Unfortunately there's not much else I know other than the internet and the fact it's currently making me a lot more money than 95% of my friends. So that leaves me ultimately disenchanted with nowhere to go.
If you aren't already, consider downsizing, paying off your debts and saving an aggressive percentage of your income. It won't make much of a difference in the short term but you are buying yourself more options down the road. If you can put $3,000 a month away from now until 45 for instance, an 8% annual rate of return would put you at a cool one million in cash on hand. At least if you do that your current unfulfilling job is moving you in the right direction rather than just keeping you afloat in a nice apartment with a nice car.
(That's not to say that you should stay in an unfulfilling job forever - just that you should make hay while the sun is shining).
I agree. I'm almost 30 myself and have been living quite extravagantly as you say. I'm hoping to spend my 30s building sufficient wealth that by my early 40s I'll have a passive income sufficient enough to let me essentially retire to somewhere nice where I can spend my time on self-actualization.
It's interesting that more of this kind of content keeps coming up on HN, it seems that many of us are tiring of the "rat race". I hope I treat the next decade in the right manner so that I'm not looking at HN submissions on self-actualization or breaking the mold in 10 years and regretting not having done things.
I'd rather have fun while my body is still in good condition. Besides, I could always get hit by a bus while I'm still saving money, and then it'd have all been for nought.
Living paycheck to paycheck in an extravagant manner is my ideal lifestyle, really.
Besides, I tried that whole "delaying happiness" thing. I'm transgender, and I didn't begin transition until just before I turned 29. Waiting so long was the single biggest mistake of my life. It wasn't until I was almost 30 that I finally had a face that didn't make me want to drive my fist through the mirror. I could have had that sooner, but I was stupid enough to keep putting it off and putting it off. I don't think words can possibly describe the depths of my grief over having wasted my youth living as the wrong gender. I cry myself to sleep almost every night, and I've contemplated suicide multiple times. No, I'm not wasting any more of my life sitting around and waiting.
Being able to do something you somewhat enjoy while being paid a high salary would be amazing for a lot of people.
Programming is a tool. It's a versatile tool, but it's a tool nonetheless. Part of what can happen in a technology-focused culture like ours is that we can become more absorbed thinking about the tools we use than what we use them for. Imagine we were builders, spending our time focused on perfecting the mixing of cement rather than constructing the Taj Mahal.
The point is, improving the tools is interesting to some but isn't exciting for everybody, think instead about what you want to do with your tools that you'd find more stimulating/worthwhile.
Also, "when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail". Programming isn't always going to be the best tool, so look for what you want to do, then look at whether your existing skillset can be complimentary.
Hope that helps.
After I finished college I used all my savings to travel to Japan for a month and a half (I wish it'd been longer) and after returning home, I felt like a I just had a very nice reset. Like cleaning the slate allowing me to start fresh.
Maybe you could use a hiatus as well. It's not necessary to go live in a farm for that. Go explore some place you have always wanted. I could almost bet that you won't regret it and might even find a new love for your profession (maybe not your job though).
I'm on year 6 abroad and very likely make a small fraction of what jwmoz makes (I'm a VA).
It's just the programming I've become disenchanted with.
I've noticed a large number of stories and comments, on HN at least, regarding burn out. Is anyone aware of studies that look into why burnout is so common with developers?
Or you can go hunting for a more fulfilling job, like this guy.
Have you thought about moving "up" into management?
You are presented with a new set of challenges and another point of view that, if anything, will make you appreciate more other roles and give you a better view of what delivering a product or a project entails, how different parts in a company interact, and how they are dependent on each other. More than moving "up" it really more like "sideways".
Also, if your company is receptive enough you could ask for an experience in another department, like sales or QA, or testing.
You can go back any time: a normal career spans decades, decisions are rarely definitive.