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Over a year ago I took a career risk and moved from Ohio to Boston and left a secure job in the government to become a federal subcontractor. In this post, I thought it was a good time to give an update on how that is going. Leaving all the benefits of being in a government role such as a pension, sick leave, comp time, relatively amazing health insurance, a retirement,… to go to a role with zero benefits and hourly pay is honestly a huge leap and not something I could recommend to most people. It works for me for now but there are definitely times when it makes things really difficult.

So long story short, maybe don’t. Especially if you like it in Ohio or like it where you are. But keep reading if you are curious about how things are evolving for me.

Boston vs Ohio

Boston is really, really expensive. You can’t really take a substantial break from working because the bills are so high to live here. There has to be a constant flow of income. So imagine when I almost never had to use my sick leave when I had a job in the government in Ohio, and then I got COVID and the flu after I moved here! There are more people here and more diseases. It is so different! You think one thing, and you have to live another whole situation.

Plus, the housing market in Boston is another whole story, after buying a home here I feel like my budget for anything else is basically zero. Don’t invite me to your house, folks, I don’t have the money to Uber there, and although we have public transport in Boston, it will take too many hours to reach the destination and accommodate the rest of my day of life and chores.

I could drive, but the traffic is insane and there is probably no parking where I am going. I could walk and I do walk a lot, but the other day, I met the friendly neighborhood coyote during my evening walk after moving to this new neighborhood and now I feel like I need to finish all my walking outside before sundown. Also, sundown is very early here, especially in fall and winter.

It’s not the Midwest with unlimited space and corn. But there are coyotes. Oh, goody.

So should I regret this big move and career risk now that I have seen both sides and realize how hard it is in Boston?

Surprisingly, perhaps, I still think that moving to Boston was the right choice for me. Life in Ohio and remaining there was not really an option for me as it was too depressing. I don’t regret my time there as I still had a full life there and met some wonderful people especially colleagues at my former jobs, and people associated with the housing market. However, I struggled with personal connections and did not have the right people in my life there. After a big disappointment, it was definitely time to make changes to what I actually wanted my life to look like.

By coming to Boston, I did what I had to do to change my life. I wanted to live on the East Coast, somewhere prettier, be near a better airport, and have places to go, and things to do. More culture, less corn. I like the busy city vibe and I love the ocean. I don’t like being landlocked. I like being able to start driving and get to all blue, park my car, and step on the sand. I don’t like super hot weather like in Florida. And, I knew Boston had job opportunities in the same or similar major field I was in.

Now that I have changed my life, I have NEW challenges. But that’s the thing. Life has challenges, if not the same ones, there will be different ones. And one might have to course-correct again. But we can’t really compare problems now to the comforts before because if there weren’t problems then there would be no change now. In fact, big change is called for by big problems. So, what I must have felt in Ohio was big enough to make me change in a big way.

Boston is so challenging I don’t have time for anything let alone the wrong people.

Ohio was comfortable and fine. And that was a problem too. I want to be comfortable and fine in Boston. Not comfortable and fine in Ohio. But the thing is that after you move, it takes time to accumulate enough wealth and get your situation sorted enough to be comfortable and fine. It doesn’t happen easily.

My career was totally set in Ohio with the best combination of salary, benefits, and long-term security, which I wish I had now. But it was just not Boston. What I needed was all that to be true in a place like Boston so then I made progress towards that by leaving it all and coming here but then to become fully comfortable here is another story.

My career was going very successfully there. I won a lot of awards, recognition, and raises. Did really well especially for it being a government role. I got into leadership roles. But being a leader can also be lonely… it means you have fewer options for people to talk to and work with! I met some fantastic leaders at work but it still didn’t make the day-to-day easy for me.

I also didn’t have the right people in my personal life to support the day-to-day. I still don’t but at least I don’t have the wrong people! Because, again, the struggle here is so big there is no time for any bullshit. I have been able to really focus on my career and sorting out my life after coming to Boston because there is no choice but to do that. So even though it is intense, it was necessary.

Simple living in Ohio

In Ohio, I had all the security and success and still did not feel like it was enough. Whenever I came back from a vacation or travel, I was sad about living in Ohio. Now, in Boston, I am sad that I cannot spend enough time in the various beautiful spots that are nearby because I am too busy working.

Life in Ohio was relatively simple and I could have continued that indefinitely but it wouldn’t have allowed for growth.  The soul is the most depressed when there is no growth. I got leadership roles there and was like ok so what? Even a leader needs to grow and learn. The growth does not or should not stop. I had to learn and do different things.

