Anyway you can take your skills contracting but at the same time try something small and interesting? The local cycle hire place/café has a job going and I am tempted to try for that as an antidote to supply teaching.

Another vote for contracting. Even though it’s the same job the freedom of being able to turn jobs down or knowing that when you work more you get paid more is great. Worth giving it a go unless you’re looking for a complete change of direction.

Same boat here, the thought of going back to corporate drone life is horrendous but I think it’s the only way I can earn over 30k, which for some reason I feel I should be earning, without a few years on much lower if I retrain as somethin more fun. I do need to look a bit more at contracting though.

Sure glad I’m not working this week in this weather anyway!

I returned from a year out to the same kind of job I’d had before, which I had been a bit dissolutioned with before I left (BA)

Saying that, I came back as a contractor, and the difference is massive. The pay is obviously better (but it’s not all gold helicopters like some would have you believe), but the main thing is the absence of much of the bullshit that comes with a permie job.

I found myself in a similar position back in 2009 (sold a business), it lead to 9mths off. Anywhoo’s I set out a plan (like you’ve done the Divide) but mine was sailing and Americas Cup stuff.

Took me 2months of being away from it all to forget what I’d just been though, another month of exploring Spain before I actually started to free think about working again. Over the next month I started to want to get back into work, I then devised a plan to expedite it…

I too chose a slightly different route, similar environment but different focus. Thing is with me, I like working and being part of something. Sucess came swift and I hit the ground sharpish with a bump when asked to turn a Programme around in 7mths instead of 13… Certainly focused the mind that did.
Took me realistically a month to get back in the swing of daily life and yes I did miss the lazy days windsurfing and sailing, but soon enough when the salary dropped on the mat it made me smile, I continue to this day.

Hard to tell you what to do, clearly your decision. Maybe try to think of similar scope but different focus (like me) Oh, and more money helps.

Go contracting for the money (if you need it).

Go volunteering for the soul (you clearly need it).

I reckon the first step is talking about it, whether here or with friends. There’s stuff that happens in your mind that you aren’t really clear on, sometimes talking through it can help you realise what the blockage is.

Distraction is a great way of avoiding something you don’t want to address and it sounds like you have been distracted by the Tour Divide, avoiding thinking about what to do next, now with no focus you are able to reflect on what is next and are at a bit of a dead-end.

As others have said it depends what your responsibilities are, do you need to support a family in which case you need to provide at least a certain level of income, otherwise can you volunteer to try some other things out to see if you enjoy them or not, what are tasks you really enjoy, is there a way of making them your work.

I say all this from the desk of an IT job I don’t always enjoy (but actually have a great team around me) I’m often frustrated and annoyed by things here, but most often the ride home fixes that. I’m also paid well enough that it feels rewarding come pay day.

I have an interview in London next week for a job which would be similar but in a bigger company and with better prospects – but as I’m based in Cambridge I’m really not sure it’s what I want.

I’d say many of us on here would be in the same boat as you if we had some time off work.

I’ve felt the same for most of my working life

I just can’t settle, I never feel content with this lifestyle

I’d be buggering off somewhere if I could afford it but don’t earn enough to save

From a purely personal point of view, I’d say if you have a bit of cash saved up, travel a bit more, maybe do some volunteering, or some job that has no pressure, picking fruit or something similar

Sounds like you need some thinking (or maybe non thinking) time

Interesting to see this thread as that pretty much summed me up a couple of months ago, just a different line of work.

I was made redundant on 1st May, but had already had two months’ gardening leave at that point so I’ve not actually sat at a desk since the end of Feb.

I tried getting some contract work but constantly got knocked back for lack of experience, oddly. I broadened my searches (and lowered my expectations) and started looking at general finance type jobs like I had ~10 years ago. Still no luck there and as bigjim says, £30k seems to be some kind of mental barrier for employers. Below, and they’re expecting keen graduates or people in their twenties. Above, and they seemingly expect 10+ years of very specific experience. I was/had neither.

I was getting quite disheartened. I had no idea what I wanted to do. I actually got >< this close to applying for a bike mechanic job at Halfords. It would be minimum wage but it would have got me out of the house and I could play with bikes. Even if most would be crappy BSOs.

Then suddenly things changed, AFAIK for no reason and with no input from me. A couple of things cropped up. An ex-colleague (whom I got on well with) contacted me out of the blue on Linkedin suggesting a career change to Project Management with his new consultancy. Another separate business opportunity presented itself. While mulling those over I got a call from a job agency one Thursday afternoon to ask if I was interested in a particular role they had. They’d found my CV online somewhere. My CV went to the client, phone call on Monday, interview Tuesday, I was offered the job Wednesday. I start on the 12th. It’s not the same line of work I was in before but has some parallels and the general numeracy / Excel geekery involved sounds like it’s going to be right up my street. Far more than any job I’ve had before. And it’s contract work, so the money is alright too. Things are suddenly looking OK !

I’m not really sure there’s a moral to that story. Maybe something to do with karma or destiny ? Just “qué será será” ? Who knows. My confidence ebbs & flows over time and I’ve had bouts of depression but I’ve always had a nagging suspicion that things will work out for the best, even when the other 99% of my brain is saying it won’t. So I’d stay stick in there. Something will turn up. Quite possibly something you’ve not even thought of yet.

As someone who left school with the necessary qualifications to go to university but went and became a joiner I really rate doing a trade as a way of life: You’re up and about doing something different every day; the time fair flies by. The downside as a self employed person is that my income has never hit 30k yet. There are tradesmen who make lots of money but they usually work 60 hours a week. If you are a gas engineer you can pretend that what you do is black magic and can charge accordingly.
School leavers today look down their noses at trades, get a degree then get jobs at Costa coffee. The next generation of homeowners can’t even fit a plug so there is a captive market for trades people; if you are reliable and reasonably competent the work will just walk in through the door.