To just give up and go

[Namechangefun]

Name change for obvious reasons.

But I’m seriously thinking of just giving up my v.senior (absolutely not a humble brag and you’ll see why) corporate job and just leaving.

So fed up with the bloody rat race, it’s just stakeholder management after politics and just more and more pressure to make absurd amounts of money for a company who would replace me if I suddenly dropped off the face of the earth. Feel so suffocated by it all. It’s just endless.

I love my friends and family (no DCs) and have recently been looking at a total life change. Sell up what I have (which isn’t loads but is enough to start again) and just moving somewhere abroad, maybe Thailand, where I could actually just live life rather than be under this mad expectation of success all
the time!

Well plenty of people do it so it's not unreasonable for you to think that you could do the same. Do you have a plan for making enough income to survive? Thailand is cheap but not that cheap if you want to maintain western standards of living. Would you be going on a tourist visa and doing visa runs across the border every 3 months? Georgia might be worth a look if you haven't considered it already, amazing country and they offer 1 year tourist visas if I'm not mistaken.

Could you manage with less money and a lower standard (materially) of living? Would having less money mean there are things you wouldn’t be able to afford to do that are currently important to you?

Anything you do gains you one thing and loses another.

I think you have to weigh up what the gains and losses will be for you in your situation and what value you place on them. eg much easier to move to lower paid work if you have already paid your house off.

If you are in a senior positon at work - I am sure you can weigh this up yourself and won't benefit massively from the min wagers etc on here chiming in with whatever inspirational quotes they read on Insta today

I suppose it depends by 'living life'. For me that isn't just laying on a beach all day (am just making an assumption about living in Thailand). It's seeing friends and family regularly, it's enjoying my hobbies, enjoying cultural activities near where I live. I think there's probably a middle ground. How old are you? Do you want a partner or children? Could you go part time? Do something with your days off. I've felt similarly recently tbh but without your money. I have no options.
Do what makes you happy op but don't be hasty.

So you'd go to Thailand and spend your money and come back to what? No job?

Why do you have to go abroad?

Couldn’t you shift careers/jobs here? It would mean less money but as pp said there’s always a trade off.

Given how strongly you feel though you need to make some changes. I’ll throw in an Insta worthy quote, “we’re not here forever”

Could you take an upaid leave of absence and see if some time away is enough to reset things?

Thanks all, some really good advice here. I’m not hugely materialistic and have a modest car and a small mortgage on a 2 bed house, with a lot (I think) in savings circa 60k + stocks and shares. Realistically if I used my savings my mortgage would be 80% paid off.

It is important to me to see friends and family and I think you’re all correct. I shouldn’t be hasty (couldn’t be massively anyway as a 6 month notice period). Might ask for a sabbatical (unpaid) from work

I’m 32 for the record, the youngest Director in my industry, a good achievement but just feel like I could enjoy life so much more

Enjoy your life op

Thanks all, I was thinking Thailand (perhaps stupidly) because I could pay off nearly all of my mortgage and rent the house for about £800 a month which I think I could live off abroad even with a small ‘at home’ mortgage payment. Maybe take a part time teaching job for some additional income overseas. Either way, need to do something as I’m burnt out 🤦‍♀️

I am sure you can weigh this up yourself and won't benefit massively from the min wagers etc on here chiming in with whatever inspirational quotes they read on Insta today

Yup. Minimum wagers can only speak in insta quotes
Woe betide they have brains to give out actual advice.

Why not take some unpaid leave and go travelling? Then decide after?
I admit this is more difficult in the current climate, but you can use the time now to plan where/when to go

@Shitfuckcommaetc 100%

I’ve asked for opinions because I need them, and it annoys me immensely that people think a ‘minimum wager’ opinion is worth less than a billionaires.😂🤦‍♀️

Pay your house off, rent it out and go.

Corporate bullshit is becoming worse every single month. Killing me. Sick of SWOT, and strengths and weaknesses and what I can improve. Where do I see myself. Its like being at school only worse. Leave before it's to late x

Hit a nerve there @Shitfuckcommaetc as this is actually the corporate BS I’m trying to get away from, the idea that someone’s worth and value of opinion is defined by their salary is just to me

You are so young, Op! I think that you could consider researching some other careers, then take time out and then retrain or whatever you have to do to get into a job that you enjoy.

You're really lucky in that you can spend time exploring what you might want to do next.

What you're feeling is normal, lots of people burn out & question the point of it all.

I gave up my career after dc reluctantly but I have a new one that I enjoy. Pay is rubbish but zero stress.

I think you should explore a middle ground.

Corporate fatigue is real (I’ve been through many phases of it myself) but don’t have the level of savings or safety net you do and others rely on my income so not able to opt out of the rat race.

I think a 6 month sabbatical is a great idea, get some travelling done, ‘find yourself’ and all that, decide what you’d like to do next. Ie retrain or use your current skill set for something else.

I think selling up and moving permanently to Thailand (or similar) is a bit too extreme!!!

Urgh you've just reminded of the 360 feedback, appraisal, targets, taking on projects. All such a waste of time 😆

Have you thought about moving into the charity sector? Lots of opportunities, little less pay but not terrible. Generally less ‘rat-facet’.

I did the other way around, went from charity sector into a corporate (albeit a CSR and Impact Role) and I also bloody hate it. Constantly feel like I’m dealing with internal politics and egos rather than making any difference. It’s stressful so looking to go back to charity-land.

Might be a nice change for you :)

There are a few useful books on Amazon that can give you food for thought on lifestyle design. I particularly like Chris Guillebeau books and blog.

You have so many options open to you when it comes to moving industry and/or living abroad for a while. If you can get work to agree a sabbatical e.g. 6 months, that would possibly be best as you then have space to recover and get back to yourself without worrying that you'll run out of money. I think if you want to leave anyway then you have nothing to lose by asking. Best of luck.

If I was like you, I would definitely have a change of lifestyle, I mean a go ahead person, with some great ideas of a life beyond the rat race. You have to be a person who is unafraid of new places, and a new lifestyle, no matter where that may be. It takes a certain kind of person, with the strength of character to go with it, to have a complete change of life.. But many people achieve this, as you can see from some TV programmes on this subject..

So how much do you know about daily life in Thailand as a resident not a tourist? Bureaucracy, taxes, food costs, bills, language, laws, customs, visas, medical care, integration problems for you, insurance, crime, corruption etc?

Everyday life somewhere is not the same as a holiday in that location.

Nothing wrong with changing the path you're on, but it's not wise to make major life-changing decisions based on fantasies rather than reality or as a knee-jerk emotional response.