If it helps, I had such a "1/4 life crisis" at around 29. Tldr, trades can be fun, but are also physically demanding, get boring, don't pay as well as it might

If it helps, I had such a "1/4 life crisis" at around 29. Tldr, trades can be fun, but are also physically demanding, get boring, don't pay as well as it might appear, and have a pretty low ceiling on growth unless you want to manage a fleet of tradesmen or something. Sometimes I do still wish I was a carpenter. But realistically, software has so many of the same aspects as trades, but is changing so quickly there is always something to learn, it pays better, and doesn't depend on having peak physical health. The biggest difference in terms of satisfaction I think might be that plumbers et al are more likely to be entrepreneurs, while well paid software engineers mostly work in big companies. Consider entrepreneurship within software before bailing to a completely different trade