Working holidays before college

I was an adventurous boy, working holidays in overseas in
late teen. Lonely journeys shaped my character. Then and
there I passed "Self Reliance, Calculated Risks Taking 101".

Barely 18, after high school graduation, before university,
I went abroad alone for working holidays in overseas that
lasted 2 years. For those years, I worked to support myself
to live alone in the capital cities in the region and cities far
and away. I even spent a year on board offshore towing
vessels in offshore oilfields, serving offshore platforms, etc..

I saw floating anti ship mines, worked on the deck in rough
high sea, floated in seas full of sharks and fished some, drifted
with sea currents. Those were wonderful character shaping
experience for a boy to become an independent young man.