People

A one-year break grew into three years of travel, a home renovation and intermittent consulting. This Spain-based engineer discovered that choosing when to work mattered more than permanently abandoning work, while a smaller home changed what enough meant.

u/Hnry_Dvd_Thr_Awy turned a layoff into a trial retirement. The days were easy to fill; finding company while friends worked was harder. After a year, a relationship and the chance to rebuild earnings drew him back to employment. The difference was knowing the exit was real—and available again.

Alex left Meta after reaching his FI/RE target, but open-ended leisure felt aimless. Children changed both his days and his financial needs. Developing his own app offered an alternative to corporate work, with new creative satisfaction and continuing uncertainty.

A father of four walked away from engineering to reclaim family life. Three years later, with more wealth but higher spending and an appetite for professional challenge, he accepted a job again. His account resists an easy verdict: he values the years away, yet no longer wants exactly the life he left work to build.

A layoff interrupted u/finGuyHere’s plan to work toward $3 million. Months of travel and an unsuccessful job search gradually became an early-retirement life. By the later update, reported wealth had far exceeded the old goal, but solo travel, guilt and the absence of a clear purpose remained unresolved.

u/Visible_Structure483 tried keeping a little paid work in retirement. The tasks had their appeal; surrendering the calendar did not. Across the third- and fourth-year updates, the author let those jobs go, widened a circle of friends and found that autonomy mattered more than another interesting shift.

Moving from New York to Spain made stopping work possible for this family. After six months, consulting returned: the author enjoyed the work and felt freer to spend, while acknowledging that higher spending now reinforced the choice to keep earning.

After leaving a federal job, this financially independent university teacher expected creative pursuits to take center stage. Six months later he had accepted a state role, surprised by how much he missed the impact and relevance of his former work.

Leaving full-time IT security work created room for children, fitness and home projects. After decompressing, this retiree discovered that solving problems still mattered, and began choosing small engagements instead of resuming a permanent full-time role.

Thriftygal’s travel-focused retirement began to feel isolating even though the finances worked. Years later, a brief election job reminded her why she valued control of her time: employment crowded out the other parts of life she wanted to keep.