By For most of us, the New Year is a time to begrudgingly haul ourselves to the gym, embark on a rigid diet or take up salsa dancing, but for Elly Earls, January 2012 marks the beginning of a whole new life.
While the rest of the country kickstarts fitness regimes and frantically bins the evidence of festive excess, Elly Earls, from Derby, is starting 2012 by ditching her nine to five job, selling her possessions and pinning her hopes on a one-way ticket to Thailand. She tells us what was behind this life-changing decision.
Life before the change
For Elly, a magazine editor, and her partner Tom Frearson, an online entrepreneur, deserting their office jobs and moving to far flung East Asia was a decision that needed to be made. Elly, 25, admits: “I couldn't stand to live another year in the UK. Life is too complicated here. There is too much going on that doesn't need to be.”
“Tom and I were both miserable. We would get home from work and not be bothered to do anything because there didn't seem to be any point. I was so sick of being lethargic and watching telly every night. And I hadn't been feeling like myself in my job.”
“I had come back to England after having lived in Dubai straight after University. I came back because I thought I wanted to settle down and lead a more normal life. But after two years, I couldn't stand the nine to five drudgery anymore. A lot of desk jobs are about administration, doing things for a company that aren't necessarily benefiting you. There were good things about my job, but I was asking myself 'why am I doing this?'”
“We both felt that there is more to life than sitting at a desk for forty years. We reached a point where we had to do something about it. January 2012 was just time.”
The decision to transform my life
“I remember the actual moment,” says Elly. “We were standing in our kitchen. We had never discussed the idea of moving abroad, but my dad, who lives in Thailand, came to visit. Suddenly it was in our heads. I had also lived in Thailand when I was a teenager. There is nowhere like it, life is much simpler there. Within half an hour we thought 'Let's just do it,' 'We're going to do it'.”
“The plan is to go for six months initially and then see what happens. We'll probably stay there for longer, maybe go to other places in South East Asia, maybe somewhere else in the world, we really don't know. Is this it? I am hoping it is. You never know, but there is no plan whatsoever to come back.”
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Making sacrifices
“It was a really hard decision to make, I've definitely been on an emotional roller-coaster. With leaving my job to go freelance and my boyfriend starting his own business, we haven't had much money and that does get you down. There were times when I got really down about that.”But while many overspent at Christmas and rushed to the January sales, Elly and Tom, 31, forewent presents and sold the contents of their home in order to afford their air tickets.
“We didn't get each other Christmas presents or doing anything for New Year. We were saving everything. We sold everything we own,” says Elly. “All of the furniture, the car and most of our clothes. All we have left is a holdall each, a backpack each and our laptops.
“It was scary at first because I felt attached to some of it, but it was liberating to get rid of all that stuff. We are going to Asia, you don't need much. My holdall is just going to be full of summer dresses and flip flops.”It was former Engineer Tom, who made the greatest change career wise. Says Elly: “It was a lot harder for Tom. He had to quit what he had been doing for the last five years. But he is now running an online business so he can work from anywhere. He was the one who encouraged me to do it.”
To save money, the couple also moved back to Tom's family home. “We've been living just outside Preston, at my boyfriend's mum's house. It's in the middle of nowhere, so for the last three months we have been hermits. We have hardly done anything, we have been sitting in front of our laptops, not going out.”
“You have to make sacrifices but we think it's worth doing nothing for a few months for what we will be doing in the next few years.”
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How people reacted
“Our parents have been really supportive. It wasn't an option for them when they were our age, so they want us to make the most of it. My mum took a bit more convincing, but now she has already booked flights out to visit me,” says Elly.“When you talk to people about it, everyone says they are jealous and that it's amazing. But most people wouldn't actually do it themselves. It is scary. It's like 'this is actually happening, are we insane?' We have decided that we probably are a bit insane but it is definitely the right thing to do.”
Our new life
“We will be staying at my dad's house for the first few months, and the cost of living is so cheap in Thailand, so I am hoping to lead a more varied life. I will have more time to do things like charity work, learning a language, doing sports.”“The thought of going somewhere where we don't know that many people is nerve-wracking, but we know what it's like to live abroad and to have to make new friends.”
Does Elly have any advice for those contemplating such a move?
“Just do it. What is the worst that can happen? We might have to come back to England and get another job, but I think it is worth giving it a go.
“You only live once, so you may as well get the most out of life that you can. There's no point in staying in one place for the rest of your life, especially if it's not where you feel happy or comfortable. I want to see as much of the world as I possibly can and I guess it will be a good way to find myself. It's corny but it's true.”
What do you think of Elly's life change? Have you ever taken on a dramatic transformation of your own?
Would you pack your bags for sunnier climes? Or does the thought of upheaval and change scare you?
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