I quit teaching at 26 to work for myself, and the freedom I found wasn't the one the influencers were selling.
I'm sitting at my desk, my head throbbing and my eyes stinging with tiredness. It's raining outside, and the 30 kids under my care will be back any minute from playtime.
At 26, I knew this wasn't the life I wanted, or the life I could sustain. And this isn't to bash teachers (they have my utmost respect) or life in the UK. It's just that for me, personally, I couldn't face that this would be my life for the next 40 years.
I went home that evening, checked my savings account, worked out roughly how much I'd need to survive the next year, potentially without an income, and a few days later, I handed in my notice.
Seven years later, I've travelled extensively in Europe and East Asia. I've settled in the south of Spain, and chose a life I never could have imagined sitting in the staffroom back in the UK. I work as a freelance writer now, mostly lifestyle and psychology pieces for online publications. It took me roughly 2 years before the income was steady enough that I stopped checking my bank balance three times a day.
Friends often say how lucky I am. And I am, but it didn't come without challenges.
What I've learned over these last few years is that the price of freedom is both terrifying and liberating. It's being awake at 3 am, not knowing what will happen tomorrow, and lying on the beach at 3 pm on a Monday because I'm not tied to a 9-5.
The hard parts aren't shown on Instagram
I saw the social media posts and the influencers showing off their amazing lifestyles. I fell for the dream just like everyone else. But the reality is this:
When you're your own boss, when you don't have the safety of a secure contract and a monthly paycheck, and when you're ill but there's no sick leave, you're hit with the hard truth that you're on your own.
I remember sitting at my desk, realizing that I hadn't seen or spoken to another person (that wasn't through a screen) for days.
Realizing that although I grumbled about the stress of working in a busy school, I had colleagues who became friends. People to bounce ideas off. Friendly faces that greeted me every morning.
Leaving the 9-5 and working remotely takes all of that away (unless you're fortunate to live somewhere with good coworking spaces).
Then there's the self-discipline. Once I didn't have supervisors or a boss checking over me, I became my own boss. And I have to say, that's been the hardest part.
Staying motivated, sticking to a routine, and forcing myself to push through those days when all you want to do is procrastinate has proven harder than anything else throughout the process.
But here's the upside:
Discovering a hidden source of strength
Not seeing people for days on end forced me to get out and build a strong network of friends. I didn't have many hobbies back in the UK, but without that social aspect of having a team around me, I learned to put myself out there and meet new people.
Whilst I struggled with self-discipline at the start (and still do some days), I've learned how to follow the rhythm of my body and mood. I've picked up tools and habits that help me get going when I'm lazy, and I've become in tune with when my body and mind are most productive.
The freedom that the influencers online show is sunny beaches and the ability to work from anywhere.
But the freedom I've experienced is the chance to get to know myself on a deeper level. It's the recognition that you've broken out of a ready-made system and designed something just for yourself.
There are nights when you don't sleep because your future isn't as certain as when you were in full-time employment, but there are also nights you lie awake smiling to yourself, proud of the effort you've put in or the new client you've just taken on.
There's nowhere to hide from yourself
In a 9-5, there's always something to blame for a bad day. The traffic, the Monday meeting, or the colleague who never pulls their weight.
There's always a reason you're tired or frustrated or not quite at your best.
But when you work for yourself, all those external pressures fall away, and what you're left with is just you.
Your habits and fears, and all the patterns you've been carrying around for years without really realizing them.
I thought I was an organised person, but it turns out I was just well-managed by the structure of the school year.
I thought I was disciplined. Turns out the threat of 30 kids walking back in from playtime was doing most of the work for me.
I thought I knew what I wanted from life, but in reality, I'd been so busy chasing the next thing on the list that I never really considered what I wanted to do with my short time on earth.
Leaving the 9-5 doesn't just give you freedom - it gives you a mirror. It's both daunting and wildly thrilling at the same time.
That's been one of the hardest parts for me. Not the money, not the isolation, but having to face the version of myself I'd kept hidden behind a busy schedule and a job title.
I've had to sit with my procrastination, my insecurity, my tendency to compare my life to other people's.
There's no staff meeting or marking pile to distract me from any of it.
But it's also been the most valuable part. The version of me that has emerged from those years of uncomfortable self-confrontation feels more honest, more grounded, and more genuinely mine than the version that was running on autopilot back in the UK.
What I want to be honest about
Before I sign off, I want to be clear about something.
This worked for me, under my specific circumstances. I had savings I'd built up while teaching. I didn't have children or anyone financially dependent on me. I was young enough that a few rough years wouldn't derail my finances forever.
None of those are small things, and I think the version of this story that skips over them does people a disservice.
So I'm not going to end this with a rallying cry to quit your job. I just wanted to write down what the inside of it has actually looked like, because the influencer version of leaving the 9-5 isn't the version I've lived.
If you're thinking about your own version of this, the most useful thing I can tell you is to be honest with yourself about the runway you have, the responsibilities you carry, and what you're really chasing.
The rest is your call to make.
