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"I love cooking and like 50% of the Italians abroad I'd like to turn that into a profession someday (catering? food stall? gastro pub?), "
A friend of @Apone has just made the transition and is loving it, and his place down in Brighton is doing really well...
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I love cooking and like 50% of the Italians abroad I'd like to turn that into a profession someday (catering? food stall? gastro pub?), but would hate to see that becoming something that ties me down and suffocates me, the same way my current job is doing now. To the point that I might not even ever try.
Are you planning to stop off anywhere and work for a while? If you want to be in the food biz my advice would be to get experience working in a busy restaurant kitchen, at any or many levels. You'll either love the environment, learn a lot and thrive on the buzz of service or realise that the reality is far from what you imagined and that maybe it's not for you. Running your own place obviously brings with it a lot of additional responsibilities/pressures too.
I'm certainly not trying to put you off and many great chefs have turned their favourite thing to do at the weekend in to a career, but better to avail yourself of as much info as possible before making any big decisions!
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cornelius_blackfoot
Miss_Mouse
@giofox
Great thread this is, good job @Invent , let me say your forum name is spot on already.
I am fairly young compared to other stories on here, having recently turned 29. I've always pretended to have clear ideas about what I wanted to do in life, spent loads of money to study to pursue a career I thought would be my lifelong job.
I have been working with my parents while growing up in a farm, I worked in kitchens while studying, and finally worked as a Structural Engineer for the past 6 years, for which I have been studying so long for. I've invested time and money (loans just done paying off) in this, so it hurts to admit to myself I am unhappy, but it would hurt even more to lie.
I initially thought it was a matter of the company, so I changed, I then thought it was a matter of the country (people in NY are more workaholic than in London), so I changed, now I am convinced it's a matter of any consultancy job done at a firm level. I still love the kernel behind it, but I grew sick and tired of the political games, bs and repetition that comes with the management aspect.
I am sold on the work-to-live, less-is-more, travel, change sooner than later, better sorry than safe and all the other philosophies listed above, and even considering yoga (as soon as my collarbone is fine). But in total honesty my main fear is the fact that this ultimately boils down to being lucky.
I often find myself thinking, "what would it be like to take the thing you like the most and turn it into a job?" nobody can guarantee you'd still love it the same. Imagine having sex, who doesn't like it, now imagine having it 40h a week, with the same girl, for 50 weeks a year, would you still like it? My point is, you need to be lucky to try a job cause you think you like it, and actually do, and some bastards actually do (or convince them enought to believe it), lucky them.
I love cooking and like 50% of the Italians abroad I'd like to turn that into a profession someday (catering? food stall? gastro pub?), but would hate to see that becoming something that ties me down and suffocates me, the same way my current job is doing now. To the point that I might not even ever try.
To come to the point, I will soon quit my job, again, and travel for a year, luckily my gf is on the same page and I will be able to do this with her. I am sure it will be great, but I also hope it will answer questions I am not aware of at the moment, hoping it will shed some light on the doubts above.