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I spent years building a steady public-relations career in New York City, but ended up burned out and craving more.Driven by my longtime desire to transition into the journalism industry and live abroad, I applied to master’s programs in Europe. I chose one in Lisbon — a city I’d never…
Years before moving to France, I went to Paris for the first time with my wife, who had always dreamed of visiting the City of Light. Back then, I bought into some of the stereotypes about the French, but I was pleasantly surprised by my encounters with locals.About eight months…
Kirk McKinney was riding bikes near his Massachusetts home about six years ago when he came across a goldmine: A dump filled with plenty of junk, sure, but also speakers and electronics.”Someone had thrown away this perfectly good pair of speakers,” he told Business Insider. “I asked the guy at…
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sara Wilczynska, the founder of Swil Arts Studio. She left her job as a software engineer at Google, spent a year traveling with her partner, and discovered watercolors in Thailand. Her words have been edited for length and clarity.I was born…
My grandmother is a pianist. As often happens, the pendulum swung the other way with my mom, who neither had an interest in taking piano lessons nor in making her kids do so. I vowed to throw the pendulum back the other way with my kids, enrolling them in piano…
When I helped my daughter move into her UCLA dorm last fall, I thought I had prepared for everything. From planned tuition payments to dorm “necessities” and a well-stocked first-aid kit, I had spreadsheets, checklists, dorm shopping lists, and enough big blue moving bags to organize a small apartment.Fast forward…
In 2023, after a decade of transatlantic travel for my work in MotoGP, I decided it was time to relocate to Europe.My life in America felt transient. Every couple of weeks, I was back on a plane to a Grand Prix, most of which were in Europe.After many years in…
Carlos Santana Roldán is a 38-year-old software engineer living in California. Business Insider has verified his income and employment history with documentation. The following as-told-to essay has been edited for length and clarity.I think my current software engineer job will probably be my last job as an employee. I’m tired…
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Yousuf Imran, a 41-year-old former account executive at Google based in the Bay Area. It’s been edited for length and clarity.I earned nearly $1 million last year as an account executive at Google, but I felt some “FOMO” around the AI…
At 38, I gave myself one year and £15,000 (nearly $20,000 USD at the time) to completely change my life. I told myself that if it didn’t work, I’d go back to the life I had spent so long trying to leave.At the time, I was a VP of Sales…