In the government, it is very difficult to remain technical, the natural progression there leads to roles that are more administrative and involve overseeing technical work done by contractors. That was exciting to have the opportunity to lead teams, but also, isolating because I didn’t have many other government colleagues whom I could work with on technical topics, they were all busy doing more administrative-type roles.

The government people are fewer and more rare and isolated while contractors partake in teamwork. I knew this difference because I had been a contractor before the government role. It is good to get leadership opportunities, but it is bad to not leverage a team and bounce ideas off of other excellent minds. I needed to be in the midst of an excellent research environment… which is exactly where I am now. But nothing is perfect. There are problems here too but different ones!

I might have been kind of rash in picking my current role and just went for it and started from scratch again. I am not recommending it if it does not sound like your cup of tea. I am not sure it is mine but it is my… cup of coffee?

I literally went from 100% lots of responsibilities and authority to just all technical work. Even though I had a ton of good experience and background, the type of work I found was in a related but different subfield where I was relatively a nobody again. So I had to work my way up and create a track record of success from scratch. Things actually got a lot harder but I also think that I needed those challenges.

I could have stayed in a cushy role indefinitely, but instead, I chose a difficult research path. But if I stayed in that cushy role,  maybe I would have lost my mind. Maybe I like challenges. It’s like picking your battles, which ones are you going to pick and when? It is not always going to make sense in every life phase. For example, I don’t think this current role would make sense for a person with a family or dependents.

Without having it get harder, it does not get better. I had to take this career risk.

I had to learn various life things the hard way. How hard life is without good benefits, how expensive things are, how certain people really let me down… Along with learning about the new work which demands technical excellence.

Starting from scratch in another new technical field

I could have failed miserably but instead, I rose to the occasion and I am making the most of my opportunities here. I recently won an award too. So now I know, it is not like I only do well in one type of work or workplace. I won awards in Ohio, and now I won something here too. Is that surprising? Not really, because I have always been an award-winning researcher literally in almost every research project ever. But! I did it again. I am exhausted in the whole process but I know I can do technically excellent work even after starting from scratch again and again.

I am trying to be patient with myself and realize that I was incredibly brave last year to come here.. to try and make it work. I went for my dreams and my dream life. I didn’t hold back. I wanted to come to this location and so I jumped head first. I could have stayed back in Ohio and played it safe but I did not.

Big changes in life are really hard and you cannot make all of them at once. I could not even believe that I could successfully get an apartment out here, move in, start working, make money, and pay rent. Those things seemed so distant from the then reality. So I did not know that would be possible. But after coming here, I made all those things happen! And now in that same place which was like a dream to me (east coast, ocean, culture) that same Boston is where I bought a home. So yeah it is exhausting and not cool, but big changes happening over time are like that. They happen but there is a lot of discomfort in the process.

Career risk and sorting out life

In Ohio I had my career sorted but I didn’t have my life sorted. I learned how to do that in Boston. I have made it a point to make sure it is sorted, that I know my priorities, and that I can do those without a doubt. That I can put myself and my kids (kitties) first above all. I know this and it keeps my life sorted and peaceful. I am able to live the life I want. Rather than be lost. Or invest in the wrong things or people. I know exactly what I want and where to put my energy. And do just that.

Career risk leads to productive mistakes

Maybe the decision to go back to all technical work again in a job with no benefits was a mistake. But it was the right time to make that mistake. Because I was still early enough in my career where making mistakes is OK. And by early, I mean less than 5 years. Now it has been just over 5 years in this major domain of work.

I have the opportunity to make mistakes and learn. Without wasting years. And while still being productive and doing awesome work. Because even if I made a mistake coming here, my mistake is extremely productive! I launched into a whole new world of work by making this mistake. And it allowed me to come to Boston and change my life. I think we should just own our mistakes and moves, take the best, and leave the rest.

Something else I learned is a lot of people won’t realize what they have when they have it, but not me. I know I had a great opportunity or opportunities in Ohio and I know I got a great but very different opportunity here. Whatever I have been doing is all great and makes for a very versatile portfolio (and several books).

Big lessons learned

I have done leadership and wrong relationships enough to know that some people cannot be helped or they cannot be helped in the timeline you are trying. They will learn (maybe?) at some point and you have to just let them go. And that too is a hard lesson for me that I learned here in Boston for good. No matter how much you try to help them it won’t be enough and you will feel crazy in the process. They will drain you dry like a desert. You will forget who you are but their problems won’t be solved. So let them go like the Boston traffic.

Stay tuned to hear about how my career risks and mistakes are going!