From office rat to actually present dad
Used to work 60 hour weeks and miss basically everything. Kids would show me drawings and I'd half listen while checking emails. Wife was running the house solo. Made the switch to a smaller company last year, went down to 45 hours and honestly it's been life changing. I actually know what my kids are into now, we have dinner together most nights, and my marriage isn't just logistics coordination anymore. Do I make less money? Yeah. Do I care? Not even a little bit. I missed so much and I can't get that time back.
Backyard camping is where we started too and it's been perfect for us. The memories aren't about how fancy the trip is, they're about you being there for it.