My recent foray into the international job market has thrown up a rather specific dilemma. Allow me to explain. You'd be forgiven for thinking that due to the titular nature of this blog, that the
ultimate desire is to live the life of a bum.
Not so.
Well, mostly not so.
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| This Bum's Life. |
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I'm happy to undertake hard work as long as compensation is adequate. And by adequate, I don't necessarily mean "fiscal" adequacy. Standard of living, social life/night life, provision and access to alcohol (not all sovereign states follow the West in their free-market approach-you know where I mean), expat men to women ratio (hey, I'm a guy-what do you expect?), culinary offerings (and relative price), weather and positioning to allow for travel opportunities; these are all aspects that have to be taken into consideration with a potential overseas posting. Not forgetting availability of quality medical care and general safety issues. But they're not that important anyway.
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| Until this happens. |
Now, it would be naive of me to believe that all those things are going to coalesce to form some sort of ethereal paradise when taking up a position abroad. There are trade-offs: the time I spent in France ticked boxes for certain criteria, and others not; the exact same could be said for my experiences of China. The problem I face at the moment, is that there are two jobs I'm heavily invested in and each will provide very different experiences.
As a young (ish) man with no ties, one of the positions (South East Asia) would be perfect: great night-life, great standard of living, well-positioned for travelling, chance to meet women (hey, I'm a guy-yadda yadda yadda) and access to alcohol. The downside is that the job won't really serve me that well when it comes to professional advancement. The other position (Middle East), however, offers much better opportunities for advancement and
significantly better pay-so much so, that a couple of years working there and being careful with my spending habits would provide a sizeable nest-egg which would make up for my years of financial irresponsibility. The standard of living would still be high, but the problem is that there is barely any night-life and there are more, shall we say, "
conservative" viewpoints concerning male-female relationships. A big draw, however, is that I'd have to buy a car while working there and having looked at the figures, I'd be able to afford to buy (and run) a decent second-hand Hummer yet still be able to save quite a bit. Not that I would be as crass as to buy a Hummer. Ahem.
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| Pictured: Commercialism in all its crass, 19.5mpg glory. |
By and large, I don't happen to be motivated by money; however, the notion of having a pretty penny stowed away earning interest in a savings account (and cruising under the Arab sun in a Hummer* like some modern day Lawrence of Arabia) is a tempting prospect. And once I'd finished my two year contract, it would also give me the funding to do the cross-country America trip that I've been planning since I was little more than a spotty-faced teenager with bum-fluff on my chin. On the other hand, time marches on unabated and I'm standing at the cliff peering into the abyss that will be my 30s. I know that I've only got so long that I can lead the lifestyle that would be available to me in S.E. Asia before I'll have to relinquish it for certain "adult" responsibilities (getting to bed at a reasonable hour, for a start).
I have no guarantee that I will get either job, but if the (unlikely) situation arises that I get offered both, I'm at a bit of a loss as to which one I should choose.
If you
were in my position, what would
you do?
*For those who deem it important to factor the saving of our planet into the equation, I should point out, that if I got the job in the Middle East, I wouldn't
actually buy a Hummer. I'd get a 3.5L Merc.
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"Yes, and also, I've always been intrigued by women named 'BJ'."
-D.
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