Hello,

My humblest apologies to everyone if this is the 100th similar thread, I tried to browse several pages without success.

So here I am, looking for career advice from those with the experience. To cut it to the chase here it goes:
I'm now approaching my mid 30s and I'm completely in a different business than airlines (engineering for all that it matters). And I'm having enough of it, and want to start flying.
And that's exactly the same feeling I had in the midst of my studies, but I thought that I should finish my degree since I've invested so much time on it already and should therefore squelch that mood swing. And that's what I did. I finished my M.Sc. I got the job. I eventually got a nice expat assignment here in Hong Kong, but now I'm back to square one. The industry does not appeal me at all. I'm doing my job as hard and as well as I can, but my motivation is plummeting. This city and continent is everything I'd ever wanted, except for the job. I'm again craving for the career of a pilot. Here or elsewhere.
My assignment here is going to end up within roughly a year, so it's soon enough the time to make some big decisions. I'll still most likely get a vacancy in my home country when I'm finished here, which will probably pay me better than any starting pilot job. However, despite of that I have little to no interest of going back there for good, other than maybe doing the ATPL license. Or in the very unlikely event of scoring an airline job there. The economy back there in the god-forsaken outback of the EU looks very grim, plus like I said, my field of engineering does not seem to be the right choice after all for me. Getting a cut to my salary for switching job is not a concern for me. At least I'd be able to do what I want, but being hopelessly unemployed for years, now that would be a problem however.

So what do you think I should do? Should I take the risk, chase my dreams and do the ATPL, and then preferably look for a job (somewhere in Asia)? I guess the job market is quite horrible in the EU, so my chances there could be slim to none? Is it equally bad here in Asia for fresh foreign graduates? Also if I leave now for the time to do the licenses, I'm going to be as unwanted as any other foreigner as my residency here will expire, right?