Along similar lines, I never really pictured what being a software engineer would be like.
I like solving problems and working with smart people, but sitting inside all day at a computer just isn’t for me.
Sunny outside? Sit inside all day.
Snowing? Sit inside.
Stunning fall colours? Sit inside.
After a few years I had to stop. That is not the life I wanted. Now I adventure around the world, write books and sell stories freelance to magazines. I have way less money, and I am way happier.
Could you elaborate more on what it is you do? I'm a current college student studying math. I enjoy what I study a lot, but don't think I could cut it as a mathematician. At the end of the day, I don't care much for money on its own, but I do accept that it is needed to enjoy the true freedom and enjoyment of life you describe. But, as such, I've had to look at jobs that seem kind of bleak to me, but do pay nicely like software engineering(I know that there are some very very interesting software engineering positions, but these are far and few and I'm personally not interested in AI). If I could skip this intermediate step, that would be awesome, so naturally I'm really curious what you do/how you started?
After working for a few years as a software engineer I just didn’t want to sit inside for my life.
So I saved for two years, then quit and spent two years driving from Alaska to Argentina. Hiking, camping, exploring. Basically doing whatever I wanted everyday. It was incredible adventure and changed my life. I started really thinking about how I could make that my life.
A few years later I spent three years driving right around Africa, then later 18 months exploring all the wild parts of Australia. I’m in Iceland for 3 months now, heading to Europe and beyond soon.
Once you leave the rat race you meet all kinds of people living similar lives of adventure. See all of these people I bumped into on the west coast of Africa [1]
These days I sell articles and photos to adventure magazines about what I’m doing, I’ve self-published a few books (more on the way), I have a YouTube channel, I speak at events and shows teaching people how do to what I’ve done. I’ll probably soon have some audio books, an online store and maybe some online courses.
Rather than doing one big thing to support my life that takes too much time I do a bunch of little things.
I am my own boss. I set my own hours, I work as little as possible to live the life I want to live. As I said I have way less money, but I decided a long time ago I don’t want more money, I want more time to do the things I want to do in my life.
Lots of people will tell you it’s not possible or that I must have a trust fund. They just don’t know what they’re talking about because it’s a life that scares them.
You absolutely can if you want, and you’ll meet many thousands of people doing the same.
I like solving problems and working with smart people, but sitting inside all day at a computer just isn’t for me.
Sunny outside? Sit inside all day.
Snowing? Sit inside.
Stunning fall colours? Sit inside.
After a few years I had to stop. That is not the life I wanted. Now I adventure around the world, write books and sell stories freelance to magazines. I have way less money, and I am way happier.