Bahtatboy

Josh, my two oldest kids were born abroad (in Japan) and are about your age, but came back to UK relatively young. Nevertheless, they still maintain close ties with Japan, and recognise that working and living in the UK has pros and cons. I think they both have a degree of wanderlust (the eldest went to work in Oz soon after she qualified, for a couple of years) and I wouldn't be surprised if either or both of them end up living and working abroad, perhaps permanently (the one who went to Oz was really taken with NZ, after a few weeks holiday there). They've both chosen careers that they're interested in, and my youngest -- who's just about to start work -- is doing something that fills him with passion.

As you and others have said, a fulfilling and low-stress job is important. It's also vital to recognise that a job that's low-stress for one person may well be high-stress for another. I have (mainly retired) teacher friends, and several just couldn't hack it towards the end, one of them being off with stress for nearly a year (that was in a primary school). But if it pushes your buttons, go do it: almost anything can be rewarding and satisfying if you give it your all.

I'd say that you're right to have a plan, even if it's going to take some time to work through it. Stay focussed, and enjoy it.

Oh, and God's own country isn't a bad place to aim for.

Good luck.

brits1

Hi, We love York and would be one of our choices when our youngest finishes his PGCE Primary in July 2018, have you thought of teaching after your degree? would you also not think of doing a History degree full time, lots of youngsters do that and still can have their own place due to the finance available to students nowadays, York is a great Uni especially for History. We have certainly travelled around the UK since we have returned, some of my favourite places apart from York are Bath and the surrounding areas ie Bradford Upon Avon, Winchester, Norwich and we really love the North Yorkshire area, plenty of market towns and castles plus the scenery is wonderful, really when you "get out and about" away from the big industrial cities there are plenty of lovely smaller cities and market towns all over the UK. Good luck though and its great you have a plan in place. ps have you taken the overnight ferry to Brugge from Hull, its an excellent way to travel and you can get some great bargains plus Brugge is a wonderful old city.

uk_grenada

Well, the grass is definitely greener in the uk, it never has to get bleached by that pesky UV stuff, and is kept damp most of the time of course.

It amuses me that a lot of americans in the dry states spray their grass green for most of the year :-)

j4v3d

You sure you're not part of the police? Proper interrogation right there!

Benson55

Travel while you are young and able to as in later life you may regret not doing so.

scrubbedexpat056

Hi Josh,
I wouldn't offer any practical advice, but a few thoughts. We lived in Hong Kong for four years and France for 2 sets of two years and spent much of our free time backpacking wherever we could get to. One of the most important lessons we have learned is that wherever you go you take your baggage with you. If at 25 you're worried about the choices you are making, you probably always will and consequently never be fully satisfied with what you have. Having said that I believe you can change your mindset.

I think we have a sort of unspoken mental approach that we have developed over the years. Have a list of priorities without any of them being red lines if possible and then carry them with an open mind. Your personal baggage may stay with you, but your ability to cope with or compensate for it will grow and your priorities may well change. One day you will simply recognise where you are at that moment is perfect. It may be forever or it may not. Does that really matter?

I'm a great believer in asking myself 'What's the very worst that can happen?' It may surprise you what you are capable of when the surprise factor is removed from a fear of change.

We are early retirees, not totally through choice, and can't afford to live in UK so we are partly selling up and heading off to live in the canals of France. I know we are extremely lucky to be able to do even this, but the point is we are still taking a risk, only we fully recognise what that risk is. It doesn't hold any worry for us.

You're 25. What's the very worst that can possibly happen?