It’s been a little over two months since I delivered the news to my colleague at work that I’ll be leaving my job at the end of the year and starting 2027 in a new phase of life, one that I have boiled down to the acronym FIRE. It’s a different FIRE than the one many people talk about these days because I am not categorizing what I’m doing as retirement. Because that work evokes an image of someone who is slowed down, worn out and planning to spend days in a lounge chair in front of the TV. Instead what FIRE means to me is Freedom, Independence, Relaxation and Exploration. As the song goes, I’ll be free to do what I want…any old time. I will have independence from an employer who in exchange for money and benefits gains access to my brain, time…and what remains of my sanity. (Kidding about sanity, but only a little.) I’ll have much more time for relaxation, such as taking long walks on the beach, enjoying the beach sunsets and sleeping in when I feel it’s necessary. Finally, I will have time for exploration in different ways but for me that mostly means travel, whether it’s as close as the beaches of Florida or as far as the mountains of Alaska or the islands of Asia. That’s really the exciting part of it for me.
It’s important to me that as I turn the page in my life I use the time to do things that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to do. And there are many things that are difficult, if not impossible, to do while serving a corporate master. Sure, you can travel. But only occasionally and only for limited periods of time. Planning travel while working is an excruciating process as you struggle to balance cost, convenience and your desires in the context of limited time. And even then you know (or at least I always knew) that work issues would loom and need to be attended to in one way or another even while on “vacation”. That won’t be an issue anymore and it’s quite exciting to me.
In recent weeks I’ve been making a list of trips I’d like to take using different modes of travel and the list is getting long. That’s in part due to the fact that the biggest constraint will no longer be time but my budget for travel every year, which I have initially set at about $15,000. But I can also look for deals on airfare, hotels, cruises and train travel in ways I couldn’t for the past few decades. Earlier this year I received an email about a great airfare sale to an interesting destination for later in 2026, but I knew it was unlikely that I could take advantage of that. But I could possible take advantage when that comes up in 2027 and beyond. While I don’t have the budget to travel all of the year taking three nice trips a year would satisfy me as I also plan to spend time enjoying Florida’s beaches, maintaining my condominium, exercising, watching movies and helping out with the needs of my elderly mom.
I won’t need to do everything on my bucket list all at once because I know that I can prioritize and will have the opportunity to do a few more trips the following year. For example, I’ve been wanting to visit Yellowstone National Park for years and one of the obstacles has been how hard it is to get to (there are no major airports anywhere near there) and how ridiculously expensive hotels in the vicinity can get. Without the time constraints of work I can take my time, and go during the “shoulder” season. I can fly to Salt Lake City, rent a car and drive to several national parks over the course of more than a week. Something that would be very difficult while I’m working.
I have, in recent weeks, told a few more people of my plans. I’ve been told that more people will be curious when my company soon posts a job for a position on my current team. At that point many more people will know. I’ve been asked about making an announcement to satisfy people’s curiosity but that’s not feeling right to me. First off, I don’t think I’m all that important that an announcement is required. Second, there are still a couple of months of work ahead of me so I don’t think it’s time for goodbye just yet. The few reactions from co-workers and friends have ranged from surprise, to bewilderment, to congratulatory. Surprise being like, “You’re too young for that.” Bewilderment being like, “But what will you do?” Congratulatory speaks for itself. I’m also finding out from those people that I haven’t been the only one I work with thinking about making this type of change. I’ve been sleeping a little better lately, with fewer nights requiring medication to get a good night’s sleep. I’m not sure if that’s related to having made the announcement and feeling different or just a coincidence.
The interesting thing is that as I consider travel plans for the start of the new year it’s such an unusual feeling to be considering such plans with a virtually blank slate as opposed to the time constraints that I’m used to. If I want to fly mid-week to take advantage of a better airfare, I can do that. If I want to depart the night before a long connecting flight and stay in a hotel overnight close to (or at) the connecting airport, I can do that. If I want to fly to an intermediate destination (such as Honolulu, Hawaii) and stay for a couple of days while on the way to Asia I can do that. Within my financial constraints of course. Still, it’s a very liberating feeling to have all of these options. It’s gratifying to know that the many years I’ve worked hard and faithfully for my employers and clients will soon start to pay off. I don’t expect that the future will be perfect, but it will be different…and with many new possibilities. That’s something that I’ve wanted for a long time now, and it’s nice to finally know that my time is coming very soon.
