Google CFO Patrick Pichette's Goodbye Note Will Make You Dream of Quitting Your Job

— -- Google's chief financial officer Patrick Pichette knows how to quit in style.

After nearly seven years of overseeing the search giant's finances, Pichette, 52, is calling it quits to travel the world with his wife and enjoy what he called a "perfectly fine mid life crisis full of bliss and beauty."

While most people may dream of the day they can retire, Pichette can certainly afford it. He raked in nearly $31 million from his Google stock incentives from 2010 to 2013, according to the Associated Press. That payday is in addition to his executive salary and any bonuses he received.

In a Google+ post, Pichette said he began to think about an early retirement when he and his wife Tamar were watching the sunrise from the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. Pichette recalled his wife asking him when would it be time for them to keep going and explore the world.

Not yet, he told her. With their 25th anniversary approaching this summer, Pichette said Tamar's question stuck with him.

With two children in college and one working at a start-up in Africa, he decided it was the perfect time to seize the moment and get to work on their next chapter -- traveling together to places they've always wanted to see, including Antarctica and Mount Everest.

"Working at Google is a privilege, nothing less," he wrote. "I have worked with the best of the best, and know that I am leaving Google in great hands."

The search is on for Pichette's replacement and he said he'd remain at the company to help with the transition process.

"In the end, life is wonderful, but nonetheless a series of trade offs, especially between business/professional endeavours and family/community," he wrote. "And thankfully, I feel I’m at a point in my life where I no longer have to have to make such tough choices anymore. And for that I am truly grateful. Carpe Diem."