Escape (d) the 9 to 5

Fear

2012-01-23T17:22:00.000Z

I am starting to realise that since the "escape" I have been making decisions based on Fear.

I realise that I have been searching for certainty. Nothing is 100% risk free is it? I have been guilty of black and white thinking. The constant need to analyse every move and every decision to death is getting me down. It is a difficult habit to break, in part it is attributable to my job, and my depressive thinking is also partly responsible. Being optimistic and carefree is not who I am. I am pessimistic by nature. But I am trying to change.

We are in the wrong place again. We are going to pack up the rented house and head for new pastures. Will we buy a boat to live on? Or will we finally hold our hands up and admit that we cannot find a sustainable living situation in this country.

It is fear that is keeping us here in this house. It is fear telling me to buy a house now any sort of house so I will be safe and warm and dry in my old age. But I know deep down that buying a house in this country is not right for us.

I have struggled to accept the fact that we may never "settle" in one place. We may never build or be part of a community in a traditional sense. Sometimes, well a lot of the time it feels like a large void. I have struggled to deal with the sadness of the past and the fact that I am still suffering from the consequences of the past. My childhood was not peaceful and stable.

I wonder whether we could live in Spain. We at least need to try.

Working 9 - 5

2011-12-11T15:34:00.001Z

Our stay in Ibiza was wonderful again.

Whenever I get get off the aeroplane I get this feeling in my chest. It is a difficult feeling to describe, perhaps it is a sense of contentment, a feeling of being home, a feeling of just fitting there. This time the weather was cooler although still warm, we were still able to sit and and swim in November. Even now writing about it I long to be back there. The scenery there is quite dramatic, although part of Spain there is something else going on there, by that I mean that you can still feel the influence of the ancient moors and the Phoenicians. There is something about those green hills, some magic that is difficult to describe.

Will Ibiza ever be more to us than a place to spend some part of the year? I don't know. Could we afford to live there? Maybe. It would probably require a lottery win for us to buy property there. It is because I don't really know what I want that I cannot make a commitment to anything. How long will I feel like this? Will we ever settle somewhere? Perhaps we just haven't found it. Should we be doing what makes us happy now, or should we be concentrating on building some security for the future, because there is a conflict between the two.

I have a confession to make. I am working again, doing what I used to do before. BUT it is only a six week contract. The pay is decent. And I am actually enjoying the work. The downside is it requires a hotel stay 4 nights a week. We still have the rented house in Wales which we go to at the weekend.

I do wonder how some people live in the same place and do the same things and go to the same job all their lives. Personally I have undergone incredible growth and change over the last 10 years. This is part of my issue with settling or committing to something somewhere, what if I change my mind, what if I outgrow it? I have wanted different things at different points in my life. That is why I continue to keep things flexible and non permanent. I continue to rent a house but I question the financial wisdom in this.

We have resolved to go to Portugal in the spring to have a look around. Perhaps we could find a small home there in a fishing village near the coast. Somewhere not too far from an airport.

One thing I am sure of is that I want/need to live near the sea. I don't think living out in the sticks is for us, I don't think I am really ready for that yet.

Back to Ibiza

2011-10-18T17:22:00.000+01:00

Well the last few weeks have been difficult.

Both DH and I have had a huge crisis of confidence about exactly what the hell we are doing, where we are going with our lives etc.

At the most basic level we are incredibly bored. We lack purpose and direction. We both miss a sense of achievement and having something to focus on.

When you dont work there is a HUGE amount of free time to fill. We have found that hobbies and outdoor activities only take you so far. DH is really struggling with having lots of unstructured free time. He doesnt like it, he needs something to do everyday.

We have been unable to secure the casual work that we had hoped for. The economy is fucked. What is the point of being in the UK if we cannot work? This is the question we ask ourselves.

So we got on a flight and came back to Ibiza.

Isla bonita and a new plan?

2011-09-26T10:49:00.001+01:00

We are stuck in a rut at the moment.

We have acknowledged to ourselves that our future does not lie here. We have come to the conclusion that we do not want to buy property here. There is something lacking for us here.

We need to move forward, on to something else. The problem is that the other options seem just as unpalatable as staying where we are now. We do feel the need to build some security for ourselves. We do not want to get into the rut of paying rent in perpetuity, we are not getting any younger.

The other problem with renting is that it always feels very temporary. It is difficult therefore to build any sort of life.

Yet again all of the reasons why I wanted out of the UK in the first place are ringing in my ears like bells. Land/property is too expensive in this country for us. The affordable parts are grim and uninspiring. Anywhere remotely cute/pretty/inspiring costs a fortune and we would have to return to the full time grind for that.

We have just returned from a break in Ibiza, I could really see us spending a lot of time there. Ibiza off the beaten track is such a beautiful island, its a happy place, chilled out, laid back. But the cost of living there is higher than here.

We are thinking about living on a narrowboat here so we have a base here and then we can spend time in Ibiza. But a narrowboat is a depreciating asset. I also worry about rust. DH says he can do a lot of the maintenance himself, but I worry that if we wanted to sell the boat in years to come it could be practically worthless through depreciation.

I just dont know what to do.

A year to the day

2011-07-29T17:49:00.000+01:00

It was a year ago today that I escaped office grind.

I cant believe that time has passed so quickly. Time never went quickly when I worked the grind. The days, weeks and months used to seem endless.

I have noticed a marked improvement in my physical, mental and emotional health since The Escape. This must be down to the fact that I now no longer work in an office and I moved out of the city. I no longer have the stress of the job. In fact it amazes me how much time work actually consumed of my waking hours.

Now I can look out the window and see trees and mountains. I now ride my bike for transportation. DH has the car all week since he is still working away. If I didn't ride my bike I would not be able to get around. I've lost quite a bit of weight being more active. Now I can just ride out of the front door and within minutes I can be at the beach or on a cycle path into the mountains. THAT seems like such a luxury to me.

I always found peace and solace in the outdoors, it calms me it reduces my anxiety. I think more people need to enjoy nature. Contentment and peace of mind is NOT attained by working one's self to the bone. What good is money when health is poor? We do not need to live in big houses with huge mortgages and drive big expensive cars. It is these things which keep us chained to our jobs, the shackles of modern slavery. Less is so much more.

There are a lot of unanswered questions I have about the future, about how and where we will live our lives. If you had told me a year ago that I would be living where I am living now I would have laughed. I would NEVER have thought that we would be living here. But I believe that you see things with fresh eyes at different points in your life. The truth is I really don't know where we will be next year. Sometimes this saddens me. I really do feel the need to build a home. The itinerant nature of my childhood has carried over into my adult life. Once I joined the professional working world I found that the cycle of moving all the time carried on as I had to go wherever the work was.

I feel I need to rid myself of this gnawing dissatisfaction of being rootless. Or, do I make peace and accept it? Buddhism tells us that the problem is not the problem, the solution is acceptance of the problem.

Meaningful work

2011-07-01T11:43:00.003+01:00

When I worked the office grind I used to dream and fantasize about unlimited free time. I dreamt of freedom. Freedom from a schedule, freedom from a desk in an office, freedom from the stress of the job. I dreamt of freedom to do whatever I wanted day in day out. Freedom to climb mountains every day. Freedom from cities and concrete buildings. Freedom to cycle through forests with the wind in my hair. I wanted freedom to design my own life.

Now that I've got what I want can I handle it? This life is not for everyone. You have to take charge of your own entertainment. People wonder what I do all day, they ask don't I get bored, don't I feel lost without the sense of purpose that work brings?

The answer is, no and yes and sometimes. But the truth is that I could not return to my old life now. You see I feel that the work ethic is so ingrained in us that people now cannot imagine life without work, and I find this sad. Most people are not prepared to take responsibility for their own lives, the thought of freedom actually frightens them.

But, it was never my intention not to do some sort of "work". Even though its been almost a year since The Escape I am still in the early stages of discovering what I want. The great thing is that I can and do climb mountains most days, I can and do ride my back with the wind in my hair. I now grow vegetables!

However I think we humans are complex creatures and like it or not we need other humans around us. The truth is that I do miss some social interaction. I used to think that I wanted to go and live on an island on my own, I was very bitter, angry and dejected. Being somewhat introverted I find socialising difficult.

Ideally I would have liked some sort of part time work, something fun like working in a cafe or waitressing. Those jobs are few and far between, and in the area where I live there is great competition for them. These days there is a formal application process for these part time unskilled jobs. You actually need a CV to serve coffee??? My CV is very technical, I don't stand a chance.

The other thing is that I do miss the intellectual stimulation of my old job. I have thought about retraining, I'd like to do something involved in public service. But you wonder whether there is any point in retraining without the certainty of a job at the end of it. I looked into retraining as a Nurse, however my GP put me off this and suggested that I study medicine instead. There is a post graduate fast track course in medicine which is designed for mature students with a degree. Now this really got me thinking. I have always been interested in medicine but this is a HUGE commitment. For a while thinking about it I got excited about it. But would I be just trading one treadmill for another? This would be ideal for me in a way that it is helping people, its "giving back". But it is a big commitment. But I do need something to do. This does mean that we are committed to being here for long term.

Do we have many other options anyway about where to live? Portugal living is still on my mind but I worry that it could be too one dimensional, I think I may need more variety. I also have to think about DH. DH said he was bored and has gone back to work, its not permanent work, but he has taken a temporary contract for 3 months as a locum. He says he needed something to do and missed the social interaction. Hmmm I do wonder sometimes whether we want the same things.

It isnt here

2011-05-10T15:36:00.005+01:00

Well after my last post I woke up this morning and felt completely different about things.

Why is it that when I write something on the blog I often change my mind the day after? Is it something to do with the process of blogging?

Today I went for a long walk up the mountain. I do my best thinking up there.

Sometimes I think so much I feel like my head is going to explode.

Today I feel that we are not meant to be here. We are not meant to be living in this country.

I just cant fathom how we are going to be able to achieve that life that we truly desire here. We are desperate to settle and to buy our own place, but I just cannot bring myself to buy anything. I just don't think we would be happy living in an overpriced box.

It is fear that is keeping us here. Here we are in a safe little house.

But it isn't what I want. Even here I feel it is too claustrophobic. Its not as bad as city living, no where near as bad. But it doesn't feel right. To feel less claustrophobic, would involve living somewhere more rural which means spending a lot more money, more than I want to spend.

We don't have anything in common with anyone here. I am not sorry that we came here to live for a while because it has given me the chance to have some re-connection with family members after a period of estrangement. But I have realised that I have to make all the effort. No one comes to see us. We have to go and see them. Finally I am at peace with that. Now I don't expect too much. No more drama, no more pain. I want peace in my life.

I have to do what is right for DH and I and not what I think would make others happy.

We are going to have to make compromises.

We are going to have to get to like the sun.

Drifting

2011-05-07T15:36:00.005+01:00

What makes a home? What does the word home mean?

Home is something that DH and I still search for. Is home something more than four walls? I always imagined that it would be a safe place where we would feel at peace, content, at "one".

We are still unsure of what we will do and where we will live. I used to say to DH that all doors would be considered. But I think we have slowly come to the conclusion that living in southern Europe is probably out of the question for us. The main reason for this is that we like cool weather. We have never been hot weather people or sun worshippers. Mostly we prefer rain and overcast weather. I realise that there probably is a certain level of acclimatisation to the heat but, I don't want to endure, I want to live and enjoy the great outdoors without feeling like we have to hide inside because of the ferocious heat, which is usually what we ended up doing in the past.

The other thing is that DH gets bored easily. He does like to have some work to do. DH likes to pick up odd jobs, he likes to feel that he is being useful and he misses the transactional nature of working. This is something that I did not anticipate. I should have realised that DH was probably not as disenchanted with the world of work as I was. This is another issue why moving to southern Europe could be problematic.

Another realisation is that I don't feel like I hate living in this country anymore. Yes, there are places where I would REALLY rather live, but I have to face reality that unless I win the lottery or find a a spare half a million dollars so I can buy a green card I will never be able to live in Oregon or Washington state.

I think we have also realised that we really want a house of our own. We have looked in the South Wales area and nothing appeals to us, in fact a lot of it is all rather depressing, I mean souless, grey, boring, uninspiring. I dont want to buy the wrong thing and end up regretting it. But if we did find a house we liked it would save us money on rent.

I suppose we are just drifting at the moment.

Lets have a republic

2011-04-27T14:32:00.002+01:00

I don't believe in elitism.

I believe that everyone is equal.

I am not a royalist. What a beautiful distraction the establishment have given us with the royal wedding. We are living in the worse recession or depression since the 1930's. We have massive unemployment, people that cannot afford to buy a decent house to live in and skyrocketing inflation. Wages haven't grown in real terms for a long time.

Never mind about the depression though at least we have the royal wedding to look forward to.

I wonder what Castro would have to say about it all.

The quest for balance

2011-02-14T14:31:00.000Z

The major problem with working the grind is lack of balance. Its an all or nothing scenario.

