Well I up voted because I look into FIRE and retire as early as possible.
One way is to get highly paid job as early as possible and invest most of the income.
What OP describes might be different approach, get easy going job and well not really retire but have a lifestyle that would be like a retiree.
Both have their ups and downs. I would rather go with first solution if I were young and have opportunity. Second option is more viable if someone is in his 40ties I believe.
Barista FIRE is a term used in the FIRE space that could fit this. You build up less savings but keep things ticking over with a lower level (in terms of stress, pay, and time) job than you might have otherwise. It seems like the OP is looking for a tech equivalent of a barista job.
I was searching this thread for a reference to FIRE, I see interesting parallels too.
You can take a serial (work your butt off now, enjoy life later) or parallel (OP's wish) approach to work/life, but it also does not need to be completely binary. If you can find a position that is sufficiently rewarding but not too stressful, and that allows you to save up enough that you can (semi) retire at, say, 50, that may be a great middle ground.
One way is to get highly paid job as early as possible and invest most of the income.
What OP describes might be different approach, get easy going job and well not really retire but have a lifestyle that would be like a retiree.
Both have their ups and downs. I would rather go with first solution if I were young and have opportunity. Second option is more viable if someone is in his 40ties I believe.