heymikey wrote: I don't know -- I have so many issues with this. Two more years and I won't be qualified for a UK working holiday visa and I know I will regret this if I don't go. I'm just scared and the clock won't stop ticking. Sooner or later, I'll wake up to my 60th birthday and realize how much I wasted opportunities to go.

No, the clock doesn't stop ticking. Time is your most valuable asset. Mantras you should never say: I don't know. I can't. I'm not ready. Life is like a bubble...it can burst and end at any time. Why live with regrets?

I lost my job last year in august, at 29 and decided to chuck it all and travel.I really and truly hated my job, and in the end I was glad that I lost it because I got to travel. I did a mini-RTW for three months and came back and went job hunting. I was lucky I came back before the whole economic crisis really hit hard in Australia (where I live now). It was probably the best thing I did ever, and I don't regret it. I plan to do it again in 2011, at 32 the age that you are now.

Given the current economy, if you have the money to do it, I would say do it now. Travel prices are at its lowest and because people don't have the money to travel there are less tourists. Also there's that whole feeling of being free, I guess.

I have left my life once before - I moved to Australia and eventually migrated at 26 - so to me, its not something I can't do again, start from scratch. It is very difficult though, so as long as you are prepared to deal with adjustment at returning to your country, getting a job,and perhaps while not missing out on the world, missing out on some opportunities you could have gotten if you hadn't left. I think tho, it all balances itself out in the end, so go for it!!!

heymikey wrote:"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything." -- Tyler Durden (Fight Club)
Two more years and I won't be qualified for a UK working holiday visa and I know I will regret this if I don't go. I'm just scared and the clock won't stop ticking. Sooner or later, I'll wake up to my 60th birthday and realize how much I wasted opportunities to go.

I actually regret not coming to Australia sooner because I don't get to take the UK working holiday visa - I'm too old if I don't do it this year, and I can't afford it now - so I would suggest doing it while you still can!!! I am from an Asian background as well, and I know what you mean about expectations, and parental sacrifices. I have no mortgage and the thought would not have occured to me had my mother not brought it up. I think I am lucky though, that my parents while they don't entirely understand, accept that traveling is really what I want to do, so in that sense they've learnt to let it go. (Mum just goes to church all the time and prays that I stay alive!)

Well, I've decided to postpone yet again my plans. I know, I know. The recession got me scared. I had already applied for my Youth Mobility Visa to the UK but have not submitted my biometric data which entitles me to a refund if I do choose to cancel it. I plan on applying again in March or April and by that time, it will be now or never. I did some research and I still have time to do both working holidays in Japan and Australia after living in the UK for 2 years so I guess the timing shouldn't affect my plans.

I just feel so lost.

I left my job, took a year-long trip.... came back, and here we are in a bad, bad unemployment situation.

Do I regret taking the trip? NO NO NO NO WAY. Not even a shred of regret.