1500 Days to Freedom

Think different and escape the rat race.

Ask the Readers: Where are You going this Year?

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I love travel! More on that in a moment. First, I have to get to last week’s answers.

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Almost…

The dishwasher and I were not getting along. It broke and I thought that the fix would be simple, and it was. Unfortunately, it took me hours and hours to realize it.

The dishwasher only set me back $50 in the first place, so I wondered if all the time time and profanity was worth it. Should I have just chucked the thing to the curb and moved on? Here is what you had to say:

Mr. Tako from Mr. Tako Escapes and I are apparently a lot alike:

This sounds like a completely normal DIY project to me. Everything goes that way at our house…

Done by Forty makes a lot of sense here:

…if spending a few rubles is going to save us a few hours, I’m down to spend the coin and use that time playing board games with friends, catching up on sleep, spending quality time with the wife, etc. Mostly because I feel like I don’t get enough of those things unless I do outsource some stuff.

Reader Jeff points out that all kinds of crap gets stuck in dishwashers:

Lisa (wife) has pictures somewhere of me with our old dishwasher taken apart in our previous kitchen. Mine was a crab shell in the drain hose. I think I got another year out of her and then had to find another one on Craigslist.

I like the way theFIREstarter thinks. If more people thoought like him, the world would be a lot better off:

Prices are in fact artificially cheap because they don’t take into account the damage and wasting of resources that is being done to the ecosystem. Maybe if things were priced consistently with how much waste and pollution they generate people would start to behave more sensibly, as it is only a small minority that actually give a shit about the future of our planet and even our own species.

Finally, Reader Michael hit the nail on the head:

You came out the other side with a “working” dishwasher and more knowledge of how the whole system works. Which means whenever you have problems down the line, you’ll spend less time (theoretically) tracking down the culprit.

If you had just replaced the dishwasher, you would be more inclined to replace the replacement (heh) down the line instead of fixing the problem.

Would I do it over again? Hell yes. I don’t look at the time I spent as just an exercise in saving a few bucks. I also gained knowledge. I can tell you about all kinds of hose clamps. I know how to use a multimeter to test various electronic components. I know dishwashers in and out. While it was infuriating at the time, I’m all about picking up new knowledge and learning how to better solve problems. Never stop learning.

In the meantime Mr. Dishwasher, if you know what’s good for you, I recommend you behave.

Where are you going this year?

When I was growing up, I swore that I’d never have a desk job. I had no idea what I wanted to do, but the idea of sitting in an office for 8 hours, 5 days a week, sounded like torture. Now that I’m all grown up, this is exactly what I do (computer programmer). Since I enjoy the cerebral exercise, I’m OK with a desk job. For now.

Dinosaur siting in Rapid City.
Dinosaur sighting in Rapid City.

I still can’t sit still for that long. On some days, I find myself gazing out the window at the Rocky Mountains. I usually go for a half hour walk every day at lunch. I have to stand up at least once an hour and move around. Sitting still just isn’t who I am.

Anyway, this may be why I enjoy travel so much. As is my style I have a packed agenda (by normal standards at least) for this year.

  • On Friday, we’re flying out to Las Vegas to see relatives.
  • Later in April, I’m driving to Wisconsin and Chicago on a work trip. While I’m there, I’ll pick up tile* for my final home project (this one is going to be cool!). On the way back, I’m stopping in Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway meeting.
  • Later in the year, we’re going to Kentucky (family reunion), Europe (blogger reunion), San Diego (more bloggers, but also the beach!) and Ecuador.
Grrrrrrrr.
Grrrrrrrr.

Perhaps my relentless wanderlust is why I’m well equipped for an FI life? Post-work, there will be no such thing as an average day. After I drop the kids off at school, I see myself biking up random roads into the mountains and exploring nature. During breaks when the kids are out of school, we’ll hit the road for monthlong trips. There is so much to explore…

Enough about me! Tell me about some of your upcoming adventures!

Where will your path take you?
Where will your path take you?

 

*There is this place in Chicago that has tile that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else and is also cheap. Tile Outlet, please open a store in Denver!

