More dilemma about work!!??

Hi all,
Sorry to bother you all again with work matters!! . I posted on this site last week asking if I should choose travel or a well paid job! The response was great and as I thought travel won hands down, I thought I had really made up my mind! However, at work today I got offered a chance to go on a really great course which would really benefit my line of work and its also a great qualification. . Unfortunately the course is 6 months long and it will spoil all of my plans for travelling in Sept . Now my dilemma is ten times worse (just when I had definately made my mind up). Do I stay in the UK and complete this course which will benifit my career and help me get back my job when I return (If I do return). Or do I just blow all caution into the wind and just go! I really really want to go travelling, but is this course to good to miss? am I just making up excuses? Should I sod work and just enjoy my life? If I put it off now will I be putting it off for good? Or will 6 months fly by and I should wait?? . Any kind of help and advice will be much appreciated, I really am stuck on which path to take!!!

P.S, Apart from work I have no life here, I moved away from home about 8 years ago, and since I have returned all of my mates have moved on and settled down, so at the mo all I do is work and go home, occasionally I go out when my mates can get a babysitter!! I want a life now, but I would also like a good job to come home for! This is the dilemma i'm stuck in, I'm 26 and would appreciate as much help as you can give me!!! Cheers

This new twist in your life is certainly enough to make you rething your plans, and as things often go.... the timing is impeccable. I would think one of the first things to ask yourself is whether or not your career is really that important to you... It seems as though you were willing to walk away from it before. It is only a six month stay though, which in my line of work would turn into a 12 month stay, and then longer as time went on.

If your primary reason for leaving on a trip was "to get a life" there are surely other ways to go about that as well.

It would be an easy decision for me, but what I do is not particularly rewarding outside of the financial aspect of things... Maybe yours is though. Whatever you decide, the world will most likely be here six months from now, at which time you can fret over this question anew.

Hi thanks for your reply, that is my worry, will this 6 months turn into 12 and so and so forth, my job at the mo is to rehabilitate people dependant on drugs, so in one respect it is very rewarding and on the other I can go a full day of abuse from people I am trying to help! This qualification may help to branch out into similar work, but travelling is something I have always wanted to do for myself???? I'm am really stuck on which desision to make!!!

Well...
If you were planning on leaving in September that is 4 months from now... So a 6 month program would only be an additional 2 months (or 8 months if 6 months turns into a year). Perhaps the new course will keep you busier and be a challenging and rewarding experience.

I suggest making a pros and cons list.
If travel is something you really want to do you will eventually go. Also work will never go away. If you're good at what you do and the company likes you they would always be willing to rehire you or another similar company would be willing to hire you because I am going to assume there will always be people who need rehabilitation and there will always be companies who are looking for people who already have experience in that line of work.

Another aspect would be that if you did wait and do the course you could spend that extra 6-12 months saving for the trip and researching the trip and in that way you may get more meaning out of your travel.

Or you could just say I've had enough. I'm leaving today and walk out the door...
Good luck with your decision.

Hey, it's a definitely a difficult decision, but what is two more months? So you leave in November and not September. The truth is (unless there is some secret that I don't know about) travel would be great for a couple months or a year or however long you are planning on going, but the fact is that when you return, you will have to get a job again. So just think about whether or not this course could improve your qualifications and chances of finding another job afterwards. If so, then maybe that is the way to go.

On the other hand, if you are sitting there reading this and silently wishing that everyone had told you to screw the course and go travel, then maybe the course just isn't the right thing for you right now. Maybe you'll have the opportunity again?? If deep down you can't see yourself living through another 6 months before you can escape, then follow your heart. You have to do what you really believe is going to make you happy, because if you don't, you are just going to be miserable, regretting your decision to hold off on the travelling, or resenting your job because you're not.

In the end no one can make the decision for you (although you could make some of mine for me ) Anyways good luck with the plans. It will all work out in the end for you. Let us know how it goes.

Another thought from me...

The other night I called my parents because there was a job available for me to work next school year. Basically I didn't want to take the job because I didn't want to get too bogged down with schoolwork and work and have no time to socialize and relax. My mom was finally like it sounds like even though the job would be really good you're coming up with excuses and reasons to not take it.
At that point I kind of realized I was calling them in a way to get permission not to take the job. (they help pay for school and since I'm traveling instead of working this summer I feel guilty taking their money).

So the point is what answer do you want us to give you? Do you want us to tell you to screw work it's just another dead end job (I mean we're travelovers we're gonna tell you to travel) or do you want us to encourage you to stick it out for 6 to 9 more months?

Hello billybliss I think this is definitely a decision you and only you can make alone I believe in fate and opportunities arising at last minute. Life is a journey and we all have to choose a certain path every now and again and sometimes have to sacrifice certain things. This is a tough decision but I don't know enough about you or that much about your background to advise you wisely However I can tell you that if it was me - I'd do the travelling I won't go on and babble why - it would just be my decision

Best of luck with whatever you decide

Rach

Hi everyone,
Thankyou all so much for your replies, my course is not due to start untill the end of sept, so it would mean that I would have to put off my travel plans untill the end of Feb next year, what I am most scared of is completing the course and thinking 'i'll put travelling off for another 6 months to gain some experiance in this new field etc etc'! I am also scared incase something comes up in those 9 months, such as I meet someone and can't bare to leave them to travel!!!! Then my travel plans will be put on hold for good! My head is telling me to do the course but my heart is telling me to travel! What do I choose, my head or my heart????

BillyBliss, without being to harsh on you, it sounds like you are looking for excuses my friend. I mean posting the dilemma about work over travel on a travellers forum, what sort of answers did you think you'd get? People on here, myself included, will always advise travel, its part of our make up. I understand the questions you want answered, but only you can make the decision on your future. One thing I will say is treat everyday as it comes, don't worry about the future, if you do and think about it to much you'll do nothing. I would wish you luck, but that doesn't come into it, you make your own luck in this world. Make a choice and go for it.

Hello billybliss,

You need to decide this for yourself, as much as we can give you ideas and advice, its your life. Theres always gonna be some reason why you shouldn't go travelling or some consern that you can find if you're not completly sure.

If your hearts not in your job how can you put 100% into doing this new course. There will always be a part of you thinking what would I be doing now if I were there. Can you wait that long?

Maybe you can use your skills to get a job in Oz to fund your trip.?

Happy decision making!

David