Peace - we all ride, we're mostly of a similar mindset. Welcome home.

Things may have changed but we went travelling for a year, leaving our jobs and selling our house etc. We are British origin and had been working, paying tax and NI for 15 years. When we returned my wife was pregnant. When she went to the doctor she was told that as she had not been paying NI for at least 13 weeks in the previous year we weren't enrtitled to treatment on the NHS.

Our somewhat unreasonable response was to question what would happen if we were foreign nationals just got off the boat - the answer of course was that we would have been entitled to free tratment from the NHS as it would infringe our human rights not to do so.

One thing that is important (to me) is that life should be interesting. It's kind of sad to hear people who don't like what they do and just want to get away from it. My feeling is that what you do, your job, or your career or your lifestyle, however you want to put it, doesn't have to be rigid and it can change, you're the only one to change it.

I like to dabble in this and that, try a night course here and there, learn something new, meet new people I wouldn't meet without some effort. Certainly, touring on the bike is great. If I can make my day where I live, my day to day more interesting, that's what I want.

I used to work in engineering but I hated it - being in an office with people who didn't inspire me. You know when something is wrong. We're so smart that we fool ourselves so convincingly.

I quit that and dabbled. I was a bicycle courier, a bicycle mechanic, I volunteered minding little kids and then I got a certificate to teach English which I did in Spain for a year. I met lovely people who I volunteered with and also in teaching. I wanted to get better talking to groups, and I did.
These were very rewarding, they changed me and although I made little money, I went from feeling like curdled milk to a jug of cream.

For the last three Europe Summer seasons (6 months or so), I've been driving a tour coach. For the moment, that does it for me. It gives me huge flexibility, money, interesting enough work and it's something new.
Everyone has special talents, although a school wll happily give you a D or a B and tell you you that's who you are, now go work in something you have no interest in. Ok, that's bleak. Avoid that!

I've posted the following in 2 other spots on here but I think here it is valid and may spawn a few ideas.

Ok! Here's the post I posted originally:

I just thought I'd throw an idea at you as I know it's hard finding a job, quiting, saving money and going round and round.

For the last three years I have been driving a coach around Europe for 6 months of the year. I can save plenty as I've no expenses almost (no car, no rent, food and accommodation is paid, etc.)

If you don't want to drive but you'd love to be a tour guide, well it's in the same industry but I'll talk mainly about driving coaches here.

It's my choice when I go back to work and when I end. Basically, every tour I do is a contract. It's been guaranteed work and money saving and the job is interesting, I meet lots of people and drive all around Europe.
Driving a coach up and down the same road every day wouldn't be for me but it's quite interesting when you're on tour for from 2 to 7 weeks.
It's not practical if you are in a relationship as you'll be away all the time (although this depends on the company - there are many that do day tours).

What does it take? Get a driving license to drive a bus! I took about 13 hours of lessons and passed my test first time.

Some companies DO hire drivers with little or no experience driving coaches. How? They either start you off in a smaller vehicle - like a 16-seater or like where I work, Topdeck Travel, they train you to drive as they need you to drive - safely and knowledgably and train you on the routes.

There are many other companies you will find if you dig in the internet.
There's Topdeck, Contiki, Tucan and a plethora of oher companies. Topdeck and Contiki are for young passengers (18 to 30-something) so if that's not your bag you can look at any other company.

The company I'm with is based in London, however, as a driver, I stay on the mainland, in a quiet town in Holland between tours for a couple of days, which suits me fine.

Funnily, I'm posting on here because I am a biker and in fact, most of the other drivers also ride, so I think this may appeal to many of you.
If it sounds appealing, get your license. There are many companies, believe it or not, are regularly in need of drivers. For some you can work year round, usually with about 2/3 or less work over the winter but that's when you'll be on your bike anyway.

Driving is a professional job and no surprise, professionalism is part of it.
I enjoy my job, it can be hard work but I like it and it's interesting.
Tell me what you think and if you have questions message me or post your reply.

With who I work for, driving in Europe, you need to be an EU citizen and have the EU driving license.

Happy searching!

This sounds great!

How much did it cost to get the license and how much do you earn when driving on a tour?

Thanks.