My overseas job offer was rescinded. Here’s how I bounced back

This group of activists from Lincoln, UK, took their anti-oil campaign to London in 2024 with the help of Andrew Kythreotis, who used his research skills to support them. Credit: Callum Parke/PA Images/Alamy Last year, I applied for what looked like an attractive position at a private university in Hanoi. The role covered both research and strategy with minimal teaching, paid about £28,000 (US$ 37,000) more than my tenured position at the University of Lincoln, UK, and included perks such as an accommodation allowance and private education for my two children. I was 20 years into my academic career as a human geographer, doing research on the geographies of power in place-based climate governance, policy and politics, but feeling burnt out and unmotivated. I wondered whether a change of scenery might help me to get away from UK academia’s metrics-driven culture and the bureaucracy that fuels it. Also, my spouse (who is also an academic) and I were excited by the opportunity to experience living in a country in southeast Asia. After two interview rounds, I received a tentative offer with an attractive package, so in May 2025, I took a mutually agreed retirement package from the University of Lincoln and left my position. The next month, we flew to Hanoi to check everything out. The plan was to start my new job in early 2026. …