u/billyboee

I’m currently a data engineer at a large company and feeling pretty burned out / disengaged with the work. I don’t hate tech, but I’ve realized I probably don’t want to stay on the same high-pressure, high-output path long term. Immigration Lawyer just recently filed renewal H1B petition to USCIS.

I’m considering two options:

Option 1: Internal transfer (upcoming interviews next week, though I honestly don't feel ready)

• Move to a different team within my current company
• Same pay
• Unknown if it actually fixes burnout (could just be a lateral move with similar expectations)

Option 2: External switch (e.g., integration support engineer at Netflix, I used to be a support engineer hence there are some familiarity)

• Likely a pay cut, but their job posting stated the following which would be a pay bump at the lowest band, The range for this role is $270,000.00 - $410,000.00.
• Role seems lower pressure and less "development" / more operational
• Might give me better work-life balance and less stress
• But potentially less career growth / harder to switch back? Being honest, I'm not a rockstar data engineer or software engineer. More of a generalist which is typically good for support engineering.

Some context:

• 33 yrs old, no kids, financially stable, send money to home country to pay mortgage that shelters my family.
• I value free time a lot (travel, gym, etc.)
• Not super motivated by climbing the ladder and never was.
• Ideally want something sustainable long-term, not just max comp.
• Money is basically there to fund my life and hobbies.

For those who’ve made similar moves:

• Did switching to a “lower intensity” role actually improve your life?
• Did you regret the pay cut? Asking as earning more money for me, even though I may not show it, can be quite the mental game like if i started to earn less i need to spend less, but in practice nothing has really changed. Life style creep has not hit me yet.
• Is it smarter to try internal first before making a bigger external jump? Theres always the risk of new team behaving the same as my current team.

Appreciate any perspectives.

Hi all,

I am considering planning on an Asia "Backpacking" trip in the potential coming months. I've been to EU and Japan solo backpacking before and I will say its fairly easy. A big part of this trip I've been considering is exploring China, which I've only been to twice in my life with my mom. With this Asia trip and China being a big chunk was wondering on the following as I have an android phone and I might bring my mom which will be a big help as a translator. Roughly estimation, nothing concrete yet. Close to 30 days in China, 7 days in taiwan, 7-10 days korea, 30 days in Japan

- I am an android user, what is a reliable map application similar to google maps?

- Translation app

- Cheap hotels/hostel, whats the best way to book. Purposely want cheap accomodation as I do not want to splurge

- Previously in Japan always used Airalo

- Cash, if I include other countries like Japan, Taiwan, Korea on this Asia trip what's the best way to deal with cash? China I know is practically and basically cashless now, not sure about the small town cities, any ideas?

For the other countries, when I travelled to Japan previously past 2 years, I arrive into Japan with the of cash already bought from Bank of America, just wondering as I've seen people are choosing to withdraw from ATM in Japan or foreign country ATM. Is it really that much cheaper? I'm bad with math so im asking. It would be expected that the ATM would take a percentage and also Bank of America will charge a percentage or dollar amount for foreign cash withdrawal from ATM.

- I plan to just bring couple of moisture wicking t-shirts, 3 moisture wicking underwear, and 3 pair of moisture wicking socks.

Anything else, I need to consider? I'm a Canadian Citizen so there is no need for Visa to enter China