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Quitting the rat race

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Re: Quitting the rat race

#21

Post by throwaway_au_1 »

greggman3 wrote: post #5

Hey, if being in nature makes you happy good for you but your outlook on the rest is kind of crap. Me, best time in my life, commuting in Tokyo to my jobs working on a project I loved with people I loved. All the ads on the trains were eye candy to me. I didn't buy anything that I remember but I did find out about museums, concerts, and other events around town as well as various obscure services which I never used b…

Different strokes for different folks. At least the author of the OP had the humility not to call anyone else's perspective 'crap'.

Re: Quitting the rat race

#22

Post by Panini_Jones »

I see software engineers lament about a lack of fulfillment in their career (heck, I'm one of them). The author doesn't have fulfillment and decides that they should quit their job and move closer to nature to be fulfilled.

I don't really understand the problem or the solution. Is this sustainable? Will the begin to feel unfulfilled in the mountains? What is fulfillment? Could a steady cadence of vacations to the mountains have bridged the gap? Does it require such an 'all or nothing' solution?

Re: Quitting the rat race

#23

Post by KronisLV »

What I feel is perhaps missing here is some sort of a plan, so the author can either generate enough income or control the spending well enough not to become homeless. It's nice to (hopefully) have savings for these sorts of situations, but for many out there the end result of something like that would be eventual financial peril.

I recently also submitted my own resignation, except I've figured out that my current savings could last me around 3-5 years, so my plan so far is to take one year off work for personal projects, books and other ways of upskilling myself, as well as handling various larger events, such as moving to the city from the countryside (healthcare or even getting to the store is problematic otherwise), as well as just hang out with friends occasionally and visit some museums.

Though maybe my plans are too much work and too little play.

Re: Quitting the rat race

#24

Post by ablatt89 »

It's a rat race if you never enjoyed software engineering and computer science from the start, and joined due to the growing SWE hype in the 2010s. Most people in the world have to work 40+ hours a week, and on weekends. It's kinda crazy to not take your career choice in perspective, which is relatively cushy, good perks, good pay, often wfh or decent offices, and call it a rat race because... you think you deserve to earn even more money and get more recognition? Okay, don't we all...

Re: Quitting the rat race

#25

Post by gauravphoenix »

greggman3 wrote: post #5

Hey, if being in nature makes you happy good for you but your outlook on the rest is kind of crap. Me, best time in my life, commuting in Tokyo to my jobs working on a project I loved with people I loved. All the ads on the trains were eye candy to me. I didn't buy anything that I remember but I did find out about museums, concerts, and other events around town as well as various obscure services which I never used b…

>Hey, if being in nature makes you happy good for you but your outlook on the rest is kind of crap.

It reads like you are stating a fact, but really, it is a matter of opinion. Perhaps, you can just say what you like without invalidating what others prefer.

Re: Quitting the rat race

#26

Post by antihero »

mmaunder wrote: post #9

Funny, I was this guy 23 years ago working in London for Credit Suisse. It’s clear in investment banks that you can just keep doing that forever and get paid what most would consider a lot for doing routine stuff. What bugged me is that I’d stopped growing and wasn’t challenged. I quit and joined a fast growing dot com in 2000, met my wife, moved to the states and we’ve had one hell of an adventure since then. Someti…

I was in that office today, weird eh

Re: Quitting the rat race

#29

Post by nine_k »

rubicon33 wrote: post #14

Posts like this frustrate me. "I'm quitting! But I'm not telling you anything about how I plan to pay for life." The message mostly resonates with me, right up until they leave out the most crucial part of the post. How do you escape the rat race, and still pay for things like health care, food, rent, etc. Even if you're making $100k+ a year, those costs aren't insignificant. No how do you handle them making $0k a ye…

Isn't it the classics of downshifting? Move to a cheap place, do some remote work, maybe time to time. Plan not to need much health care %)

Re: Quitting the rat race

#30

Post by ablatt89 »

Panini_Jones wrote: post #22

I see software engineers lament about a lack of fulfillment in their career (heck, I'm one of them). The author doesn't have fulfillment and decides that they should quit their job and move closer to nature to be fulfilled. I don't really understand the problem or the solution. Is this sustainable? Will the begin to feel unfulfilled in the mountains? What is fulfillment? Could a steady cadence of vacations to the mou…

He's also dissing engineering as a rat race, as if we're all idiots and morons for adhering to some 9-5 job, and he, a software engineer at a "top bank" can see the light while all of us are just plebs. Yea, you're not Tyler Durden...
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