"I would love to be able to retire and get into meditation / travelling the world / learning about things for fun."
This makes you human. Unfortunately the best life for human beings was probably the farm and those days aren't coming back anytime soon.
You're in a tough spot, especially if your relationship is solid and not going anywhere. London is a large enough area you may be able to find something that suits you? I would stay in the area, and just find another line of work. Everyone is due the opportunity to change their situation.
I would recommend considering changes like that, but hold strong overall, don't toss both of your lives into massive change. You can work there, and then semi-retire early out to where you're from. Talk to your partner about that as a potential option. He may agree more than you think. Talk it out with him and go from there. That's about all you can do. I wouldn't just throw everything you've worked for into the trash immediately.
I'm actually in a very similar situation, but Chicago. I'm from a more rural area as well, and I've been grinding out my existence for a while longer than you.. I am financially prepared to move back to the countryside. Just hard to even find places at market-rate today. My wife and I are both willing to live with less money at this point.
You may have more in agreement, or come to an agreement for the longterm view once you two have a full discussion.
This makes you human. Unfortunately the best life for human beings was probably the farm and those days aren't coming back anytime soon.
You're in a tough spot, especially if your relationship is solid and not going anywhere. London is a large enough area you may be able to find something that suits you? I would stay in the area, and just find another line of work. Everyone is due the opportunity to change their situation.
I would recommend considering changes like that, but hold strong overall, don't toss both of your lives into massive change. You can work there, and then semi-retire early out to where you're from. Talk to your partner about that as a potential option. He may agree more than you think. Talk it out with him and go from there. That's about all you can do. I wouldn't just throw everything you've worked for into the trash immediately.
I'm actually in a very similar situation, but Chicago. I'm from a more rural area as well, and I've been grinding out my existence for a while longer than you.. I am financially prepared to move back to the countryside. Just hard to even find places at market-rate today. My wife and I are both willing to live with less money at this point.
You may have more in agreement, or come to an agreement for the longterm view once you two have a full discussion.