My last day of work was 4/13. I’ve been done now for six months. That went by fast.
I have a lot to say about it, but I’ll save my words for next week. Today is picture time!
I LOVE pictures. Now that phone cameras are so great, I find myself whipping it out (My phone! Get your mind out of the gutter.) constantly. In this post, I’ll show you what I’ve been doing with my freedom.
Six Months of Financial Independence in Pictures
In April, I jumped on a plane to visit the (really) Wealthy Accountant and Jim Collins in Wisconsin:
In May, Mrs. 1500 and I went to visit the Penny Planters and Income Surfer in Florida where we watched the Berkshire Hathaway conference (and sunsets):
I bought a silly car. This is a temporary experiment to see if owning the object of my teen dreams will bring me happiness:
At the end of May, we embarked on a road trip that took us through Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin.
One of the highlights of the trip was visiting with the Physician on FIRE and his incredible brewing operation:
In June, I took the girls up to Rocky Mountain National Park.
At the end of July, we hit the road again. This time, our travels took us to Maine:
And Vermont:
And New York City:
And Scotland:
In September, I attended PopUp Business School and Denver Startup Week:
Older daughter won a trophy for best design for her pinewood derby hippo car:
Next week, we head off to FinCon (you should come too!). The dinosaurs are all packed:
As much as I liked all of the travel and activity, next year we’re going to calm it down. Nothing wrong with staying around town.
Work Hard, Play Hard
OK, so I promised pictures, but you didn’t think you’d be able to get through this post without some textual nonsense, did you?
I’m finally beginning to find my groove in financial independence. I felt a little lost after I left my job, but now, I’ve found balance. And my idea of balance has absolutely nothing to do with sitting still. I’m playing and working harder than I ever have in my life:
- Exercise: I walked 10 miles last Monday. I ran 6 miles last Wednesday. On Sunday, ran a 5K in 28 minutes (my first in under 30 minutes). I try to walk at least 20,000 steps every day.
- Learning and beering: In September, I spent 3 weeks hanging out with friends at PopUp and Startup Week. We learned a ton, but there was no shortage of beer either.
- More exercise: I weighed in at 156 this week (I was 173 in August). I haven’t been this light since college. It feels ****ING wonderful.
- Work: I’m working harder than ever on a new business. I’m so thrilled to be writing code (Ruby on Rails) again. More on that soon.
I’m loving this new balance. I work hard for short spurts. Then I’m vacation for 3 weeks. On some days, I wake up and hike Longs Peak. Last night, I found myself writing Rails code at 11pm.
Life isn’t boring and that’s just how I like it.
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Retirement looks awesome and busy. You are definitely making the most of it and seems like you’re not watching too much daytime TV like Ellen in the afternoons 🙂 Keep up the awesome work and can’t wait to see where your next adventure takes you!!!
Mustard Seed Money recently posted…Fraud Alert vs. Credit Freeze: Which Is Best?
Thanks, Mr. 1500. After the week I’ve had, I really needed to see this post.
Absolutely LOVE the pinewood derby hippo car! Congrats to little miss on that GEM! Hopefully faster than the hippo might imply?
Next time you’re in Minnesota we’d be happy to have you. PoF took you to Betty Danger’s and Psycho Suzi’s, which is fun, but you might want to try a speakeasy tour for something new next time? We’ll bring that beer monger along too…
Yeah, the car was all her idea and besides some work with the table-saw, she did the whole thing herself. Not aerodynamic though; she finished in the middle of the herd.
Dude, watch out what you offer because I’ll totally take you up on it. I LOVE the Twin Cities, especially in summer.
Count me in on this one, too. Marvel Bar?!
Dave @ Married with Money recently posted…6 Things I’ve Learned From Blogging For 6 Months
For sure, Dave! I’m thinking the little spot behind Young Joni, Volstead’s Emporium, and then Marvel? If it’s summertime, we’ll hit up Tattersall’s patio.
Carl – The basement is finished with room for two grown ups and two little ones. I think it’d be a blast. And I’d even take a day or two off of work (three if you dragged Pete along.)
Ha ha, stay tuned. I WILL take you up on it. Oh yes.
I’m tired just from looking at all those pictures! You guys really got around. And 10 miles in one day/one walk? Curious was that just wandering around or an epic hike in those there mountains you’re so fortunate to have in your backyard? 😉
About 8 miles of that walking was back and forth to school. I wish it was the mountains!
Wow that’s a lot of travel in only 6 months. So jealous ?. But before you slow down, make sure you visit Canada/Toronto.
Hey, between writing code and writing a blog post, what do you prefer the most and why?
99to1percent recently posted…How we increased our annual income from $0 to $160K+ to $400,000+ https://99to1percent.com/increased-annual-income-0-400k/
Toronto! Never been, but it’s on the list!
Writing code and writing blog posts aren’t comparable. I love the satisfaction I get from building software. I love the challenge of writing human words.
Looks like an awesome year! I enjoy seeing the FI lives of others… keeps me motivated along the way 🙂
Mrs. Adventure Rich recently posted…#FinCon17 – Here I Come!
