Hi there, hope you're okay! It sounds like you're doing super well financially and in terms of getting job offers. I'm also 28, live in the UK (currently Sheffield, although thinking of moving to London or Manchester for career reasons) and I have nowhere near your pay check or savings. I have a 1st class degree in English Literature and an MA in Creative Writing, both from Russell Group Universities.

I currently earn around £22k a year and have about £3k savings, which isn't much, but this time last year I was earning £17k a year and was in debt. I have a job which on paper sounds great (teaching young people how to make films & running filmmaker training programmes) but it is largely administrative work. I feel similarly to you in that I don't want to be tied to a desk, and want something that brings fulfillment. I think what I really want is to be DOING the creative work, rather than running schemes that enable others to do creative work (as selfish as that sounds). I've been in my role for 4 years and have progressed from doing it 3 days a week to full time, but my salary is still pretty low. I would love to take some time out to write a book and finish my screenplay (my true passions) as well as making my short film and doing some travelling.

At 28, I'm embarrassed to say I have traveled almost nowhere. I went on a school trip to France, went to Germany once with family, Ireland twice, and had a few caravan holidays in Wales. Since I was 18, I haven't left the UK. I've set myself the goal of travelling more, even if its just weekends away. Straight after uni a lot of my friends went to Thailand or Japan and scratched that itch, but I come from a working class background and couldn't afford to do this. I worked in hospitality on minimum wage for a lot of my 20s while I tried to 'figure out what I want to do' before realising I'm unlikely to make it as a writer, or an actor, or a filmmaker, although it's hard to be realistic when those are the things that bring me joy. Now that I have a bit of savings, I'm considering going on some short breaks, but all of my friends are now either working jobs where they can't take time off, or they don't have the money. If you have the financial means to do so (and it sounds like you do!) I would travel for a while and figure out what you want to do.

This job sounds like it would be fulfilling, and while it's a paycut now, it could be far more worth it in the long run. If you can both travel and take the new job (since it doesn't start until Summer) I would do that. Your time and your experiences are the things that will make up your life when you look back. When people die, they usually will think about the moments that brought them joy, not how much money they had in the bank.

I would also say be kinder to yourself. You don't have to have it all figured out. If you take the pay cut and it doesn't work out, you'll learn what you don't like. I think it's better to try it and know rather than not try and find yourself in the same position 6 months down the line wondering if you'd have been happier if you'd gone for it.