I pretty much stumbled into FIRE. I put myself through college, and as the draft was still in effect, I figured a pilot in the AF was better than a grunt with a gun. I stayed because it was fun, well for most of the time.
When I retired from the AF, turns out I could have FIRED then. However, the thought of not working just never came up! It just seemed natural to start a second career. I went into 'the family business' and became a real estate appraiser. That lead to running an appraisal department for a mega bank. After about ten years of that I was given the opportunity to retire again after a bank merger.
This started a third career. DW was a teacher, however, when we were in the AF, and working for the bank, she did not work. We returned home, and she got a teaching job. I started my own business programming appraisal tracking system for banks. This I would call semi retired. While doing this, I was offered an opportunity to become an MIS director for a county official that had just been elected. I took the job because of the challenge. It was 1999, and there were 750 employees, and 14 locations, and NO PC's! The job was to get the main frame through year 2000 and then convert to PC's. Once more I took a job because it seemed like fun.
Seven years ago I found this forum. DW and I had purchased "the lot of her dreams" on a lake with lots of trees. I spent several years designing a house to fit on the lot. DW was busy teaching school and installing systems. Then I found this forum. The more I read the more I wondered if we were FI. I began to more closely track our expenses. This was one of the key exercises in our realization that we were FI. I realized, with some reading here, that I had more than enough to retire. However, work was still enjoyable, so we decided to build the house and be 'Weekenders' for a couple of years. Six months after the house was finished, it was the end of the school year, the pull of the lake was enormous, both of us quit our jobs, and we both FIRE'd!
So I never really had a plan to FIRE. However, all that stumbling around left us with three pensions (one COLA'd), my SS, DW's SS, DW's 401K, my 401k, and no debt other than a small mortgage on the house which should be paid off next year.
So I guess you could say that our route to retirement was multi-legged, without a plan. My advice for what it is worth has been said before here. Life is short, live it to the fullest, and know your expenses, the income seems to take care of itself.
grew up middle class, worked, had fun, saved, married well, and got REAL lucky!!!