Somewhere in France · October 2026
I don’t currently have a job.
This week I said no to one.
Excellent job-search strategy.
The strange thing is, I could have done it.
It was paid work. I have time. And, as my bank account would probably point out, I’m not currently suffering from an excess of invoices.
Not that long ago, I probably would have said yes.
Not because I particularly wanted to do it.
Because it was work, I could do it, and someone was willing to pay me.
That used to be a fairly convincing argument.
Apparently it isn’t anymore.
The difficult bit about trying to build a different working life is that at some point you have to actually behave differently.
I can’t spend months saying I want more control over my time, shorter projects, interesting problems and the freedom to move around — and then immediately abandon all of that because somebody has sent me a contract.
Annoying, really.
It would be much easier if changing how I work just involved buying a laptop and driving to Spain.
I’m still applying for things. Still talking to people. Still trying things I wouldn’t have considered a year ago.
I just seem to have added another question.
Not only: Can I do this?
But: Do I actually want to?
Which sounds very sensible until you remember the opening sentence.
I don’t currently have a job.
And apparently I’m getting picky.
This should go well.
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