2 min read

1. It felt like the right decision (it usually does)
2. So I moved back (to Sweden)
3. Back to the startline
4. Was it the right call?

Have you ever had any random thoughts that show up when you are scrolling job listings or waiting for the tram?

The kind of thought that goes: If I could go back in time, what would I do differently?

Lately, mine has been very specific: What if I hadn’t quit my job in Sweden?

It felt like the right decision (it usually does)

In 2025, I did what felt like a bold, exciting, very adult move. I quit my job in Sweden, packed up my life into an unreasonable number of bags, and moved to Vietnam for a new opportunity. I thought it through, not just over one glass of wine.

So we went.

The first few months? Genuinely fun.

Life in Vietnam is fast. It’s loud, hot and there’s always something happening somewhere. Small talk suddenly came easy again, from quick chats with Grab drivers and street food vendors, to colleagues in the elevator or the office toilet 😀. And even the chaos felt like home. It was the kind of chaos you grew up with and secretly missed.

For a while, I thought: okay, this could actually work. And then, slowly, things got complicated. The long-term picture started looking blurry. And a question kept coming back: Is this where I want to build the next chapter? For me, and for my family?

So I moved back (to Sweden)

After 10 months, I packed up again and moved back to Sweden.

I know how that looks on paper:

• Quit stable jobs ✓
• Move to another country ✓
• Move back ✓

But when you’re living it, it doesn’t feel like a mess. Each decision made sense at the time. You’re not being reckless. You’re just doing the next reasonable thing with the information you have.

Back to the startline

So here I am. Back in Sweden. Starting over.

I have been updating my CV, searching for jobs almost every day. Rewriting my LinkedIn summary for the fourth time. Some days feel productive and full of momentum. Other days I spend a few hours just for a cover letter.

The thought still visits occasionally: If I had just stayed, things would be simpler. And it was probably true.

If I’d stayed in Sweden, I’d have the stability. 

If I’d stayed in Vietnam, I’d have built something different there. 

Both paths could have worked. That’s the part nobody tells you that there’s rarely a wrong answer. Just different answers with different trade-offs.

You don’t get to A/B test your life decisions – no follow-up, no comparison, no optimising based on results. You just pick, and then you live in the version you chose.

Was it the right call?

Some days it feels like I made everything harder than it needed to be. Other days I’m genuinely glad I went because now I know. I tried. I showed up. I got the answer, even if it wasn’t the one I expected.

Not perfect decisions. Not a perfectly linear career story. Just decisions I am responsible for even when they lead me right back to the beginning.

If you’ve ever made a decision that looked confusing from the outside but made complete sense at the time, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.