My job is changing, and I'm not sure I want to change with it. The PTB have decided we are to merge, and the new headquarters will be 100 km away. Today my commute is 900 m. I'll probably get some sort of deal to work remotely or from home 3-4 days a week, but that will still leave me with a substantially longer commute on average. In addition, we will be a larger office, with more specialised tasks, and a more hierarkial system. I prefer being a jack of all trades, master of none, and need freedom to thrive. This opens up the possibility for new dreams and ideas, and I hope some of you would like to throw out some thoughts. It is not very urgent: the merge doesn't happen until 2020, and after getting the municipality to hire a special teacher, we really should stay in the current city until the oldest kid has finished junior high in 4 years.
But after that, the world is our oyster. The town we live in now is not "home" to any of us, since we only moved here because of the school. We would probably be happiest in a temperate climate, in a smallish town/city close to the sea, but are relatively open to most parts of the world. There are only three non-negotiables:
1) DH will not agree to moving further north; only southwards. We currently live in Norway, so that leaves 90 % of the planet
2) I will melt if the temperature goes above 30C/85F. If it is only a few weeks in the summer, I can always leave and go somewhere else. But if we are talking months, it will not be a good fit.
3) DD1 needs access to a deaf community, and a school where they use sign language.
We are not yet FI, but DH has a set income of ~$25 000/year that he can take with him wherever he goes in the world, and we have a decent amount of FU money (especially if we sell the house). I'm a certified teacher, so if we stay within Norway I can get a new job (or at least some income from substituting) within a week, and my certification will never expire. Some of my other skills can probably be transferred abroad, but it will be more of a hassle to get a good job in other countries. I have done some online things before, so being completely without income is unlikely. If we are abroad less than 12 months, we'll keep access to the Norwegian health care system.
Some ideas I'm considering:
A1) Go along with the merge. Travel to the head office as rarely as possible.
A2) Go along with the merge, but get a small appartment in town during the week.
A3) Go along with the merge, but move closer to the head office as soon as the kid is done with junior high.
B) Go back to school to get training as a sign language interpretor (3 years, free tuition). I love learning, and freelance interpreting is one of my RE dreams. I could probably work ~50% on the side while studying. It would be the same commute as mentioned above, but only while studying.
C) Get a new fulltime job where we live.
D) Apply for jobs in a new country and let the kids get their high school education there (one or more years). We can go anywhere we want in the EU, but Nordic and English speaking countries are easier. I've only looked at the work visa rules for New Zealand and Canada so far, but it looks like we are eligible for those.
All input and new ideas are highly appriciated!