 

 

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  2. We’re in Singapore now, then we’re going through Sydney, followed by a 5-week road trip from Christchurch through Auckland in New Zealand trying out campervans and a workaway there. After that we’re going through Guam to a 2-week stay in Palau to do a whole lot of nothing, followed by Beijing, Suzhou and Shanghai for sight-seeing mostly as an stopover before we land for a month in Vero Beach Florida to hang with family.

    Note this is all on airplane awards from travel hacking, with all our stuff gone fully minimalist (no house or apt anywhere else) so it’s pretty easily attainable as a goal for everyone hustling to make their FI dream happen – it can happen! Keep at it!

    After that, man who knows? We need school for the little dude (he’ll be 5) and I’m a competent dude but I don’t have the patience for home schooling, I know that. So we’re thinking a stop through Austin, maybe NorCal, then a big stint in the Fall in Cuenca Ecuador as a base with an international school there (SUPER easy if your kids are young, no one cares about transcripts or durations), and use it to explore South America and Central America pretty thoroughly.

    Once a year or so more passes we’ll likely land in the US again full time, hopefully with more campervan style national park adventures until our dude’s old enough to appreciate more big city type travel, but right now the emerging / developing country type stuff is working really well while cities are no fun so we’ll keep at it.

    Anyone else going to be in Ecuador? Have a 4-6 year old in tow? Hit us up…

    • Whoah, my head is spinning! Incredible plans, especially considering that you have a young child. #jealous

  3. Yay my previous answer got featured! Thanks! 🙂

    Where is the blogger meetup in Europe by the way? Is it the one that the bloggers “What life could be” is organising?

    This year we are planning a few trips to the Isle of Wight. It’s a small island just of the south coast of England. It’s really nice and my in-laws have a caravan there that they let us use for free. You can’t argue with the price that’s for sure! 🙂

    Also a trip to Devon with my parents and sisters family later on in the year.

    Basically with a young baby in tow we decided we’d rather keep things local for a year or two, I don’t really get why people feel the need to take a 6 month old baby on a long haul holidays, seems a bit selfish to me, as if the baby knows where the hell it is! And from what I hear most people end up saying it’s a bit of a nightmare, totally a waste of money if you ask me. It should be just who you are with not where you are when they are that age.

    Also a very small chance we will go to Madrid to see friends at the end of the year, hopefully baby TFS will be fine on the 2 hour flight there if we do end up going.
    theFIREstarter recently posted…february 2016 update – and then there were threeMy Profile

    • Hey fire, blogger meetup will be in the UK. I’d love to meetup with you, so I’ll contact you with the details when they are firm.

      “I don’t really get why people feel the need to take a 6 month old baby on a long haul holidays, seems a bit selfish to me, as if the baby knows where the hell it is!”

      Ha ha! This is the same thing I think when I see people dressing their kids up in designer clothes! Little Jonny is in the corner making a big load in his pants with bit smile on his face. He doesn’t care about clothes.

  4. There’s not much in store for us this year since we’ll be adding to our family when the baby gets here in July. The only trip that’s lined up right now is Nashville in late April to visit some friends. I imagine we’ll have a few small day/weekend trips but it’ll be awhile before we get to do any serious travel.

    One trip that I’ve always wanted to take is to fly to San Diego, rent a car and drive up the West Coast to Seattle taking my sweet ass time doing it. Unfortunately that’s probably best served for our FI life or maybe a summer break when the kid(s) are older. We’ll stop and camp at several places to cut down the cost some but it’d be awesome.

    • “One trip that I’ve always wanted to take is to fly to San Diego, rent a car and drive up the West Coast to Seattle taking my sweet ass time doing it.”

      I’ve done parts of it and it is spectacular. Highway 1, south of San Francisco is amazing.

  5. Currently diving and chilling in Zanzibar…back to the US for 2 months this summer to visit family and friends in WA, CA, OR, and UT. October hasn’t been sorted yet, maybe Slovenia or Rwanda (to see the gorillas) but December/January is Bali and a dive liveaboard in Raja Ampat. 🙂

      • Wow, awesome and congratulations!

