taking the leap in 5 years and feeling nauseous

[prairiecitychick]

I just learned about this forum through the folks at "Married with Luggage." My spouse and I are set to leave our traditional jobs on December 31, 2018. Out dream is to go work for the National Park Service in the western United States as our second career. How will we do it? What do we do to start the ball rolling? I don't know. I'm scared and excited all at the same time. The first step is this: finding more like-minded people who I can learn from and get support from.
Looking forward to the journey!
Jo

 

[Dawg52]

You have plenty of time to get used to the idea. Nothing to be scared of......

 

[WM]

I love Married with Luggage! Welcome to the board, and congrats on taking action to reach out! If you browse around a little, you'll find tons of great info and get some ideas of where you might want to go from here.

 

[heeyy_joe]

Welcome aboard.

 

[JoeWras]

Welcome! Our official target is also 2018, but bailing earlier is a good possibility.

For starters, get your ducks in a row. Have you run firecalc? Do you have a good idea of your expenses? Have you thought how they may change in second career or retirement? Do you have access to health insurance? If not, are you prepared for the expense?

We have a friend who dreams of doing the park service thing too. I think a lot of people do, so you should research that. May not be as easy as you think. At your age at that time, will you be physically able?

Don't be nauseated. This is an adventure. Soak it in! I have one warning, now that you are thinking about it, you might find it consumes you. I know it is doing so with me!

 

[obgyn65]

Welcome to the forum, prairiecitychick.