A New Life:Fed up with the monotony of a 6am start to avoid the gridlock each day on his way to work, Simon Boote packed in a well-paid job in favour of a fresh start in Ireland, writes Michael Kelly
The majority of 35-year-olds might have one or possibly two careers under their belt, but Simon Boote's road to personal and professional satisfaction has been more complicated.
In the 18 years since he left school he has been in the Royal Air Force, flirted with professional rugby, worked as an audio-visual engineer, set up a walking tours company in Connemara and now runs a successful boarding kennel business. Oh yes, and he's also a part-time fireman.
Boote joined the airforce fresh from school and spent 10 years working as a flight systems engineer, based in East Anglia.
"I served in the Gulf War in 1991 with the Dambusters squadron - we were one of the first in to the war. It's a fantastic job for a young man but as you get older you realise there is very little scope for initiative. I started looking around at other options."
One of those options was a professional rugby career. "In my mid-20s, while I was still in the service, I played two seasons with Sale. I was playing second-team rugby and the odd game with the first team.
"The game was turning professional and I was offered a contract but really I was getting on a bit and I was sort of old school anyway - loved the game but also loved a smoke and a drink. There were all these young guys coming through with serious professional attitudes."
Boote opted instead to relocate to London to go in to business with a friend who was setting up an audio-visual engineering firm.
"We were installing data projection and room automation systems in boardrooms. It was cutting edge at the time."
While working on an installation in software company Lotus, Boote met his wife, Gina, and they married in 2003.
But the grind of daily commuting started to take its toll.
"I found I was leaving home earlier each morning to avoid the gridlock and eventually that was as early as 6am. Any later and it could take three hours to get to work."
His connection with Ireland is via his mother who hails from Clifden in Co Galway.
"We spent our summers there when I was young and my mum and dad moved back to Ireland in 2001. Gina and I visited my parents shortly after they moved here and I just felt they had a lovely pace of life. I remember saying to Gina, 'Will we move to Ireland?' and she said, 'Why not!'"
At Easter 2003, the couple moved to Clifden and established a walking tours company called Walking on Eire, hoping to tap the potential of the scenic Twelve Bens in Connemara. Great brand name aside, it wasn't the goldmine they had hoped for.
"We had some savings which ironically gave us a sense of security - I think if we hadn't had that we would have been hungrier to make it work. We were trying to attract people from England but the transport links to Connemara are really poor and flights to Galway are really expensive. We did okay but it wasn't really a viable business."
The couple stuck with it for about two years and in the meantime had another mouth to feed with the arrival of little Molly in 2005.
"Things were not going well with the business. We had more or less run out of money and had reached breaking point. We came very close to going back to England, but then Gina, who has a background in office management, got a job with Bank of Ireland. She really loves the work and the hours are good. She also knows more people in Clifden now than I do. That's really important for her because I have family here but she doesn't."
Meanwhile, Boote had his eye on another business opportunity. "I had been thinking for a while about boarding kennels. We have two dogs ourselves and we have to drive 40 miles to get to decent kennels. The local vet had set up kennels but couldn't keep them going because his practice was so busy so we decided to rent it off him.
"We haven't had a day without dogs since. On average we have about six dogs per day."
Inspired by the social aspect of Gina's job in the bank, Boote applied for a part-time job with the local fire brigade.
"The dog work is fantastic but you are very isolated. There's also a lot of free time. The fire brigade is fantastic - it reminds me of being back playing rugby - they are a great bunch of lads. I have a beeper and we typically get paged about once every two to three days."
Boote believes that after four years in Ireland, they can finally relax and enjoy their new life - including a new cottage on an acre which they are in the process of buying.
"I came over with the idea of a particular type of lifestyle and we have it now, finally. We were on really big money in England but we couldn't enjoy it.
"We are earning about a quarter of that now but money doesn't mean that much to us anymore. People's reaction is always the same to our story - they say, 'Wow, you're so lucky. I wish we could do that.' And the thing is, they can. If you have the courage to go for it, it will work out."