Hi,
Well this is bringing up an old thread, over 2 years and counting.
In the end I took option 4, I still work in IT for a large Engineering company which have been fair to me.
Unfortunately, my saving hasn't really panned out ,though I have travelled to Japan & Australia since this post, so I will not complain about that.
Something I lacked before was experience, now having a firm foundaiton within my company this has been resolved. Due to this, I am once again investigating going the modular route. I am still fully aware of the market trends and take any positive sights openly.
This was just an update to say that dreams s are never forgotten!