To want to start a new life?

[Needanewlifeasap]

Guys, I want to start a new life. I have no idea if this is really doable and absolute no idea where to start but I just have this burning desire to uproot and start afresh. My entire family are born and raised here (midlands), nobody has ever left!

Is anybody able to offer any practical advice, experience, to do list etc?

For context, I am 30, DS is 8 - just us two. I have maybe around 60k in easy access savings. Nothing to sell. Degree educated. No criminal record.

Are you thinking of overseas?

Buy a camper van and travel the world for a year or 2

Of course you can
People move across the world - sometimes walking miles or taking risky small boat rides - all the time.

You don't event need to do any of that hard stuff
You have money and an education do can choose to get a job somewhere else and move (depends on visa if you go abroad etc etc)

What do you do for a living? Professional qualifications/experience?

Do you want to move to a big city? The countryside? Abroad? UK?

Yes, I am definitely leaning more towards overseas but no idea of good or easy places to emigrate to with a child

I knew someone in a similar position who pointed finger on a map of the U.K. blindfolded and followed it through.

@MojoMoon You are so right!

I don't do anything fancy atm, owing to being a single parent. Currently working within civil service in a clerical role. Degree is law. I have experience in communications/marketing and teaching. Couple other gigs in retail when I was younger.

I think I want to emigrate tbh. Definitely not US but open to anywhere else.

@Thighdentitycrisis oh wow, any chance you could get them on this thread? 😂

You have experience teaching? Are you a qualified teacher?

(Quite easy to emigrate to some places if you are in an in demand profession like teaching)

@MojoMoon not a qualified teacher no. I did an AET (funded by employer) which allowed me to teach short courses to adults

Will DS's father agree? Does he have parental rights / visits now?

Have you looked a foreign office jobs since you are in civil service?
You'd probably need to do a technical officer job in London first but could then be posted abroad

Or Gibraltar civil service?
https://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/press-releases/administrative-assistant-vacancies-9041

No idea about the logistics of abroad as I have never done it. You may be able to teach English as a foreign language somewhere?

What about the UK but somewhere new? Lots of lovely places - depends on what you fancy, I guess. Coastal/city/somewhere like the Lake District.

Can your civil service role be done from home? If not, could you consider a different role within the civil service? I believe some allow wfh at least part of the time.

@allswellthatends he has PR as signed BC but hasn't had any contact in 5+ years - his choice. I wouldn't ask permission.

Do you rely on family for childcare? You might struggle without that support network to begin with. That said, the idea of starting a new life and building it the way you want without interference is very attractive! Had you thought about Canada? It's a wonderful country with lovely people.

Guys, I want to start a new life. I have no idea if this is really doable and absolute no idea where to start but I just have this burning desire to uproot and start afresh

@Needanewlifeasap - can I just ask you why you want to uproot and start afresh?

In my experience, people feel like this because of underlying problems and disasstifactions that need to be addressed first.

An urge to uproot and start a fressh can be like an urge to go on holiday. A desire to run away. But when you get back from your holiday, those same problems are still there.

Unless you address the underlying issues of the unhappiness/disatisfaction/desire to uproot, moving isn't going to solve anything.

You will get to the new place and once the novelty and hard work of a move has worn off, the same problems will remain.

what if any foreign languages do you speak?

I lived in France for six months as a teen, so my French got pretty good, but getting work (bit of an economic crisis at the time) was hard - I cam home.

Get a CELTA qualification and apply to language schools in Asia. Then once you’re working, you can easily move onto something else more up your alley so to speak unless you enjoy the teaching of course :-)

@MairzyDoats Occasionally yes but only for social things which is only a handful of times a year. I work around my child (school hours).

@SirQuintusAureliusMaximus you're right. I just think where I live is boring, I've seen it all now and it's honestly just going to shits anyway so why stick around? I have zero friends. A lovely family but I'm happy to just come back and visit lol. Nothing too deep that I am running from really, rather seeking something new cause this can't be all there is to life - to live, work and die in the same place?

@ThinWomansBrain I only speak English unfortunately. Thank you for sharing your experience. I am afraid of it not working out and having to come home too but then it wouldn't be the worst thing to happen as I have family/grew up here etc

@WongWifi thank you for the suggestion! Going to research around that now 😊

Do you fancy Australia, OP? You sound quite versatile; would you be willing to retrain in a skill in demand to get your foot in the Australian door?

If so, come over to the MN Aust/NZ forum, where we can give you more info.

However, as a PP pointed out, the "geographic cure" might not ease your restlessness. The civil service foreign posts sound a good option. Also, if you can do your job remotely, maybe take it offshore for a while in a compatible time zone. Lots of Australians do this. They work from Bali, Thailand or Cambodia, basically anywhere with warm weather and good food. Bali is well set up for expats with DCs.

@MojoMoon this is a great shout thank you, sadly all the jobs posted have passed application deadline but I have saved the page to keep a look out for future posts! My current civil service grade is AO but I don't mind dropping to AA or retraining at all.

I'm just watching to live vicariously, had never thought of civil service jobs abroad but was thinking of joining the civil service for the last twenty years of my career for the pension! I might have a little look ( and forget I have an 8 and 4 year old in primary for a little bit!)

@groovergirl love the idea of Australia, could you post the link please?

@slobro I really hope I get to update this thread saying that I've moved somewhere new and hopefully inspire someone like yourself to do the same 💖

I was going to suggest Australia too. They had a program a while ago that allowed entry to people with desirable skills. We looked into it as oh works in IT which is in demand.

If you Google it you can find out what jobs would qualify you. A friend of ours also transfered over as a previous mentor has moved there an agreed to sponsor her.

Just to warn you as other pp have. We have had two sets of friends decide to live out there only to come back within a year. They had fallen in love while on holiday there but reality of the drudgery of life, work, school etc wasn't the dream. They expected. Be careful not to take your problems with you!