It feels a little crazy to say, but technically I did quit my job – at least the job I had when I wrote my bucket list, so I’m calling it a win. I had worked for the same company since the beginning of my professional life, when I was 20. I had interned there during college, and then when I decided I wasn’t going back to college, I was able to somehow talk my way into getting a full time job – probably because I was much cheaper than a college grad. I also slid in right before the company started to really look down upon hiring people without a degree. It worked out for me – I was able to work during the day and got my degree at night.

I gave the company about 12 years of my life. There were lots of ups and downs. I probably got my job in the first place because a couple members of my family had jobs in the company, and I enjoyed being able to see them around the office occasionally. I met most of my lasting friends there, although at this point several of us don’t work there anymore. I met and fell in love with my husband at work.

But a few years back the company was sold to a different large corporation. At first the changes were minimal, or didn’t affect me. However, within a couple years the changes did start to impact my job directly. My entire job turned into moving data from our old system into a new system. The switch did not seem to be worth it to me, and I felt like I was being forced to stress out and sideline my personal life for something that was a complete waste of time. Everything I had enjoyed about my job, I no longer had time for, and everything I hated about my job became amplified.

My sister told me of a possible opening in the company she worked for, and after some consideration I updated my resume and sent it to her. And then she made a handful of changes to make my resume sound better, and passed it along. The process was long, though not grueling. I did a phone interview and then waited, hearing nothing for about a month. In the meantime, I had decided it would be best to keep up the search. No harm in looking, and I found that as I started looking, I lost some of the anxiety around leaving my job and the place of employment that had become my second home. The best part of the job had always been the interesting and supportive people who started as co-workers and turned into close friends. But the more I thought about it, the more I knew that close friends would remain friends, regardless of where I worked.

I searched for jobs within my company and applied to a couple. I made a habit of searching local jobs every couple of weeks to get an idea of what was available. Completely unexpectedly, about halfway through December, I received a call from the company I had interviewed with, asking if I could start before the end of the year. I would like to say I thought long and hard at this point, but I was ready – I accepted almost immediately. The compensation was comparable, I’d be working closely with my sister and others in a small group that is amazingly supportive, and the best part is that I work from home .

So yes, I’m still doing office work, and honestly it’s not my dream job, but it’s a job and not my life, and aside from “professional vacationer” I’m not sure what my dream job even is. I enjoy my job; I like my co-workers; I believe in the company’s mission; I still see and keep in touch with my friends from my last job; and I can take advantage of the incredible flexibility that working remotely has provided. In short, mission accomplished – I quit my job!