I work freelance contract, usually 3 to 12 months at a time as an extension of a dev team. This keeps it technically exciting for me, get to meet new people, an

I work freelance contract, usually 3 to 12 months at a time as an extension of a dev team. This keeps it technically exciting for me, get to meet new people, and depending on my mood, I might look for projects that are more laid back and chill (BigCo with many junior / midlevel devs, who need a couple of new features), or where I need to learn new tech quickly (small team with only senior devs), or where I can set my own hours (remote team with very few meetings) and work from 5 AM to 1 PM if it fits. It's really nice, the first years might be a bit more risky until you've built up a good network of clients and the current climate might not be the greatest (maybe wait a few months), but this might be an option. If you can book yourself continuously at a decent rate, 4 days / week @ 10 months / year should be able to replace your employed income (broad generalized calculation).