Nice pinewood derby car! Loved building those with my son back in the day. We build a truck style one year that didn’t look good but was what he wanted and we won it all. 🙂 A proud father/son moment for sure.
Looks like a busy first six month, but it sure looks pretty, 🙂
Brian recently posted…Interview Series: Sunburnt Saver
Niiiice! I am so excited reading about these things. Today I took a random day off and tried to picture myself living like this daily. Yes, that is what I want to get to (and makes what I am doing now even more enjoyable knowing it comes to an end at some point sooner than the typical 20+ years).
Great work on the walking, hiking and running! It really makes a giant difference on well being.
Keep sharing the good life with us behind you!
Man, that is some traveling! Congrats on breaking 30 minutes on the 5k! Shaving time off of running is hard to do.
We’re going to test drive our FI budget next year to see if we come across anything unexpectedor if it causes undue stress or things like that. We’re getting closer than ever to pulling the cord and exiting our current life. Exciting stuff!
I’ll be building a Pinewood derby car with my 6 yr old this year, which sounds like a lot of fun. Don’t worry, we won’t steal the hippo idea. 🙂
Mr. SSC recently posted…Preparation Helps but Expect the Unexpected
Wow, you’ve been crazy busy!
I can’t wait to find out what you’re building with Rails. I’ve fiddled with Rails before but never built anything for production with it. What other languages have you programmed in?
Mr. Freaky Frugal recently posted…Retirement Savings Emergency!
So, I started off in COBOL. I then moved on to Java and C#/.NET. Rails is so much fun. Very, very different, but I’m having a great time.
I started with C and C++. Then I did mostly C#/..NET with limited Java. Python and Ruby were just fun hobbies.
Mr. Freaky Frugal recently posted…Retirement Savings Emergency!
That is quite a hobby Mr. FF!
Great pictures! Congrats on 6 months. You are doing so much. That’s really great. It’s much better to be busy than bored. Enjoy!
Joe recently posted…Why Retiring at 65 is a Terrible Idea
You’ve really been keeping busy, almost more busy now then during work! The one thing I’ve missed in your writing, how is your family adapting to your new life state?
The idea of balance really resonates. I appreciate that you’ve showed (literally) how you’re staying busy and keeping it varied — it’s most inspirational.
My 5K time at a local race last Saturday rang in at 29:35. Thanks for giving me a goal. 😉
Great pictures and update. I am just finishing up the couch to 5k program and just hope to get in under 35 minutes. Good luck on the 5k and looking forward to hearing your words next week.
Jason recently posted…A Strategy for Debt Fatigue
This is how I imagine my life will be once I FIRE – travel a lot, on my time, but also work on what I’m interested in, not my boss. Congrats on 6 months!
I like JLCollins; his lakefront paradise is about an hour or so north of me, and that sunrise picture..I don’t know if I could ever move away from a big body of water, I love watching it come up over the lake, especially if the clouds are really pretty. Gorgeous; we are so lucky! I recognized our state capital, yay you got to see Madison and its quirkiness! That beer list looks delicious.. and yeah, I hope that hair was easier to comb than the picture suggests! (My own hair is about 2 feet long at this point so when I saw that pic of your daughters in that wind, I cringed…!) And Maine! I’ve got to explore the east coast! Recognized the FrugalHound furry lovableness, and NYC. Scotland too?! And I wish wish wish I could have made it to FinCon this year (not being a blogger, can I still even attend?). Next year, by fall, I will be out of my debts (except for a mortgage) and would love to save up for a financial event or two, maybe FinCon being one of them since it’s “local” (within the States; I’d love to get to a Chautauqua, too, have been dreaming since that one started..). (I just paid off the last of my student loans this morning, and then started checking my favorite FI blogs, and so I am really sorry for my over-abundance of excitement, exclamation points and writing you a novel out of nowhere!)
I’m happy for you that you are doing well these past 6 months and have been finding your groove. Here’s to another great 6 months! Woohoo!!
I LOVED living in Wisconsin. Madison is my favorite city in the world, but Jim Collins’ neck of the woods isn’t so shabby either….
Where the heck are you walking that you walk 20,000 steps? I didn’t even walk that much when I lived in Manhattan!
Congrats on 6 months in! Retired on my birthday, didn’t realize that. 🙂 I should road-trip back to WI (where I grew up) and meet up with some folks there, at some point.
Looks like you’ve been having a great time!
Dave @ Married with Money recently posted…6 Things I’ve Learned From Blogging For 6 Months
Cool pine car! Would have been neat if the hippo had marbles in it’s mouth lol. Next Colorado trip I’d like to plan a hiking trip if you’re interested in joining :). I’m also 156 lbs as of this morning, I was near there before the Colorado trip, took me a bit to get fully back down.
Dude, I’d totally do a hiking trip. I’d even volunteer to carry the beer!
I’m finding the same work schedule works right in my new part-time consultant/part-time retired life. A spurt of work for 4-6 days, often with 10-hour days, and then time to recover and relax at home.