The major aim of the escape, was to achieve balance in our lives. Instead of living in a concrete jungle and working 5 days a week we wanted to move away from the central focus of our lives being about making money. Now we have achieved that, but we still do not have the balance that we crave. If you like we have gone from "all" to "nothing". From being on the go all the time, to not having very much to do for long passages of time all week.

It was never our intention to give up working completely. We had built in the need to do some part time work as part of the escape plan. I am too young and have too much energy to sit around and do nothing. The scary thing is that the less you do the lazier you get.

We always thought that we would find some part time work. Something fun to do, nothing to do with law. Perhaps we would work in food retail. But the part time job seems to be very elusive. Strangely, most jobs seem to be full time or 20 hours a week spread over multiple days. We don't want to work multiple days, and we don't want to work nights. Its seems that we are living in an area of high unemployed, where the local workforce is largely unskilled and so the sort of jobs that we are looking for are probably in high demand.

And lets face it, we could do with the money. One thing that I failed to appreciate before planning the escape was that you need a certain amount of money to entertain yourself when you have a lot of time on your hands. I never thought I would say that. You see when we were working the grind in the concrete jungle, all our spare time was spent doing free things in the outdoors, we were gasping for the outdoors and that fresh mountain air, literally.

I dont know what the solution is. Perhaps where we are is not the place for us long term. It would be lovely to achieve that balance though.

so far so good

2011-01-16T11:09:00.010Z

Its been nearly six months since The Escape. That six months has flown by. Honestly, time did not pass so quickly when we were working the grind. The days just fly by here.

So how are we feeling? Well I have to say that I feel that there has been a vast improvement in my emotional health. It was really this aspect that was probably the biggest concern to me. I think that living in Manchester city centre was completely the wrong place for us to live. It simply wasn't congruent with who we are and what we needed out of life. We were there simply to earn money and that was it.

Photo - Afan Valley

I still don't know what we will do long term. Some days I think we might stay here, other days I don't know whether where we are living at the moment offers all we truly desire. Here we have mountains and coast on our doorstep. There are bike trails and hiking trails and of course the beach. Housing is relatively cheap to buy here. People are friendly. Life is just so much easier here, but perhaps a lot of that is not having to work. I don't want to portray this place as being perfect or idyllic because it isn't.

But there is something stopping me. Sometimes I feel that it is simply too early to think about putting down roots and that we should keep our options open. The other thing is that everywhere I have ever lived I have wanted to move on within a few years!

The other issue on my mind is self sufficiency. The rising cost of living is a concern. If you own your own "house" outright, grow your own food and perhaps even produce some of your own fuel then you can at least insulate yourself from inflation, peak oil etc. Cost of land in this country is prohibitive. So what about going abroad to do this?

Going abroad is such a huge decision. It is a huge decision to make because its got to be the right decision otherwise it is very complicated to undue. Since we are forced to focus on living in Europe one possible ideal location which springs to mind is Portugal.

I still want a little house with some land in the woods surrounded by trees. Rural Portugal offers some great bargains. Lets say we can buy some land with a building licence for 20k Euros. Somewhere where we can grow our own food, drink our own water, have a wood burning stove and burn our own wood from the forest. Somewhere where we can achieve some measure of self sufficiency. We could live there very cheaply, possibly on half of what we are living on at the moment. We could have a better quality of life, a "house" outright, space and some land. There would be money for weekend excursions down to the coast, long lazy lunches out etc.

But how much money would it take to make a semi ruin habitable? I suppose this could be a long discussion in itself. Could we do it for another 20 - 30k Euros on top of the price of the land? Is this realistic? We would need to get professional help in to do this.

I think it would be a mistake to view the self sufficient life as an "easy" life. Growing your own food and working your land etc is hardly "easy". The other thing you have to factor in is how would we fare when we are old? What support systems would be in place? I mean would you get to a point where you would be unable to grow food and chop wood? Patricia in http://www.livingthedreamportugal.blogspot.com/ recently reminded me that it takes a lot of hard work for her and her husband to sustain their current lifestyle. Would we be so keen or indeed able to swing an axe when we are in our 70's or 80's? I also wonder whether DH and I are really ready for rural Portugal?

There is also the concern of the recent economic troubles in Portugal. Portugal has been living beyond its means for sometime. I worry about high inflation of the sort that we have seen recently in Greece. I have been going to Greece for the last 10 years and I have seen a great increase in the cost of goods and services in that time.

And lets not forget the long hot summers. Could I or could we put up with the heat? How hot does it get? We dont really like the heat. Would we be enduring instead of living?

So I am on the look out for a sustainable living solution. I want a base, a home of my own. Being a travelling nomad does not interest me.

What say you? Speak your mind.

£1,200 a month

2010-12-06T13:19:00.004Z

£1,200 per month is our new budget.

Breakdown as follows:-

Fixed outgoings:-

Rent £470
Council Tax £115.00
Water £53.00
Electricity, say £70.00
Gas, say £70.00
Car insurance £16.00
Internet £15.00
Total £809.00

This leaves £391.00 for everything such as food, petrol and other.

This is a tight budget, but it does work. I have had to estimate the gas and electricity because we have not received bills yet. I may have to adjust the budget for higher bills this winter. DH and I don't need much and we don't buy much apart from food, we are very frugal. In general I dislike eating out, I find restaurants over priced and the portions are too small. I am also at the age where I now see the futility of sitting in pubs and bars spending money on booze. Now sometimes DH and I do enjoy a pint and a burger at Weatherspoons for £6.00 each, particularly on a Monday :) I am not into clothes or shoes and I HATE shopping! Not a typical woman eh? I have had plenty of practice on living on a restricted budget as I have been saving for The Escape for several years.

Obviously if we want to go abroad on holiday or to travel then the budget needs adjusting. But to be honest I wonder lately if travel is all its cracked up to be and whether in fact travel has become the new form of consumerism?

We do plan to get some part time work to bring in a little extra income. But we value our freedom over money. I would rather figure out a way of spending less.

How does this compare to your outgoings every month?

Society, your a crazy breed

2010-11-24T12:42:00.004Z

Since The Escape I have had a lot of time to think and reflect.

I feel myself moving further and further away from the other world. I have a strong desire to spend more and more time in rural settings. I want to plan a road trip taking me to the west of the united states. I want big skies, isolation, scenery, no tourists. My ideal trip would be Idaho, Montana, Washington State, Oregon and maybe North California.

The more time I have for thought and reflection, the more my eyes open. We are ruled by banks and corporations, we have to suffer to politicians telling us that "we are all in this together" while their fellow fat cat politician cronies do their utmost to avoid taxes. No Mr Cameron we certainly are not all in this together so stop insulting our intelligence by telling us that we are.

I read somewhere that living as an iconoclast comes at great expense. There is a great cost for not conforming to group rules, and it makes sense that when a person is ostracized that she would be more likely to be depressed, anxious, or both.

I still feel the need to Escape Britain, I don't just want a holiday or a break, I want a somewhere and something sustainable. Am I searching for utopia?

Society, your a crazy breed
I hope your not lonely without me

You cant beat a bit of Eddie Vedder.

Lost

2010-11-02T10:23:00.002Z

I am feeling rather down at the moment.

I am not sure why I feel this way but something is missing. It feels like a hole or a void.

I feel overwhelmed. I am tired of feeling this way.

I don't know what to do to fix this. I just want some equilibrium.

It feels like I am descending into darkness again.

I wanted a new start, a new me, a new place. The old records again are playing in my head.

This just feels wrong.

Perhaps I need some counselling again.

Downsizing

2010-10-23T10:05:00.003+01:00

Following on from our holiday in Devon DH and I have rented a house for 6 months in South Wales.

We decided that we really do need a base, we were tired of living out of a suitcase. It turns out that we might just have needed a good 3 week holiday to get our "fix" of sun, sea and good R&R. You see that was quite a novelty for DH and I. The last time we had a holiday of anything more than a week was FIVE YEARS AGO. The last two week holiday DH and I had was in 2005 when we went to South West Florida.

For now, we do not want to live abroad. I realise that part of the theme for this blog was to escape Britain. But escape to where, well that horse has been discussed and flogged to death by me on this blog. We have discovered that for now we want to live somewhere in an English speaking country with a temperate climate where there are no immigration issues. With that said living in Britain is the most obvious choice.

The other thing we have come to realise is that we all have to be somewhere, and that it costs something to be anywhere. Wherever you are you "gotta pay". I used to rant on and on about the evils of rent/mortgages/bills etc but the reality is that it costs money to live anywhere, and travel is not cheap. Before people start telling me that travel is not expensive let me say that DH and I are not interested in roughing it or backpacking (ive done that before) or trying to live in SE Asia on 2p per day. Dont get me wrong, DH and I love camping holidays, and have often stayed in hostels in this country and Spain, but doing this as a long term lifestyle choice is not for us.

I always wanted to live between the mountains and the sea and that is now exactly where we are. There is a 2 minute drive to a lovely beach and I can see the mountains from my window. Now this is not a place to live if you want to be amongst progressive forward thinking people, it is certainly not sophisticated and there probably isn't a cocktail to be seen for about 12 miles. But I have "done" all that. I would much rather be around "real" people, in a place where people have lived all their lives.

Let me tell you that the house is a small two bedroom modern semi detached and we are only paying £470.00 for rent. That's right £470.00! This seems like a bargain to me. We can afford this. The last time I paid so little rent was 12 years ago! My tip for early or semi retirement or escaping the rat race or whatever you want to call it is to move to an area with a lower cost of living.

For now this feels right. I say for now because we do not know how we will feel in 6 months time. For me I have found that I have wanted and needed different things at different stages of my life. 5 - 10 years ago living where we are now would not have suited me because for one thing the location does not offer what I wanted at that time, for example there is little opportunity for professional well paid jobs in this area etc.

But I dont need a well paid job now.

I love mondays

2010-10-05T12:34:00.006+01:00

In my old life Mondays were something to dread. I would drag myself out of bed, be forced to deal with the issues of hair and makeup, quickly drink some coffee and then out the door into the concrete jungle to the office. More often that not I would be in a foul mood, not having enough coffee and the thought of sitting at a desk doing paperwork for several hours really made me cheerful.

But not anymore. Yesterday was a Monday and how different my Mondays are these days. We have been sleeping until 10.00 am, drinking coffee until midday etc. Yesterday was one of those days when the weather was 17 degrees c and sunny so we went and sat on the beach until 5.00 pm and just read and watched the magnificent waves. The north Devon coastline is so dramatic. There are few people here and we were the only ones on the beach.

I think that my mind is starting to slow down. In my former job I had to be organised I had to plan, plan and plan again. As a litigator you have to be 20 steps in front, always trying to anticipate the next move of your opponent, living by diaries and court appointment dates and other deadlines for fear of missing something and worse still being negligent. The constant fear of being negligent used to keep me awake at night sometimes.

It is so good to have freedom, before to get any time off I had to go through an arm twisting exercise to take annual leave. Of course the boss would not deny me my statutory rights, he would not decline my request for leave but it was almost as if he went out of his way to make it as difficult as possible for my leave requests to be authorised, and that became extremely wearing.

However, I do have thoughts of doubt, sometimes I think that we were mad to give up the money that we were earning, could we have done another year? Anyway too late now. I am learning to quieten the organising part of my brain and just take each day as it comes.

And back again

2010-09-27T09:50:00.003+01:00

We are now back in the UK.

We had a very nice holiday but we came to the conclusion that we probably did not want to live on the island of Mallorca full time. We anticipated that we would target the north west area of the island to "live". Well we visited this area and whilst parts of it were visually stunning, I felt that the area had been spoilt by tourism, large imposing hotels and far TOO MANY PEOPLE. And it was hot.

I had visions of us settling a while in the areas of port andratx or andratx itself or San Telmo, close to some great walking and not too far from the sea. But we just were not feeling it. And it was really too damn hot to make us want to commit to a 6 month lease. The reality of living in Mallorca had hit is, nice place to go on holiday, but unless you have bags of money it may be more of an endurance than an experience.

I think we hit the island at the wrong time, we should have waited and gone in mid October, but when you don't have anywhere to live you just have to go and make the best of it.

DH and I also learned a few things about ourselves and what our (dare I say it) comfort levels are. We found that we were just spending more and more money on the island just to get comfortable, I hate hard spanish beds!

We also learned that we really do need a base, were are sick and tired of living out of suitcases . In hindsight we probably should have just gone with some rucksacks, well you live and learn don't you. We didn't plan it very well. Perhaps I should start a new blog and call it Pissed off with Luggage? :) What is surprising to me is that I thought that we would really enjoy wandering around, but instead of feeling liberated I found the moving around quite stressful.

We do need somewhere to live. Do we buy a house, do we buy a house on wheels, do we look into a boat? Some things to think about.

