Mr. Conservative is stepping out

[RickVoo]

Hello folks,
Please allow me to introduce myself.....

I've lurked for some time and love the exchanges in these forums.
I resigned yesterday after 31 years working at one company. I'm 58 years old and have lived in one area all of my life. Own a home, raised two kids, married to the same sweet woman for 34 years. Pretty much the American dream come true. Good career, challenging, no job burn-out. Lots of good wishes from my colleagues and friends.

Steady, thoughtful, good planner. By all accounts Mr. Conservative.

However, tomorrow morning we're driving across the country to a new home. Don't have jobs, sold or donated just about everything and haven't a clue what we'll be doing for the next 4 - 5 years. But, we're both absolutely thrilled ! Yes, we're a bit anxious , mostly for financial reasons, but we have saved well, invested somewhat intelligently ( a few stupid mistakes ) and we have a clear target in mind.

This is really stepping out of the box for us but we're ready for the changes this move will introduce. New locale, new jobs ( for awhile ), new climate, new friends, new house, new decorating scheme etc.

Some of you, I'm sure, have similar experiences and that is why I like these forums so much. It's always comforting to have others sharing similar experiences and their wisdom. I look forward to that, especially from the FIRE perspective. I have learned a lot from you already.

Never thought we'd be doing this. We simply said "Lets do it now, we'll figure out the rest". Yes, we'll have to be careful about the finances but with reasonable decision making and a little luck we believe we'll be able to pull the plug on formal w**k in a few years.

In the meantime, I look forward to participating in the forums and continuing to learn from you folks.

[Midpack]

Your American dream continues, and we think that's great! Bet you've never felt more alive...IMO that's worth more than more years where you were. Note my signature quote...

[Khan]

My parents did something similar back in '71: sold the house in NY and moved to AL (they were 49 and 44 and still had one child at home).

It worked out well for them.

[Meadbh]

Welcome to the forum! And good luck with your new adventure.....it sounds exciting! Keep us posted.

[Purron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickVoo Please allow me to introduce myself.....

Just curious, is this a reference to this?

YouTube - Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil (Live 1968)

Your story is a bit like mine is some respects. My DH and I have been married since 1974 and are very conservative from all outward appearances. Even so, we too have chosen to live our lives a bit differently from standard conventions. Could be a result of the times we grew up in.

[73ss454]

Good luck to you Rick, 1 1/2 years ago at 57 I did the exact same thing. I also had a plan to work but that changed once I figured out I didn't have to.
We moved from NY to Fla. and DW and I are enjoying the hot weather and the grand kids who live nearby.

[Coach]

RickVoo, best of luck! My parents did the same thing once the kids were out of the house, at 56 and 52. Dad found work, they never regretted it, and they finished up their lives in Santa Fe where they had always wanted to live.

Coach

[Moemg]

Welcome ! I moved To Florida at 49 after living in the Northeast for all of my adult life . It's worked out fine !

[chinaco]

Welcome.

You are turning the page to a new chapter in life. Good luck.

Just curious... why the relocation?? Will you have family near by?

[FreeAtLast]

Best of luck to you and the wife. It sounds like you are ready to move on and have planned things out. I may do the same thing some day, however, still have a son in high school for a few more years.

[RickVoo]

Thanks folks for your kind comments.
As I write this we are in Abilene, Kansas on our way to Henderson, Nevada where we'll drop off my truck and some bikes and stuff and then stay in our new house for a week or so.
Abilene is the hometown of former president Dwight Eisenhower and we also learned that Wild Bill Hickock was the Sheriff here way back when.

Worried a bit today about some major thunderstorms that were in the Indiana and Illinois areas we passed through. Saw a car being towed that, by all appearances, had been smashed pretty good by hail. Front and rear windows smashed and the roof looked like it had been hammered 1000 times.

Today is our first day without j%bs in over 35 years. Feelin pretty good and we're excited about the changes we are making.

Nice drive over the last 2 days. We covered about 1200 miles and we're off to Denver in the morning. Haven't been through the Rockies in about 25 years. I imagine the scenery will be fantastic as we pass through Colorado into Utah. We pass close to Arches National Park in Utah and I remember that area being so unusual, different and beautiful compared to the North East where we grew up. Nothing against the NE, we love it but we're looking forward to the openness of the West and the climate change.

Again, thanks for your comments.
I'll try to write an update down the road now that most hotels have the free wireless internet.

Regards
Rick

[LeavinEarly]

Congrats on your new adventure. I plan to start something similar with my family before the year is out. Best of luck!

[RickVoo]

Hi again folks,
We completed our drive from the east to Henderson, NV. What a nice trip. We dropped off my truck and stayed a week before flying back east to finish packing our stuff for the final move.

If all goes well we'll depart for good on June 25th. This time we'll be driving my wife's car and we'll have our four cats with us. That should be interesting ! I expect our progress will be slowed by the pets but we're really not in any hurry. It took us just under 4 days to do the 2400 miles the first trip. I expect we'll need an extra day this time with the pets.
By the way, the pet friendly hotels often charge $15 per pet per night !

I did quite a bit of research on moving companies being aware that there are lots of scams out there. Typical is the "Oh, we need more money than we quoted because your stuff is heavier, bulkier etc" "We'll just hold your stuff hostage until you pay". To avoid that we went with ABF U-Pack which was highly regarded by many on the movingscams.com website.
We chose the ReloCubes option as we aren't taking much furniture and my wife has bad hips so loading cubes at ground level is easier than up a ramp into a truck.

We're truly starting over in a sense. Like newlyweds. New location, new home, new stuff, new friends. Unfortunately we'll need to w%$k a bit longer so we'll be starting that job search process when we get to Henderson for good. Definitely won't be interested in any corporate stuff. Not that my experiences or hers were bad but because we're excited about doing something different for several years. Had my "retirement party" with my former employer. Nothing extravagant but it was a way to close the book on that chapter. It's the people you miss the most.

Are we afraid? Not really, but we have some apprehensions as most do. In our case we're okay with our new home, the location etc. I guess it's the financial insecurity more than anything right now. We come from modest backgrounds and did "okay" but we need some things to work out as planned for us to finally retire in 4 years at age 62. Our plan is sound...we just need to implement the last phase now. We know the decisions we make now are important, that's why these forums are so helpful as everybody here is "in the same boat" so to speak.

Best regards to all
Rick

[Milton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinaco You are turning the page to a new chapter in life. Good luck. Just curious... why the relocation?? Will you have family near by?

Good questions. Not that it's any of our business if you don't want to answer, but it would be interesting to know why you decided, (apparently?) without much real planning, to abandon your (presumably?) secure job prior to FIRE and move all the way to Nevada to begin again.

Surely there is more to the story than you've told us so far. I can't believe that 'Mr. Conservative' would act quite so spontaneously (you did lots of research on moving companies but no research on potential job opportunities in Henderson?).

[Westernskies]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Milton Good questions. Not that it's any of our business if you don't want to answer, but it would be interesting to know why you decided, (apparently?) without much real planning, to abandon your (presumably?) secure job prior to FIRE and move all the way to Nevada to begin again. Surely there is more to the story than you've told us so far. I can't believe that 'Mr. Conservative' would act quite so spontaneously (you did lots of research on moving companies but no research on potential job opportunities in Henderson?).

Rick,
Welcome to FIRE and good luck in your new adventure. No explanation requested. I am glad that once again, a conservative has executed a course of action that has so thoroughly confused the liberals among us. Kinda reminds me of the monkeys touching the monolith in 2001: a Space Odyssey...