At the age of 41, in the middle of your peak earning years, you embarked on a career-ending EFL odyssey.

Well you are right here. At 41 it was not really a wise decision. Still, the OP should have saved and saved and saved, then he could have at least had a cheap place to live in Thailand for a while, while figuring out the next move. I still maintain ESL is what you make of it, and better than rotting on the dole in the knife crime ridden UK.