by billie_morini » Thu Apr 24, 2008 7:42 pm
Thromback,
there is an expression applicable to many of the posts here. It is, "Words from the wise discourage..." In contrast, I have rarely seen a young person not succeed in big travels and work when they put their mind to it. This has been going on for a long time and I can tell you stories from 25 years ago about a young woman that left New York City to live in Los Angeles. She didn't know anyone, but thought it was someplace she wanted to be. She's been there every since. I can tell you about a young woman 30 years ago that left Alabama for London and would still be there if she hadn't met and married me. I can tell you about a young programmer from New Zealand that worked in the UK and USA because he wanted to. I can tell you about a Santa Barbara kid that went to surf last year in Afghanistan (!) and discovered a very neat business to start. These people didn't always have the best jobs and money was tight sometimes, but they would not trade their experiences for anything. Here is the most appropriate phrase for you, "Where there is a will, there is a way."
I'll add that if I was young I would do it. Hell, at at age 46 I left a Fortune 500 engineering firm in California to work in academic research in Germany. It didn't go the way I planned, but I will not trade the experience for anything. As a result, I ended up with the best job of my life 2 years later back in California. Get this! At present there is a very large engineering firm in Germany that wants me to come work for them. You never know what is going to happen in life, so you should live it, and you will find marvelous things. And, sometimes, these things lead to things we didn't expect. That is the fun of it.
If you don't go to OZ, you'll always wonder, "What if..." I assure you, with ingenuity, you will make it work.