Lifestyle advice wanted!!

[EV456]

Dear Members,,
Let me introduce myself..
I am a 31 year old entrepreneur from the Netherlands, seeking for advice.
I have a background in Electrical Engineering and I am self-employed in an dutch limited liability company doing pay per hour jobs.
I got back to this business model after a failed adventure with a former business partner. I’ve gained a lot of experience during that time professionally and life experience. He is accused for not operating completely legal. I need to take preventive measures for myself and my assets. I need to protect myself to make sure that I cannot be held responsible for his actions during that time.

On a personal level I was doing very well. I was living in a nice new-built house in a beautiful small village. I had found my soul-mate and our friendship gradually evolved into a romantic relationship. She shared the same view of the world. We where planning to live abroad in Luxembourg. I’ve put my house for sale to emigrate to Luxembourg. She would have a very good job in Lux and my plan was to start a new business there. A month before our big move everything went downhill. Out of nowhere her contract got canceled, she had some drawbacks on a personal level and went mentally ill.
During the last year she developed a personality disorder, creating chaos, instability and drama. The care taking for her took his toll on my social life. (which got to a level of non existing). It was an unsustainable situation so I broke up with her.

Right now I need to get my life back on track. Make the right choices for a bright future.
There are some options I consider. Each with their pro’s and con’s. I would appreciate some suggestion and ideas.

I would like to live a more international lifestyle. But I don’t know where and how to start.
Where to live? Where to do business? Where can I meet like minded people, to develop new relationships?

Although I have my own business, I am in the business instead off on the business.
I am one paycheck away from broke.

Currently I am living in a rental, which is to big for one person. I am faced with high rents and energy consumption. I am struggling to pay the bills. I have no bond with the current city I live in. The only pro is that it is near the region where my parents live, who I visit occasionally. But I have no friends in this area, and it is not the center of business either. So leaving here makes sense. Actually my confidence in the Netherlands and the EU begin to decline. Off course I have the option to get a mortgage. But that doesn’t feel right because the market here is at a strange point. Due to government intervention housing prices are extremely high. And in the near future it is likely to rise due to the shortage of housing for the middle class. On the other hand, there are no people willing to sell. In none of the surrounding country’s personal debt on housing is as high as in the Netherlands. My personal expectation is that the collapse of the market is near. But we’ve seen this situation already for a couple of years, but the madness just seems to continue. I definitely don’t want to be the guy, having a maximum mortgage on a house which is bought on a overvalued market with low interest rates. When interest rates start to rise, the housing price will get back to a normal level. Leaving many people of my generation under water.
Renting at the current market prices doesn’t make any sense either.

Spending over 50% of my income on housing is madness. ( Currently I enjoy an above middle class salary )
Besides the market situation there is my personal urge to get out of “the rat race”.
I consider to downscale the size of my house, living abroad or an (semi)nomad lifestyle. There are some tiny living concepts which seems to be doable with a small loan.

Besides a bunch of stuff and furniture (and my puppy), there is nothing holding me here.
(Well that’s not entirely true, I also have my source of income here, but that is a vicious circle.)
To be able to travel I need to develop an income stream to support it.

Business
As mentioned I currently work as an self-employed pay per hour in the role of lead engineer.
When I was at the age of 12, I’ve made the decision to study electronics. I had a great time, but from over 18 years of working experience I’ve reached my professional and wage ceiling. In the Netherlands there is a shortage of people in the workforce with my expertise. Nevertheless clients are not open for other business models. The prices are under stress and are still below the level before the crisis of 2008. Electronics is not my passion anymore. My interest has shifted to business processes, entrepreneurship, economics and psychology.

I am investigating the possibilities to do a management buy in. In the area of production / manufacturing. But I am a bit hesitated because of my lack of confidence in European economy. I also wonder if it will bring me the freedom that I desire. There is the danger that it will be another “lock in” by a bank, which basically means that I will only be working to pay off the loan.

I know that I am at a pivot point in my life. And I am ready for a change. But I don’t see the possibilities. I can imagine that there are some other Millenials which have the same concern as me.

Can some more experienced entrepreneurs here help me design a blueprint for a successful lifestyle?
(Career, business and network)
I have strong analytic skills. Strong research capabilities and persistence.
I am fascinated with the lean methodology originated from Toyota. If I have to choose I am more of an improve-er than a starter.

My tendency is to prefer a warmer climate over the cold. As an part of my plan B I incorporated an company in the Marshall islands.
I am open to explore different business sectors, and learning new skills.
I consider an traditional MBA, but I question myself if that will be a good investment. Besides that I am more of an autodidact and prefer real life experiences.

For some of the more experienced folks over here. If you would have to start all over, how would you do it?

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