How can i incorporate my passion in my life?
October 18, 2018 7:22 AM Subscribe
I just graduated from college and am about to start working at a really good job.
However one of my biggest passions is surfing and i happen to live in a landlocked country.
I am going to start working in a pretty good hospital in Germany. It is my first job as a medical professional and i am really happy and excited about it. But, as most people know, hospitals and classic medical careers do not tend to be very forgiving towards people with a life at home or passions and hobbies they might want to keep doing.
Right now i have to travel a lot to surf. But at some point in my life i want to go out in my backyard, grab my board, run down to the sea, surf and afterwards run back up to my house. And i want to be able to do this because i live there, not because i am on vacation. It's a dream of me if you want.
Right now i feel like my "two" lives will only grow apart more and more if i don't do something that leads them together.
Now my question is: How would you go about realizing a dream like this?
I am going to start working in a pretty good hospital in Germany. It is my first job as a medical professional and i am really happy and excited about it. But, as most people know, hospitals and classic medical careers do not tend to be very forgiving towards people with a life at home or passions and hobbies they might want to keep doing.
Right now i have to travel a lot to surf. But at some point in my life i want to go out in my backyard, grab my board, run down to the sea, surf and afterwards run back up to my house. And i want to be able to do this because i live there, not because i am on vacation. It's a dream of me if you want.
Right now i feel like my "two" lives will only grow apart more and more if i don't do something that leads them together.
Now my question is: How would you go about realizing a dream like this?
I've lived in a surf town on the Atlantic side of Florida, and it seems to be a matter of deciding how much you want to work vs. how much you want to surf, and choosing a job where you can take off for the day if the waves are good.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:45 AM on October 18, 2018
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:45 AM on October 18, 2018
In the meantime, maybe you can keep your skills sharp with surfing-adjacent workouts and by going to indoor facilities.
posted by xo at 7:48 AM on October 18, 2018
posted by xo at 7:48 AM on October 18, 2018
Best answer: Figure out how to get a job in your field in a place with surfing. Start making lists and crossing off places that a) don't have the right kind of economy b) you will have significant difficulty getting a work permit c) you wouldn't want to live for whatever other reason.
Keep an eye on politics. Today, the prospect of getting a job in Cornwall is unlikely, but in two or four years there may be both a change in the situation and a dire need for medical professionals in the UK.
San Diego doesn't have the absolute top surfing, but it has a huge biotech/pharma industry and extremely accessible beaches*, and it is absolutely normal to have coworkers who work 9-6 or 10-7 so they can go surf in the morning before work everyday. When I first moved there I rented a room from a guy who I would cross paths with every morning when I left for work and he was in the driveway hanging up his wetsuit. He did still go on periodic surfing jaunts to Mexico or Hawaii (where he was originally from) but he got his daily fix without too much complaint.
*In comparison to, say, Los Angeles or San Francisco, where you have to live (expensively) very near the beach to be able to get to the beach on a regular basis. The surfing's not that great here in LA anyway, though there is some.
The other thing you should research are multinational corporations with presence in the places you might most want to live, regardless of what they make or do. Depending on what exactly your medical skills are, you might be a good candidate for certain kinds of Research & Development, Testing, Manufacturing/Quality Assurance management, or similar. Those companies have entire departments just for handling work permits and relocations, so just do some watching of their Careers website and see what kind of jobs they tend to have openings for in the places you'd like to live.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:08 AM on October 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Keep an eye on politics. Today, the prospect of getting a job in Cornwall is unlikely, but in two or four years there may be both a change in the situation and a dire need for medical professionals in the UK.
San Diego doesn't have the absolute top surfing, but it has a huge biotech/pharma industry and extremely accessible beaches*, and it is absolutely normal to have coworkers who work 9-6 or 10-7 so they can go surf in the morning before work everyday. When I first moved there I rented a room from a guy who I would cross paths with every morning when I left for work and he was in the driveway hanging up his wetsuit. He did still go on periodic surfing jaunts to Mexico or Hawaii (where he was originally from) but he got his daily fix without too much complaint.
*In comparison to, say, Los Angeles or San Francisco, where you have to live (expensively) very near the beach to be able to get to the beach on a regular basis. The surfing's not that great here in LA anyway, though there is some.
