If the typical midlife crisis happens between 40 and 60, then I’ll call what I had a crisis of adulting.
I thought that I was severely behind in life compared to everyone else my age.
At age 30-31, I became fed up with my job as an online English teacher, felt unstable with life abroad as a digital nomad, and consequently fled back to the States to escape both.
Here’s how in two years' time I found my ideal career, got educated, got my dream job, and returned to life abroad.
How I stumbled upon my dream career
How often have you begun doing one thing only to discover you liked doing another?
Living as a digital nomad starting in 2013 had some major perks. Firstly, no one really knew about it much yet, meaning it was an untapped dream life, secondly, it was as simple as using your skills as an English speaker to teach people in other countries as a way to make money from anywhere.
At some point in this journey (2018) I decided that I wanted to become an entrepreneur, so I started a company that provided English-speaking practice to individuals for just 10 and 20-minute intervals.
Seeing as how I had little to no money to put into this new business endeavor I learned to create my own website, blog, and write SEO articles, launch social media campaigns, print business cards and mail them to companies, post flyers and so much more.
When it was all said and done, my business had very little success but I had a newfound skill.
Because of all I learned for myself I realized that anyone could give me their business idea, and I could, within a matter of moments give them a full digital strategy including videos to make, blog articles (with outlines) to write, and full social media campaign ideas.
Yet while I recognized it as a skill I had acquired it would be years before I identified it as a career path.
Why $15k for education was worth it
In 2021 mid-pandemic I returned home to Wisconsin broke, feeling unstable from lack of consistent students and just overall tired of moving from place to place.
I decided I needed a break from traveling and to figure out what I wanted to do with my life because at 31 this wasn’t the place to be.
I’m still not sure how it happened but I believe I was hit with an advertisement for a digital marketing specialist certification course through my local university: UW-Madison.
In reading through the syllabus every, single, topic covered was some marketing skill I had learned on my own in my failed attempt as an entrepreneur.
And more than that. I hadn’t even considered that I could get paid to do something so enjoyable and easy for me. (Cause aren’t jobs supposed to be something you hate?)
The course itself was specifically made for busy adults who worked during the day and were interested in a career change, which was exactly my situation.
I never gasped at the $15,000 price tag because to me it showed that it had real value (and financing options).
The loan though actually didn't come right away.
I worked two jobs and paid cash monthly, but when I started to get behind I decided it’d be more beneficial to pay upfront and to pay it off.
It was all worth it.
Here’s why I went back overseas
In 6 months I was a certified digital marketing specialist, two weeks before the end of the course I found a great job writing SEO and social media for an office furniture company in my hometown, and 6 months after starting in that company I was able to return overseas.
Since I was a kid I’d always wanted to live and travel in foreign countries. I used to study various languages, went to homecoming with a Brazilian exchange student, and graduated early from high school due to my participation in an international charter school.
I was made for life abroad, but the burnout of English teaching coupled with the paycheck-to-paycheck stress had weighed on me heavily.
Yet two years (and two months) after returning home I went back overseas as a way to live simpler, to pay off debts quicker and save money, and ultimately to continue living my childhood dreams of an exotic life in a foreign country. (There also may have been a boy I liked cross-ocean.)
My new career was the only way that this was possible.
The stability from working for one company and making an American income gave me the confidence to try again.
Conclusion
If I could shout from the mountaintops “It's never too late to stop and change direction,” I would in a heartbeat.
I no longer feel behind in life, even without having exactly everything that I want.
But for me, finding a career and job that brought me more stability, helped me to achieve higher goals, and live overseas was for sure worth $15k.
What’s your dream life worth?
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