Rehabilitated an abandoned olive farm in Dalmatia, although all my income still comes from software consulting. 90% of the oil goes to family and friends. Burn

Rehabilitated an abandoned olive farm in Dalmatia, although all my income still comes from software consulting. 90% of the oil goes to family and friends. Burned out on startup hours and the hamster wheel of tech and realized I was barely spending any time with my young family. I always wanted to help and learn how my in-laws made such incredible wine, olive oil, and cured meats. My SO is Croatian, so the move itself wasn't that difficult. The culture shock was real, though, and developing fluency in a totally new language in my 30s was, in retrospect, a full time job that I badly underestimated. The change in pace of life, horizon expansion, new relationships, learning adventures, and the pride in bottling my very own extra virgin, organic, hand-picked olive oil... Worth every struggle even at twice the cost.