Friday
It’s the eve of my 39th birthday and it’s a rainy Friday night. As I enter my final year of my thirties, it has been a week of big decisions, with me being offered two jobs in new cities. One in San Diego, where I just visited two of my best friends last weekend, and one in Taiwan, the country I have wanted to live in ever since my first visit in 2013.
Would anyone ever think it would be stressful having two great options?
The San Diego offer would be fun work, a leadership position, and the most pay I have ever received in my life. And the office is right near the beach. However, it is an in-office role with only ten days of holiday a year and thirty-minute lunches. Being a full-time remote editor for the last five years, I immediately felt the tightening sensation of restriction.
The Taiwan job comes with a lower salary than what I currently make, but because the cost of living there is significantly lower, my overall lifestyle, and even my ability to save, would likely stay the same or improve. The role is hybrid with the option to work while traveling, work during trips home, and potentially shift my career in a direction I’ve wanted for a long time. It’s also a leadership role, though not as senior as the San Diego one. And it will be in Taipei, one of the most dyanamic cities in the world, and very cycling friendly.
Knowing that this may be one of my last chances to work abroad again before I get too old, and how difficult it is to find work in my field as a foreigner in Taiwan, I went with that choice. The idea of letting go of most of my possessions and turning my world upside down is both scary and exciting. Turning down the San Diego job’s big salary offer was scary too. But looking at which offer was closer to what I value in life and what I would regret not doing, I knew accepting the Taipei job was the right choice.
Even though the acceptance has been sent, whenever I have previously moved abroad, I have always called it a "maybe" until the visa was processed. And this time I have two months to wait, with me staying in my current role until the visa processing gets into motion.
Before both these life-changing opportunities had come to me, I had already planned a trip to Mexico City over Thanksgiving. I’ve always loved mixing Turkey Day's federal holiday with the last of my PTO to squeeze out one more trip before the end of the year. Ironically, I did the same thing last year to bike ride around Taiwan. Funny how much can change in twelve months. With how mentally exhausting these decisions have been, and with the huge project ahead of getting ready to move, I’m hoping exploring Mexico City for the first time gets my curiosity, creativity, and excitement restarted for what’s ahead. It is going to be an interesting holiday season.
In the meantime, I am going to make the rainy drive in the car I will likely sell soon, go to the gym, come home and cook dinner, and I think watch Cast Away (2000). Tomorrow I will wake up 39 years old and have a delicious dinner with my dad.