I've been a sw engineer for 12 years, from intern to junior to engineer to senior. About 4 years ago it had taken so large of a toll on my mental health I quit with no plans other than hiking some bucket list thru hikes with my wife.
After the time off, really looking at what matters to me, I find myself looking to careers that will provide me with personal enrichment rather than another one that is "easy," high paying, and providing "skill development".
Right now I'm looking at starting very low paying trail angel services that would let me meet a lot of Appalachian trail thru hikers. And taking a job as a flight attendant so that I can travel the world for free. Both would give me complete control over my schedule so I wouldn't find myself trapped in the same cage that destroyed my mental health before.
Be careful with the flight attendant career - good routes are seniority based, you are only on the clock during flights, and the pay is not great. I think it's one of those things that sounds more glamorous than it is (at least for a while)
Thanks for the advice. Fortunately I'm not in need of money and am looking mostly for human contact and an excuse to visit new places.
From what I can tell, as long as I'm not trying to make a lot of money, I can turn down everything I want to, and living 10 minutes from ATL airport there should be quite a few choices without having to fly commute.
After the time off, really looking at what matters to me, I find myself looking to careers that will provide me with personal enrichment rather than another one that is "easy," high paying, and providing "skill development".
Right now I'm looking at starting very low paying trail angel services that would let me meet a lot of Appalachian trail thru hikers. And taking a job as a flight attendant so that I can travel the world for free. Both would give me complete control over my schedule so I wouldn't find myself trapped in the same cage that destroyed my mental health before.