So, that Hudson, New York article led to an hour of Internet research time wasting. I clicked on Matt’s links to the cool artisanal cheese farms. I researched how much we could get if we rented out our house. I looked at job opportunities at Etsy and found a website that estimated the salaries for those jobs.

Sometimes, I dream about dropping out of the rat-race in the New York area. It would be nice to move upstate, start a small business, and renovate a grand, old house. I want to hang out with hippies and townies in a local bar. Yes, I watched every episode of Northern Exposure.

Then Steve called to tell me that a co-worker at his last job was dropping out. He, like Steve, got caught up in the final purge of the investment banks last fall. He’s been working as a consultant and hates it. So, he’s selling his house and living on his sail boat with his wife and kids for a year. They are sailing to the Mediterranean. Steve was very, very jealous.