But can I say again how wonderful it is to be FREE from the 9 - 5 grind. Yes we haven't got it all figured out yet but I am so thankful to be out of the dirty concrete jungle.

We are now in North Devon! What a gorgeous place. Yesterday we went to Cornwall to do some coastal walking and the scenery is fantastic. As DH and I drove back to our little rented holiday home yesterday the sun was shining and "More than a feeling" by Boston was playing on the radio and I have to say that I felt so happy that I thought I was drunk. I have not felt like that in a long time.

Cala Figuera

2010-09-18T14:12:00.003+01:00

Photo- Cala Figuera

Having left Santanyi we are now in Cala Figuera, this place seems to be more bohemian and arty. Lots of boats and lots of fisherman selling fresh fish from the catch of the day. This place is MUCH more tranquilo than Santanyi and MUCH cheaper. We are staying at a small aparthotel and for the past few days there has only been DH and I by the pool, its like having a villa all to ourselves.

The weather remains problematic, so we sit in the shade taking it easy.

Its tough this island living :)

A cloud appears

2010-09-17T14:57:00.003+01:00

photo - cala pi

Well this morning we got up and looked out of the window and it was cloudy!

Great we thought. So after the obligatory four cups of coffee we strapped on our walking boots. I wanted to head for cala pi which I heard was a beauty spot with a 3 hour hike nearby.

Cala Pi is lovely, crystal clear water, quiet little beach with a few sailing boats moored. I said to DH that we needed a boat and I want to learn how to sail a boat.

Well, it might have started out cloudy but it was humid, apparently 70% humidity. Anyway we started out coastal walk but after an hour it became obvious that it was still too hot and then the sun started to come out. We started back on our return. Trying to walk/hike in the heat is not a good idea, for one thing you can never carry enough water with you.

After cutting the walk short we walked back down to the beach and literally ran into the water. Never has a swim felt so wonderful.

The photo above is for Frank C who wanted more photos.

Hay mucho color acqui!

2010-09-16T14:08:00.005+01:00

It is very hot here.

It appears to be getting hotter not cooler. The last few days have been in the early thirties, some days 35 degrees c. Too hot to do much, certainly too hot to go hiking or to go running. It has become very wearing.

According to the weather forcast we were supposed to have rain and clouds. No sign of any rain or clouds.

By now I would have expected it to be cooling down.

We are thinking about returning to the UK. If we did that then we could always return here later on in the year when it cools down, or go somewhere cooler.

DH and I are not really sunworshippers,we came here for the laid back lifestyle and the great outdoors, well its really too hot to enjoy the outdoors. There is a lot to be said for living in a temperate climate.

I'm not having a moan, I am so thankful for the escape from the grind, and well you cant have everything :)

something doesnt feel right

2010-09-11T15:49:00.004+01:00

I think that next week is week 7 since the escape. It still feels great to be free.

The mornings are wonderful. I drink lots of coffee in the morning and sit on my balcony overlooking beautiful turquoise clear water. Santanyi is indeed beautiful and looks even better in reality than in photos. I can go for a run in the morning and snorkil and eat tapas for lunch. The weather is beutiful and still relatively hot. Either it is cooling down or we are aclimatizing as I never would have thought that we would be able to run in temperatures of 28c albeit we choose a route which affords us some cover from the pine trees.

But I still dont feel "at one". I have tried to analyze these feelings and what comes to mind is that I am fed up of living out of a suitcase, I am fed up of living in hotels. We really need a base of some sort. To get what we really want we would need to comit to a six month lease and well, im just not sure I want to stay on the island that long.

Also, there are still quite a few tourists here at the moment and perhaps I am just not getting the tranquility and peace that I still crave.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this was never about travelling, I dislike travel for travels sake. This was about escaping the 9 - 5 grind and finding somewhere.

Next week we move to a different part of the island, somewhere which is supposed to be bohemian and laid back, perhaps that will suit us better.

Vamos a Mallorca!

2010-09-04T15:13:00.005+01:00

photo - cala santanyi

Tomorrow we are finally off to Mallorca.

August was a long month. DH and I learned that we do not much like being house guests and we do need our space and privacy. We also learned that we are not ready to have dogs, as much as I would love some animals they are a tie and they are really dependants.

Now we are finally free.

So first stop is Santanyi in the south east of the island. I checked the weather forecast and it is 28 degrees c out there at the moment. For the first few weeks we are just going to have a "holiday". Thereafter when the weather cools we are hoping to go hiking up at the north west of the island and have a look around for a base.

I have bought a one way ticket. There is no return date planned.

Hasta la vista :)

good bye august and good ridance

2010-08-29T10:32:00.003+01:00

I cant wait for August to be over. Being homeless is a nightmare during the month of August. It is so expensive to stay at hotels and short term rental accommodation during August. We have managed to duck and dive through August what with the housesitting etc but staying with people is not really my thing, I NEED MY SPACE AND PRIVACY.

And so I look forward to September, when the kids go back to school, the adults go back to work :) and everything again is calm. And I cant wait to get off to Mallorca to begin our new life.

I am still enjoying the escape, although sometimes I get the feeling that I should do something to be productive or I should be doing something to earn money. DH and I have lots of ideas to start a small business. But that will have to come later when we decide how and where we will live.

Its great to be free

2010-08-18T22:11:00.004+01:00

We have now left the housesitting gig. It was nice to have a few weeks of rest and relaxation. We are now staying with a relative. We are certainly paying for our keep as we are doing some backbraking decorating work for a relative. 7 hour days of painting and decorating, phew.

But, it is still wonderful to be free. Today we gave ourselves a day off and went walking in the valley and Forest, the scenery is quite spectacular and the green green grass of home is strangely comforting but also reminiscent of the ghosts of the past.

I do feel different having escaped the grind. As DH and I drove into the area I became overwhelmed by how green the area was, I had forgotten that there were so many mountains or perhaps I never really saw them before. I was also struck by the colour of it all, as opposed to the concrete greyness of the city. Also the roads and streets are clean, in fact spotless.

Sometimes you have to go to come back.

Country living

2010-08-03T15:49:00.005+01:00

We are now house and dog sitting for friends in Cheshire.

It is so quiet and peaceful here. We are in a large detached house. Just across the road is beautiful countryside where we walk everyday. There is a river that we walk along. The water is clean and clear and not black liquid as it was in the city. It is so nice not to have to get in the car for an hour to drive to the countryside. DH and I have noticed that we are both sleeping through the night. I have an annoying sleep walking habit. Another thing I notice is that my acid reflux is much better.

The Lady of the house organised for us to receive an organic fruit and veg box and the stuff tastes fabulous. We have been making fresh soup. Lady also has a herb garden and we have been told to help ourselves. Lady has a cleaner who comes twice a week. I told Lady that there was no need for the cleaner to come whilst she was away as I was happy to keep things tidy etc but Lady insisted. Lady also insisted on ordering us fresh milk everyday from the milkman. Lady has been very kind and left us goodies like wine, chocolates and champagne etc.

I told DH that we cant get used to living like this because now we cant afford it!

This is so much better than city living. I feel far more chilled. Fresh air, I cant believe it. I feel like I am on holiday.

Now the dog, well he is a handful. He is not very old but he needs constant attention and he is very excitable, honestly it feels like a full time job looking after him. Its a good job that he is cute. I hadn't realised what a responsibility dogs are especially puppies.

I must admit that sitting in the family room watching the trees in the breeze made me wonder whether DH and I could have afforded to live like this. Well we could have perhaps just about but we cant anymore. I cant believe I thought that. No, we would both have to work like dogs for the rest of our lives.

We have made the right decision.

I escaped the 9 - 5 !!

2010-08-01T19:21:00.002+01:00

I have now escaped the 9 -5 office grind, forever.

Yes, no more office grind for me. I will make it work no matter what it takes. I am never going back. Furthermore, I am NEVER going to live in a city again.

What a great fracking relief!

More tomorrow.

2 days to go!

2010-07-28T11:04:00.002+01:00

2 days to go until The Escape.

Yesterday I booked one way tickets for DH and I to Mallorca for early September. A one way ticket, imagine that. I have never booked a one way ticket before.

I cant wait to Escape the concrete jungle.

Suddenly I am starting to feel free. I hope that DH and I have the same expectations in relation to frugal living in early retirement. I think we do. Its just that DH sometimes fancies the finer things in life and I would really rather do without them. I prefer the simpler life.

Thats all for now.

Countdown

2010-07-16T11:40:00.004+01:00

Well less than 2 weeks to go now until the escape.

I have been sorting out the bank accounts and putting money aside into an easy access account. I have thrown a lot of stuff out.

Today I made enquiries with an estate agent about the possibility of a 6 month apartment rental in north west Mallorca. If we could get it at the right price I think we may go for it. Browsing on the internet this morning it just caught my eye. Bang on the sea front with beautiful vistas in a quiet residential area, adults only. The sea at the front and the pine woods and mountains at the back. The trouble is that I don't really want to commit to 6 months. I really would prefer 3 months but I think that a short term agreement would cost me a lot more. Anyway lets just see how it goes. I've put the feeler out and its no big deal if they don't go for it. We still plan on going to Mallorca in September for at least a few months irrespective of whether we enter into a long term rental agreement.

After being land locked in a gritty urban area in the North West for so long I am desperate to be live near the coast for a while. Being near the ocean makes me feel different, calmer more zen.

The beauty about planning to go to Mallorca is that I dont need a visa, I can stay as along as I want, I can buy a one way flight (which is what I plan to do) and they wont throw me out if I overstay. I can just turn up and go with the flow. We also plan to spend some time in Menorca and Ibiza.

I just want to go NOW.

But you cant LIVE anywhere in the world....

2010-07-03T16:34:00.004+01:00

I read a lot of travelling blogs or lifestyle design blogs that scream out that you can go anywhere in the world.

Yes I know I can go anywhere in the world, and now I am at a point where I really CAN go anywhere in the world. But I cant LIVE anywhere in the world. There is a huge difference.

The trouble is, I don't just want to go anywhere and everywhere, I have specific places that I want to go and see but I am not into travel just for the sake of it. I am more interested in finding a sustainable living solution. If you are a long time reader of this blog you will know that if I could LIVE anywhere I would live in North Amercia. But, as I have discussed many times on this blog there are no viable visa options. And no I am not about to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a "business (fools) visa" like a lot of expat brits have done and have got into hot water.

And that's the problem. The V word. You cant LIVE anywhere in the world because you need a VISA. I do not want to play hide and seek with the border authorities. I want to be free to come and go as I please.

I have spent a long time living temporarily in places because I have to be there for work to earn money to live etc etc. Now I want find a sustainable living solution.

Just my random thoughts for today.

Getting Excited

2010-06-25T11:36:00.005+01:00

Its almost a month since my last post. I must post more often.

I'm really starting to get excited now. There are now 5 working weeks to go (it still seems too long!) until the escape.

I am REALLY looking forward to being freeeeeeeeee, I will be getting my life back. I realised the other day just how unhappy this life has made me for a long long time. I am feeling a lot more positive about the escape, we just might be able to pull this off.

Having time out of the rat race was never an option for me, I wanted OUT COMPLETELY. When I did locum and contract work I had the opportunity to take some time off for a few months, but nothing had really changed for me. I was still living in the same place, still having to make a living so I could give up work and escape the grind.

So we we are out at the end of July. Initially we are housesitting and dog sitting for a friend for a few weeks. August will be spent here and there in this country. Then in September the rough plan is to go to the Balearic islands (all of them) potentially for 2 - 3 months. Then we may go to the Caribbean and then who knows?

Next spring I fancy travelling around the west coast of North America in a motorhome. From some initial research hiring an RV or a week could run to $1,000k. It appears to be prohibitively expensive to hire an RV for 3 - 6 months. So instead we are considering the idea of buying one on the way in and hopefully selling it on the way out. We need something reliable but we also do not want to spend too much on an RV in case we don't have time to sell it. We would probably start off in Canada so we can go in on 6 month visitors visa. Any tips?

So thats the plan for the next 12 months, although we dont have a concrete itinerary. We are just going to start off in Mallorca and see what feels right and see what comes.

Who knows we may end up being permanent bums in Ibiza beating the drums with the dudes that drive the magic vans :)

Escaping from myself

2010-05-28T14:23:00.003+01:00

In two months time I will escape the 9 to 5. I will no longer have to spend the majority of my waking hours in a sedentary job in an office. I will no longer have to live a lifestyle that stifles and depresses me. I will no longer have to live in a concrete jungle to be close to work because I can’t stand to commute.

The prison gates will be open. But what lies beyond the prison gates? Hopefully peace of mind and perhaps even contentment.

And yet, I still struggle daily with a deep sadness, sometimes, a lot of the time the sadness consumes me. It’s a constant battle to keep up on top of the demons and it has taken years of hard work fighting against them. The past is in the past and we have to live in the now, that is true. But the truth is that I am still living with the consequences of the past, I probably always will be. I acknowledge and try to accept the past but I still dont like the past. I always knew deep down that had the past been different that I would be living a very different life now. That was confirmed to me recently in therapy. It was quite a shock to hear someone else say it.

