The old 5-year plan has been aborted due to a number of reasons, first and foremost being our plan to buy a house at the beginning of next year which will eat up all our savings. I probably won’t be able to afford to take an evening course, let alone take a year out of work to study.

The second big reason is that I was getting ahead of myself a bit - the sort of job I might be interested in in the tourism field is not one which requires a huge amount of study as I don’t have any ambition to go into management. There really would be little point in taking all that time and spending all that money on something I would be unlikely to utilize.

The third reason is linked to the first. We are buying a house with the intention of staying put for at least 10 years or so. The sort of job I fancied was working in a lodge somewhere in the wilderness - I have no great desire to work on the front desk of a hotel in downtown Vancouver, which is what I’d have to do if I went into tourism in the city. Moving to the boonies, while attractive, is not an option right now as my husband will not be able to find the right kind of work there at the current time.

The fourth reason - though I’m not completely satisfied with my job, it is a good, steady, well paying job which, in the current economic climate, I might be well-advised to start appreciating a bit more!

A new 5- or 10- year plan will be made soon enough.