After seeing Ireland pop up in my travel vlogs for years, I finally booked a one-month scouting trip last fall. Packed just a carry-on and stayed in Dublin hostels for the first week – wanted the raw experience before diving deeper.
The Rent Shock
First mission: figure out housing costs. Started scrolling rental sites at midnight jetlagged. Nearly spilled my instant noodles seeing Dublin prices:
- Tiny one-bedroom apartment near city center? €1,800 minimum
- Shared room in some student digs? Still €700+
- Saw one ad where the “bedroom” was literally a converted closet – €950!
Next day rode buses to commuter towns like Maynooth. Found rents drop 30% outside Dublin, but then you’re spending €150+ monthly on transport passes.
Grocery Reality Check
Visited Dunnes Stores pretending to shop for a family of four. Grabbed basics:
- Milk €1.50
- Bread €1.80
- Chicken breast €8
- Apples €2.50
Did mental math: €60 weekly just for essentials. Later cooked spaghetti in hostel kitchen – saw students surviving on ramen noodles bulk packs.
Job Hunt Fieldwork
Crash-coursed job hunting by attending tech meetups. Over terrible free pizza, talked to:
- Julia from Brazil – took 7 months to land marketing role despite fluent English
- Polish developer Piotr scoring €65k at fintech startup within weeks
Key pattern? Tech and pharma companies desperate for skilled workers, others sectors flooded with applicants. Visited Google’s Dublin dockside campus – place looks like a spaceship, but security kicked me off the lawn.
The Bottom Line
On my last rainy Dublin morning, sat counting receipts at Busáras station:
- Good: Salaries can offset costs (tech roles pay €10k+ more than EU average)
- Bad: Housing crisis is no joke – bring emergency savings
- Ugly: Saw graduates working three hospitality gigs still sharing bunk beds
Bought a €4 airport coffee thinking: Ireland’s grand if you’ve got job papers signed before landing. Otherwise? That green grass gets mighty expensive real quick.
