Biggest challenge here is that you'll be starting over from scratch. First few years of any new job / role is going to be a lot of grunt work. Also, as many peo

Biggest challenge here is that you'll be starting over from scratch. First few years of any new job / role is going to be a lot of grunt work. Also, as many people have pointed out, you will likely also be sitting in front a computer screen even in MechEng type of work. I empathize deeply with the interest in being more physically situated and to use my body for thinking. Personally I'm still waiting for physical computing to happen (a la Dynamicland.org or something similar) so I can have my cake and eat it too! I've personally settled with balancing software day job work with more physical hobbies and activities outside of work. Cooking, gardening, walking, etc. I like Cal's Deep Life framework here the best: https://www.calnewport.com/blog/2020/04/20/cultivating-a-deep-life/ https://www.calnewport.com/blog/2020/04/20/cultivating-a-dee... Another option to consider is to assess / reflect on the hard-won skills you have in software and see if you can't find a way to do it part-time / consulting instead. Maybe you need to move to a cheaper location to make this happen, not sure! But being able to charge $75 - 200 an hour and live in a cheap place means you could end up working only 15-20 hours a week. This way, you retain your skills but can fill the rest of your time with more physical hobbies.