The Grind

[Tonberry]

Have any of you ever reached the point where you've said enough is enough, left the shackles of mainstream society behind and gone and done your own thing?

I realise not everybody has the opportunity to and not everybody wants to but there must be other people out there who feel the same?

Starting out the goal was a house, then a bigger house with more rooms and a larger drive and fancy cars. Great, but then what next?

After realising they were just meaningless things, it became holidays and travel. It was a revelation, really opening my eyes and changing my perspective on life.

Now we're at the stage where we just want an entirely different lifestyle.

Keen to hear your experiences and stories.

[russ_a]

Doesn't this happen to everyone when they hit 40?

[s2sol]

43 for me.

[Tonberry]

So what did you? Was it just a phase? Are you secretly living a life of regret?

40 is still a way off, so what in the interim?

[Jasandjules]

Well, I worked out that slogging my guts out from 7am to 7pm in the office was not worth my health and happiness. Now I work a lot less and spend more time with my family and pets.

[s2sol]

Left a frustrating, heartbreaking job that paid pretty well, and closed my own business down to work for a customer. I now earn about a third of what I used to.

That said, 2 years in, I'm bored and frustrated. I don't get enough holiday to do what I want. I'm financially stable, but can't afford to give up work entirely. Ideally I'd work 4 days a week for about £20k pa.

We've just bought a big old motorhome, and I hope we can enjoy our leisure time more. My boys are growing up fast, and I want to spend time with them before they don't want to spend it with me.