It’s been a whirlwind since returning from our road trip. So much so that I haven’t been able to take any time to reflect on our journey as I would have liked. I was hoping to put something together to sum it all up in one nice blog package. I was also hoping to do some comparisons to our previous road trips and see if we did in fact cut back on our overall spending.

But coming home to our lives has been hard, as least for me. I’ll be very honest here, I hate my job. And it’s not so much the job, but more the company and the people we are forced to deal with. When I took this job a few years ago, myself and a couple of other people were hired and tasked with saving a sinking ship. We put a tremendous amount of our time, effort and resources into building relationships with our clients and most of all with our employees who were neglected and mistreated.

Now the management at the corporate level has once again turned over. This time they made one of the worst mistakes by rehiring the same exact people who ruined this contract to begin with. And because bad management doesn’t know it is bad, and also doesn’t have the ability to learn from past mistakes, they are repeating history. They are doing the exact same things that lead to the mess we were hired to clean up in the first place. The clients will not even meet with these people because they are so angry about their existence in our company. This animosity is also spreading to those of us who came in and built a successful relationship.

Well before we left on vacation I made the decision to start looking for another job. I can’t be apart of the ongoing destruction of something we put so much effort into building and maintaining. My supervisor friend made the same decision and has already jumped ship and my manager is looking to do the same. It’s bittersweet because I’m so grateful to have worked with these two amazing people but it’s clear that there is no longer a future at this company. The only good thing to come out of my time there is that I made two friends for life.

So far my job search has been spotty. I’ve had a few interviews but nothing has really come of them. I will continue looking and see what comes up but I’m also thinking outside the box, with a huge assist from my wife.

I have always wanted to be my own boss and I have made the decision that I will leave the company by either getting another job with a new company or by creating my own job and my own company. I have already taken steps to get a state certification that would allow me to operate in a certain field. We have also been discussing a plan of action to help ease the financial stress while building a client base and cash flow.

The thought of taking this step is both exciting and frightening. We are determined to reach FI and it’s unknown what kind of impact going it alone will have on our progress. What I do know is that I can’t continue on in my current capacity. It’s unhealthy to have such high stress levels and it’s not fair for my family to have to deal with me in that mindset.

Either way this is a big decision for us and I will certainly keep updating on the blog.

More to come…………………………………………