Right

At the grand old age of 32, I’ve got pretty fed up with my lot. A recent passing of a friend has made me want to rethink what I’m doing and whether I want to keep doing it. Currently, I have a reasonably well paid job, i’m not married and have no children, own a house (but don’t live in it) and I don’t really have any reason to be dissatisfied with my lot. But I am, to the point where I think about just giving up completely or at the very least dragging the touring bike out the garage and just clearing off.

Has anyone ever decided to start again? Retrain, move, do whatever but just change their circumstances completely? I could go abroad and work in Australia (its fairly easy in my line of work) but am I just running away to something that’ll be pretty similar to here (but slightly warmer).

I’ve always wanted to work for the forestry commission, even from a young age. If I retrain, am I just going to feel the same but potentially be paid less? Or should I just MTFU and get on with things accepting that this is my lot?

dragging the touring bike out the garage and just clearing off

do this. a sabbatical at least.
I know a few people who have and it’s literally given them a new lease of life.
if I didn’t have wife, baby and a mortgage that’s what I’d do.

Dunno – I would say you need to work out if the issues making you dissatisfied are internal or external – can be pretty hard to tell sometimes. ie is it really the current work making you feel that way or is it something else? Involves a lot of honest introspection I suppose.

In the meantime can you do some volunteer work in the field you are interested in, while keeping the current job? Find out all you can to help make the decision – ie is it what you really want? If it really is then I say go for it – but you need to be in a position to make a properly informed decision.

Go for it flange, will be easier to do it now before little feet come along.

I know a few mates who have done this in their 40’s and all of them have not looked back.

Forestry Commission out-in-the-field type work is hard graft, harder to find and you’ll need to join the long queue of people looking for those jobs.
I know a couple of people who had a similar career change, one even did a MSc in Countryside Management but both of them really struggle to make ends meet in their new career. Wages in that sector are notoriously low and any fancy qualifications are trumped by experience. One of them is helped by his partner working but on balance his quality of life hasn’t increased as much as he hoped for.
You may find it equally crap in that moving newts and putting up deer fences are physically challenging but intellectually dull.

Have you considered going to see a Training/mentor type person? Kind of like a (I hate to use this word) Life-Coach but one with more focus on what you want to achieve.
You can do this yourself of course but it’s just harder to be objective. Try to set some short, medium and long term goals then ask yourself, can I get there with my current lot? If not, work out what the most important things are, then see if/how you can achieve them.

Whatever any other person does to help/advise etc, only you have the answers but sometimes you need help to get in the frame of mind to ask yourself these big questions.
Best of luck with it.

EDIT: if you’re going to do it, do it now though as you’re young, free, single and solvent!

Be sure that you’re running after something rather away from something.
No harm in taking a year out to sort things out either.
Australia? Same shit with sunshine. Don’t undervalue the sunshine.
Good luck with whatever you choose.

To balance it out a bit – I quit a stupidly well paid job at 37 because I thought I felt the same. Retrained, set up my own business and found that life was pretty much the same, only with less money & more stress. I didn’t realise what the problems actually were until I had a major accident which left my in pieces (mentally) and finally got help to sort my life out. The business fell apart with all the economic crap so now I’m looking for a proper job again, but on the upside I’m able to live with myself & for myself these days.

I could go abroad and work in Australia (its fairly easy in my line of work) but am I just running away to something that’ll be pretty similar to here (but slightly warmer).

My brother-in-law did this (though for different reasons: ‘…Britain is sh!t…’ etc). Came back after 6 months with a new world view (‘…Everywhere is sh!t…). I guess my point is if you do this, do it for the right reasons – if you think you’ll be just running away, then you’ll probably just be running away.

Whatever – I hope you work it out and it works out for you!

Yup, been there done that.

Sold Business a few years ago (wehey to less stress and a poncy Busines “partner”) So headed off to Tarifa and took my boards and bikes and spent 1 whole year windsurfing and cyclling in and around southern Andalucia.
Came back to a clean house and started work again for someone else. Whilst the time off was exceptional, the settling back in to the daily grind is harder than you think.

I’d recommend clearing off to anyone, but be prepared for the inevitable “coming back” or indeed if you choose to stay somewhere else be prepared for at least some settling in time.

Go, live your dream!

if you’re going to do it, do it now though as you’re young, free, single and solvent!

+1
Don’t put it off. Just go and do it.

Flange, what industry are you in?

Start with the man in the mirror.
Make that change.

I’ve done many things (personal and career) over the years. At 29 I’m still young and about to start a new career that I’m really excited about, moving to a new area and closer to a load of my friends. I’ve been feeling down of late (4 years since the passing of an amazing friend) but I can now see the light in the tunnel.

If you think you can change to something else then I say go for it.

Edit: Shamone

Edit2: Many things I wish I had done differently. None I regret.

You’ve got to do what ever you want to do. Don’t ever ‘accept your lot’. If there is something that you want to do, why not go and try to do it? If you’re not happy now why would you want to carry on doing it? From the sounds of it you have no ties except a house that presumably pays its own way regardless of whether you are there or not. If you can do it, do it.
And try your very best to not regret doing or not doing anything. If you never try, you’ll never know. If you tried and it didn’t work, then at least you tried.
Ultimately, the only person who can decide is you because its you who has to live with the decision.

what Brakes said +1

+1

You know that comic standup joke where he asks his wife to marry him and she does the funny thing and say’s “no………………..only joking, yes!” and in that “………………” he’s already gotten over it, moved into a bachelor pad, and died aged 42 in a south ammerican lovenest surrounded by women. The same thing happens to me whenever the missus mentions saving for a house deposit and I look at the bank statement and think “I’ve always wanted to buy a boat and sail round the world, and now I’ve got the money………”

when we were inbetween houses earlier this year, we had a rather large wedge of cash sitting in the bank. I spent many a while imagining what I could do with that cash rather than just having it ‘invested’ in bricks and mortar…

Thanks for all the replies, they are very much appreciated.

