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Seattle: Hot Cars, Cold Rain and Alien Flowers

November 17, 2017 by Mr. 1500 Days 22 Comments

One of the great joys of living a life of FIRE (Financial Independence/Retire Early) is not having to be anywhere. I don’t have to be at work at 8am. I don’t have meetings. I don’t have to be in front of my keyboard for 8 hours per day.

I appreciate my freedom more than most because I have a very hard time sitting still. At home, I have to get out of the house multiple times per day or else I start to go crazy. And I like to hit the road too.

This summer, I spent 41 days traveling including Maine, Vermont, New York City and Scotland. Last month took me to San Diego and Dallas. And last week, I was on the move again.

I had been to Seattle once and it was time to get back. A friend (D) recently moved there, so I had a place to stay. Off I went.

Cars no More

I flew in on Friday night. Since D was in the market for a car, we went to the Seattle auto show. I’ve been a lifelong car fanatic, but at the show, I noticed that my enthusiasm has started to fade. Seeing all of the pretty new cars didn’t move me like it had in years past.

However, it was still neat seeing the new Acura NSX. It looked great in person. Except for that front end. That front end is not great:

The grill area has too much going on. Acura should have abandoned its design language for the NSX. However, I wouldn’t turn one down if you wanted to buy it for me.

 

On Saturday, we took the ferry over to the Olympic Peninsula:

 

We headed for Olympic National Park where we hiked around for the next two days:

Ruby Beach

 

On Sunday night, I met up with the Millennial Boss at a local brewery. The greatest joy of blogging is that if you work at it long enough, you’ll establish a network of friends all over the world. It’s been a while since I’ve taken a vacation and not met up with another blogger or reader.

 

Walking Fool

My friend had to work on Monday, so I was on my own. Another one of the great joys of having almost infinite time is that you find yourself doing things you would never have done with a job. When you have to work, your time is just too valuable. Without a job, sometimes I just wander around aimlessly. That’s exactly what I did on this day, walking 7 miles before heading back to the airport to catch my flight.

 

Next?

I already have a full schedule for the next 12 months:

  • December: Las Vegas to visit relatives.

2018

  • January: Camp FI in Gainesville
  • March (spring break): undecided
  • May: Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha
  • June: Wisconsin (or the U.K.)
  • July: San Diego and Utah
  • August: Philadelphia and New York City
  • September: Orlando
  • October: Secret trip! More details soon.

And farther down the road, when the kids are out of the home, I see Mrs. 1500 and I traveling even more extensively. I think it would be fun to hike the Appalachian Trail, backup around Europe and take an RV around North America.

In the meantime, I hope our paths cross either here in my home state of Colorado or on the road somewhere. First round is on me.

After a hike.

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Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: Seattle, travel

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Comments

  1. Cubert says

    November 17, 2017 at 4:57 am

    Olympic National Park looks awesome. We love to hike too. So far our favorite is RMNP, but so many other amazing spaces out there.

    Make sure you free up a few days for the Twin Cities this summer. The North Stars would love to host you for an epic happy hour.

    Reply
    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      November 17, 2017 at 12:47 pm

      RMNP! I can see it out my office window! Next time you’re in the Rocky Mountain state, stop by. And yeah, Minnesota again summer of 2018!

      Reply
  2. Accidental Fire says

    November 17, 2017 at 5:31 am

    That first pic of Olympic National Park is gorgeous! It’s exactly how I remember it – cold, damp, overcast, foggy, and just blissful!
    Accidental Fire recently posted…My Spreadsheet Is Family And I Love HerMy Profile

    Reply
  3. Mrs. Adventure Rich says

    November 17, 2017 at 5:37 am

    The pictures from Olympic National Park are stunning! I’m glad you had a great time in Seattle! That is one of the cities I hope to visit someday. I think I would really enjoy the Pacific Northwest 🙂
    Mrs. Adventure Rich recently posted…Confessions of a FIRE Blogger: We Don’t have a FI Number or DateMy Profile

    Reply
  4. Danny the Pizza Guy says

    November 17, 2017 at 6:55 am

    Wow…Seattle and Olympic National Park looks great! Its been fun reading about your travels this year. Someday I’ll have to make my way out to the west coast. In any case, happy to see you and the family are coming back to the east coast next summer! I’ll get the pizza ready 🙂

    Reply
  5. Mrs PoP says

    November 17, 2017 at 6:59 am

    Looks beautiful, but I hope you guys were warm enough hiking around up there!
    Mrs PoP recently posted…PoP Balance Sheet – October 2017My Profile

    Reply
    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      November 17, 2017 at 12:46 pm

      Yep, a raincoat is the key. Or a garbage bag with a head-hole in it.

      Reply
  6. Tonya@Budget and the Beach says

    November 17, 2017 at 7:11 am

    This makes me miss living in Seattle! I wish I would have hiked MORE when I lived there for 8 years!
    Tonya@Budget and the Beach recently posted…October Rewind: Pumpkins Behaving BadlyMy Profile

    Reply
  7. Brian says

    November 17, 2017 at 8:09 am

    In the mid-80s I did a week long backpacking trip in Olympic NP. I was 15 and lost 12lbs that week (115 down to 103) because my uncle didn’t realize how much a teenage boy eats. I also didn’t sleep much because of his stories about tribes of female sasquatches that liked to abduct teenage boys. Thank god I had my walkman and Smiths tapes to keep me sane. Looking back it was a great trip, kind of in the way tragedy + time = comedy.