Like you, getting the balance right has been hard. Family tragedies requiring lots of time away, badly-timed business travel, and learning to say no to clients who want me on the other side of the world as much as possible all pose challenges. (Having my former employer ask me to come back as a contract employee sent me on an emotional roller-coaster of indecision – I settled on saying no.) A look at my quickly accumulating pile of IHG points tells a tale. But so far, it’s FAR better than full-time work.
Now, if only I could manage to get into better shape/drop some fat too…
This, is everything: “But so far, it’s FAR better than full-time work.”
Great pictures! I love the modern phone cameras too. They’re so convenient.
Good job on the 5k time and the weight. I want to downsize both of those too. And I look forward to hearing about your post-Popup School business venture.
Carol @ DownsizeYour2080 recently posted…Four Ways I’ve Balanced Career and Family Life by Working Part-Time
Nice to see the pictures of the 1500 family and the excursions. I also ran a 5k for the 1st time recently, it was surprisingly fun, as long as they are free as this one was, I’m in. Cheers good sir!
Steven recently posted…I Want Travel and Adventure with the Stay at Home Option Available
Steven! I was scared that I’d never hear from you again! Good to see you! Let’s find a 5k, preferably in Florida and race! And then have a beer or two or three after…
Mr. 1500 Days recently posted…Six Months of Financial Independence in Pictures
Kind of has the feel of an AA meeting, “It’s been 6 months since I’ve abstained from work…” Very inspiring to see you so happy. Between the losing weight and the communal beers, I think you’re getting all Benjamin Button on the aging trend. Any interest in patenting that secret together? I’m thinking we name it the Freshman Beer Diet, put out a book and retire…oh wait, you already did. I can endorse like Dr. Oz to grant you some instant health provider street cred.
Congrats!
CD
Looks like you’ve had a good year. Th accountant guy scares me a littlee.
Love your approach to FI. I am also an IT guy and I may use those skills as a free lancer after quitting my job. It should work well during the first years, until the technology I master becomes obsolete. No, i am not going to spend money or time on recycling those skills or learning the next trend… been doing that for 25 years. i ‘d rather learn woodworking, music or something. Cheers.
Yeah! I love programming too, but maybe similar to you, Rails will be my final adventure into programming. This adventure could last 10 years, but I’ll probably move on after that.
Love the photos Carl! Looks like you’ve had a ton of fun!
Can’t wait to hear about your new business too!
Mr. Tako recently posted…Japan Trip Report – Part 3 Eating Affordably In Japan
I have my 6 year anniversary of leaving full-time work next week!. Although I have now hit pension age, it doesn’t feel like it. I love every single day.
I can really recommend slow travel. The best thing we have done over the last couple of years is spend 4-6 weeks in a different European city. You really get to know the city and have time to find less busy things to do. We are just back after 5 weeks in Madrid, where we averaged 14,000 steps each day, peaking at 23,500 one day! We also use it as an opportunity to see family and friends in a different location. They come and stay with us in the city rather than coming to see us in Edinburgh. (I recognised your pictures of the Festival, I have some very similar from this year! We also met up with some fellow bloggers who were visiting).
Off to investigate Rails. (Ex-IT coder here…) I have a website that I want to do the coding for myself. My winter challenge!
Erith recently posted…Goodbye Madrid – We’ll Miss You
Sounds like you’re living right! I love the slow travel too!
And Rails is soooo much fun. I’ve never had so much fun coding!
We need to have a meet up at the Denver Tesla showroom!!!!!! 😉
ESI Money recently posted…Help a Reader: Pension Options
Let’s do it when they get a Model 3 in!
This is only the first 6 months? Holy dinosaur, don’t even want to know what the rest of the year(s) will bring! 😉
Team CF recently posted…Real Estate Report – September 2017
I can’t believe that it has already been 6-months!
It seems like it was just yesterday that we were meeting up at FinCon in SD, yet 2017 FinCon is right around the corner. Wish I was going…
Looking forward to hearing more about this side business and all the programming you are doing.
Cheers,
Dom
Also congrats on the progress you have made so far on the fitness front!!!
Dominic @ Gen Y Finance Guy recently posted…Connecting The Dots Looking Backwards – Deconstructing My Career
Great to see your foot isn’t bothering you anymore! Careful, you’ll be doing marathons soon. Next year, you have to run the relay race(s) with me.
Yeah, all gone now! And yep, some big athletic event like a relay is a goal for 2018.
“Life isn’t boring and that’s just how I like it.”
Boring is definitely not the word I would use! Looks like an awesome 6 months.
Owen @ PlanEasy recently posted…The 6 Benefits (And 7 Drawbacks) of RRSPs
Wow I am exhausted just looking at the pictures!:) I can’t believe how busy you have been. This is great of you to share. Sometimes I get worried it may be harder than I think not going to work anymore… but you just reminded how much there is to do. Hiking Machu Picchu will be my first FIRE trip!
Congrats. Definitely deserved
Something your readers might enjoy reading:
https://www.financialplanforcanadians.com/retirement-planning/rrsp-guide