Anyone ever up, leave & start a whole new life in their 20s?

[King Herald]

glazbagun said:

Anyone ever left their previous life behind? Was it worthwhile, or were you just chasing some fantasy idea of what would bring "satisfaction".

Don't do it, you'll only end up travelling the world for a decade or more, laden with debauchery, visiting dozens of countries, having great fun, working in strange exotic places, partying hard in all the wild places, living the dream and doing the sort of things that a million people dream of.....

Terrible life, wouldn't recommend it to anybody

[Road_Terrorist]

At 22, I had finished university, got a steady job, was thinking about the typical stuff you're supposed to do buying a house (or less senibly a bonkers car). But ultimately I felt bored being the same place, doing the same stuff all that time. Chucked it all in and started from scratch in the UK. Good experience, would recommend a big change of scenery if you feel restless. Believe me the feelings wont go away, if you supress them they will only come back in a bigger way later on, but then you might be settled, with family and you could end up ruining all that to fulfill your supressed desires. Best to do it now while it's still easy. Even if things go horribly wrong it's still a more interesting experience than merely existing and slowly climbing up the corporate ladder.

[redtopmgb]

briSk said:

more importatnt than anything in this thread...

..i fully hope 'redtopmgb' posts some pictures in reader's cars.. that sounds a brilliant project! one of my hypothetical projects would be a k20a into an mgb roadster so i am 'loving the idea'..!

i can put some pics up, unfortunately its not much to look at at the mo, a stripped down car with th odd patch of rust being delt with, an engine in amongst other random piles of parts, a lot of hopes and dreams and not a lot of time currently to achieve them in. will put some up soon tho for you.

[Puggit]

Aged 26/27 living in London, working in a crappy but enjoyable job (running the 1900 vehicle carfleet for Coca-Cola and looking after the mobile phones). Girl I thought I could marry treated me like sh!t.

Paid £1000 to go on an IT training course, where they found you a job at the end as well. Ended up with a job offer in Reading at one of the world's largest software companies.

Didn't think twice about just leaving and leaving all my friends behind and started a whole new (and enjoyable) life.

Fair enough, I'm not that far away though!

[briSk]

redtopmgb said:

briSk said:

more importatnt than anything in this thread...

..i fully hope 'redtopmgb' posts some pictures in reader's cars.. that sounds a brilliant project! one of my hypothetical projects would be a k20a into an mgb roadster so i am 'loving the idea'..!

i can put some pics up, unfortunately its not much to look at at the mo, a stripped down car with th odd patch of rust being delt with, an engine in amongst other random piles of parts, a lot of hopes and dreams and not a lot of time currently to achieve them in. will put some up soon tho for you.

you may as well start a thread and add stuff to it even if it takes ages to complete. this is the sort of project that the dafter amongst us will appreciate!

[redtopmgb]

briSk said:

redtopmgb said:

briSk said:

more importatnt than anything in this thread...

..i fully hope 'redtopmgb' posts some pictures in reader's cars.. that sounds a brilliant project! one of my hypothetical projects would be a k20a into an mgb roadster so i am 'loving the idea'..!

i can put some pics up, unfortunately its not much to look at at the mo, a stripped down car with th odd patch of rust being delt with, an engine in amongst other random piles of parts, a lot of hopes and dreams and not a lot of time currently to achieve them in. will put some up soon tho for you.

you may as well start a thread and add stuff to it even if it takes ages to complete. this is the sort of project that the dafter amongst us will appreciate!

i keep changing th project by slight bits too, its like a minor evolution every time i work on th car. wil start a thread soon tho, jus for you!

[Blukoo]

My friend is 19. His mum and dad split up a few years ago and his dad moved away to Australia. He was having a bit of a rough time and decided he needed a new start in life.

Just a few months ago, he got a visa and moved over to Australia to stay with his dad. Last time i spoke to him, he was loving it and although he misses his mates he hasn't looked back...

[parakitaMol.]

20's is exactly the time to be doing this! and again in your 30's if you like, and 40's - life's there to be lived!

I've changed direction two or three times and it's always been positive even though I'm not sure at the time, but doing it it removes preconceived fears of trying new things and helps you realise the only barriers that exist are in your mind.
Don't think the "what might go wrong" thoughts, apply the "what's the worst that could happen?" once you've dealt with that in your head, you'll be fine.

[215cu]

Yep, left Uni @ 21, upped sticks from Salford and went to live in West London on my own with £10 in my pocket and an overdraft, all my mates were in Manchester.

It was tough but worth it, very happy and it was the right thing to do.

[shadowninja]

I'm not a believer in "you might get hit by a bus tomorrow" (you generally don't) or "life's too short" (cos it's ing long), however if you don't do the things you want to do then you may regret not doing it if you don't have the opportunity to do it later. If your life and financial situation dictate that it is possible for you to do what you want, then go for it. If not, try to figure out how you can make it possible. (I don't mean get a loan.)

