Relocating, out - the 'outbound' mindset.

[chris_pilgrim]

Errrr I don't count as a fellow Londoner

@Primrose Hill. oops a daisy ... didn't mean to forget you luv .. it's just that JR8 has "watched" me "grow up" .. from the time i was in london (about a month before I left for sg) till now. and he has been giving me advices when i asked n cheering me on when the goings get tough

@CP No, not yet, and I’m still not sure when we might, but within a year or so I expect (unless we’re offered one last work posting ex-SG, that is too good to refuse, then all bets are off lol, once again). But my feeling is you can’t sit around for ever and wait for opportunities and events to present themselves. I feel there is a point at which you accept you’ve had enough. (And it could be that many people don’t stay ‘the cycle’ long enough to experience that... I don’t know).
That couples with my feeling that for most people, Singapore is not a place to retire. In fact don’t most foreigners come here, work for a few years, make their $$$s, and then leave?
So there comes a time for most people to leave. I imagine for most that’s either when they find themselves out of employment, or, find better opportunities elsewhere, or, decide to throw in the towel.

@JR8. how long have you been here in sg b4 you have had enough? ... i have another 23 more months to go and somedays i feel that i'm tipping over

try berwick-upon-tweed ... i would love to retire there

[Primrose Hill]

Oxford, I love the town but the traffic. Husband and I aren't suburbs or rural people either. He,like your wife, JR8, thinks it's the good life, Felicity Kendall. Yet, he's no gardener. We like the theatre and gigs., however, theatres these days are full of musicals not many straight plays anymore and the ticket prices!!!
In a lot of way we are city folk. So, I don't know.
We have our PR. We have to be here for 10years, I am guessing, at today's taxes and it's current rules.

Marlow? Witney? St David?

[JR8]

@JR8. how long have you been here in sg b4 you have had enough? ... i have another 23 more months to go and somedays i feel that i'm tipping over

try berwick-upon-tweed ... i would love to retire there

It's not just time in, it's also how time gets spent. And also at what point or stage of your life you're in.

Example: I've done three postings here in SG

-1. 1994/5. Single. Worked in banking. Full on hours. Life was the office.
-2. 2008/10 (?). By now a trailing spouse, but also working from home.
-3. 2013/4 - ? Back once again...

Now if I hadn't have been canned from #1 above, I'm sure I'd have stayed longer. #2/3, I'm pretty much funding being here, off self-employed income from Europe, and SGs not exactly a budget place! So in some respects the table turns, and I need positive justification to remain here, as almost anywhere else we'd be better off.

I think it's too 3D to express in an objective formula. It's great for (almost) as long as you can make it that way. When you feel the equation has turned, you start to feel it innately in a subtle way that I think you try and deny, or consider as something temporary. Maybe it's like having a 'comfortable' girl/boyfriend for a couple of years, but then the doubts set in slowly, that it's going nowhere, and they're not a keeper....?

[Duration of stay for #1/2 above were not in my remit, but this time #3, it squarely is. 'So, do you feel lucky punk?'.]

23 months to go? Oh, you better not start counting them down Look for some plus-points and enjoy them to the max, regional cooking, travel...

I recall going through a 'dark-phase' in my previous career of work (12+hrs/days)-sleep-work-sleep. There was nothing to life beyond the office. I vowed to try something new. That was my intentional journey of discovery into something I knew NOTHING about, contemporary art. Looking back it's almost as if I set myself a challenge to try and accept something, that through my naivete I thought foolish if not a lie. 'Busting a lie'? But it didn't turn out like that at all, I really did discover a magnificent epiphany

And again some years later (now a member of the ICA London etc ) the gerbils wheel loomed again. So together with a friend in similar shoes >> training to do SCUBA diving. 10+ years later it's still probably my #1 hobby, and it gets to take me and my wife to some truly amazing places.

So? Perhaps try and find an interest to lose yourself in. Something where there is open-ended opportunity for furtherment. Hey and having good food and travel thrown in makes it fun too

Suddenly, planning how you get to go and dive (or sail, or chill) in Micronesia, or the Gili Islands/ID, (or where ever... just having a project) does tend to alleviate some of the pressures of daily life...


p.s. Berwick on Tweed. LOL! Lovely place. Beautiful wild place. You'd laugh if you knew my connections to that whole coastline...

[chris_pilgrim]

23 months to go? Oh, you better not start counting them down Look for some plus-points and enjoy them to the max, regional cooking, travel...

oops .. how did you guess ... i AM counting down ..

So? Perhaps try and find an interest to lose yourself in. Something where there is open-ended opportunity for furtherment. Hey and having good food and travel thrown in makes it fun too

i am a sentosa islander member, and i've just submitted a volunteer application with the children's society

i've "trekked" Mt Faber, Hort Park, Labrador Park, Telok Blangah Hill, lovely places but they get pretty boring after that eh... sigh

Berwick on Tweed. LOL! Lovely place. Beautiful wild place. You'd laugh if you knew my connections to that whole coastline...

awww ... it's indeed a small world!!!

love the town it is 45mins to Scotland and only a 3hr train ride to London. perfect for my golden years

[JR8]

i've "trekked" Mt Faber, Hort Park, Labrador Park, Telok Blangah Hill, lovely places but they get pretty boring after that eh... sigh

How about trekking on Tioman Island, Malaysia?
Quite a popular route (well, maybe a few people do it per day) is from the main town Tekek, over the ridge to the east coast, and the village of Juara.

Or climbing Mt. Kinabalu in Sabah?

You'll find plenty of info and pix via Google.

[Max Headroom]

For a real-life-affirming trek, have a go at Tioman's Gunung Kajang. It's Johnny Weismuller Tarzan movie meets Jurassic Parc meets The Lost World.

Awesome.

[chris_pilgrim]

How about trekking on Tioman Island, Malaysia?
Quite a popular route (well, maybe a few people do it per day) is from the main town Tekek, over the ridge to the east coast, and the village of Juara.

Or climbing Mt. Kinabalu in Sabah?

You'll find plenty of info and pix via Google.

ya.. trekking n sightseeing the neighbouring countries is one of my must-dos while living in sg. this is on hold till my work probation period is over.

so from now till then, i am a beach bum at tanjong beach @ sentosa most weekends