Close to the Summit. 25 day countdown
25 working days left to go folks.
Our tenant moves in on Friday, at which point our oddball plan to get financially free at 43 becomes reality. In another 5 weeks, my contract ends. We’ll have done it, our investments will all be in place. We’ll have reached the summit we set ourselves. Topping out time.
And to be quite honest, it all feels rather surreal. Perhaps I’m a bit subdued by the 5:30am start this morning driving the Smart to Dudley for project meetings. Or maybe this is just how it feels? Two years ago when I pumped a bunch of numbers into a spreadsheet I was, as they used to say in the old days, totally stoked to realised maybe we could hit our goal much earlier than we expected. We’d initially thought we’d get there at age 50, then maybe 45, then finally the cold cells of Excel stared back at us and predicted age 43. That’s with a bit of off-the-wall thinking with the Cooler, and some quite stupid amount of work and self-imposed stress, but nevertheless, it’s still taken us by surprise.
We’re now faced with fact we never need to work again (well, after the end of September anyway…). It’s a sobering thought. It feels both massively liberating and mildly threatening at the same time. The former is probably self-explanatory. The latter? Well:
- We have few role models. No-one we know personally has hit ‘FI’ (financial independence) at age 43. Others have done it much earlier, but we don’t know them personally. It feels a bit out on a limb. We have very few people to talk to who can relate directly to what we’re doing or why.
- With great power comes great responsibility, as someone once told Spiderman. With the need to spend 50 or 60 hours a week working/commuting removed from our lives, there is no excuse not to get the damned stuff done in life we know we should do. We’re not awash with money, but we’ll not be penniless either. I personally have to get my finger out, face down a few fears and grab some new opportunities when the arise. I’m nervous and excited about this.
Ermmm, so what exactly do we do? It feels a bit like all those runners following Forrest Gump at the point he decides he’s tired and isn’t going to run across America any more. Now what? Hitting the road again in Zagan is high on the agenda. The beauty of the world awaits, we have half our own continent still to explore, never mind the others. Conversations with fascinating and inspiring people are out there waiting to be had.
But what else? We can’t just sit back and travel for ever? The need for enduring relationships and the fulfilment from work remain, we have to seek them out. This is going to be interesting.
Cheers, Jay
Wow, fantastic, so excited for you. We’re off on a trip of our own come the weekend but only for the week, just me and my partner and the three pooches are heading north to travel a bit of the North Coast 500. Can’t see us doing it all as there are far too many beautiful beaches up the west coast, so excited!
Well done, full of admiration for your hard work but understand your apprehension about the future. How about squeezing in a TEFL course before you set off…. could come in handy for a bit of income and give you the opportunity to become part of a community if you decide to settle somewhere for any length of time.
Thanks Kath, appreciate it! We’ve discussed TEFL, helpx, house sitting, and a bunch of other things but not come to any conclusions yet. We still have to get our tenant settled in and I need to complete my contract. Once that’s done, and we’re into the wandering zone, I think our plans will solidify. We’re coming back to the UK for Xmas and my mate’s wedding in January, so we could use part of those 6 or 8 weeks for TEFL, hmmmmm, more thinking needed. Cheers, take it easy, Jay
You two are truly inspirational and proof that if you put your mind to it then anything is possible.
We will hit FI in November 2016 at the older ages of 45 & 50 and intend to follow in your tyre tracks around Europe then venture over to America & Canada.
We will be following your blog with interest.
Good luck
Alison & Richard
Cheers Richard! Something occurred to me when we started on the FI path: getting to the goal is inevitable once you’ve started, once your mind is set, it’s just a matter of when. Living the dream mate, we’ll very soon be living the dream. Jay
Jay, seems to me the fact that you’re already aware of the possible downsides of your “new normal” will help you deal with it. As you say, you can’t just sit back and travel forever – well, you could, but it soon could become your version of the 9 to 5! But you have the biggest thing of all covered, the freedom to choose and that’s what the attraction of “early retirement” is. Well done for having got there so early!
Thanks Jim, appreciate it fella. Choosing what to do is, as they say, a nice problem to have. Cheers, Jay
Julie & Jay,
Congrats. Last time I posted we were ‘looking’. We are still looking! Pretty resolved that it will be a Hymer. Anyway, we have also thought long and hard about how we want to travel and have come to the conclusion that at first it will be 3 to 4 week forays abroad and multi-days away (who knows how many) in the UK. Having said that we haven’t even dipped our toes in the water yet so how can we make those kind of decisions? Well of course we can’t so we’ll just keep thinking and dreaming until the whole thing becomes a reality. We still ‘life’ issues to sort, but I reckon 2016 is the year. I agree with JimG, perhaps once we have achieved ‘utopia’ we want more?? Who cares, just do it and find out where the journey takes you.
Also – reason for ditching the bike rack?
Hi Ian, thanks mate. Bike rack is hibernating in my Dad’s garage! Tried using trailer for our lazy mutt (the dog, not me) but he hated it and the bikes remained unused for 2 years. The trailer and one bike are in Morocco, having been traded for a coat and blanket. Took carrier off to reduce length of van for Norway (it is already 6.06m, and anything over 6m means much higher tolls and ferry costs, we’ll attempt to blag 5.95m)! Jay