        And a dive liveaboard? Never heard of it, but I assume you’re on a diveboat? That is ridiculously cool.

  7. Sounds like you guys have a good year planned out so far.

    For us, not a lot of travel this year. Beach vacation in May here in South TX, Mrs. SSC and our oldest are going to San Jose to visit family in the fall, and I’m waiting to find out if a friend gets laid off or not before we plan an AK fishing trip, or a CO 14’er excursion. CO would be cheaper of the two regardless and I might push for that one just the same. I haven’t been out there in a few years now and need some soul recharging.
    Mr. SSC recently posted…A good mindset helps, but it isn’t everythingMy Profile

    • Hey Mr. SSC, if you make it out to CO, look me up. I’ve done about four 14ers since I’ve been here, but would like to bag some more. I’m 30 minutes away from Longs Peak…

  8. When I was growing up, I swore that I would never wear a monkey suit for a job and, by George, I made sure that I didn’t! What I should have done is swear off a desk job as well!

    We’ve had a 10-day trip to Texas planned for about a year now. We were able to use frequent flier miles for all three of us and we’re staying at my brother’s house… that’s how us cheap $%^es do it! 🙂

    Other than that, we’re hoping to book another trip sometime later this year – possibly a trip to Vegas or a cruise. We used to do these kind of trips a lot more often, but man – having a kid sure make things tougher!

    — Jim
    Route To Retire recently posted…The Rental Property Investment Chase [Part 3]My Profile

    • Monkey suit! I work from home, so on some days, it doesn’t bet much better than underwear. Just kidding. Maybe…

  9. Glad your dishwasher adventures are at a pause!

    Travel is the best, isn’t it? So far, next month I’m going to Boston to run the Boston Marathon…and then I will fly down to Tampa to hang out with a friend. I do want to plan an out-of-country trip later in the year, too.

    • “pause!????” That is a dangerous word! That means that the problems are going to start happening again soon! Arrrrgh!!!!!

      Good luck in the marathon. Much admiration for that (I huff and puff after a mile)…

  10. Flagstaff AZ in May, short trip to Decorah IA (Seed Savers) in October. May add a short trip to Maquoketa caves in June.
    Pets can impede travel, but love them anyway. They go with us on most trips, but it does influence your options on destination and accommodations.

      • Anamosa has a motorcycle museum??
        Nearby there is the house in the background of the iconic Grant Wood painting, and of course, the penitentiary in Ananosa.

        Yes – we have caves! Those caves have bats! I am sure it’s no Mammoth Caves, but they are a lot closer.

        Also when you are near Decorah there is the little brown church in Nashua, and the Bily clocks in Spillville (the composer Anton Dvorak spent some time in Spillville).

        Looking forward to getting a chance to meet up as you pass through.

        • Yeah, Anamosa has a kick ass museum! Never been, but heard great things. Anything else you recommend that I see in the Northeast corner of the state?

          From all of my RAGBRAI experiences, I love Iowa, I could easily live in the state. I probably never will, but I can sure visit.

          Thanks for the other suggestions. And yeah, if you’d like to chat for a bit, shoot me an email. You’ll probably find me boring as hell in person, but hey, then you can diss me with authority! I’ll be passing through the weekend of 4/19.

          • In Decorah also check out Seed Savvers – not just seed (which you can buy – veggies, flowers, grasses) but also heirloom chickens, ducks, geese, and cattle, and an orchard of heirloom apple varieties. You can walk the property.

            No national parks in Iowa, but a national monument not too far away from Decorah: Effigy Mounds
            https://www.nps.gov/efmo/index.html

            I can now plan the chocolate chip cookie production! no guarantees that they will be fresh from the oven though!

