Jacqui Furneaux

Age at time of shift

48

Gender

Female

Education level

Other

Universities attended

Wolverhampton

Shifted from

Health Visitor

Location

Stoke-on-Trent

Salary

£0-£20,000

Years in old career

15

Shifted to

Independent traveller and freelance nurse

Location

Not a job really but Bristol at the moment., worldwide before.

Salary

£0-£20,000

Years in new career

11

Year of shift

1998

What was your role in your old job?

Caring for children, families and the elderly population on my caseload.

What is/are your new role(s)?

I present talks and write about my travels in the hope that I might just make someone else think that they, too, can opt out of an unfulfilling lifestyle and do what they really feel like doing.I have some success knowing of at least two people who have given up their jobs to go travelling.

Why did you change?

I wondered if I was making any difference to the physical, mental or emotional health of my clients afer so many years. I was disillusioned with management and unhappy in my domestic life so I bought a ticket to Thailand and started a life of travel.

Are you happy with the change?

I have absolutely no regrets. I manage on the little money I earn, having found a richer life in the experiences I have. I love doing talks and writing about my years travelling around the world on an Enfield motorbike with a gorgeous Dutchman seventeen years my junior! I had 4 years with him and three years on my own with the motorbike and travelled through 20 countries before returning to the UK. My confidence has grown beyond bounds. Before I left everything behind, I was a follower. Whilst not being, or wanting to be, a leader, I now fly on my own wings and not someone else's. I was 48 when I started and wishes I'd changed earlier.

What do you miss and what don't you miss?

I don't miss routine, comforting as it can be. I have learned that routine can be a cover-up for not doing what you really weant to do.
Foolishly, I used to miss the prestige of my position. Now I realise how hollow that was. I don't need accolade now and miss nothing about my old job, much as I used to love it.

How did you go about making the change?

That was the hardest thing. I did leave with my tail beneath my legs feeling a general failure. It seemed the only course of action.

What was the most difficult thing about changing?

Making the decision. Once I'd decided, the rest was 'do-able'. It got easier once the momentum grew.

What help did you get?

Encouragment from close friends. I had a feeling that it was the right thing to do. I wasn't struggling with the plan. Everything fitted into place so I knew I was making the right decision.

What have you learnt in the process?

That I can do anything!

What do you wish you'd done differently?

I wish I'd done it sooner. I wasted time hoping things would improve. I waited until things became unbearable and almost lost myself. I found a final inner strength to go and buy that ticket!

What would you advise others to do in the same situation?

Follow your heart and dream if you have one. It's an old adage but having done some hospice nursing I learnt that life really is too short to be unhappy. It's such a waste.