[jumpingloci]

I'd say go for it chap, no regrets and all that.

Last year I was in the same boat so thought sod it, walked into the travel agent, booked a ticked to oz and buggered off on a working holiday visa. Arrived, looked for work, found one on a car mag and had an awesome year.

The rub is having to come back, but there's always another place, another adventure. Do it and stop talking about it would be my advice.

[zagato]

I worked in London for ten years, but got fed up at 30. Now I do the same thing but for myself, working (surfing ) from home on a laptop. I earn a similar amount for 10% of the work. I don't miss those delayed trains in the middle of winter!

ps

Now I am the proud father of a beautiful baby girl I realise how shallow and empty my life was before, by comparison. There's more to life than drinking and strippers. I think.

Edited by zagato on Friday 7th December 17:13

[Ciaran]

zagato said:

There's more to life than drinking and strippers.

Edited by zagato on Friday 7th December 17:13

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[GetCarter]

I was a lecturer at 22 and left to join a circus. Does that count?

Never regretted it either (the leaving, not the circus... that was a bit grim).

[-DeaDLocK-]

I'm Malaysian. At 19 I upped sticks to Bristol (I have Right of Abode in the UK). Totally clean sheet, and nothing except 500 quid. Made a decent life. Five years later I was bored and upped sticks again and came back to Malaysia. Once again, totally clean sheet, with a tiny bit of money.

That was two years ago. I am now 26 and getting itchy again... (though for me I think satisfaction will come with attempting to get off my arse and drive forward a small business I acquired when I first came back - so far it's just been ticking along and paying my bills. Time to up the ante, especially when I know we have no competition and the market is large, if only our potential customers knew about us!).

Sometimes geography isn't everything, but it sure does play a significant role.

Go for it. The LAST thing you want is to look back 20 years from now and regret never giving it a go. What's the worse that could happen?

[bodhi]

Puggit said:

Aged 26/27 living in London, working in a crappy but enjoyable job (running the 1900 vehicle carfleet for Coca-Cola and looking after the mobile phones). Girl I thought I could marry treated me like sh!t.

Paid £1000 to go on an IT training course, where they found you a job at the end as well. Ended up with a job offer in Reading at one of the world's largest software companies.

Didn't think twice about just leaving and leaving all my friends behind and started a whole new (and enjoyable) life.

Fair enough, I'm not that far away though!

Out of interest, which course did you take? I'm thinking of doing a similar thing. I want out of the crappy jobs I seem to end up in round here, and am more than happy to move for the promise of a better job and a career. I've spent the first 27 years of my life doing the fun stuff, I guess it's probably about time I got serious.

Ish.

[Landlord]

parakitaMol. said:

I've changed direction two or three times and it's always been positive even though I'm not sure at the time

I think he's OK with his sexuality, para. Though thanks for the contribution.

[shadowninja]

-DeaDLocK- said:

drive forward a small business I acquired when I first came back - so far it's just been ticking along and paying my bills. Time to up the ante, especially when I know we have no competition and the market is large, if only our potential customers knew about us!

From your profile:
"Occupation: Allsorts"

So you put the tiny dots on the sweets then?

[tinman0]

glazbagun said:

But on the other hand I dont want to.

then don't.

i'm in my 30s and things haven't gone to plan, so its time for a change. sold the company on Monday, heading to Florida on Sunday, back for the PH Show in Jan, and off to Marrakesh 3 days afterwards with MsT. haven't decided where i'll be in Feb. and as for March, who knows. part of me says not to stop when i get to Marrakesh.

[brayash]

I'm 22, and moved to Germany in August this year. Was working in sales in Wlewyn Garden City, in what I initially thought was a nice job. Company car, got out of the office etc...

Took me nine months to accept it wasn't for me. Even thought the money wasn't bad, I felt old before my time. I studied as a sound engineer before I started work, and thought maybe I should do something er... related.

Cue finding an available job in Germany (fortunately I'm half German so can already speak the lingo) and thinking " it". Packed my suitcase into the 205 and got on a ferry.

Since arriving I've got a new girlfriend, a flat that would be waaaaaay out of my league in England and a job that's truly enjoyable. I miss my mates, but it's not as bad as it once would have been without email and facebook etc. After all, you can always go back. Granted the job may not be there, but my view was the same as yours in that as long as I'm not tied down too much, I may as well make the most of the freedom I have.

I still plan to come back to England eventually, but it's all life experience. I earn far less money now than I did, but the restlessness I was feeling has disappeared. And as for the people saying buy yourself a fast car - it was actually quite nice to get away from a group of guys (ie my mates) all driving cars I wouldn't have been able to afford for years. If you're not surrounded by them, it's easier to ignore them for a while (am I on the right forum here...?) and learn a few life lessons - rather than pining over what your next motor's gonna be.

Oh - and I now live about an hour from the 'ring