  11. Since we live in our RV, travel is our lives. This year we are traveling from Puerto Penasco, Mexico to Calgary Alberta, Canada. In between we will visit Mesa, AZ, the Grand Canyon, AZ, Antelope Canyon, AZ, Provo, UT, Salt Lake City, UT, Casper, WY, Rapid City, SD, Lame Deer, MT, Shelby, MT and finally, Calgary, AB. On the way back to the states we will be visiting Banff and Jasper National Parks in Alberta, then Vancouver, BC and Victoria, BC. We will then travel down the Washington, Oregon, and California coast where we will stop and park the rig while we take a month off to visit Chile by way of a 17 day re-positioning cruise. And that takes us to next December. Ahhhh the FI full timer RV live is the best! 8^)

    • The drive between Banff and Nadler national parks is one of the prettiest in the world in my opinion:-). Make sure you get out and do some of the hikes to lakes and such along the way. Some of the more beautiful sites are off the road.

  12. My wife and I love to travel too. Here are our travel plans for the year:

    In May, she is going to Peru for work.

    In June we are going to Antigua for vacation.

    Also in June I am going to Bellevue WA for work.

    August we are driving up to Austin to see Zac Brown Band (its a bday present for her but it falls on my bday ironically) – also Austin is like an hour away so we go up there a few times a year (we live in SA).

    I really, REALLY want to go to ATL Aug 13th and 14th for a music festival called Wrecking Ball. It has a bunch of great bands, some of which that have reunited just for this show. Unfortunately it is the day after the Zac Brown Band show in Austin so logistically I don’t know how that would work.

    There is also talk of taking a European Cruise with her family for Xmas, but I don’t think that is gonna happen.

    So many places to go, but such limited vacation time and budget. Aarghhhh!!!!
    Mattattack recently posted…A late review of 2015: SpendingMy Profile

    • “So many places to go, but such limited vacation time and budget.”

      I know, right!? With any luck, soon time will be your only limiting factor.

      Austin is pretty great. If I were you, I’d be there all the time.

      Do you ever go out to the ocean like Corpus Christi? I’ve never been there, but always wanted to check it out.

      • Yeah the 3rd coast isn’t all that compared to the east and west coast. I lived in Corpus for 2 years when I was a kid. I was in walking distance of the Selena Memorial which is pretty cool. Its not an elaborate display or anything but for us South Texans Selena is a big deal.

        The beaches aren’t the best in Corpus, so I prefer Port Aransas. It is about the same distance from San Antonio (about a 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive). The best beach by far is at the very tip of Texas in South Padre Island, but that is about a 6 hour drive from San Antonio.
        Mattattack recently posted…A late review of 2015: SpendingMy Profile

        • Thanks for the advice! We may be down there this summer. If so, I may hit you up for more information…

  14. Sounds like a great year 1500s. We are on our extended road trip right now…..basically 1 week at the beach in February and then 9 or 10 weeks traveling around the country. I also have crazy wanderlust, but we’re learning Mrs IS does not want to travel in perpetuity. Later this year we’ll have another trip to Colorado in August and to see family at Christmas.

    Glad we can meet up with you guys in Omaha! Safe travels!
    -Bryan
    Income Surfer recently posted…Our Stay in ColoradoMy Profile

  15. *to firestarter’s comment last week – my mind is still blown that people buy holiday stuff knowing they’ll toss it out in a week or two. I think a lot about garbage and recycling.

    I also swore I wouldn’t have a desk job, which is why I stayed away from computer programming. I still ended up in computer programming sort of, but I’m technically some amalgamation of Computer Programmer/Controls Engineer/Electrical Engineer.
    I get to play with robots in a little bit :).

    I don’t have any travel plans currently, something about traveling alone doesn’t appeal to me. I’ll try to get something planned with friends though. Something cool would be visiting family in Japan or going with my friend to China when he visits family.
    Kyle recently posted…Deep in Thought: How We Relate to PeopleMy Profile

    • “*to firestarter’s comment last week – my mind is still blown that people buy holiday stuff knowing they’ll toss it out in a week or two. I think a lot about garbage and recycling.”

      I know, right? This behavior is disgusting.

      Your job sounds pretty awesome!

      Wisconsin has so many great things to see, you don’t need to fly anywhere.

  16. That’s a full slate of travel: good mix, too. We often neglect domestic trips and use all our PTO for international. On that theme…

    -We leave for Africa in May (stopover in Istanbul, then Egypt, South Africa, Morocco, and one night in Lisbon).