I am not sure whether therapy was useful or not, it certainly gave me a greater understanding of my “problems”, but no resolution. Sometimes I wonder whether it’s made me worse.

So I fixed the 9 – 5 problem, it took years to fix but I did it. Now I just have to fix me and that job is far more difficult.

No Going Back

2010-05-04T15:44:00.002+01:00

DH and I have given 3 months notice to our employers.

Our apartment lease is up on 10th August.

It still doesnt feel real. I still worry about money and other associated things.

I am not a Robot

2010-04-29T15:42:00.002+01:00

Enough said.

North California

2010-04-27T12:22:00.003+01:00

I've wanted to visit north California for some time.

I want to see the Big Sur (above), Carmel, Monterrey...I remember watching the film "play misty for me" and being mesmerised by the scenery, the stunning coastal drives. I wanted to be Clint Eastwood in that car driving along the coast and I want his house in that film! So much space, so few people, bracing fresh clean air, or so I imagine.

I also want to see Yosemite National Park and Lake Tahoe, we will probably camp there. I'd like to see Sausilito, and DH wants to see the Redwood trees further North.

There is something that draws me to the area, the climate, the contrast between the dramatic coast and the beautiful wilderness.

We are thinking about going to North Cal in September. Flying to san franciso and then driving from there. But having costed the trip up its given me a bit of a fright. We want to go for a month. In terms of accommodation we want to camp and stay in a few hotels. I've found an amazing camp site in the Big Sur. The first time I costed the trip it came out as £7,500!. Then I thought if we camped more we could bring the price down to about £6,000.

The trip would have something to keep both DH and I happy, DH is not a beach person, he loves hiking in the outdoors and wilderness. I like to hike but I also like to sit on quiet beaches watch the waves and just ponder. Hopefully we will get beach and hiking in north cal.

Can I justify spending the money? We could stay somewhere in the Mediterranean at that price for months. But its a holiday of a life time for us and it really is the only place (long haul) that we want to see.

Would it be so bad if....

2010-04-01T16:21:00.004+01:00

Back to the issue of where to go and what to do after The Escape.

Actually, we know what we want to do and what we don't want to do. We want to live again and enjoy life, to rest for a while, to think and to just be. We want to cook, to while away the hours whilst enjoying beautiful scenery. We want to enjoy the great outdoors. We want to be close the sea and close the countryside.

We have decided that we are not really interested in travelling per se, i.e we have no desire to go travelling round Australia or Asia for example. To be honest, DH and I are not very good travellers. We love the Mediterranean. There are parts of the USA that we really want to see such as North California, Oregon, Montana and Idaho.

Cost is also a factor. Lately I have been thinking as to whether it would be so bad if we had a little base in Devon or Somerset? Just somewhere small we could rent for several months and go on extended trips from there. Its funny because when I originally started writing this blog I had visions and ambitions of sailing away from the UK on a plane somewhere with two fingers stuck in the air, ha!

I still want to spend the end of the summer this year and the few months of autumn somewhere in the Mediterranean. DH and I don't like the heat so we need to wait until it cools down.

We are also thinking about the option of housesitting and I am sure that we will do this one day. But for now, we think that we might need to have a something with no commitments or timetables etc.

Nothing is set in stone for now.

Back to the drawing board

2010-03-16T16:48:00.003Z

Well we have just come back from the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus.

It is NOT the oasis of cheap living I dreamed it would be.

Eating and drinking out is mostly about the same price as here in England. I say mostly, some things are cheaper, but overall things cost the same. Take a trip to the supermarket, there you will find that most items are up to THREE times more expensive than over here. Yes THREE. I went to a few supermarkets just to check that there wasn't one supermarket for tourists and one for the locals, but nope the locals were shopping with the tourists and the expats in the same place.

After a little bit of online digging around I found that the official inflation rate in recent times has been about 12%. There has clearly been a time of hyperinflation in the area.

I just cant fathom how the locals live with this cost of living.

We enjoyed our time and the people are lovely warm people. The outdoors are spectacular, both DH and I enjoyed hiking through the mountains.

With that cost of living I don't think we could live there, every time we went to buy something I worried about how much it was going to costs. Housing costs would be a lot cheaper, but if we are spending up to three times as much on food as we are here and worrying about the cost of going out to eat then, its simply not worth the hassle.

I think a lot of expats are using the high interest rates that Turkish banks will pay on savings deposits. Most of them are paying around 10%. I believe that this is how expats are partly funding their retirement. But I consider this to be a risky move given the instability of the economy and the rampant inflation.

Sigh, back to the drawing board.

cyprus calling

2010-03-01T12:27:00.004Z

We are off to North Cyprus next weekend for an exploration trip.

We want to explore the area and get a feel for the cost of living and potential areas for a six month winter stay. It appears to be virtually impossible to get a flight from the airport direct into North Cyprus. The only other alternative is to fly into Turkey and then transfer but we only have a week so its a bit of a rush. So we will fly into Larnaca in the south where our hosts will pick us up and drive us the one and a quareter hour journey accross the border. We will be staying in Bellapais. We have a week so I want to try and get a good look around but at the same time get some relaxation in too.

I am looking forward to the break. After all the stress and busyness that the flat sale brought it now feels like an anticlimax. I think perhaps we should have just escaped straightaway after we sold the flat but now we are signed up to a six month lease so thats the decision made for us really.

I will report back:)

Sold!

2010-02-13T08:14:00.003Z

The flat has SOLD!!!

I think it is just sinking in. The relief I feel is amazing. I feel like a huge monkey has climbed off my back.

We found a buyer last September and we only completed yesterday! Its been quite a stressful four months what with one thing and another. At times I wondered whether the sale would actually go through. I started to think it might never happen. I feel slightly duplicitous not sharing the news earlier but I wanted to announce it when it actually happened.

So whats next? Well now we are still living in the urban jungle but only for several more months and then we are out of here. We are still on track to escape in the autumn so hopefully its just a matter of putting things on automatic pilot.

Now I am completely debt free and I dont owe any one a single penny. I've been debt free for years in terms of consumer debt, ie credit card, loans etc but of course when you have a mortgage you are never really debt free.

I can almost feel the freedom.

Fraught

2010-02-03T17:20:00.004Z

Well the last few weeks have passed like a whirlwind.

There have been some significant developments in the escape plan. But sometimes I feel that the machine has its jaws clenched tightly around me. So tightly that it feels like my are efforts are sometimes in vain.

I finally feel like I am doing instead of just talking about the escape.

I have developed all sorts of strange health problems, painful throat, pulsating eyelid, headaches, acid stomach etc. I think I'm stressed.

There is a little voice inside my head that whispers pessimistic thoughts about the escape plan. It tells me that I will be unemployed, that I will have no money, that I will be rootless that my restlessness will continue that the escape is a mistake and I will be sorry. But I have come to realise that this little voice is part of my social conditioning. Yes, even me in my rage against the machine, I too am socially conditioned. I have come to understand that the presence of social conditioning can be very subtle.

But I feel in my heart that I must embark on this journey and I can almost smell freedom!

Cutting the tree down

2010-01-07T17:16:00.001Z

In my opinion, escaping the 9 to 5 with any degree of success takes a certain amount of planning.

In order to cut down a tree properly it must be taken down carefully and methodically. Someone once said that the process of tree felling was akin to leaving the rat race. You take the tree down bit by bit rather than have it all crashing down at once.

So that is what I am attempting to achieve. You see once I am out I really don't want to have to go back into the system, go back to the 9 -5 office grind. Therefore it is important to me to ensure that we have made sufficient provision. It is not that I don't want to work, not at all. In fact I want to work but I do not want to work in the law and I do not want to work in an office (or at least not full time).

I feel that I have come so far in this journey that to have it all crashing down now would be a real shame. You see, even though I hate the grind and I know that money does not in itself bring happiness, I also know that to have no money is as equally if not more stressful.

Hopefully, within several months the escape will happen.

So the rough plan for 2010 is:-

1. Sell the flat
2. Keep our jobs (for a little while anyway, fingers crossed)
3. Live on 30% of our joint net income
4. Escape the 9 - 5 by autumn 2010
5. Spend six months living abroad (somewhere warm!)

Random thoughts

2009-12-20T09:00:00.003Z

Life feels rather more unsettled lately.

Things at work are looking a bit rocky. The boss is having financial problems. The boss says its a cash flow problem, and that November, December are always difficult months. I think the problem is much deeper than that.

The boss is a sole practitioner, he does not have any other equity partners he can ask for a cash injection into the business. Rumour has it that the bank have called in certain issues. To me the boss' business problems are very straightforward. He has taken on too many overpriced lawyers who are simply not paying their way. They are not generating enough income for the firm to even cover their wages. It is that simple.

I am really quite worried about the situation. We usually get paid early in December because of Christmas but we haven't been paid yet. I really think that the boss will struggle to find the payroll money in December. And if he makes December, what about next month and the next etc....

I really don't want to have to find another job.

Downsizing in the UK?

2009-11-29T10:39:00.002Z

Is it possible to downsize in the UK?

I'm not convinced that it is. What if you have never "upsized?" You certainly don't get a lot for your money. When I move out of the city I want space, with inspiring scenery, probably a semi rural existence.

The truth is that I have never really "lived large", I grew up in a hand to mouth existence. My childhood experience of poverty really stayed with me. As a result I always made a conscious effort to live well below my means, I never signed up for a monstrous mortgage. DH and I have always lived in modest houses, we have been careful to keep our living costs down. I always wanted to keep ourselves in the position that if one of us lost our job then we could live off the other person's salary.

The more research I do about house prices in rural or semi rural areas in the UK the more disheartened I get. Initially, when I started planning for The Escape I would not have entertained the notion of living in the UK, I always envisaged living abroad. But, I just don't think it would be feasible or practical to live abroad. But, I'm keeping an open mind.

We are not looking to buy straightaway after The Escape, I envisage at least a few years of having time out and living abroad for extended periods.But, we will need a base or a place to live eventually. You cant rent forever.

But perhaps I'm just planning too far ahead.

No car

2009-11-18T13:23:00.003Z

Our car was stolen recently.

We have a "secure" parking space with our apartment. Somehow someone got it out of the car park. There is a gate which you need a fob key to get in and out from. I have no idea why they targeted our car, its a 15 year old vauxhall, there were much more fancier cars in the car park than hours.

But my little car had been a trojan over the years, I was sad to see him go, he was low maintenance, low insurance and of course paid for a long time ago. We used him for a run around at the weekends and also to escape into the countryside at the weekends.

Now we have no car. Its been four weeks and still no car.

And we have no immediate plans to get a new one.

DH and I walk to work, we have numerous supermarkets around us. We have been taking a train to the countryside at the weekends. And we do a lot more walking without a car. Last weekend we counted up we must have walked about 10 miles!

DH and I have talked about getting another car but we cant really come up with an excuse as to why we need a car. So why purchase a car when we will have to spend on the insurance, tax and the depreciation??

Talking about cutting costs, I've also cancelled my gym. Sorry but it has taken me a long time to realise that gym's don't work (for me) long term. I don't enjoy the gym and I see it as a chore. I feel that I have to go because I am paying for it. The truth is the gym makes me feel stressed. Running on a wheel and staring at a wall with other sweaty bodies makes me feel claustrophobic and anxious. I could rant on about gyms but I am sure that there are some people who enjoy the gym. I prefer to get my exercise in the fresh air hiking up a mountain. So that's more money saved. Actually I'm donating it to charity.

I've also started using cash only at its amazing how much less we spend. More on that to follow.

Nova Scotia?

2009-10-24T13:13:00.008+01:00

Where can I get a detached house with some land on the water with great scenery for circa £100k?

Nova Scotia.

I've been thinking about Nova Scotia again as a base. I say again because DH and I have discussed in the past NS as a possible place to Escape too. At that point we were interested in buying a property large enough to run a small B&B operation. The main obstacle to this was/is the immigration rules. To run a business as we wanted you needed evidence of experience of managing or running your own business of choice etc with evidence of turnover figures. So that was a non starter.

But, what if we just bought a property as a base? We are not looking to work in Canada, we don't want Canadians' jobs and we would not be a drain on the economy. Apparently anyone can buy property there but you have no right to reside there. You have to take your chance everytime you go through immigration and enter the country.

My understanding of the immigration rules is that we can stay 6 months in Canada and then you have to leave. Well, could we just go over the border and go shopping and come back or would we actually have to fly out and get our passport stamped as evidence we have left? Is this a viable option? How strict are they at immigration?

My real concern is falling fowl of the immigration rules. The trouble is there is actually very little written in the rules about this scenario. It just seems that one is at the mercy of the immigration officer at the point of entry. If they think that we are in reality living in Canada and just going back and fourth to every so often would we run into trouble? Its a real concern.

