An idea is born

Months of problems with my Crohn's disease has made life pretty miserable recently. I hit bottom in February and was signed off for a month. Suddenly with a lot of time on my hands I had plenty of opportunity to think about what I'm doing with my life.

I can't complain because I have a good career that has enabled me to endulge in my travelling passion, has supported my frivolous ways and has set me up in a lovely home. My job however is very stressful and I'm sure it is contributing to my health problems. I'm finding that the longer I'm in my job, the less satisfaction I seem to be getting out of it.

When I joined HBOS I decided that I didn't want to remain in the rat race until retirement and made plans to pay off the mortgage early and change my career to something more 'meaningful'. I put a 10 year timeframe on this plan but that seems too far away so it is time for a re-think.

So that was where the thinking stopped and the planning began.

I visited the 'One Life' exhibition in London and spoke to a number of volunteer organisations about gap years and career breaks and picked up loads of brochures to surf through. Back at home I started googling and found loads of sites with great information about taking a career break.

Finances came next so I've been looking into where I can make savings and how I can raise additional funds. A clear out of my loft resulted in a marathon session on eBay selling all my Pocket Dragons and a number of other collectables that have lived in boxes for at least the past 5 years.

Next was research on what to do with my house. I think the best option will be to rent so at least I'll have somewhere to come back to. I think I'll keep the garage though as that will give me somewhere to store my belongings.

All of this planning and the number one thing that could put brakes on the whole idea is what to do with my cats. Spirit and Miska mean everything to me so it is important that they are looked after. Luckily Mum has agreed to take care of them whilst I'm away so the planning ramps up a notch.

Finally it was time to tell friends and family that 'An idea is born'.