It was already clear two months ago, when I started my search for a new career here in the UK, that there was plenty of change ahead in my life. I fully expected to find myself working in a whole new industry, with new challenges and new learning to be done.

Since then, I have had lots of interesting conversations with recruiters and companies, many of which seemed intriguing and appealing, at first. But the more I talked about these roles, the less I felt drawn towards them. In many cases, it was not so much the work itself as the lifestyle that surrounds it. With the days getting shorter now, and the nights much cooler, I’m keenly aware of what the next 6 months will be like. I honestly don’t think I want to get up in the dark, commute an hour to work, then drive home in the dark at the end of the day. I’ve done my share of that, and it sucks at my soul like one of Harry Potter’s Dementors.

But that’s just how it is in the UK in winter. Yes, there’s a shiny car and an expensive house to compensate for those dark days. But I’m past the point where that compensation has enough appeal … if I had my way, every day would end with me sitting outside on the deck, chatting with friends and watching the sun go down. That’s what Real Life looks like to me. And I came to realize last week that this isn’t what I was interviewing for. The gap between Real Life and “Existence” (albeit a well-paid existence) has been slowly coming into sharper focus.

So over the past month I have been feeling steadily less enthusiastic about the commuting and the business travel that would go along with the kind of job for which I was applying. And to my surprise, I was getting more and more interested in something different altogether …

To keep my brain from going to mush over the summer, I bought an Apple Mac and taught myself to write iPhone and iPad apps, using Apple’s new Swift language. This is something I’d not done seriously for 10 years, and something I’d not been paid to do for over 15 years. I didn’t really have much clue whether I could still do it, or whether I would still like doing it. Turns out the answer to both questions is a resounding “Yes”.

But this was initially just something to keep my brain active. Something creative to do between job interviews. It wasn’t until late last week that it occurred to me that I could potentially go back to writing software for a living.

It will take time to polish my rusty software skills and to build up a profile and portfolio that will enable me to make a living as a freelance software engineer. And in the meantime, it’s not financially smart to be living somewhere expensive during the startup phase. Besides, even without the commute or business travel, I’m still not keen on being somewhere grey and cold and dark for half the year. The occasional holiday in the sun isn’t enough for me now: I want to see the sun most of the year (partly so I can watch it set each day, of course!).

And then I got to thinking: for the first time in history, it’s possible for someone like me to live on a remote mountainside or sit by the beach and work. In fact, it’s practically a moral responsibility to be located somewhere beautiful when writing software … not struggling with traffic and sitting in the dark all winter. Of course, most software people don’t have the luxury of upping sticks and going to live by the beach. Most people have ties of family or other responsibilities that keep them stuck in place. But since June, I suddenly don’t have those ties. And serendipitously, I also happen to know of a home by the sea, in one of the most beautiful places on earth: Golden Bay, where I grew up. The icing on the cake is the opportunity to be near my parents and siblings, who have each spent their own time wandered the globe, but have all found themselves back in Golden Bay in recent years.

So there it is. Something completely different. I had been expecting something different, but not that different!

And in usual Manson fashion, decision turns quickly to action. So it was last Friday morning when I first gave any serious thought to making a career as a freelance software engineer. By Saturday morning I’d done the math and worked out where I would need to be to give myself the (financial, emotional and climatic) space to make this work. By Sunday morning it was all decided. Tomorrow I’m getting the first quotes from the moving companies. And if all goes to plan, I should be sitting (working hard! really!) by the beach in New Zealand at the end of October. Just enough time now to visit friends in the UK, do some last-minute sightseeing and catch up with Alex in Lille before the door of the Airbus A380 closes behind me …