Flange, what industry are you in?

I work in Business Intelligence chap (yes, it’s as nobby as it sounds!). Its MIGHTY dull, basically data warehousing and reporting.

I think the first thing to do is plan a trip on the bike – I’ve never really done much travelling so thats on the cards first. Then have a look at the work situation and see what I can do there. Daunting is not the word….

You’re right, daunting is not the word. Exciting is the word.

hey Flange also in BI, enjoy my job quite alot and we are hiring (you MS or Oracle/others?)

Mail me if u fancy a chat

I did it at 30 – now 50 and got the job and house and stuff. Just do it.

don’t sell the house unless you have to, You will be **** any chance of a decent pension more than likely. Whats to lose?

I look at the bank statement and think “I’ve always wanted to buy a boat and sail round the world, and now I’ve got the money………”

I know exactly what you mean. I saw what equity was in the house and tried to persuade MrsW to flog it and wonder the globe for a few years and just start again when we felt like it. We’re both in our early to mid 30s so could do it.
She said “no I want a baby”. All about what she wants isn’t it?

As above, don’t run away from stuff, make sure it’s not you!

But even a wee bit of travel can be amazing for the head.

damn missed my Edit chance, If you are in MS BI (or want to be) I know Trek bikes in Wisconsin are hiring BI people which would be my dream job atm. As i said mail me if thats of interest.

Not many mountains in Wisconsin. 🙁

Make sure its what you want then do it. You cant complain if it doesnt work.. much better IMHO than forever thinking ‘What if?’.

Worked for me. complete lifestyle change at 38. Everything went apart from the bikes! 4 years hard graft and another year looking for related work but totally worth it. Met a great girl doing it and marrying her in August! 😀

at the very least dragging the touring bike out the garage and just clearing off

Do this, you’ll do interesting things and have time to think. I did it – albiet on a tandem with the future mrs trb on the back and it was the best thing I’ve done (until we came home, got married and had kids of course 😉 )

Work is just the same now as it was before we left, but we considered staying staying in Auckland and decided it would the same shit with a different view and a long way to come home to see the family!

We went for eight months, but met people who had been pedalling for anything from 8 days to eight years!

Be sure that you’re running after something rather away from something.

Most important thing.

I really like the job I do right now (mainly because I don’t really answer to anyone, don’t work that hard and the business is interesting).

Which is precisely why I’m looking for a new job. Go “to” something, not “from”.

I went on holiday to Oz and woke up one night in a cold sweat as I thought I was in England. Next morning phoned up work and resigned.
Got so many good memories from that time. Go for it .

titusrider – just emailed you chap

Thanks folks, again it is really appreciated. I think a trip on the bike is going to help matters a lot. I struggle with setting off somewhere without a purpose (I need to actually be going somewhere) so maybe looking at one of the long distance events might be a good start. I’ve always had the Tour Divide on the list, so that could well be on the cards. At least then I’ve got something to look forward to.

Get a fake tail and ears and become

I did the whole lifestyle change about 10 years ago: made redundant in the dot com collapse, retrained as a tree surgeon: climbed successfully for 7 years, got a whole new view on life.

Couple of injuries put me back behind a desk and within no time was back to where I was in IT before I left.

Happier now then i was, dont regret a thing, but damn it was hard. Really frikking hard at times, but was also the best thing I ever did. May have been the struggle at times that has made me happy with what I have got now.

For sure, change something. Don’t burn bridges. All will be well.

retrained as a tree surgeon: climbed successfully for 7 years, got a whole new view on life.

A higher perspective?

I’ll get me coat!

Burn the bridges.

At 27 I quit a good job in environmental science (published paper and running a prestigeous project). I’ve never worked in environmental science again.

I also quit a lady I’ve never seen again.

I Quit motorsport having been a national champion and have never driven anything fast since.

I go back to the country I also quit now and then to see family and a friend I recontacted after many years, some bridges are inflamable.

I “settled down” five years later by starting a business with the lady that is now my wife in the town that is still my home. Life is good. I have no idea what my life would be if I hadn’t “thrown in the towel” as I saw it then; I now know it wasn’t giving in, it was just knowing there had to be something better.

If you go take nothing more than you can carry, even a bike can be a burden IME, don’t look back, and be prepared to be more positive, determined, hard working, confident and daring than ever before.

I was in this situation a few years ago. Ended up pretty much leaving everything behind and doing something new that I’d dreamed about, in one form or another, since I was young. The best bit of advice someone gave me when I was considering it all was that you’ll never regret something you’ve done half as much as something you haven’t. 4 years on and I’ve never worked such long hours, been so tired, been so stressed and earned so little but I don’t regret a second. If I had decided (or ever decide) to go back to my old life then I guess it would be with a wider perspective, I can’t ever see me having any regrets.

picked this up in a charity shop, probably something you should/shouldn’t* read!

*delete depending on what you want to hear…

Picked up this in a charity shop, you should/shouldn’t* read it!

* delete as appropriate depending on what you want to hear.