how to start over in your mid-30s

[7enniroc]

Life Situation:

I am a 34 year old Canadian living most of the year in Mexico due to health issues. Because of a difficult divorce and severe chronic illness, I don't have much left, but I also don't have any debt. Now that I have mostly healed I am working on changing directions and found MMM. The most urgent thing is to find work, an area I am not sure what to do about.

My career started as a wilderness guide. I have a degree in Outdoor Education and Leadership. I married young, worked for a youth organisation making very little, then got sick for years. I am now writing a book to help those with my same illness and I am close to publishing. I don't have much of a concrete resume due to these life circumstances. I will need to find something online as I must continue to live in Mexico for health reasons.
 
Gross Salary/Wages:

600 cad/month Disability Income
1000 cad/year Odd Jobs and Family Help

8200 Total Yearly Income

Taxes:
I receive about 1200 cad / year tax credit.
 
Current expenses:

1130 Total Monthly Expenses
13,560 Total Yearly Expenses

80 Medical Insurance
40 Phone
300 Rent
280 Food
20 Laundry
10 Environment Course
50 Misc (cleaning supplies, toiletry, etc.)

780 Monthly Expenses = 9360 Yearly

3000 Flights (visa runs)
900 Gas (or less each summer, no vehicle in Mexico)
300 Truck Insurance (for a couple summer months)

4200 Annual Expenses = 350 Monthly

Assets:

Savings: 4000 cad

2012 Truck: bought for 15,000 usd
I know trucks are gas guzzlers, I bought this specifically due to my illness, to be able to live in the back of it when I need to as often living in modern construction was not possible. I would like to switch this out for a small car, but I am not confident enough in my health level yet to lose this safety backup. Hopefully in the near future.

2020 Fibreglass travel trailer: bought for 16,500 usd
This is my main question mark. I just bought this trailer to live in each summer in Canada. I still pay rent in Mexico to keep my place while I am gone. I feel like I made a mistake buying this trailer, as this is the bulk of my meagre savings. But, it also keeps me from having to pay high rent in Canada, which is where this money would go.

Liabilities:

Zero debt. Zero payments.
I paid off small student loans nearly a decade ago.
While married we stayed entirely away from credit cards, and while that kept us from having debt, it also kept us from having a credit score. I have to start from scratch now.
 
Specific Question(s):

I worked hard on dialling in my monthly spending while I was sick, but there is always room for improvement. The flights are a problem, though also part of life for me with health issues. I know the obvious. Get a job and make income. What I don't know is what to do with my assets.

Should I sell the recently bought travel trailer and put the money in index funds? The problem is I will have no where to live in Canada except a canvas tent. I am okay with this during the warmer months. I have done it before on my sister's land. It is just not the most comfortable, which is why I bought the trailer. But I don't want to struggle anymore, I want to change the direction of my life, and I am wondering if this is what I can use to jump start that.

What do you do when you have to basically start life over again? Is there any hope?

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Answers to Questions

Yes, truck and trailer are always in Canada. My plan is to spend 5-6 months in Canada each year to work, and for mental health - for land and family.

I would prefer to only go to Canada once a year. That would cut flight costs in half. But I need a good enough shelter setup to stay up there six months for the cold temps. Then I wouldn't need to do a mid-year visa run.

I don't have a solid enough income to get Mexican residency.

I have tried multiple different shelter options in Canada. All end up costing around the same as the trailer in the end (if I want running water and heat).

Mexico is for multiple environmental reasons, like sun, air quality, construction practices, etc.

Thank you for the job suggestions! All are welcome as I want to expand my tunnel vision :)

[classicrando]

So the truck and the trailer spend the year in Canada, correct?  And you spend about 3 months in Canada over the summer for Mexican visa purposes?

Would you need (or want) to return to Canada if you were able to establish permanent residence in Mexico?

If living in modern construction is not possible, what does your living situation look like in Mexico?  Would you be able to recreate something similar as a small ADU on your sister's land, using natural building techniques (cob, straw bale, adobe, timber frame, etc.)?  If you did this, would you then be able to sell both the truck and trailer?

There is always hope.  It's the thing with feathers and all. ;)

[Freedomin5]

Based on you post, I’m not sure you can afford the luxury of annual summer trips to Canada. As an immigrant and Canadian expat myself, I know it’s not cheap, and yes, it’s a luxury to see family in Canada every year, not a necessity. (When my parents first immigrated, we had no money the first ten years to fly back to see extended family. It wasn’t until after my parents were re-established in their white collar jobs in Canada that we could afford flights.)

So I would consider selling the trailer if you can’t afford to fly back to Canada.

In terms of a job, are you a native English speaker? If so, you could probably get a job teaching English online. Is it going to be challenging? Probably. But no one said life would be easy, and working through challenging situations builds resilience.

If you have access to a library, I would recommend reading the book “Designing Your Life”.

[ToTheMoon]

I don't know where in Canada your family/truck trailer are, but is there a seasonal outdoor attraction nearby where you could work during your time there, where the shorter time-span wouldn't be an issue for employment?

Summer camps where your current skillset could be put to use?

I know around me, lots of people live in their vehicles/campers during the summer months and work at the ski hill or the summer tourist traps. :)  All very outdoor oriented, shorter term gigs.

Perhaps not a long term solution by any means, but could help you get to break-even status in the shorter term if coming back to Canada is important to you.

[GilesMM]

You stay in Mexico for the warmth?  Or for the lower cost medical care?

[Cannot Wait!]

Sell the truck and trailer and buy a cargo van to live in fulltime. This has been a great life for me for the past 7yrs.
And of course there's hope. There's always hope!  50% of us are divorced; people are reinventing themselves every dang day.  You can do it!

[7enniroc]

Thank you so much for the replies! I felt nervous posting a hard situation, but you all are very supportive. Thank you! Your ideas are definitely helping me think it through more.

I added some answers to questions to the original post.

[PMG]

You mention needing online work. I am out of touch with the field recently and US based but for a while there was a big push for cyber security trained folks. That training and work was usually online based but was real and offered real wages. I’d look for legitimate sources for training. Such as community colleges. And again maybe the landscape has changed since I last looked!