I’m hoping some people can share their experiences with this. My wife is Japanese and we have been talking about moving to Japan for a year or two in order to start a family. She wants to be near her family and support structure when going through the pregnancy, which I can understand completely.
I could work over in Japan, but between the awful work culture and atrocious pay there, I’m not really excited about the idea. I have plenty of money saved (enough to live a few years without worrying about finances), so I could just take the whole time off as well. I have options there.
Obviously, this all comes with a risk and sacrifice regarding my career. I will have basically “stalled”. But, I love being in Japan. I already speak the language well enough and we spend a good chunk of time there (few months) every year as it is. Daily life is happier there, in general. And we’re both in our low 30’s, so starting a family is at the forefront of my wife’s mind, and I really can’t put it off much longer since she has to deal with the realities of biology.
Has anyone gone through a similar experience (going from a high paying industry in the US to Japan where it pays far less) and either worked there or just didn’t work at all? Did you regret taking a long sabbatical like that? Any advice?
by kuri-kuma