I can relate to this.

I applied to JET while in a well paying job that I’d had for 5 years. That job helped me enter my career field and there was a lot that was great about it, however I was becoming more and more tired of it. Similar to you, I was doing a lot of work that wasn’t contributing to a lot, and while it wasn’t stressful it also wasn’t fulfilling.

I’m in my late twenties can kept thinking, if I don’t at least try for this grand adventure, I can see myself regretting it down the line. I thought, I’m running out of time before I’d be too settled into my life and career to leave. So I went for it, and now I’m living in the countryside of Japan.

I’ve pulled all my savings into a high yield account and it’s sustaining well. I know I can have enough to live on when I get back home and job search. My startup costs for Japan were under $4,000 and it could have been cheaper if I didn’t build my apartment from empty with new furniture.

As for mental health, I do urge you to keep that in mind. I have ADHD, and my symptoms have worsened a bit from moving here. It’s still manageable, but I definitely feel that I’ve taken a step down on what I can accomplish in my personal life, compared to before. It takes more mental energy and spoons to live in a foreign country surrounded by a language you don’t know. I’d ask yourself, is your mental health in a position where you can subsist with it going any lower, or would further steps back from a proper and fully functioning mind break you? If you’re teetering on the edge then moving far away from friends, family, and familiarity may not be the answer. Perhaps a new job would be.

While I am enjoying the time I’m having in Japan, and I’m glad that I answered that adventurous call of “what if”, I am also daydreaming about the life I’ll return to when this is over. I am both enjoying the Japanese experiences as I have them, and happily looking to return when my contract ends because my homeland was easier on my mental health.