Of course I am not the first person to consciously design their own learning outside of educational institutions. There aren't that many people sharing their journeys however.
On this page you find an overview of the people and communities I know that do similar things and share about them. There are a lot of initiatives focussed on creating alternative education, the links below will be primarily focussed on self-directed learning however.
In 2020 I've created a Whatsapp group with a handful of young Dutchies who are currently directing their own learning journey outside of university. Text me at +31 6 34647084 if that's you too and you want to join.
In Brazil there is a community of people doing informal PhD's and Alex Bretas is the one you should contact if you want to learn more about that.
In Romania they've created an Alternative University focussed on autonomous learning.
At Enrol Yourself they are matching peers to learn together informally and offer infrastructure for self-directed learning. Since 2020 they also offer bursaries for informal learning paths, something that is rather rare to my knowledge.