I quit Wall Street at 34 to live out of my car. My best friend thought I'd lost my mind.

The author left her career and went camping. Courtesy of the author Our friendship developed during years when our lives looked very similar. When I took a divergent path, and she didn't understand, I thought I would lose her. The challenge of our differences brought us to a place of more honesty, deepening our connection. When I told my best friend I was quitting my Wall Street legal career to spend a year camping and exploring the American West, she looked at me aghast and said, "You're joking, right?" Her response wasn't surprising. I hadn't exactly been honest with her, or myself, about how much I longed for a very different life than the one I was living.