When I lost the job that I thought was the stepping stone towards the career I wanted, then was laid up for several months after having surgery, and realized the path my life was on was NOT a path I wanted to be on, and the future it was leading to, I didn't like. Hit a dark spot. Did some thinking as a result of the aforementioned, made some 1, 2, 5, 10 year plans, and realized that the future I'd always fantasized about could actually happen. A future that does not involve an ambitious career and making lots of money, but means finding a plot of land where there are forests, waterfalls, trees and seasons, making my cabin, and living off the land. And I am left alone. I just need a job in the real world in the interim to continue with that plan. A strange thing. I could swear there were times past when a person could make the decision I made, and just head out into the unknown with a knapsack and make it happen.
Do you know Jamie Mantzel? He's a pretty eccentric guy that was living in the forest building a giant spider robot and now he's living on some island somewhere building solar powered boats and whatnot. He does youtube videos about all that: https://www.youtube.com/user/JMEMantzel There is basically no production value but the videos are so genuine is does not even matter. He's been doing that for many years so watching it all is unrealistic but it's nice to see glimpses of a person's life that made this kind of decision and stuck with it. He's also really mechanically enclined and it's amazing how he figures out problems.