    -And then Asia for Christmas (Japan, China, Thailand, and Cambodia)

    We are going to try to squeeze in a trip to visit family in San Diego, too. But, in full Frank the Tank voice, I don’t know if we’ll have time.
    Done by Forty recently posted…I Miss My Tax RefundMy Profile

    • Ha ha, if you like blogging, hit up SD at the time FinCon is going on. Loads of fun.

      Awesome plans too. I can hardly wait to be able to travel like that.

  17. I used to love to travel anywhere, for anything, at any time, but I’ve lost the wanderlust. I may feel differently some other time, but for now, I’m very attracted to the idea of just being home and making home what I want. This is possibly due to the fact that I moved 7 times in the two years prior to taking my current job. My partner has been making noises about Hawaii, and I miss some family out of state, but travel just feels awfully like work right now.

    Speaking of which, my work schedule includes 5 inspection trips, but mainly I’ll be on a construction project for the summer. I should send you some photos: most of my inspections take place in unbelievably beautiful locations.

    It is endlessly interesting to me how very different post-FI plans can be: people are so varied. I have just finished up a 7 month, OT-heavy project during which I’d take a day off every 2nd or 3rd week, and yesterday I was sitting in a comfy chair, reading and thinking “This is all I want: a good book, great light to read it by, and the knowledge that I don’t have to be anywhere else.”

    • Send the photos!

      Being happy at home is pretty cool. Sometimes I wonder if I like to travel so much because I don’t enjoy being at home as much as I should? Maybe there is something wrong with the way I’m living my daily life?

      This is pretty awesome:
      I was sitting in a comfy chair, reading and thinking “This is all I want: a good book, great light to read it by, and the knowledge that I don’t have to be anywhere else.”

      • Maybe the endless-seeming renovation is getting to you.

        Alternately, you may just crave new experiences and enjoy the stimulation that travel can bring. Or it could be a combination.

        However, you have an expert available to help with this: Mrs. 1500 probably has a pretty good idea.

        • “Maybe the endless-seeming renovation is getting to you.”

          Yeah, this is a thought I’ve had. I notice that sometimes when I’m visiting friends in their home that completely finished, I find myself gazing wistfully at their non-chaotic life.

          In any case, I’ll be done soon. Three months and counting if my estimates hold.

          Also, I have no right to complain about anything. Life is good.

          • Nothing wrong with having a bout of introspection – it’s not complaining to notice that something doesn’t seem right! Or, if it is, then I am in BIG trouble, lol 🙂

            I’ll send you some pictures that you and the family can look at. I promise: if you guys like the middle of nowhere, these’ll bring smiles to your faces.

  19. This year’s line up is……..
    Omaha to see your smiling face
    Seattle for Camp Mustache over Memorial Day
    a trip to Chicago to see friends and go to a Cubs/Cards game
    San Diego for FinCon
    and the coup de grace is a week-ish trip to London to see a Harry Potter play.

    Being young and single is fun sometimes!
    Gwen recently posted…A Year Without CableMy Profile

    • I may or may not be smiling. Perhaps on Friday after a beer or two. I will definitely NOT be smiling after that 5K.

      That’s awesome that you’re going to FinCon. I hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

  20. Europe sounds like a lot of fun, where are you going? 🙂

    Right now here are what we’re planning:

    Interior BC in the summer
    Denmark for Christmas to visit Mrs. T’s family.
    We’re also debating going to Croatia or somewhere hot in Europe before heading to Denmark.

    I’m still debating San Diego for FinCon.

    I’ve been lucky that I haven’t had any work trip so far this year yet (extremely unusual). But looks like I’ll have a few trips coming up going to Asia and San Fransisco later this year.
    Tawcan recently posted…Random Thoughts of a Sleep Deprived DadMy Profile

    • We’ll be in the UK.

      Whoah, you have some awesome plans. Plus, you live in paradise, so great stuff is right in your backyard.

      FinCon is fun. Go and then spend some time at the beach after. That is what we’re doing.

