> 100% of the problems are caused by people acting stupid in different ways

I moved from being employed to being a contractor/consultant (somewhere between the two). In the last 8 years I've worked with 8 or 9 clients and each one had serious issues (all bar one * , I would say). There were either individuals with power or small groups who were holding everyone else back by making consistently poor decisions, and there were upper managers too blind to see it or remove the offending parties, despite being informed by their staff what was going on.

It grinds you down, but I feel very similarly to you - it pays damn well and I can't see another way to achieve the lifestyle I want.

(* that one was a huuuuge corporate, and a department with incredibly low productivity and systemic issues with working practices. However they produced quality software to a schedule that was clearly OK with them, so .... that's OK I guess)

I've been on a pilot track in my former life, but got out due to bad eyesight, which made it risky to invest more. Now I've been a software developer for 20 years, but it doesn't make me happy. It's an ok job and provides food and shelter for my familiy, but I wish I could get back into aviation...

Meanwhile, if you ask a pilot today on advice... They will say, get a university degree and look elsewhere than aviation

We always think that grass no the other side is greener, but not really. It's yellow :(

It's the same with how a lot of tech folks idolize farming. In reality it's a tough job with long hours and cold weather.

I know a family that did that. We're not really in touch any more but he was a tech worker in London in the mid 00s and she was in corporate purchasing or something.

A few years ago they upped and moved to Wales and operate a cattle farm, they also home-school their kids. Mostly now I see their ads for pasture-fed beef on facebook. They seem happy.

Everyone seems happy on facebook.

People romanticize all sorts of things, welding, nursing...

My grandfather was a farmer and died after an accident cleaning something with gasoline. Sounds dumb (I don't know the details) but farmers tend to have accidents like that because the whole job is working with dangerous machinery, chemicals, and animals, and a "family farmer" has an incentive to take risks someone working for a corporation doesn't.

I remember a news story about a farmer who passed out from breathing something toxic, so his oldest son goes to get him, he passes out too, his wife goes...the whole family died like that one after the other.

Well, most of them love the flying part itself. Problem is everything else. With software development it's just the opposite. The perks are great, but the actual work can be very boring...

Sounds like you need a hobby. Work to live, don’t live to work.

Software Development can be mundane and repetitive. Stupid users cause most of my headaches but I use my hobbies as an outlet.

Can you try specializing in a different niche? There are so many different types of software, and it sounds like you already have the basic skills.

Might need to tailor your resume a bit but if you like coding it doesn't sound like you're at the point where it's time to leave everything.