    Reply
    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      November 17, 2017 at 12:36 pm

      15 pounds in a week! Yikes. At least the Sasquatch didn’t get you!

      Reply
  8. Mr. Tako says

    November 17, 2017 at 9:46 am

    Hey, cool! I’ve been to a bunch of those places!

    Glad you enjoyed your trip out here to the PNW Mr. 1500! Unfortunately this time of year the weather is pretty rotten! We get tons of wind and rain during the fall and winter. Spring is a little better, but summer is by far the best season to visit.

    Enjoy your travels!
    Mr. Tako recently posted…Quality Camera Gear On A Frugal BudgetMy Profile

    Reply
  9. Joe says

    November 17, 2017 at 10:02 am

    Enjoy Seattle. It’s not raining today. Heh heh heh. I gotta go clean out the gutter and blow the leaves this Saturday. That’s not fun at all.
    Man, you guys are traveling a lot. Sounds like fun.

    Reply
  10. Mrs. BITA says

    November 17, 2017 at 11:19 am

    I hope you plan on the Bay Area sometime soon. If you need a place to crash, mi casa es su casa, as long as you don’t object to large amounts of dog fur getting on everything.
    Mrs. BITA recently posted…If I Can Do It, So Can You: A Financial Full MontyMy Profile

    Reply
    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      November 17, 2017 at 12:35 pm

      Mrs. BITA! I will be in the Bay Area sooner than later and I’ll definitely take you up on your offer. Also, the same goes for you; next time you’re in Colorado, we’d love to have you stay with us.

      Reply
  11. The 76K Project says

    November 17, 2017 at 7:49 pm

    Consider backpacking in the Alps at some point. Truly breathtaking… and because you can hike from hut to hut, you get a hot meal and a cold beverage at the end of each day!

    Reply
  12. Eric Bowlin says

    November 18, 2017 at 5:20 am

    I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how my kids affect FIRE. Though we’re fairly mobile right now (all kids are <4 years) in a few years they'll start building real relationships. Then high school comes around and that starts to impact their adult life.

    I imagine you're in the middle of all that too with your kids. How do you balance all the traveling with the kids?
    Eric Bowlin recently posted…Karma’s a B*tch – How I Made a Fortune by Doing The Right ThingMy Profile

    Reply
  13. Financially Free, Pharm.D. says

    November 18, 2017 at 9:42 am

    Wow, Seattle looks beautiful! Will definitely have to add that to our list. Wife and I will be checking out New York City for the first time in April, we’re excited!

    Speaking of cars, anyone see the Tesla Roadster 2 unveil? Beautiful piece of machinery+technology, and only $200,000! ?

    Reply
  14. SpacemanFry says

    November 19, 2017 at 11:14 am

    Looks like a really fun trip! And quite the traveling schedule.

    Reply
  15. Team CF says

    November 20, 2017 at 5:07 am

    “Seeing all of the pretty new cars didn’t move me like it had in years past.” Ha, I’m not even FI and suffer the same “issue”! Always been going to car shows and really enjoying it, but it has fade over the last couple of years since we are looking to become FI. Glad to read I’m not the only one 🙂

    Reply
  16. Mike in NH says

    November 20, 2017 at 8:22 am

    I think going to the car show proves that your frugal Jedi training must be complete. You don’t need more, you have enough, even if you bought something somewhat unnecessary before, you purchased your NSX in a mindful way. So many things in our society (car shows are a perfect example) feed the idea that it’s never enough. Good on you for going into your own personal valley of the shadow of financial death and coming out the other side even stronger than you went in.

    If you are ever out to see the Frugalwoods or other northeasters and would like to hit the trails of NH let me know. We can do a mountaintop meetup.

    Reply
    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      November 20, 2017 at 8:30 am

      “If you are ever out to see the Frugalwoods or other northeasters and would like to hit the trails of NH let me know. We can do a mountaintop meetup.”

      This would be awesome! Let’s do it! Summer 2018!

      Reply
  17. Ms. Lily | TFG says

    November 20, 2017 at 4:16 pm

    You’ve officially been to more cool places than me (and I live in Seattle). Maybe after we FIRE we can take a tour in our own backyard.

    I’m so jealous you get to go Berkshire Hathaway’s party in May. Wowowowow ?

    Reply

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My goal was to build a portfolio of $1,000,000 by February of 2017; 1500 days from the birth of this blog (January 1, 2013). And hey look, I’ve since retired!

Investments only (primary home excluded)
1/1/13 (The Start): $586,043
1/1/14 (1 Yr Later): $869,635
1/1/15 (2 Yrs Later): $987,351
1/1/16 (3 Yrs Later): $1,057,961
1/1/17 (4 Yrs Later): $1,257,128
1/1/18 (5 Yrs Later): $1,527,701
1/1/19 (6 Yrs Later): $1,549,440
1/1/20 (7 Yrs Later): $2,035,040*
1/1/21 (8 Yrs Later): $3,379,746**
1/1/22 (9 Yrs Later): $4,762,642
1/1/23 (10 Yrs Later): $3,112,821

2023: Investments only
1/1: $3,112,821
2/1: $3,582,368
3/1: $3,716,852

Overall
2023 investment gains: $604,031
Investment gains since 1/1/2013: $3,130,809
Net worth***: $3,946,852

* The big jump between 2019 and 2020 was partly because we bought another home, but kept the previous (much more expensive) one as a rental. We have since sold it.

** Tesla.

*** Includes our primary home equity in addition to our investment portfolio.

Finally, we still have about $290,000 in mortgage debt (which I love!). No regrets about the debts!

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