, and will soon have a room 500m from the office, which will make for better sleep patterns. If anyone has an opportunity for such a gig, I highly recommend trying it, because so far (outside of being away from home), I'm seeing only positives. We were on a 14/7 rotation, but this week I'm 10/10, and migrating to a 17/11 within the next week. Looking forward to being home Saturday, and then a nice 10 days at home.
 
That's good to hear.

I might've missed specifics but what kind of career do you have? I assume mining but not everyone is a miner.
 
moarmoto said:
That's good to hear.

I might've missed specifics but what kind of career do you have? I assume mining but not everyone is a miner.
Click to expand...

No. Lot of miners here but I'm in tunneling. Similar but different.
 
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