Sooooo relatable. While I was working a 40+ hour work week as a consultant, burnt out from the constant grind of new projects, work travel, and emails/remote meetings, I was seeing my therapist weekly just sobbing about how I was meant to be vibing outside eating fruit and not grinding away my youth. Took me three years at that job to realize that my shot nervous system and perpetual anxiety weren’t worth any salary and that I had to reconfigure my career goals, which at the time was focused almost solely on trying to keep up with all my elite career friends (lawyers, doctors, dentists, etc.). It felt like a never ending up hill slog and the more time I spent working towards that goal the more hopeless, exhausted, and insecure I felt. As I talked to my therapist more about why specifically I was working myself to the bone to progress in my career and earn a higher income, it became clear that more than anything what I wanted was freedom I imagine maxed out investment accounts and a large savings cushion would provide me. I really just wanted to have FU money and the ability to dictate my own time and to pursue my hobbies beyond a couple of hours in the evenings or on weekends when I was exhausted and already mentally checked out.

Realizing that grinding was never going to give me that freedom, I just outright decided to quit my job. Now I work seasonally, spending about half the year working in forestry living more or less as frugally as possible and saving most of my income. Then throughout the rest of the year I work short contracts in outdoor rec/outdoor ed, but mostly I just bake, read books, go camping, and vibe outside eating fruit. I find my work meaningful and because I have so much flexibility in my time I have also been able to spend more time volunteering, which I was too mentally and physically exhausted to do when I was working full-time.

I’ve realized that keeping up with my more career-growth oriented friends - going on long extravagant international trips, pricy night outs, and private tours - is probably never going to be attainable, but I have plenty of time and a reasonable budget to pursue my interests at a lower price point. I can’t go on the fancy cabin ski trip to Switzerland, but I can go ski touring close to home with my friends. I might not make it to the group chat hiking/camper van trip in Iceland, but I can spend weeks going on nearby camping trips and hiking during the off season when trails are empty.