Sick & tired of the 9-5 .. I want something different for my next chapter of my life

[Polyu]

Turning 50 this year.

So fed up of the 9-5 routine. Working all hours to pay the mortgage and bills and go on a budget holiday a few times a year. We may go away several times but it's hand luggage only, a cheap hotel with no pool/facilities but safe clean room.

Is this it for the next 30 years or so ?

Dream is to sell the house, move to Europe by the coast and casual work in a cafe in the sun, type of thing.

We have DC 14&18 with SEN. They don't want to live abroad

Feel so stuck on the 9-5 tredmill. Changing jobs while in the UK is not an option. Nor is reducing my hours

Will both your DC be fully independent once 18 or will they require any level of support? If the former id wait until they’re both 18, then move. They can visit you or you them a couple of times a year.
My parents did exactly that when I turned 18, upped and left the country.

Honestly, that doesn’t sound as if you’ve thought it through. Such work will be very poorly paid and insecure. What are you planning to live on — the proceeds of your house sale? Do hold a EU passport that will let you settle in France, Spain or Italy, and you speak the language of where you’re planning to move to? Why can’t you change jobs now?

This. It doesn’t sound like something that’s realistic when you still need to be actively parenting but maybe when the DCs are old enough to be independent?

If changing your job/reducing your hours is absolutely impossible then I think so is selling your house and moving to Europe funded by a part time job in a cafe!

Dream is to sell the house, move to Europe by the coast and casual work in a cafe in the sun, type of thing.

Do either (or both) of you have an EU passport? If not, good luck with that following Brexit, unless you're looking at non-EU countries.

It's really straight forward to do still. My sister's just been through the process. Don't scare people if you don't know.

Short of getting a golden visa or being sponsored to do a job, how do you do it then? It doesn't sound like the OP can afford a golden visa and she wants to work in a cafe on the beach, which isn't the kind of job that merits sponsorship.

Exactly. For Spain, for example, she needs to be either sponsored for a work visa via an employer who can prove the job can’t be filled by a national or EU person, invest a fair whack in property or shares in the new country (I think it’s property worth €500k for Spain), or prove that she’s got a passive income of at least €28k and won’t be working in Spain). Or she could get a 3-year digital nomad visa, but that won’t apply to her either.