These last few years I've been working for the most insufferable piece of shit I've ever met in my life (and I've met some real contenders). I had been planning to quit in April 2020, but then there was a minor world event and I had to stay to keep my income and health insurance. I worked through the burnout and panic attacks and 2+ years later I'm vaccinated, the country has decided that mass plague casualties are Just Fine, and my therapist/psychiatrist have been emphasizing more and more that the job is devastating to my mental health and I'm never going to be well if I stay here.
Ideally I would have lined up another job but, despite a supposedly great market for job seekers, I haven't been getting any interviews. Like a lot of people who entered the work force in the Great Recession, I haven't had much/any job stability in my life, so voluntarily cutting off my income and health insurance is an utterly terrifying prospect. The choice feels impossible: stay employed and continue wanting to die every day, or leave and eliminate my ability to pay for shelter, food, bills, etc. But I've reached my limit with this monster and I can't do it anymore.
My lease is up in December and my landlord is 99% certain to jack up the rent. I don't have family I can move in with, but I have built up some solid emergency savings that can keep me going for a while. I have a vague idea of maybe bouncing around the country for a while, but no idea what that looks like in terms of practical, actionable plans. None of my IRL friends have been in a situation like this, but they're all supportive of me quitting, since they've heard all the horror stories about the job.
Have you ever done something like this? How did you handle it? Where did you go? What did you do?