| Maybe not quite the answer you're looking for, but I'll throw it in anyway. - I planned on quitting my FAANG job in February 2020 to go travel the world for 9 months (midlife crisis, sabbatical, whatever you want to call it). - COVID hit, we came back March 2020. - Decided to take the opportunity to leave the Bay Area and try our hand at freelance / contracting for time flexibility so we could go travel again once lockdown ended and international travel became a possibility. - We thought we might come back to the Bay Area once "it was over" and we'd travelled. - Lockdown stretched on, borders stayed closed. - Contracting picked up, was able to negotiate part-time hours making enough to live on. - My partner switched careers successfully, starting a new business. - Fast forward to now, I'm still contracting. We've put down roots in the small town we moved to. My partner's business is thriving. We're saving up for a house. Overall life is good. We've traded the stresses of the Bay Area for a different set of stresses - it's equally difficult finding housing here, starting a new business has been hard, and figuring out what I want out of a freelance career has been a struggle as well. We've got a lot more free time, and the flexible hours have been a huge blessing. |