Hey,

As the title says, I'm in need of adventure. Always been a straight and narrow kind of guy, high school, then uni, then work. Still living in the Canadian city I grew up in.

Now I have a good job with the government. Set for life, everyone says. Yet, it feels everything but. I've never had any adventures. I have a hard time making friends and girlfriends, never did much travelling, have no group of friends that lead to more friends/girls/whatevs. The new job makes it worse, I'm probably one of the youngest here, so there are no social prospects, sitting alone in my cubicle. I walk by the coffee shops and restaurants, seeing all the young people bustling about, working and socializing, and I'm jealous. I'm sure they might look at me the same, its all about perspective, of course.

Well, enough of that silly talk. It's all led me to a decision, I need to travel and work. I'm getting my UK passport (born there), and moving somewhere, in the hopes of enjoying life. The question is, where? I don't know where, there seems to be alot of choices in the EU. I only speak english, but I think it would be cool to learn a language, live in a culture that is different from my own.

Anyways, that's why I'm here, I'm looking for a good place for a 28 yr old to go to live, have adventures. Gain experience in life, love, friendship, etc etc. I've been looking over the difference forums for expats, but it seems like alot of focus is on retirement age people, buying property, bringing kids and pets, paying the least tax. What about having adventures for young professionals? Any ideas?

Cheers.

OK, you've got the big issue knocked - with a UK passport, you technically have the right to move to and work in the EU without the "outsider" hassles - like visas, residence permits and work permits.

First of all, start taking a language right now. Pick one - French, Spanish, German, Hungarian - whatever strikes your fancy. Or you might consider living and working a bit in the UK, and learning a language while you're there with the idea of then moving on. (Advantage to the UK is that you can easily make weekend hops to places where you can practice your language skills!)

Secondly, make an assessment of your job skills and experience and research the various European job markets to see where you'd have the best chances. (The EU website, europa.eu has lots of information in English about working in all the member countries.) Not all professions transfer overseas equally well - some countries are fairly restrictive and may or may not recognize job credentials earned overseas. But in most professionals, being bi-lingual (local language and English) is a huge plus. (More motivation for learning a language!)

I did a few years ago more or less what you're looking to do - though I was a little older at the time, had the languages and a bit more on-the-job experience to draw on. It's not easy - and it will take some time (took me a year and a half after returning from a one-year overseas experience to find a job over here) - but it's not impossible and it's definitely worth working towards.

Keep us posted how you're coming along or if you run into questions or problems.
Cheers,
Bev

If it puts things into prospective, my wife had a job for life in the Governmment ...... but thats not how it turned out when she was forced to transfer to a job that she didn't want to do due to cut backs. It eventually made her very ill and she left. Nothing is forever. Grasp the opportunity when you can

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I agree with Bev, you have the UK passport so you have a lot of freedom already. Take the leap before you have too many responsibilities that will make you say to yourself "I'll do it when....".

I was lucky, I had no family, so when I realised I'd just had enough of the 70 hour working weeks and no life around it, I sold my house, left work, packed all I could into a car and headed south. I had no languages and it was tough, but I'm still here and I've got a house I'm doing up and I now speak French well enough to get by in most social occasions and definitely enough for the 'glorious' French Administration exchanges!

Sometimes it felt like I didn't know how I was going to survive, but I never once regretted the decision to step into the unknown.

Good luck and go for it.