Hi everyone, I’m a french man of 31 years old going through a pretty intense depression after spending much of my 20s on the road. I am now in australia in a beautiful coastal town where life is sweet and people are incredibly nice. Thing is: I have been awfully depressed for the last year. I’ve seen most of my friends settling down, establishing themselves in France or australia long term through intense efforts to obtain their permanent residency getting married etc. I always saw myself living abroad, but never made so much effort to settle down anywhere. I’ve only worked in hospitality in the various countries I visited after obtaining my master’s degree in business (which I feel now is what people do when they don’t know what to do for a living). I consider myself open minded, speak three languages fluently, but I always had trouble with anxiety and self confidence. Now that I feel my travel life to be over, I am wondering what to do next. I feel like moving back home with my parents and look for a job somewhere in Barcelona or Toulouse where my family is. But I’m afraid my resume will make me unemployable anywhere. I’m also scared about my financial situation and my capacity to readapt to Europe after living in countries where life was so much easier. I feel like I just need a bit of shared experiences or encouragement. Anyway, it’s good to let it out.
Everything is hard when you are feeling depressed. See your GP. Maybe try meds. Work-wise; What part of your business degree did you find interesting? If you have the resources, can you try and find an internship in Oz that is related to this, to see if it feels different if you are involved in a ‘real job’ setting? You could try the same for a few months in Toulouse if you can stay there for free-ish. Dip your toes back in without fully committing and building some confidence. Or just apply for a job in business and give it a go. You can always leave if it doesn’t suit, but you will have more data to base your decision on. My thoughts are you can always go back to France but once you leave Oz it may be more difficult to come back, if you leave it longer than a few years (no more whv after 35) Good luck.