I have heard of people having 2nd homes in north america before without any problems. We have all heard of the older British "snowbirds" who have houses in Florida.

Can anyone shed any light on this. Or does anyone have any thoughts.

I am not thinking of Canada just because we can buy a house for cheap. I love the great outdoors and have always found the people to be warm and friendly.

Any comments or advice are welcome.

Where's my pension?

2009-10-06T14:49:00.002+01:00

Last night I watched a programme on television about people who had lost out with pensions.

The programme featured people with concerns about final salary pensions, private pensions and even public sector pensions.

The person in the final salary feature described how she had worked for her employer for 20 years and was looking forward to retiring in her sixties with two thirds of her final salary. However her employer had recently entered into a consultation process with her (and others in the workforce I suspect) with a view to seeking her agreement to end her entitlement to a final salary pension. Her entitlement to date would be preserved but the final salary scheme itself would be scrapped. My own view is that the employer is merely going through the consultation motions and will unilaterally impose this change in the absence of mutual agreement. There was some talk of the employer offering a small “sweetener” in return for agreement. What recourse does this lady have? Well, she could sue the employer for breach of contract, but how practical is this? A common tactic for employers in this situation is to dismiss the employee under the old terms of the contract and immediately re-engage under the new terms, this can be a legitimate action for employers to take in some circumstances. In reality I fear she will just have to put up and shut up.

Anyway, this lady described how she was looking forward to her retirement so she could do all the things she had wanted to do when she was working!!!! This was someone in her early forties who described with sadness that she did not now think she would be able to afford to go to Peru or stay in nice hotels which she had thought her final salary pension would pay for. It seemed she was banking on that money. I will be honest, I sympathise with her but I was also surprised at her naivety. This is someone who had the luxury of having a reasonably well paid job with the SAME employer for over 20 years. How many of us have had that luxury?

The programme also featured a man whose private pension had drastically been reduced in value and now had to return to the workforce in poor health in his sixties. There was another man who had lost his pension fund when his employers went into administration who was campaigning for compensation from the government, he too had to go back to work because he needed the money badly only he couldn't find a job. He was trying to sell his house for £700,000! but no takers (it looked overpriced).

It struck me that it was a great shame that someone seemed prepared to wait until their sixties to go and do what they really wanted to do. The programme also featured other people whose final salary pensions were disappearing and this included public sector workers.

I don’t have a private pension, I put money away myself to enjoy my life now rather than when I’m in my sixties, when I may or may not be around. According to the governments present rules I will be 68 before I am entitled to draw my state pension. Yes 68. This is incompatible with the fact that employers can compulsorily retire employees once they are age 65 or over, this is a mockery of the age discrimination laws. So if you can be legitimately sacked when you are 65 but you are not old enough to get the state pension how are you supposed to provide for yourself?

I am not banking on the state pension. I have no doubt that the Government will keep on raising the qualifying ages for the state pension.

In these times I think pensions are a big con, they are sold and recommended by the same people who have a vested interest in people taking the longest route possible to retirement i.e. financial advisers and the Government. But this is another example of the herd mentality of society, work until your 65 and then you can take your pension and enjoy life. No, we can opt out of the traditional 40 plus years of full time working and find other ways to support ourselves. Why not semis retire at 35 for example? Why not have mini retirements or long sabbaticals. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

We have to make our own provision in life, because if we don’t no one else will.

Back from Ibiza

2009-10-01T17:03:00.004+01:00

Just returned from a week's holiday in Ibiza.

We enjoyed our time in Ibiza, its a very pretty place, very hilly and green with fantastic scenery.

It could be a contender for an extended stay, everything was much cheaper than when we went to Greece in May.

Ibiza has a chilled out vibe, perhaps slightly bohemian in parts, that suits me.

We managed to get some hiking done, we hired a car and saw most of the island.

We stayed in an apartment overlooking the sea in the north of the island. We saw some great sunsets eating paella and drinking rioja.

Well, back to the grind for now.

Trapped

2009-09-09T13:42:00.003+01:00

Feeling Trapped.

Trapped in a place where I don't want to live, trapped in an office doing a job I dislike, trapped by a house that wont sell, trapped by lack of money.

There seem to be a lot of obstacles in the way of The Escape.

If we could sell the flat then I would feel better in that then I would have some control over the situation.

Recently I have been thinking about approaching one of these "sell your house fast" organisations. DH wont even consider it. These organisations buy houses subject to a valuation which is usually 20% less than the market valuation. I suppose I could approach them for a valuation. It seems to me that these organisations are really for distressed sellers. But am I a distressed seller? Perhaps I am. But perhaps we should stick it out on the open market first.

Sometimes I want to scream.

We were not meant to live this way. This modern way of life is crap. It is unnatural.

I hate living in a city, too many people, too many cars, too much noise. Why do people have to drive everywhere?

I could kick myself for getting caught up in it all.

North Cyprus

2009-08-31T17:44:00.003+01:00

I have been doing some further research about where to go after the Escape.

Cyprus has always been a possibility for an extended stay. I have been there before, fantastic food, climate and people. I should say that I have been to the southern part of the island, i.e. the Republic of Cyprus (Greek Cypriot part). English is widely spoken, and the outdoors are beautiful, calming and resting. Moving away from the tourist beach spots of the south part of the island the mountains (particularly the Troodos area) are magical. The cost of living is lower than the UK although, it is not mega cheap. You have to know where to go.

However, I had not seriously considered North Cyprus aka the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus. The area is illegally occupied by the Turks both the Republic of Cyprus and the United Nations consider it as an illegal occupation. Having been to the island a few times the Greek Cypriots appear to tolerate the situation and there is no obvious on going warfare. One can pass freely back and fourth over the border from the south part of the island to the North.

Naturally TRNC is not in the EU and so it is outside the expensive eurozone. The currency is Turkish Lira, the pound is extremely strong against the Turkish Lira.

It appears as though it is possible to rent a decent apartment or cottage from £300 - £450 per month equivalent. Utilities are very low. I read that a loaf of bread is the equivalent of £0.13p and a litre and a half of Cypriot brandy is £1.50! By my calculations I think that we could live a pretty decent standard of living for about £700 per month. I have read some forums where there are British expats declaring that they live for the equivalent of £100 per week but I am a bit skeptical.

North Cyprus boasts the Kyrenia mountain range so we would be fine for our outdoor activities.

However I would NOT buy land in the TRNC far too risky in view of the history and illegal occupation of the turks.

This idea really does sound appealing. It is certainly worth an visit to see whether we could live there for an extended period.

Make it happen

2009-08-20T16:54:00.003+01:00

DH and I have been seriously discussing whether to bring forward the Escape.

Life is too short to be stuck in an office unhappy, we think we can Escape in twelve months time. We are going to aim for September 2010.

If we Escape in September 2010 we will need to put the flat back on the market. Ideally we would sell the flat before September 2010. If we sell it sooner rather than later than we can just rent a flat in town for several months. I have decided that I would feel slightly worried about Escaping in September 2010 and still having to be responsible for the mortgage. We can take a mortgage break of 3 months but then we would have to start paying again thereafter. We do have an income from investments that would cover the mortgage but then this would mean that we would have to cover other living expenses out of our savings.

For a while, I don't think we need the responsibility of having a fixed abode until I/We decide what it is we want out of life and where we want to be. We will probably end up staying at some long term stay residences on the continent where the cost of accomodation and food will be cheaper than here. There are some really good deals out of season. I am hoping that we can live for about 1,300 euros per month. I have been doing some research.

Lately I have been thinking whether we even need a house. If I have to work at a desk all day for the foreseeable future then no, I will do without a house.

What are we really working for? Whose vision are we working to? Are we really just toiling to conform, to follow the herd, to pay the mortgage etc?

Dissapointment and Loss

2009-08-10T12:17:00.002+01:00

I am feeling very sorry for myself again.

I am feeling loss at the absence of loving and nurturing relationships in my life. I have missed the steady hand of guidance through childhood, adolescence and adult hood. It seems as though I have been coping with loss all my life. People I have loved are gone or lost. I try to bury this sense of entitlement but is hard sometimes not to feel bitter when those you see around you have lost so little.

I wonder what it must be like to have interested and involved parents and siblings that are not lost or estranged.

I worry about the future, I wonder what will happen if DH or I get ill. I worry about being alone, I worry about dying alone.

Modern communication

2009-08-03T13:57:00.004+01:00

There is a lot of truth in some of the recent comments that the Archbishop Vincent Nichols has made concerning social networking sites.

Archbishop Nichols who is the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has recently voiced his concern over the modern tendency towards transient relationships. Yes, I can relate to his sentiment.

The Archbishop also went on to say that social networking sites put too much emphasis on the number of friends rather than the quality of those relationships and that mobile phones were dehumanising.

I have to say that mobile phones really get on my nerves. I do have a mobile phone but it is for emergencies only. It is hardly ever switched on. I cannot stand this texting nonsense, it is another zombie craze.

We need community, we need interpersonal communication, we need to see people and converse with them, well that's how I feel anyway.

Are transient relationships symptomatic of modern life? Sometimes it feels like everything is built on shifting sands.

Other people

2009-07-30T13:23:00.003+01:00

It seems to me that people only want you if they want something from you e.g. money/legal advice/shoulder to cry on/mentoring etc. When they don't need anything they don't bother, they don't want to know.

I'm sick of it. My expectations of people are low, I now have no expectations. I will take it as it comes without hope of anything more.

Angry Britain

2009-07-24T13:33:00.002+01:00

People in Britain are angry.

Yes you can walk around with a plastic smile on your face but I know that you are angry.

The disillusioned and discontented lurk beneath the false appearances.

Put down your tools people and look around you.

There are support clubs for the overeaters, alcoholics, gamblers etc but why no support groups for the disconnected and disenchanted? Lets all get together and have a moan, admit that we are fed up to the back teeth of the high cost of living and this dreary grey place. Then lets do something about it, like a mass exodus.

The minimum wage in Britain is something like £6.00 per hour, the average house price is in the region of £160,000. It wont change. The Government has a vested interest in keeping house prices artificially high. Can you think of a better way to keep the masses in check?

Things are getting worse. The social fabric in this country is a joke. Every day I pick up the paper and there are horror stories about knife crime and people being glassed. I'm afraid to go to crowded places anymore.

Its a long standing joke that the English like their drink. Yes, that's an understatement, they drink until they cant drink anymore.

I really don't want to have to be here.

On kids

2009-07-02T13:22:00.004+01:00

I've never wanted children.

Apparently that makes me weird, because I am a woman and you are supposed to desire children if you are a women.

All I know is that I don't want children and never have. I don't wish them harm but I simply don't like them, not interested, don't want to know, don't find them cute, etc.

I used to think that for most people children were just something that happened out of poor planning and one just went along with the process thereafter. But, it seems that people do actually go out of their way to have them. People actually plan them!

For some reason today the issue of having kids has really irked me. Its probably a conversation I had with a colleague this morning who was gushing over her life's dream to find suitable husband material and have kids as quickly as possible. Actually, what irks me is that yet again I feel like an alien, don't fit in, cant relate, um sorry nothing to say except I've never wanted them, that's putting it politely.

I want to be free, I want to spend long summers wandering around Europe, maybe join the hippies in Ibiza playing the drums as the sun goes down with beads in my hair (I'm going there in September BTW), no I don't want kids thank you very much.

Am I being quite forceful in my opinion? Well perhaps its just something I feel quite strongly about, its all part of the same thing, when will people consider that there are other ways of living one's life rather than wage slavery and breeding?

Where is my place in the world?

2009-06-29T17:09:00.003+01:00

Now that The Escape is getting closer, I admit to feeling a little skeptical about it.

I am frightened of not finding my place in the world, the place where DH and I were destined to be.

I am looking forward to travelling and not being tied to a job. But at the same time I am scared that I will end up being a permanent wandering malcontent. I'm not sure whether these thoughts are reasonable or not or whether they just form part of my depression.

I am not sure that an itinerant lifestyle will ease my soul. I need a place or a base in the world.

I have come to realise that "The Escape" will not solve all of my problems. It may not bring relief to the background noise in my head which appears to be almost permanent.

The trouble with me is that I am much too fond of introspection. Too much thinking and self evaluation never did anyone any good. I'm a big thinker, I could sit all day and think.

I am fed up of living in the future, I want to live for the now instead of planning all the time.

Life is too short. None of us know what is around the corner.

Patience

2009-06-13T20:40:00.003+01:00

I have to remember that the best things in life don't come easy.

To give us the best possible cushion we really need to wait until 2011 for the escape. We have worked out our numbers and we need to be saving £4k a month to reach our goals. Fortunately, our living costs are relatively low so it is doable.

But today we had to spend £500.00 on car repairs and I really need new work clothes, but I cannot justify the expense in light of our plans. We don't go out anymore, we rarely go out to eat, we drink at the cheap places if we fancy a pint out. I don't buy take away food, I don't buy lunch out or takeaway coffees. I go to the supermarket once a week only.

