When my mother was growing up career advice  was somewhat simple for girls: if you’re smart become a teacher, if you’re a bit thick go and work in a bank.  How the ‘dopey’ bank cashiers must smirk now.

Now we have a multitude of options at our fingertips but, for me at least, choosing one to commit  to is harder than ever.  Stronger women than me fought long and hard for the right to be able to do whatever we want and I feel almost obliged to do it all: have a career, have a family, run with the bulls in Pamplona, whatever.

I knew leaving my job with nothing to go to was the right thing for me to do at that time but a month down the line it doesn’t make the situation I find myself in any easier to come to terms with.  After submitting application after application and receiving little or no feedback I wonder have I broadened my horizons a little too much perhaps?  It’s embarrassing running into friends I haven’t seen in ages and noting the horror in their eyes mixed with a little glee, (in some cases), knowing that all these years later they are doing that bit better than I am.  Long term I know this is the right path for me but I do occasionally wonder, should I have settled for something already?

All I can say for certain is I have less than £20 in my purse and about 200 miles worth of petrol left in my car and I’m going to spend the next few days seeing where both take me.  I’ll keep you posted.