Hi everyone! Enjoy this guest post from Joe and Kristin DiSanto. They share how they made a dramatic life change—from pursuing external success to seeking fulfillment. If you’ve ever felt stuck, their journey may inspire you to step outside your comfort zone.
Hello!
We are Joe and Kristin DiSanto: a former executive producer/business owner and a former film/commercial editor who spent many years in Los Angeles building careers in advertising, film and television. We worked long hours, often for little or no pay early on, then went on to co-found a post-production company with close friends. That company brought in millions, earned Emmys, and helped us meet the ambitious goals we set for our careers.
And then we gave it all up to start a new life.
At ages 38 (Kristin) and 43 (Joe), we left stressful big-city careers and moved to a small Florida beach town where we knew no one. The change gave us the freedom to raise our three-year-old son full-time and to redefine what “dream life” meant to us.
We traded time spent at work for time together as a family. Kristin now spends her time as a full-time mom and part-time blogger. Joe works part-time as a bookkeeper and small business consultant and also blogs part-time.
No matter how much you love a job (and we genuinely loved ours), it can drain your time, creativity and energy. When you finally get back to “life,” there’s little left to give. We decided to reclaim that energy and hit the reset button.
How did we pull off such a major career shift? Through careful financial planning, some successful investments—mostly in real estate—and a healthy fear that life would pass us by if we didn’t act. Even with many financial pieces in place, the change wasn’t easy. We experienced major emotional and financial stumbles, including a total breakdown in Austin and the chaotic experience of moving across the country with a toddler twice in three months.
We’re sharing our story so others considering a similar move can learn from our mistakes and successes. At the end we include transparent before-and-after financial details and tips for saving money during big moves.
Meeting and Making It in La La Land
We made a pact early in our relationship to keep life interesting: whenever things grew stale, we’d push ourselves out of comfort zones. Both of us grew up far from Hollywood—Joe in Providence, Rhode Island, and Kristin in Grand Rapids, Michigan—but our paths converged in Venice, California, in 2002, at a music video post-production shop. By 2004 Joe bought his first home, and within a few years we were both making steady progress professionally.
In 2005 Joe and partners launched their own company, which Kristin joined soon after. From 2006 to 2018 we built a multi-million dollar post-production company, worked on acclaimed films and commercials, contributed to an Emmy-winning TV show, got married, bought eight investment properties and a beachside home—then, in 2018, we left it all behind.
Two main reasons motivated us to leave: inertia and the birth of our son.
Inertia had crept into our lives. Despite outward success—good house, good neighborhood, great schools, a short commute and interesting projects—we found ourselves unfulfilled. We called it the “Golden Hamster Wheel”: running hard but feeling empty. Eventually we realized something was missing from our carefully constructed lives.
Was the Missing Piece Our Progeny?
The birth of our son in 2015 amplified how our lives had become misaligned. We expected the first year of parenthood to be tough but assumed things would normalize. They didn’t. Returning to work felt increasingly like a job and less like a passion. We were rushing home to say goodnight, outsourcing household tasks, and maintaining a lifestyle that required constant effort and spending. Weekends filled with outings and social obligations left us exhausted, repeating the same cycle every day.
We were working and buying our way through life—and paying for it emotionally. We’d joked about quitting someday, but parenthood made “someday” suddenly urgent.
The Catalyst for Our Cross-Country Move
We hatched a plan to take a one-year hiatus: move near one of our rental properties in Austin, renovate it, live there for a year, and decide whether to return. The plan quickly evolved from a temporary break into a permanent departure. We divested from the company and our home and, after six months of difficult conversations and paperwork, boarded a plane and watched Los Angeles fade away. It felt like life was beginning again—though, to be honest, we were terrified.
Hello Austin, TX! (or “Dear God, What Have We Done?”)
Austin was meant to be a detox period. It turned out to be brief—just eighty-eight days—and far harder than we anticipated. For the first time we were alone with our son full-time and had nowhere to hide from our fears. The initial excitement of leaving our careers quickly gave way to panic and doubt. We questioned whether we’d made a terrible mistake. Our son struggled with the upheaval, too, making the transition emotionally difficult for the whole family.
After a lot of crying and second-guessing, we realized we needed to take action to climb out of the anxiety and rediscover meaning.
