Background:
25, $180k NW ($150k 401k, HSA, IRA, taxable/$30k cash), working corporate job.
~$75k Salary, 60% Savings Rate.
FI in possibly 8 years at this pace.
I've been working at this place for 3 years, and feel on the cusp of hitting another level of workload and responsibility, with matching salary bump to follow within a year or two. This could accelerate my FI by another year or so, so I could hit that mark around age 31 or so. All in all, a good position to be in.
By all metrics, I'm doing well, but I'm feeling... unsatisfied. I'm at the point where I've saved enough that I'm dangerous. The $30k is staring me in the face, threatening me to spend it, and I'm afraid to blink.
Over the last year, my satisfaction has dropped dramatically, and my "FU" mentality has kicked in. That's not good, as I'm not at the FU stage. This hasn't been seen by my coworkers yet, but it's poison in my mind - I get the "Sunday Dreads" almost every night thinking about the work ahead of me. The work drains me, so I don't have '"time" to pursue my other passions at night. Long weekends can invigorate me a tad, but there aren't enough of those in the year. I've tried many times to balance both work and my hobbies (money-making or otherwise), and I just.. can't.
I'm considering leaving this job (which I'm good at, have received accolades for, and is extremely stable) to jump into... nothing. It's terrifying - I've spent my entire life working for a job like this, and I'm pushing back so soon.
Here's my thoughts of how to revamp:
$5k - Website development. Build out a skill set, with the focus of starting up a passive income (initial goal: $100/month to build experience)
$15k - 6 months of slow travel, taking a month here and there. Thinking Thailand, Iceland, New Zealand, some of the PCT?
$10k - Subsistence for 6 months in the US (city - TBD) to start working on my own business. Either a continuation of the webdev route, Excel consultancy/tutoring (spreadsheets are my homeboy) or something totally different.
OR
Buy a cheap-o house somewhere where the numbers work (not near me, I'm in a HCOL) and get some rental income. I'm 100% new to real estate, so that seems like quite the jump to make, especially to do at a distance.
A year from now, I should be: $150k +/- market mvmts, knowledge of web marketing, some cool travel experiences, new location to live in. And a gap in my resume that doesn't look great to companies with a rusty skill-set for the only industry I know (and probably a fear of the 8-5 cubicle).
How do I decide what to do?