The other thing you should research are multinational corporations with presence in the places you might most want to live, regardless of what they make or do. Depending on what exactly your medical skills are, you might be a good candidate for certain kinds of Research & Development, Testing, Manufacturing/Quality Assurance management, or similar. Those companies have entire departments just for handling work permits and relocations, so just do some watching of their Careers website and see what kind of jobs they tend to have openings for in the places you'd like to live.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:08 AM on October 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
I get the impression that even surfers that live the life travel to get to the perfect wave, which follows from my understanding of oceanography and weather, any given beach will be good only some days. A beach house in this day implies either wealth or remoteness.
posted by sammyo at 8:09 AM on October 18, 2018
posted by sammyo at 8:09 AM on October 18, 2018
The Eisbach in Munich isn't the only river surfing wave in Germany. Start looking around; any high-volume river with whitewater probably has natural river waves to surf. I river surf in Colorado and it's been a great outlet.
posted by craven_morhead at 8:11 AM on October 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by craven_morhead at 8:11 AM on October 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
If you're an EU citizen, surely there must be other, more surfable countries you could plan to move to where you could legally work?
posted by praemunire at 8:21 AM on October 18, 2018
posted by praemunire at 8:21 AM on October 18, 2018
Klitmøller or rather, somewhere relatively nearby needs medical staff, if you don't mind the cold. You can find a home in Klitmøller and drive from there to a hospital or whatever other facility you can work at.
posted by mumimor at 8:22 AM on October 18, 2018
posted by mumimor at 8:22 AM on October 18, 2018
I've built my whole life around skiing and snowboarding. Do your time at that hospital and then get out of there as soon as possible and get a job at a hospital in the South of France or something. It seems like the good thing about jobs in the medical field are that they are needed everywhere. You can pretty much get a job wherever you would like.
In the meantime, Germany has some good skiing nearby. Snowboarding could help you get your fix.
posted by trbrts at 8:33 AM on October 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
In the meantime, Germany has some good skiing nearby. Snowboarding could help you get your fix.
posted by trbrts at 8:33 AM on October 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Maybe too extreme, but a place like Nias in Indonesia has world famous surfing and probably has medical NGOs in need of medical professionals if your skills are suitable.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:46 AM on October 18, 2018
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:46 AM on October 18, 2018
You are presumably an EU citizen. You can presumably live anywhere in the EU when you have completed your training. Coastal cities all over Spain and Portugal and Greece have hospitals, and hospitals need staff.
Or fuck it: if your madical role allows it, follow the cavalcade of Irish doctors and nurses and just move to Australia.
posted by DarlingBri at 9:10 AM on October 18, 2018
Or fuck it: if your madical role allows it, follow the cavalcade of Irish doctors and nurses and just move to Australia.
posted by DarlingBri at 9:10 AM on October 18, 2018
My ex-boss here in Santa Cruz, California, has a second home on the coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France, specifically so he can have great daily surfing both here and there.
So, you could either move to France (probably fairly easy once over the language hurdle) or to California. Moving to the USA as a physician is difficult but perhaps your profession is easier.
posted by anadem at 9:37 AM on October 18, 2018
So, you could either move to France (probably fairly easy once over the language hurdle) or to California. Moving to the USA as a physician is difficult but perhaps your profession is easier.
posted by anadem at 9:37 AM on October 18, 2018
As others have said, I would figure out how to locate my career in a place where you can surf. I live in Brooklyn and I have known a few surfers who live in Rockaway (Queens) to be able to surf every day. Obviously it gets pretty cold in the winter here, but when it's surf season, they are out there every day. Rockaway is a good solid 45 minutes/hour commute to the city where most people work, but because of its distance from town it is relatively affordable.
posted by greta simone at 10:27 AM on October 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by greta simone at 10:27 AM on October 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: That was more than i expected so soon! Thanks a lot for the good answers from all of you :)
I really liked the ideas regarding
- getting methodical on the whole thing and doing the research (countries, Visas etc...)
- looking into bigger corporations that are in need of health professionals.
As many of you said: being a EU citizen makes you eligible for medical work all over the EU. But moving out of the EU is a little more challenging. One example here would be the USMLE you have to take for the US or Canada.
I will make sure to tackle this thing rather sooner than later!
posted by Pippo.z at 12:01 AM on October 19, 2018
I really liked the ideas regarding
- getting methodical on the whole thing and doing the research (countries, Visas etc...)
- looking into bigger corporations that are in need of health professionals.
As many of you said: being a EU citizen makes you eligible for medical work all over the EU. But moving out of the EU is a little more challenging. One example here would be the USMLE you have to take for the US or Canada.
I will make sure to tackle this thing rather sooner than later!
posted by Pippo.z at 12:01 AM on October 19, 2018
As someone who took up surfing to cope with moving too far away from the ski fields, I second getting into skiing. Also, look at skimboarding. Great if you are near a lake.
posted by lollusc at 3:37 AM on October 19, 2018
posted by lollusc at 3:37 AM on October 19, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
I would start by making a list of countries where both (a) surfing is possible and (b) your medical studies could be put to use. Figure out which countries are most appealing to you, visit them if you can. And then start a list of institutions in those countries where you could work. Look up visa policies. Figure out the logistics. And then, when you know exactly what you want and you have some experience under your belt, start actively pursuing work at those places.
posted by schroedingersgirl at 7:26 AM on October 18, 2018 [6 favorites]