Hi Adam,

I joined a few days ago, although I am not sure if "downshifting" is
really what I need. But after many years of trying unsuccessfully to
settle into any job, never mind anything related to my Degree, I moved
out to Taiwan and then Korea, teaching English to the local children.

I am much happier just writing, but when my previous employer in the
UK (the MoD) decided to close down the place where I was working, I
decided that enough was enough. I was supposed to go to Tokyo to teach
technical and scientific English to adults, but that fell through
disastrously, and in the end I found myself in Taipei for about ten
months.

I would like to be doing something computer-based myself (I just built
my fourth PC, AMD 2600+, goes like brown sticky stuff off a long thin
object!) - my editor has just suggested an article about scientific
freeware and I am (sometimes) scouring the search engines for it.

What really concerns me is that I seem to have acquired so many
capabilities over the years but rarely seem to use them. And I really
don't like the average "company" either - no room for "experts" in
most places, it seems. I like to "do my own thing" a bit too much. I
got hold of an e-copy of a book called "Be Your Own Career Consultant"
and I was reading bits of it earlier, but these publications, I don't
know, somehow they always seem rather "remote" from my reality. Does
anyone else ever look at books like this and wonder?

Andrew (in Korea). ^_^




--- In downshiftingcareers@..., "Adam" <adam.dyson@t...>
wrote:
> Hi. I have been in the I.T. business for about twenty years, working
> in the city, and around the UK, as a consultant for various large
> corporations, with even a brief stint in Brussels. The money has been
> great, but the stress was appalling and ultimately started making me
> seriously ill. So I thought it was time for a change.
>
> I have moved down to Cornwall to be with my new partner (my wife and
> kids being one of the things I lost through my illness), and live in
> the (comparitively) sleepy town of Falmouth. I am trying to set up a
> small-scale business here, offering IT services to local and national
> companies, but it is slow progress. It has to be said, though, that
> working for yourself, at your own pace, has so many rewards. Yes, the
> money is very tight, but I have never been happier with what I do.
>
> I am not sure that this fits in so well with what all of you see as
> downshifting, but I saw a lot of familiar sentiments in what had been
> said here. If there is anyone still listening to this group, then
> this is me.