I took a massive pay cut to change careers and I have no regrets. If it’s worth it to you I say go for it. Money isn’t everything.

There are no refunds at the airport lol

I’m in two meetup.com ones, and they are both pretty similar in format. I don’t think having notes is weird at all, in fact I usually do. We all get to weigh in one by one at the beginning, then after that we chat more loosely about the book, sometimes with questions facilitated by the moderator of the club. At the end we vote on what to read next. One of my 2 clubs is always virtual and the other is sometimes virtual, sometimes in person. Although I theoretically like the idea of connecting in person, I find it much easier to actually make it to the all-virtual one. I think this is partly because it’s on Monday nights when I’m usually not doing much else, whereas the sometimes-in-person one is on Saturday afternoons — honestly, I’d rather be hanging out with my partner or friends on a Saturday afternoon than hauling myself all the way downtown to meet up with strangers, especially since it’s the only day my partner takes completely off each week.