The sacrifices are necessary. I don't need to buy things to make myself happy. I know that to make myself happy I need to get out of the city, quit the 9 - 5 and live in a fresh, natural environment. But it all needs to be done with careful planning.

The thing is, I don't plan on coming back, ever. It has suddenly dawned on me that as of 2011 this life ends then.

Recently I read an interview with Oprah Winfrey who was discussing her latest battle with her weight. She described how she was asked the question of "what are you really hungry for ?" I forget her exact answer but I thought it was an interesting and probing question.

So I ask myself "what am I really thirsty for?"

I know what I am really thirsty for, most of which I can make happen, but somethings I simply cant deliver, these things will always be out of reach, that part of my thirst I will never quench.

Developments

2009-05-31T17:38:00.003+01:00

Well I am back from Greece and DH and I had a lovely time.

It was hotter than anticipated for that time of year, but we still managed to get some hiking in. I think we could all learn some lessons from the Greeks in term of quality of life and attitude. I felt a lot more relaxed being out of the city.

I did notice how expensive Greece had become. Certainly the poor exchange rate we were getting on the Euro did not help but there was something else going on. We were paying the equivalent of £6.00 for 2 pints which is about the same as we would pay here, if not more! Has there been a period of high inflation in Greece or were we just paying the "gringo" prices? It seemed to be that way right across the island.

Anyway, back to work and the boss has a surprise for me. He says I can stay, permanently, i.e. he wants to put me on the payroll as an employee as opposed to retaining me as an independent contractor. The money is less of course. Its great news. I will take the position of course.

I will be £1k worse off a month but it gives me certainty insofar as The Escape goes. Now DH and I can really put that 2 year countdown on the calender and just go for it. Actually, its less than 2 years, we plan on escaping in March 2011.

Although I will be losing in terms of less money, as an employee I will be entitled to paid annual leave and bank holidays. This does go someway to offset the drop in pay. Actually I am really looking forward to having paid time off again. When you are self employed it is tempting to take as little time off as possible in order to maximise income.

So 22 months and counting!

Off to Thassos

2009-05-15T13:10:00.003+01:00

DH and I are off to the Greek island of Thassos on Sunday for 7 days.

I cant wait to go!

Its been so long since we went away, or even had a break. Our last break was September last year. Its really overdue.

So, this time of year, the weather should be mild but just warm enough to swim/sit outside. I don't like the heat so this suits me fine. Apparently the island is very green and mountainous and is great for cycling and hiking, both of which we will do.

I'm looking forward to a week of not cooking and sampling the delicious Greek foods such as dolmades, souvlakia, mousaka, stifado, tarama salata, souvlakia - the list goes on!

See you soon!

Buying a home

2009-05-11T16:43:00.004+01:00

Is a home an investment or a liability?

Its a question frequently discussed in the personal finance circles.

Some say that you should buy a home because you want to live in it and not because it is an investment. I don't necessarily disagree with this statement but isn't it based upon the assumption that all things stay the same?

But things don't stay the same do they? Nothing remains constant, does it? People change, people lose jobs, change jobs, circumstances change etc.

When DH and I bought our flat we bought it because we liked the building and we wanted to live in that specific location AT THAT TIME.

Now, six years later, I need to offload the property to downsize. I have no idea whether it has been a "good investment". I can look up sold prices on other properties in the building but that can only serve as a guide. The flats in my building vary in size and detail and more importantly price. The variations are quite significant, on line sold prices wont tell me any information about the property, ie square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms etc.

My circumstances have changed, I've changed, my life goals have changed. Perhaps in hindsight I should have thought about the property more in investment terms.

So whether my home has been an investment or a liability remains to be seen.

Darkness

2009-04-28T12:55:00.002+01:00

Lately I find it a real struggle to get out of bed every morning.

Most days I just want to stay in bed all day every day.

I am hoping that this darkness will lift soon.

Weekend blues

2009-04-11T16:12:00.002+01:00

Feeling down again today. Its a long weekend and its hard to keep the demons at bay whilst stuck at home in the city. Most of the time my social isolation does not hugely bother me but this weekend it does. I think how nice it would be to socialise with people, especially people my own age. We could have gone away for the Easter weekend but what pleasure is it when everyone else has the same idea. The motorway queues, kids running around, queues at the airport. No thanks.

I'm not sure how long I can put up with city living for. There isn't anywhere around here where I would move to as an alternative. Well not anywhere where DH or I can commute to our present jobs. The next move will be semi rural. I need trees and green and I need to be close to the water and the outdoors.

So away again we shall move. Away again anonymity and no support structure. Constantly searching, searching for what? What the hell am I searching for and what am I running from?

Oh yes I forgot, I'm running from a dysfunctional childhood.

A new plan

2009-03-21T15:50:00.002Z

Lately I've been thinking a lot about how life is too short to be stuck at work for most of my waking hours. The thing that keeps my nose to the grind is probably lack of money and FEAR. Fear of the unknown, fear of poverty etc.

Work is all consuming. I'm too exhausted after work and at the weekends to have time to do anything for me. Sometimes we come up with the energy to go hiking, if we can manage the 40 minute drive out of the city (one way).

DH and I have been discussing a new escape plan. We think that we might be able to manage another 2 years in our present field. Thereafter we plan to take a long sabbatical. Perhaps for six months or so. DH would have to resign to do this. I really cant see his employer granting him an extended leave of absence. We want to take the time and space to re-evaluate exactly what it is we want. During that time, we may put the apartment on the market as it will be easier to show if we are not there all the time.

We think that we want to downsize to a semi rural area. Since they wont let us in the US or Canada we have been looking at North Devon as an alternative. We are hoping that by that time the economy might have improved and we might get a decent return off our savings again. We are also thinking about ways that we can work for ourselves or do some part time work.

City living has lost its appeal for me. I want something closer to nature and something more real. I want to connect with something. Most of the time I feel like I live in a concrete jungle. But I'm also scared that I will be isolated in somewhere like North Devon. But the thing is that I feel isolated here most of the time. But that's the strange thing with living in a city, there are people everywhere but none to connect with.

All or nothing

2009-03-14T13:29:00.002Z

The big thing that bothers me most about traditional employment is that it is offered on an "all or nothing" basis.

I am not afraid of hard work but I want some balance in my life. I dont want to spend most of my life in an office. Please dont think that I am ungrateful for being in work. I do know how lucky I am to have work now.

It seems to me that the traditional 9 - 5 office type work/career does not offer this balance. How many people are lucky enough to work part time out of choice or have a flexible work schedule? I don't know any employers who offer this.

A few years ago I did some locum work at a local firm of Solicitors. Someone in my department had gone on maternity leave and wanted to return to the office for 2 days a week. Lets call her X. I told my boss that actually if he was minded to grant X's application for flexible working then I would be happy to job share with X at 3 days a week. As soon as I opened my mouth I wish I hadn't said anything. My boss said but "what will you do for the other 2 days?" I said oh well "lots of stuff". I felt like saying well I will just be glad to be out of the cage for 2 days but I didn't. But it was the look he gave me which said it all. It was almost as if he could not comprehend why I wouldn't want to work 5 days a week and earn as much as possible.

Anyway it didn't happen.

I read many blogs written by people who want to downshift/downsize etc. There are many discussions about how people will make the transission from a career to early retirement or even semi retirement. They think that if they get bored they will just get a job at McD's or Starbucks et al? But how easy do you think it is for an accountant or a lawyer or an engineer etc to get a job in Starbucks. Its not easy at all. In this economy one would have great difficulty. The problem is that in a recession or times of economic difficulty your plan B is someone else's plan A.

So is there another way? Is there a middle ground? Or, is it the 9 - 5 grind 5 days a week until you manage to become financially independent?

Is this a revolution?

2009-03-14T13:21:00.004Z

Will things ever be the same again?

Will there ever be a sustainable and secure way of living?

Will we ever have peace of mind?

Will we always have to put up with a transient and temporary lifestyle?

Will people still buy houses and put down roots or will they rent a house and rent a lifestyle?

Or

Are we perpetually doomed to have to scrape together a living?

Are we always going to have to take contract work instead of permanent and long term stable employment?

Are we always going to have to live with economic uncertainty?

Is the concept of a vocation dead?

Just some thoughts I have had recently.

Still at the job

2009-03-01T18:03:00.004Z

Well, I've been at the new job for over 2 months now.

I like it. But its not a permanent gig.

The role I am doing at the moment involves practising in a different area of law to that in which I usually practice. Don't get me wrong, I've done it before but not for a while. But nothing much changes. At the end of the day its still involves general litigation practice so I am not out of my depth, well not too much anyway but the firm I work for realise that I am a bit rusty but its not a problem as I can refer to someone if I need to.

Actually, what I am doing now is really a nice change. It is slower pace and there appear to be more opportunities in this area of law. I am actually thinking of giving up on my usual practice, I really enjoy it and its dynamic and ever changing but quite stressful and there are few opportunities.

What I am doing at the moment is recession proof. At the moment I need some stability and I need a role which is sustainable.

I don't need a lot of money to live on. I am not greedy. At the moment I save all of my pay. I can afford to take a 40% (gross) pay drop and still save for the escape. I would prefer to do that than have to continually do locum work. The last two years have been hell for me mentally given the insecurity of work but fantastic for the wallet. But I am slowly learning that money is not everything, no not at all. I would prefer to earn 50% less but have the peace of mind of stability of employment and to be able to take regular vacations.

Those are my thoughts at the moment.

Disconnected

2009-02-11T19:18:00.002Z

I have been suffering mentally and emotionally again recently.

I have decided to finally go and see a professional therapist.

I know what the problems are, but I don't know how to fix them. The thing is that I don't think my issues can be fixed by therapy, I think that the most that can happen is that I will learn coping skills.

How do you fill the void. You cant. That everlasting sense of loneliness, isolation and sometimes bitterness.

What to do with the mortgage

2009-02-08T14:13:00.002Z

Since the financial crisis and the drop in interest rates our mortgage payment has dropped by £270.00 per month.

We are now paying £680.00 per month. We have a repayment mortgage.

This is a substantial saving. We are on a 2 year "tracker" deal.

But in December 2009 our deal expires. Its likely that our repayments would shoot back up again.

So at the moment I am thinking of dumping some cash off the mortgage when our deal expires. This would drastically reduce our monthly repayments. I am getting quite excited because I think wouldn't it be great to have a mortgage payment which is less than £500.00 per month.

But when I think about the rising costs of food the wind is taken out of my sails a bit. The thing is, our house payment is not really our biggest outgoing. We seem to be spending a lot more on food than we used to.

I think that sometimes the idea of paying off ones mortgage is overrated. Of course if you have a great whacking monthly payment then yes I can see the attraction of getting rid of it.

But I would still like to pay off a chunk off our mortgage. We are not able to get any interest off our savings so we might as well pay it off the mortgage.

The credit crunch has crunched the Escape

2009-01-24T14:27:00.003Z

Yes its just dawned on me in the last few days.

The credit crunch has crunched my Escape.

The recent economic woes have definitely had an impact on my financial planning. The pound has fallen sharply with the dollar. Furthermore the pound and the eruo are now almost even. Now our money is simply not going to go as far in the US or Europe.

I don't know how much my apartment is worth. It might not be worth much more than we paid for it in 2003. The saving grace is that at least we have a repayment mortgage so there is equity in it but probably not enough to finance a permanent Escape.

The drop in interest rates has also had an impact. At the moment we are not worse off as most of our savings were in fixed rate bonds which I took out before the crunch. But these are going to mature in the not too distant future. I have a feeling that interest rates are not going to recover for some time. This also has an impact on the Escape. We were getting several hundred pounds a month in interest from these bonds. By the end of the year that will probably be halved.

Ha! There goes my plan of living in a magic bus in California or Oregon on $1k per month! Or my idea of buying a home in Nova Scotia outright and living off the interest from our savings. Perhaps that will happen one day but I cannot see it happening for at least a few years.

There is nothing I can do about it but sit tight. I have to think of my DH, not just myself.

We will probably have to work for longer. That means staying put for longer. Sigh.

But I remember to be thankful for what I have. Remember gratitude.

Back to work

2009-01-17T20:15:00.002Z

Well my first two weeks at the new job have been ok.

Actually I am quite enjoying the work. Its relatively hassle free. I only wish it could be permanent.

I wish I could find a permanent role. The feedback I am receiving from my applications for permanent work is that potential employers apparently don't like the fact that I have been working as a Locum. What planet do these people live on? There is no tenure anymore, no security. The annoying thing is that most of the decision makers are probably middle class, middle aged, white men who have probably worked for the same employer for the last 30 years.

But I digress.

I haven't written about finances lately but 2008 was a good year for us financially. We managed to save circa £45,000 towards the escape fund. Not bad.