Climbing Our Way Out of Despair
Without our previous labels and routines, we began searching for deeper meaning. We read books on happiness and purpose, started meditating, took gratitude courses, watched documentaries about contentment—and yes, drank a few cheap beers along the way. The practices helped. Gradually we began to see what we had gained rather than what we’d given up.
Rental Property Rehab
While our son was in preschool, we worked on renovating our Austin rental. Painting an entire house proved exhausting and humbling, but the physical labor and visible progress gave us satisfaction and perspective. Small victories—removing poison ivy, mastering a paint gun, surviving sore hands—felt meaningful. We also started a simple gratitude ritual: each morning we wrote something we were thankful for and added it to a “grateful jar.” The small practice shifted our outlook and made ordinary things feel joyful.
Austin proved to be the right place for our detox because it forced us to confront our fears instead of distracting us. We learned to let go of tight control and to accept the current wave we were riding.
Goodbye Texas, Hello… New Us?
We sold the Austin rental for asking price and, three months later, moved again. This time we used the internet to narrow options, searching for “reasonably priced seaside towns with charming main streets.” From a shortlist we visited Dunedin, Florida, for five days and decided to move there. Dunedin checked many boxes: affordable homes, lower property prices, walkability, decent schools and proximity to water.
We renovated a 1942 craftsman home close to the Gulf and, within a year of leaving LA, settled into a life that cost significantly less. We both work from home, drive one car, do our own housework, and spend most of our time with our son and new friends. We exercise more regularly, walk to restaurants, and visit family more often. The transition has been hard—our egos protested—but more than a year out, we feel confident we made the right choice.
What Have We Learned?
Quitting our jobs and moving states with a young child was a big deal. After years in one place, identity becomes tied to location and role, so unwinding that is challenging. We lost a familiar safety net but found that with time we settled and felt a weight lift. That freedom accelerated our evolution toward a truer version of ourselves.
We now prioritize flexibility, financial independence, travel and intrinsic goals—like living with gratitude—over extrinsic measures of success. We continue to work on these shifts; it’s an ongoing practice. Leaving LA taught us we can survive, make new friends, and pursue new adventures. If we can do this, trying something even more radical someday—like living abroad—feels possible.
The Financial Details
Old Los Angeles monthly expenses vs new Florida monthly expenses
Moving reduced our monthly expenses by about 60%. The biggest savings came from housing and childcare. For LA we averaged actual expenditures from Jan–Nov 2017; for Florida we used Jan–Nov 2019 averages. Childcare costs fell because Kristin transitioned from working full-time with a nanny to being primarily at home, supplemented by preschool. Our Florida home was purchased outright using proceeds from LA real estate, so our ongoing housing costs are limited to taxes and insurance. Florida has no state income tax, but insurance is higher due to hurricane and flood coverage.
Other changes we’ve made to save money
- We shop at Walmart instead of Whole Foods for many grocery items, which reduces costs without sacrificing basics.
- We no longer hire a housekeeper; doing our own cleaning and laundry saves over $500 per month.
- We own only one car. Joe works from home and Kristin is with our son part-time, so we rely on rideshares when needed.
- We’ve cut back on new clothing, dropped regular cable, switched to a cheaper phone plan and buy fewer toys and other trimmings.
Moving costs and lessons learned
We moved twice in 2018 and learned how to do it more cheaply. Costs:
- Los Angeles to Austin: $12,935 (full-service movers, packing, flights)
- Austin to Dunedin: $4,267 (rental truck, local helpers, Joe drove)
The second move was far more frugal because we used a rental truck, hired local assistance, and reduced what we shipped.
How we’re earning income now
Initially we weren’t certain how income would look. We had savings to buy time and a plan that allowed us to consult if needed. Early on, Joe’s former partners asked him to continue providing remote financial management for a consulting fee. He now has multiple business and individual clients. Our rental properties provide some cash flow, and we’ve realized proceeds from property sales. Investment and retirement accounts continue to grow, which supports our long-term plan.
Blogging offers potential as a long-term income source, but it’s a slow-build business and requires significant time. With family and part-time work we’re not able to invest 70–80 hour weeks, but we enjoy blogging and expect it to yield additional income over time.
If you’re considering a similar life change and want to talk, email us at [email protected] and [email protected].
Until then—work smart and play loud,
Joe and Kristin
PlayLouder.com