[xupybd]

I'd love to work on something as a passion. Just big enough to keep my mortgage payments going out.

I have no idea where to start. Dropping out of the work force sounds scary. I couldn't support my family for very long if I tried. I wish New Zealand paid as well as I hear the US does.

[gregplaysguitar]

fwiw plenty of overseas companies are hiring remotely in NZ these days, some explicitly eg atlassian, gitlab, but anecdotally, many others are willing to hire here even though their job ads say US only. This is pushing salaries up in a big way - not to parity, but a heck of a lot better than it used to be. Worth looking around if your salary hasn’t changed in a few years :)