Demons

2009-01-02T13:52:00.003Z

Post Christmas slump I can feel the black cloud approaching me.

I can feel the demons circling again up overhead. They are chanting.

They are chanting the usual messages of insecurity. They tell me that the future is dangerous and uncertain and doomed to failure. They tell me that I am alone, isolated and two steps from deprivation. They tell me that the only person that is good, wonderful and secure in my life can be snatched away from me in a moment.

"Face it" they say, "you are no good, worthless, useless and all alone."

Gone Surfing

2008-12-29T13:34:00.003Z

I was very pleased to have been contacted by Tim Kevan a former Barrister who escaped from the city to go surfing in North Devon.

Tim has downsized from the London rat race and is now living in beautiful Braunton in North Devon. Tim and I chatted by e mail as to what it takes to escape the rat race and the city and to downsize. A few things which Tim said to me have stuck with me. Tim said that it is surprising how cheap it is to live in a rural area and when you are there you see other things that people do to get by so that they can live in that area. Tim also said that sometimes it helps to switch off the spreadsheet part of the brain and think of alternative ways to make money rather than amassing a huge pile of money. Tim thought that sometimes when you look at how much money it would take to finance an escape it is almost akin to a lottery win.

Wise words.

If I could work out how to put a blogroll on my site I would include all my favourite reads. Sadly I am sorely lacking in IT skills so for now here is a link to Tim's site:-
http://www.timkevan.com/

Got a Job!

2008-12-25T07:28:00.002Z

I've managed to find a few months work.

I feel so lucky to have this work at the moment and I am really grateful.

Its at a local firm of Solicitors. Its only temporary whilst they recruit on the permanent side. For reasons I cant go into I would not be able to be considered for the permanent job. Its a shame as the job is right on my doorstep and the commute is 5 mins walk!

I don't see it lasting for longer than 2 months as they have already offered the perm position to someone who is considering it. OTOH if that person decides against it then I could be there longer.

It all happened last minute.

I still really want a permanent position to tide me over for the next few years until the great escape. I have applied for practice positions, judicial office and academic roles. We will see.

Times are changing

2008-12-18T14:12:00.004Z

Things are different these days.

There is no such thing as a steady job. No such thing as job security.

Should we be thankful these days just to have a job? Nevermind a career. Is a career a luxury in these times? What is a career? Is it a job where you have a marketable skill which provides fulfilment and a decent wage?

Does anyone have a career anymore? Its seems to me that if you have a trade, if you are a hairdresser, a plumber, an electrician a butcher then you have a useful trade or a useful skill. You have opportunities, your vocation is not saturated.

Why is everyone hellbent on going to university, getting a degree and incurring the debt? Degrees are ten a penny these days everyone has one.

Today I looked at the local paper. I have opened my mind to the possibility of re-training or working in another area, doing something which is non legal or perhaps even quasi legal. What do I see in the paper? Jobs which are supposed to be professional jobs paying £25k.

Yes £25k. And if you don't like that then the alternative is to take something at £6.00 per hour, IF you can get it. That's right, even the admin temping work has dried up.

The recent economic hardship has made me more determined than ever to find a more sustainable way of life. It has made me more determined to ignore conventional ways of living, aka live, work, die. It has made me more determined to squirrel and gather away the nuts. It has made me more determined to find a liveable way of life away from the city and away from urban areas. It has made me more determined to live an austere and self sufficient way of life.

I promise myself that we will achieve our downshifting dream. At the moment the idea of going to live in a magic bus somewhere under the radar looks very appealing.

Its cold out there

2008-12-05T17:08:00.003Z

Well its been just over 2 months since my last gig finished.

Things on the job front are looking pretty bleak. The permanent job market is worse than ever, lots of graduates, NQ's, i.e. cheap labour forcing the market down. As if that wasn't bad enough it seems that as a result of the recession there are simply more candidates for each job.

The locum market, well this has changed. One of the reasons why I liked locum work was the lack of any real recruitment process. For the last two years I haven't stopped working. I was used to finishing one gig on a Friday and having the recruitment agency on the phone asking me could I go to X firm on Monday. Now it seems that for some reason there is an interview process for locum jobs. There also seem to be more candidates going for locum jobs.

I have had to lower my hourly rate by about £5.00 per hour to remain competitive. I don't wish to brag but I really know my stuff and I will work hard. But I have to be competitive or I will price myself out of the already tight market.

The only gigs that have come up recently are jobs across the other side of the country or jobs where I cannot commute to on a daily basis. The difficulty is that by the time I pay for travel/food and digs it is simply not worth my while taking these jobs away from home. Just yesterday an agency phoned me about a job in the London area. Now surprisingly locum work in London does NOT pay more than what I can get up north. Permanent jobs OTOH in London pay a lot more. I worked out roughly in my head that my expenses would probably come in at say £400.00 per week. That's a lot of money. Not worth my while.

So what to do, what to do. Christmas is fast approaching so it is unlikely that I will get a start for January now.

The hardest part of being unemployed for me has not been the loss of money but the sheer bloody boredom and isolation. I am a transplant. I did not grow up where I live. I don't know anyone other than my DH of course. I need to change this and develop a social outlet. I have been thinking of joining a social club. Problem is, I'm not good with large groups of people. I prefer smaller more intimate connections with people.

Anyone there?

2008-11-22T01:01:00.003Z

I would like to hear from former employees within the legal profession who have walked away from the 9 - 5 grind.

I would like to know how, when, why, where, and how much?

Quote from The Dude from the film of The Big Lebowski:-

"Is this a work day, I hadn't noticed."

That's all.

EDIT - NOT JUST LEGAL - I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM ANYONE WHO HAS ESCAPED THE OFFICE GRIND

Rant of the day

2008-11-20T16:29:00.003Z

Could someone please tell me what is the point of Law Fairs.

Given that there are not enough law jobs to go around in the first place what is the point of law firms going to law fairs and pretending that everything is great. Who organises these law fairs? The universities? Law schools?

I see hoards of twenty year olds carrying posh bags with well known big law firm logos on? What is the point of this when the market is saturated and there are no bloody jobs to go around? And how as a lawyer do you stand at your table/stand/etc and pretend that...........well just pretend!

For a moment I thought about standing outside and giving these students and hard dose of reality. But I didn't. They probably wouldn't have even listened. And why would they? If these students see the biggest and well known law firms at this law fair wouldn't they be entitled to assume that their services would be in demand as a Lawyer?

That's all.

Hope

2008-11-14T16:06:00.002Z

I have to admit that I am not in a very good place at the moment mentally and emotionally. I have so many hopes and dreams. Before I can get to my dreams I have to get back on the road to my destination. I need to re-start the journey.

Another door was closed to me today for work. I am sick of recruitment agencies, sick of temping. I need some stability. I need a job so I can enjoy my journey to my dreams. At the moment I feel that I am existing and not living. I will admit to being secretly envious of people who have found their niche in the working world, have steady decent paying jobs with prospects. Whats wrong with me? Why does it always seem like a struggle?

I am really worried for the future. The longer I am out of work the more difficult it is going to be to get back into work. These issues are beyond my control. I am doing everything I can and more to find work.

Update

2008-11-10T10:48:00.015Z

I have signed on for unemployment. Its not much. £60 quid a week.

I did apply for some non legal temping work just to get out of the house and for a bit of pocket money. I didn't get anywhere with this. Hmmm strange.

The Bank of England has recently made a cut to interest rates of 2%. So this will mean that we will mean that we are a few hundred quid a month better off as the mortgage payment will be reduced. This plus the dole money will give us approx £400.00 per month extra.

I am looking at 2 job possibilities. One is due to start in December. The other will start in January 2009. They are both locum jobs. Perhaps they will both come off or none of them will come off. Also DH needs someone to help him out with his caseload as one of his staff is leaving at Christmas. I have offered my services as a locum. Not a great move to work with your husband but it will only be short term until he finds a permanent replacement. DH has said that if he doesn't find someone on a permanent basis by Christmas then I can go in and help him out for a few months or so. Actually I quite fancy doing this for a while if I can. DH has the luxury of working in town and his commute is a 2 minute walk and he comes home for lunch every day. I am so jealous of this. So it would be nice to work in town again.

I have decided not to look at working in London for now. I need to make a go of it here. For my own peace of mind I think I need to stop the locum work and find permanent work. I will definitely have to take a pay cut maybe at a rate of 40 - 50% gross. I'm not happy about this but its an example of how terrible the legal market is over here. Apparently there are even more law graduates this year than ever before. I read somewhere that more people are going into law seeing it as a secure industry as opposed to banking. What a joke.

For my health and temper I need some stability now. My focus seems to have changed. I need to have a life until The Escape. If I am earning less money then I will not be hit with 40% tax. So would I really be earning much less anyway? I have realised that running from one gig to another in an attempt to stash away as much cash as possible is not good for me mentally. This attitude was typical of my black and white thinking again. I have come to appreciate that my all or nothing thinking is a symptom of my codependency issues.

Rainmaker

2008-10-23T17:31:00.003+01:00

I want to find a job.

I need something to do instead of waiting for DH to get home from work all day. Cooking and cleaning and grocery shopping has lost its appeal. The weekends are fine as we go hiking into the mountains but the weekdays are painful.

It is extremely quiet here on the legal locum scene at the moment. I have even widened my search and am prepared to commute one way to 1.5 hour commute. I know its 3 hours of travelling a day but I rarely drive and transport links here a fairly good. But even doing this the market is still DEAD.

According to The Lawyer on line job site there are in excess of 400 jobs for employment lawyers in London. Its tempting. I don't want to be away from home or DH but what am I supposed to do? I am trying to gauge what it would cost me to work part of the week in London. I would need accommodation at least 4 nights a week, plus train travel - expenses could come in at around £400.00 per week! Ideally perhaps I could find something on part time basis in London.

I don't like London. But the pay is good. Its too far to commute daily - the quickest I could do it would be 2 hours 15 mins one way. This would also cost the extortionate amount of circa £130.00 per day.

The other option is to take any local job just to get out of the house and earn some pocket money. That's fine. But how easy is it for a lawyer to get a mac job? I still need to work as a Lawyer for the next few years at least so I wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardise this.

Be careful what you wish for....

2008-10-09T11:43:00.006+01:00

Well the first week of unemployment is nearly over. I wish I could say that I am enjoying my time off but I'm not.

I'm feeling very displaced. I feel very down at the moment. I cant really put my finger on why this is. I have been in between jobs before and I haven't felt like this. I feel lonely and quite isolated. Perhaps I have realised what a great assignment the last gig was. Realistically I don't think something that good will crop up again. Perhaps it is the stark realisation that the only people hiring at the moment are local government. Local Government pays less than private practice. But its not just the pay its the thought of those dirty offices, and uncomfortable surroundings and the general atmosphere.

Do we need work to give us routine and structure? I'll admit that I've scoffed at this possibility in the past. But think about it, maybe its not so much the routine but the social interaction. We've all heard of those lottery winners who win a fortune but then announce that they wont give up their jobs. Now I sort of understand why. Is it because you have a ready made social circle and social interaction on a daily basis?

So I am thinking that if I feel like this now how am I going to handle The Escape? But then I think that in The Escape I will be OK because I will be "living" somewhere which aligns with my core values, there will be plenty to do and I will have DH. I don't have DH to play with at the moment because he is at work. The fact is that there is nothing to do in this city unless one works.

Anyone else faced the same issues when not working/giving up work?

Unemployed

2008-10-04T17:04:00.003+01:00

Well I am now unemployed.

I finished at the firm on Friday. I was at the firm for 11 months and 2 weeks. It was a great gig.

I have e mailed agencies advising them of my availability. There doesn't seem to be much out there at the moment.

My loss of pay means that our savings will drop from £4,500 per month to £1,500.

I hope I find something soon. In the meantime I am counting my blessings. I am practising contentment. I have a wonderful husband. We have a roof over our head. We can afford our home. My husband has a job. We can afford to buy food and still afford to save and enjoy the little luxuries. I am trying to live in the now and trying to stop obsessing with the escape and the future.

Good news/bad news

2008-09-27T16:58:00.003+01:00

Well I just returned from a lovely weeks escape in the Traumuntana mountains in Mallorca - the lovely village of Deia is a magical escape for romantic thinkers and just wants to make you do less in life.

But on my return i received a telephone call from my agency that I have been given a weeks notice, i.e. my gig is coming to an end after next week. Well , the writing was on the wall and I saw it coming. Lucky I can live within my means. Lucky I didn't blow too much money on the holiday. Austerity is indeed a valuable quality.

So, I will be looking for another contract position. I have come to the realisation that I will probably never work another permanent job as I would have to take a significant reduction in pay. My priority is to accumulate cash.

Speaking of cash, we all need to live on a cash only basis. This is the way it should be. There is no credit. The banks haven't got any money. Lets really examine what is important and what is not. Lets learn to cook, buy our own beer, and brew our own coffee. Lets not spend £5.00 on lunch everyday. Lets make our own sandwiches etc. Lets make austerity the new buzz word.