  21. Imagine when you finally hit your goal and you have nothing to do with your time but travel.

    I can’t wait to get to the point that I have so much money that I can just spend it not just being ‘retired’ but to spend that money traveling.

    • “Imagine when you finally hit your goal and you have nothing to do with your time but travel.”

      I know, right? Summer of 2017 will be our breakout time. US roads, here we come.

  23. I love traveling. This year marks the first year in a long time that I’m not traveling. I travel at least once a month for work to either LA or NYC. This year my wife and i are trying s staycation. I’m taking a week off work and sleeping in at home. I have a 2-day get stuff done list, then we are just going to enjoy dinners at home and catching-up on our Netflix shows.
    Investment Hunting recently posted…Fiverr – Easy, Inexpensive, and FastMy Profile

  24. We are considering Germany, still need to make Berlin one of these days. But with an upcoming move, we might need the time to sort our moving and related works. With no fixed plans at the moment, we did do a dive into our archive of photos over the weekend. Even posted some over the weekend, how about that for timing!
    Team CF recently posted…Where Have You Travelled?My Profile

    • I just looked through your pictures and those are pretty great. Stay away from snakes!

      That one picture with the radar dishes. Is that at the top of Mauna Kea?

      • Yes, that was on top of Mauna Kea, fantastic view from up there. Fortunately we came prepared and had some warm/windbreaker clothing with us!

        Snake was pretty cool as well thou, came from underneath one of our workshop containers on site.
        Team CF recently posted…Where Have You Travelled?My Profile

          • Yes, we drove up to the information center first. Mrs. CF was pregnant at the time so could not go any higher (risk of low blood oxygen level for the developing future Miss CF). I drove up to the top with our rental car (which was great fun on that steep gravel road), made tons of photos (which made the panorama show in the blog post), walked around a bit and went back to pick up Mrs. CF. Can highly recommend going up there, amazing views
            Team CF recently posted…Where Have You Travelled?My Profile

  25. April – a long weekend in Front Range, Colorado. May – a few days in Sedona, AZ. July – through-hike Oregon section of Pacific Crest Trail. August – backpacking in new Mexico. September – flying to Russia (home visit). October – North Carolina. December – Oklahoma (in-laws). Yeah, traveling is my thing:)

    • Whoah, the Pacific Crest Trail! That sounds amazing.

      If you make it up to Boulder County, look us up.

      • Exactly where we are going to be! We are relocating to Loveland or Longmont in 3 years, visiting yearly in different seasons. My favorite place is a yarn store in Longmont. My girlfriend owns Paleo restaurant in Boulder.

        • Super cool! Loveland and Longmont are both great places. Loveland is a lot cheaper, but coming up quickly. We love it here and would love to show you around if you need the tour. Anyway, let me know when you make it to town!

  26. Wow! I’m jealous of all your travel plans.
    Due to a very bad return trip home after our last vacation we are avoiding any air travel for awhile. Instead we have plans to camp and road trip around our beautiful state (MN) this summer. I love camping and checking out new state parks, so I’m really excited for it!
    Linda recently posted…My Personal Finance ReviewMy Profile

    • Linda, I’m a little jealous of your plans! Camping around Minnesota sounds pretty great!

  27. We’re headed to Spain later this year! I’m also tempted to go to SimpleREV in September in Minneapolis. Hopefully the tickets don’t run out before I decide.

    • Whoah, SimpleREV looks pretty neat. It’s awesome to see people waking up to real life.

      FinCon is on the West Coast if that part of the world gets your goose moving…

    • Nice, Kentucky has some spectacular scenery! And it’s always good to have a FI test run!

  29. My friend will be living in Gunnison during the summer, so I think I’m going to visit her for a few days. Other than that, outside of potentially moving my sister to Illinois for vet school, I think it’ll mostly be day trips. Yesterday I went to the Wings Over the Rockies museum in Lowry that is currently hosting some Star Wars stuff. It was pretty and a good way to spend a couple hours. My friend is a flight attendant and gets really cheap flights for friends, so maybe after I’ve finished my probationary period at my new job I’ll go somewhere with her.