Have any of you just upped and moved and done something totally different??

[jugglejugglejuggle]

I don't mean getting offered a job and moving for your existing career... I mean more like opening a dive shop/hostel/b&b, or just picking somewhere and going for it??

I'm craving adventure at the mo and a move is not on the cards for us right this second (bought our house this year, pg with DF/) but having lived abroad before I can feel that wanderlust creeping back in and currently wondering what the bloody point of the rat race is all about.

Come inspire me with your tales of spontaneity, impulse, and adventure!!

Yes, I did this for ten years and loved it. Would pick a country I could live in (visa wise), save some money and go. Had some of the best times and met some amazing people, and met my DH due to this. To be honest the thought of never being able to do this again would depress me! My DH and I are from different sides of the world so I figure we will always be popping around somewhere.

However I wouldn't do it with a new born, life is tough enough without adding that to tbe mix but definitely when DC are a year or so old.

What did you do for work or did you save enough so you didn't have to??

Dd is 2 and with dc2 on the way I figure it'll be a while before we could even contemplate something like that. The lack of stability bothers me a fair bit, and longer-term security.... I would love to feel more confident about that side of things

I havent but my best friend did. Two years ago she decided she'd had enough of 'existing' in London, applied for a job in a country she'd never been to before and off she went. She is literally the happiest she's ever been and I wish I'd been able to do the same but I was pg at the time.

Good luck whatever you decide to do!

I would save enough for about three months living and apply once in country. Since having DD I couldnt imagine doing it that way again without having back up (we will always ping pong back and forwards from Aus to this side of the world so by backup I mean family to live with) This is our last destination of arriving with backpacks and hoping for the best but it has turned out very well for us here that I suppose I should be greatful and enjoy it

A couple that are friend's with DH have just headed to the US with suitcases to see how it goes. I would never want to live in the US but I am a bit envious of their footloose and fancy free lifestyle (they are DC free!)

pink what does your friend do now in her new country?

what what kind of work did you do then and how has that set you up now? We used to live in oz too, I miss it more as time goes on (specially this time of year!!) and half contemplate going back then think of the distance, the high cost of living, the lack of choice in shops, the backwards mentality outside of the main cities and just don't know if I could....

I'd love to go and do something completely different (currently work in hr) like run a youth hostel in South America or a campsite in France. But at the same time give the dc good education opportunities and earn a decent living (not asking a lot eh?)....

I'm in HR too and its actually benefited me in the long run as I go in a grade below, get my local knowledge etc. My current company put me through CIPD here which will benefit back home also. I like the idea though of my career going wherever and so I've never really been on the career path as such.

Funny DH and had a brief spell of dreaming about opening a hostel in Sth America too after staying with an English family who were doing that. The lifestyle looked amazing.

My friend is a teacher, same as she was here. Except now what she earns is tax free and her accommodation is payed for too. All she pays for is her utilities and that's it!

Bump because I'm interested too!

We've been in LA for 2 years, moved here for DH work and anticipate being here another 2 - whether stay depends on whether I can get work once I get my green card but I know I don't want to stay forever and while I think I want to be back in the UK for DC secondary school (they're currently 5&2) I would def like an adventure inbetween.

Sadly while I would bugger off to India and set up a hostel or just take a TEFL course and stick a pin in a map, DH is cautious about leaving the career ladder (and he's more interested in "being secure" than I am!)

Has anyone just up and gone with DC in tow?

Yes, we did.

We left the UK and normal jobs (engineering/R&D) with our 2 and 6 year old boys and moved to Canada with no employment pre-arranged.

We spotted our property for sale, online, in June. We weren't actually looking to move - just stumbled across it while looking for holiday accomodation, not real estate!

Seeing the pictures and property description was enough to make us want to move (DH was born in Canada, so it was pretty easy for us to do so...) I'd already totally fallen for the place, so just sent DH, with his sensible head on, to stay for 2 weeks in July and decide whether it was really as good as it seemed. I should say that we had been to the general area on holiday twice before, so I wasn't trusting him to judge the area on behalf of all of us, just the home!

He liked it too, so we sold up and moved over here by mid November, with just enough savings to last us for 6 months.

Our "plan" was to combine DH doing freelance hardware design with me running a B&B. The running a B&B thing only lasted 3 years before the novelty had completely worn off, so I, personally, wouldn't recommend that plan... And thankfully DH got a salaried position 6 months after moving here, so that made things much more financially secure.

It worked out fantastically well for us and we love it over here, but I acknowledge that it could so easily have gone horribly wrong and been a very big mistake!

I read this and thought "who would do that?", then realised I did. After uni DH and I moved from Australia to the north east of England. No jobs, stayed with family for a few weeks. I got a civil service job, DH stayed home finishing his PhD thesis. Then he got a job a few months later. Since then we have both trained as teachers and then moved to Sweden.

Probably should have said that we moved in 2005 and we're still, just over 8 years later, extremely happy here. It's actually the first time since DH and I got together, 22 years ago, that we've not moved on within 5 years of living somewhere :)