I was shocked, as well. I mean, the site's symbol is a scissors, for cutting the ties to the demands and expectations of work.
For anyone interested, he does have his blog site on his profile, which I checked out for a bit last night. They are resourceful, to say the least.
It does appear he checked out, which I certainly understand. Imo he answered people’s questions with civility and was quite clear that their route was not everyone’s cup of tea. And he was still treated by some as if he were a troll. As I mentioned before, I don’t get it. Paraphrasing from the thread on living in Golf and Country Club communities, it’s like we have a “few retired old ladies” walking around looking for noncompliance.
All I really heard was "Look, it's easy. Anybody can do it. What are you so afraid of? Everybody should drop off the grid with us. It's so easy!"
I don't doubt you heard exactly that. It's interesting (to me) that I didn't hear a condescending "look, it's easy." I heard an encouraging, "Look, if you really want, it can be done - we are doing it." And I did think of the couple Billy and Akaisha, who are ER gurus.
Also, OP did say he'd been hoping for specific "how did you do it" questions. It's unfortunate he didn't stick around to respond to those he received, such as from ivinsfan.
Oh well! Their lifestyle wouldn't have worked for us at all, but I still love reading about it.
Sorry, bry. Your original post made it sound much more dangerous, tenuous, and financially risky than it appears to have actually been, based on your web site. It also made it sound like you had completely abandoned work, but based on your web site, special projects, and rentals, it appears that you have simply redefined your work. You may find that many on this forum object to people calling themselves FIRE, when they're still doing 'side gigs' to support themselves. Your path rocks, and your success is evident. Your travel 'tracks' on the map on your website make me jealous. I just think you need to be more upfront with the non-linear work path and continued work that you do to support your plan. Safe travels!Im quickly gathering the fact that my ideas don't fit the "normal" conversation here... and seem to be less than welcome... but maybe the confusion comes that I would hardly consider the lifestyle we are living lean. Were some of the steps we took to get here, maybe... but today Im almost embarrassed at how ridiculously opulent it feels.
I'm not sure the OP needed to convince anyone of his philosophy. All that energy should have gone into a book. He's 7 years into his RE.
If I was 35, daydreaming everyday of freedom and the good life, I'd buy the book. I don't remember articles or books out when I was 35 talking about RE. It was all about how to get promoted or make more $$, how to write a resume or impress your boss.
By "broken", the OP meant that they had been spoiled by the freedom, and would not go back to a 9-to-5 job.
How does one pay for living expenses, if not yet at FI level to live off his investments, or have a pension?
These young people either have a side job to generate income, or monetize their lifestyle via blogs and Youtube. That's how they do it.
Roots vs non-roots is really the discussion, some desire strong roots, some could care less.
Perhaps, but he's need to hire a seriously good editor, so he's not misunderstood.I'm not sure the OP needed to convince anyone of his philosophy. All that energy should have gone into a book.
I did enjoy my work, and would have stayed a lot longer if the megacorp Dilbert environment did not upset me. But I stayed employed long enough to get a 7-figure net worth when I was 40. Then, I worked some more after leaving megacorp to do my own things.
... once retired, I did not need any side gigs at all.
...
If you look back, i've never made any judgements on your life, your family or your commitment to it (I would never question any of those things), nor have I ever claimed to know anything at all about your life.
Im simply suggesting that you not judge these family's choices as being less than yours. They are not less, nor more... they are simply different.
I haven’t judged anything in this post. I simply saw in advance that the way your posts were written was very forceful and would generate a lot of push back. I wondered if you were focused on your own situation - as many here have said everyone has their own path. I was sharing a my perspective on some of the more typical reasons people don’t consider this option.
One thing my SO frequently says to me is when having a conversation with someone you should ‘seek to understand them, their point of view, and their intent’.
Reading a lot of these posts I feel like you are talking about a lot of extreme lifestyle choices but seem to get very defensive when the mainstream/majority of responses say ‘that isn’t my cup of tea’.
I think it’s cool that you are doing this. It is a much higher level of risk than I’m willing to take with finances for my perceived gain in lifestyle. Due to motion sickness my family would never live in an van/RV much less boat no matter how much money we have (although if we could afford something ~400’ we might consider it for short periods)
My 2 cents. He doesn't say what his financial situation is so it seems hard to form an opinion about him. But I would say he is not FI. How does he relax on that boat knowing he always has to find a new project, gig, or whatever to fund his life? I am FI and I still worry about finance. Also he is trying too hard to sell how great his life is which sets off my cynical alarm.
Is the hot weather is getting to folks because there seems to be a lot of threads where people are getting awfully testy. Just a friendly reminder that this is NOT a city data forum.
Not having children or even a fixed home base is not really rare around here and not consider extreme IMO.
Bwah-hah! I actually stayed away for two weeks because I felt myself getting testy. Not the heat, but constantly aching shoulder, and issues connected with our recent move. The thought of "I'm starting to get like some of those posters on C-D retirement forum" did cross my mind