Hoping all is well with you readers.

Daily thoughts

2008-09-17T18:05:00.003+01:00

Do you ever feel like you are on the outside looking in to the inside?

I read somewhere that if do not see yourself as part of society then you have a problem. I've never really seen myself as part of anything.

Human beings are apparently social animals. I think that must be true. Although as I get older I find social gatherings and even sometimes people in general to be hardwork. I feel that I have nothing in common with most people and cannot relate to them. But this cannot surely be true.

For example work relationships are odd ones. If you see the same person/people day in day out then they may become a close confident, someone to go to lunch with etc. But the reality is that work relationships are transient and superficial. The only thing you usually have in common is WORK. Yes, I accept there are exceptions.

Then there is the state of the economy. Cant trust politicians, banks the government/wall street. How do you beat the system? How do you stop working for the man? Is there a way out? I believe there is, but it requires independence of mind, determination and focus. Oh and possibly social isolation.

I'm not really sure where I am going with this post its just a reflection of what has been on my mind lately.

Job update

2008-09-07T19:17:00.002+01:00

Well, the final integration stage at the firm will take place on 19th September 2008. The word is that "no decisions have been made yet" about my role. I am on one weeks notice so they could still get rid of me at short notice.

I will wait and see. I have made some enquiries about the market with agencies and it is all doom and gloom. The only gigs available are the ones that no one else wants out in the sticks and for crap money. I have no choice at the moment but to stick it out and see if they keep me on after the 19th September.

So I will wait and see.....

Welcome back Phil!

2008-09-07T19:10:00.003+01:00

Hooray, my favourite blogger is back.

Yes, Phil from http://www.ratracejournal.com/ is back. He has been away for a few months figuring out some stuff. I look forward to reading your regular posts now Phil.

I remember when I left my permanent job back in 2006 I found Phil's site and it was a great source of comfort and inspiration.

Welcome back Phil.

Job market frustrations...

2008-08-25T10:19:00.003+01:00

I am so frustrated with the job market.

I would really like a permanent role and I am fed up of temping.

The problem is that the market is flooded with newly qualified solicitors. There are no senior positions. The trend these days is for employers to hire cheap newly qualified people and just have one key figure head. Its supply and demand, there is an oversupply and as a result salary levels have dropped. Many recruiters I have spoken to agree with my take on the market - given the difficult economic times we are in more employers are turning to cheap labour such as junior lawyers or paralegals.

I am not going to take a derisory salary. That is why I am forced to keep temping. All of the roles which come onto the market are paying a salary of 30 - 40% less than I can earn temping.

I am sick and tired of this crap but I need to keep my earning level up as I need money for the escape.

staying put...

2008-08-20T17:32:00.002+01:00

We have decided not to put our home on the market.

In view of the poor market at the moment and the fact that I dont want to live in a rented property for the next few years we might as well stay put.

By selling I estimated that we would have an additional £800.00 per month approx in disposal income. That would be roughly one half of our present living expenses. More money for the escape fund.

But on a practical note - I dont want to rent for the next few years. Too many uncertainties, rents may rise, or we may have to move several times to find a desirable building. Noisy neighbours, student parties, rough part of the city and all that puts me off selling.

We might as well stay put until we are ready to escape. Or perhaps we need to keep this and use it as a base, given that the only place I wanted to escape to wont let us stay full time!

Back to the drawing board!

Escape to where....?

2008-08-07T18:07:00.002+01:00

Having investigated the limited immigration options I cannot see a viable escape plan to North Amercia.

The visa options. There are no options. We are not skilled workes, we do not have family to sponser us, we have no prospect of getting sponsered by an employer (too many lawyers in north america already), we do not want to give away $500k for an investment visa.

The tourist visa - we can stay 3 months in the US or 6 months in Canada.

I wanted somewhere to put down roots, buy some land/a house live in a small town be part of a community. Because of stupid immigration rules the best that we will be able to do would be to buy a holiday home in North America. But how practical is that? Not very. I wouldnt be able to keep animals or keep my garden with having go back and forth all the time.

Despair

2008-07-22T17:28:00.002+01:00

We decided to have another go at selling our flat.

Last year we had it on the market for 6 months and dropped the price 3 times. Eventually we withdrew it from the market at the end of last year at the start of the credit crunch.

I've been feeling very antsy recently, I think we would have more flexibility if we sold the flat. I would have more peace of mind if we sold sooner rather than later. It would facilitate a smooth transition to the escape plan.

Had two estate agents round today, all doom and gloom. One made me feel really bad with stories about vultures trying to cash in on distressed sellers by offering tens of thousands less than the asking price. One story they told me was about someone who had taken 100k less than asking, another couple 60 k less....

I explained that we were not distressed sellers, we did not HAVE to sell now, but preferred to do so. I just want the damn equity from the place and I want OUT OF THE MORTGAGE. I want it gone. We can rent a place for HALF of what we are paying on the mortgage. All that extra money can be saved in readiness for the escape, not to mention the extra money we would gain on interest from putting the proceeds of sale in the bank.

I started to feel very stressed and I actually felt sick. Sometimes I wish we had never bought the flat. At the moment it seems like a huge obstacle blocking the escape. A giant money pit

Nothing is going right lately. Nothing at all.

Fed up

2008-07-18T17:11:00.003+01:00

I'm fed up.

The escape seems such a big project, sometimes I wonder if it is all worth it.

I'm fed up of the office and I'm fed up of living in the city.

I'm fed of doing contract work. For the last two weeks i've had a chest infection. I am not well - what pisses me off is that if i dont work i dont get paid. Being the money grabbing person that I am I dont take time off, or much of it anyway.

Why do I have to be unconventional? Why cant I just be happy with my lot,

Yesterday I went to see a client in Yorkshire in the train. I saw a place that I had never heard of, very green, rural and less than 30 mins from the city. I told DH about and I started to get very excited. The cost of living would be a lot less than the city.

But, I dont know where I will be working in a few months time. Never mind what office, but what city? The liklihood is that I will have to work in another city, the market here is very tight at the moment.

I want to escape. Now.

Security is.....

2008-07-12T13:49:00.003+01:00

I love this quote from vandwelleruk.co.uk:-

Security is ACTUALLY "The independence and ability to withstand change which is going to happen ANYWAY."

I couldn't have said it better. To put the quote into context vandweller opines that security is not found through the conventional working the job for 30 years and a big bank account. Rather, it is the ability to deal with and get through what life throws at you.

The quote sums up just how I feel at the moment.

I need to find a new job....

2008-07-11T19:43:00.003+01:00

Today I had a meeting with my line manager at the firm.

He said that he had been told by the bosses that I wouldnt be required at the firm beyond September. He said that it wasnt his place to give me notice but he just thought I should be aware in case I wanted to make alternative arrangements.

I was slightly confused as this was all very vague. I appreciated the advance warning and guessed that I was probably on the way out anyway.

I tried to clarify exactly when he thought they would get rid of me and he said he didnt know, probably september some time.

Dilema. Do I stay put until they give me my one week's notice in september - or do I look for something else now? Aww, this is the part I hate about locum work - finding a new gig!

Why I keep a mortgage...

2008-07-04T17:15:00.004+01:00

I have enough cash savings to pay off my mortgage and still have a bit left over.

But I wont.

Personal circumstances and lifestyle practicalities dictate that DH and I should not pay off the mortgage. Having the savings liquid (or semi liquid) fits in with our requirements.

Firstly I am a contractor, so I have zero job security. DH has a permanent job but it will never be the type of role that is a "job for life". If his employers want him out he is on one months notice. Yes, if he was dismissed unfairly he could file a claim for remedy in the court system but lets be realistic, owing to the principle of mitigation of loss he would not achieve that much more if his claim were successful.

There are so many uncertainties in life today. What if one of us is ill/cannot work/cannot find work etc, we need a financial cushion. We also like freedom to travel. Liquidity gives us freedom and more choices.

I think sometimes that the idea of paying off one's mortgage is overrated. Even if the mortgage is paid off, one still needs an income to pay bills/buy food etc.

I think it really does depend upon personal circumstances. We do not want our present home to be a permanent primary residence, therefore to throw all our cash savings at it now would be too restrictive. Yes the mortgage would be paid off, but in today's economic climate we may not be able to sell it at a time when we need to release the equity.

We plan to lead a semi nomadic lifestyle for the next several years so for us it suits us to keep the mortgage, at least until we sell, but that's another story....

Taking control of finances....

2008-07-01T22:06:00.002+01:00

It constantly amazes me how little attention people pay to money.

Perhaps I'm the odd one. I confess that I think about money a lot. Some people don't think about it at all. Some people don't plan at all.

I think that lack of organisation and financial chaos often go hand in hand.

I had the opportunity of discussing finances with a colleague recently. She confessed that she has lived in a constant financial mess. She also mentioned that she does not plan ahead with anything including finances and seems to be bouncing from one crisis to another. I really wanted to help her but I did not want to appear a know it all or appear overbearing. So I just said that I found that the best tactic was to set a budget, and to write things down.

When will people realise that it really is a case of "your money or your life"?

From two incomes to one.

2008-07-01T13:34:00.004+01:00

In October 06 I left my permanent job.

I did not have another position to go to, nothing, nowhere. I hated my job. I felt that I was trapped and I realised that I would have to leave the job to move my life forward. My head said it was a bad move, my heart said I was desperate to go.

My colleagues thought that I was crazy to leave a job without having another job to go to.

I was able to leave my job because we were financially disciplined. We did not have any consumer debt, neither did we live an extravagant lifestyle. We don't have any children.

I was determined that my lack of a job would not mean that we had to use our savings. In short we learned to live off my husband's pay alone. It was a tremendous learning experience. It was not difficult. At that time I wondered then why we hadn't done it before. I thought of all the extra money we could have saved if we had done it before.

In January 07 I started contract work. I have never looked back. We still live on one pay check. As a result we are in the fortunate position that we save a large chunk of money every month.

Those few months of being unemployed were really worth it. Such a valuable life lesson was priceless.

Pay day

2008-05-23T17:13:00.003+01:00

I got paid today.

I saved all of it save for £100.00 which I took out in cash.

The plan was to use this for shopping and other incidentals over the weekend and through the week. But I forgot it was a bankholiday, so it is not going to be enough depending on what we do.

Tomorrow night we could use some theatre vouchers we have to see a play for free. Before that we could go to the local wok fry place which does 2 courses for £7.00 before 7pm.

I will try and have a frugal weekend. I want my escape fund to grow.

Is any one else growing an escape fund?

Job security - or lack of...

2008-05-23T16:53:00.002+01:00

There have been some developments at work lately.

I wont go into the details but suffice to say the changes have involved a business restructure. Although I have been at this gig for 7 months, I am a locum, self employed to all intents, the firm only have to give me one weeks notice to get rid of me.

Yesterday the firm made some noises about me joining them as a permanent employee. I am trying to weigh up the pros and cons. The pros are job security, certainty and no more worrying about what I will do when this gig ends. The downsides are a lot less money and the probability that I would have to work on cases in a very specialised employment field, I am not keen on doing this as I think it would decrease my marketability.

I also like getting paid weekly. Its great for cash flow and budgeting. I think I would hate to go back to monthly pay. Mmmm, I think I will try and put the decision off for as long as I can. I do know that I DO NOT want to go back to a long commute. I live in the city and this job is a 2 minute walk. Unless they give me an ultimatum, then I will have to think again!

Financial Independence

2008-05-18T15:48:00.008+01:00

It is important to me to be financially independent.

I want to feel free and not obligated to an employer. Not obligated to do a certain job. Not obligated to earn a certain amount of money to support a certain lifestyle. Not obligated to keep up with the jones'. These days there is no such thing as job security. This is abundantly clear to me. I am reminded of this constantly on a daily basis as a result of my work. I am an employment lawyer. No such thing as a job for life any more with a company pension to retire on. You have to fund your own retirement.

I couldn't imagine working at an office job for the next 25 years, that's basically what my job is, an office job. Sometimes I feel trapped in a cage.

My husband and I have no debt. Our spending vices are foreign holidays.

Why do you want to be financially independent?

Escape the rat race

2008-05-11T11:29:00.007+01:00

Hi

Welcome to my blog - Escape the 9 - 5!

As this is my first post I thought I would introduce myself and explain the theme of my blog.

I am a thirty something female living in Britain. I work in the legal profession. I work as a locum. I think the equivalent in the US is a contracts or temporary attorney.

I am married, have no children and don't want any.

Why do I want to escape the 9 - 5? Simply, I want to escape the rat race and retire or semi retire early. Work dictates so many rules about the way we have to live our lives. I want to be free of this.

I started this blog to chart my journey to financial independence and hopefully my escape of the 9 - 5. It would also be nice to meet some like minded individuals along the way!