← Explore posts shelves

Posts

Explore turning points, everyday joys and unexpected challenges after financial independence or retirement, with the date and original source for each account.

Age
Wealth
Years
Posts
81–90 of 94 posts

The open road gave way to a quiet home—and firmer boundaries.

May 2018

Life at the time

  • Lived in a small trailer, arranging access to gyms, connections and practical amenities.
  • Maintained separate spaces and activities as a couple. “We maintain our own separate spaces even in 200 sqft”

How it felt

  • Valued autonomy alongside time together.
  • Presented the arrangement as what worked for them, rather than a universal formula. “I only know what works for us.”

Comfort came easily. Companionship took longer.

Nov 2017 · Year 5

Life at the time

  • Used classes and exercise to bring structure to open time.
  • Found work contacts fading while friends remained occupied with jobs and children.

How it felt

  • Could find the absence of structure disorienting. “the lack of structure that FI facilitates can be disorienting”
  • Was still balancing autonomy, activity and the wish for company. “Finding the balance between the two impulses”

A travel fund makes room to enjoy retirement

Oct 2017 · Year 2Interview snapshot · published 2017

Life at the time

  • Two years after retirement, the couple took frequent trips and spent substantial time at their mountain cabin.

How it felt

  • Keeping a separate travel fund helped him enjoy spending on experiences. “fun to figure out how to spend it.”

It took a year to believe the vacation would not end.

May 2017Recalled in 2023

Life at the time

  • The final departure followed another seventeen months of work.
  • His wife adjusted more quickly, drawing on an earlier career break.

How it felt

  • Freedom was exciting but initially felt temporary. “super exhilarating”
  • Unwinding took him a year or more. “didn’t seem real”

Travel freedom grows into a local life with purpose

Sep 2016 · Year 1

Life at the time

  • They toured by motorhome, reaching Croatia and northern Norway.
  • Rentals, investments and small publishing income supported the journeys.

How it felt

  • Jay missed some colleagues and banter, but did not miss the job. “no, I haven’t missed work”
  • Money worries were easing; simple living felt deeply satisfying. “This is my dream life”

Travel opened the world. Deciding where home belonged proved harder.

2016Recalled in 2021

Life at the time

  • A long holiday marked the opening stretch.
  • Lists, routines and meeting people helped after the holiday feeling faded.

How it felt

  • Work worries stopped following him home. “disappearance of stress”
  • He discovered he and Sally had assumed different retirement plans. “got our wires crossed”

Road trips became a way to keep people close

May 2015

Life at the time

  • Returned from three weeks driving through fourteen states with her husband.
  • Kept a travel journal and stopped for photographs along the way.

How it felt

  • Valued her husband as both best friend and travelling companion. “best friend, and traveling buddy”
  • Enjoyed how road travel deepened her understanding of people and places. “build a greater understanding”

A knee injury slowed the launch; travel and new interests followed

2015Recalled in 2019

Life at the time

  • Knee surgery interrupted travel during the second month.
  • Reading and exercise replaced immediate volunteering.

How it felt

  • The injury exposed the importance of mobility. “big eye opener”
  • Leaving the workforce itself caused little emotional difficulty. “relaxing”

A home fit for a while. Traveling light fit better later.

2014 · Year 30

Life at the time

  • They had sold the Argentina house in 2012 and continued traveling.
  • Travel interests had shifted toward Europe while retaining visits to Thailand.

How it felt

  • Managing a house had felt more burdensome than worthwhile. “more trouble than it was worth”
  • They were more concerned about remaining time than running out of money. “We're running out of time”

They retired to travel the world. Then family life rewrote the plan.

Dec 2013 · Year 1

Life at the time

  • Traveled through Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and the Pacific Northwest.
  • Combined travel with language lessons, cooking, new skills and friendships.

How it felt

  • Described the first full retirement year as a success. “our first year of early retirement was a great success”
  • Found satisfaction in ordinary experiences as well as the larger adventures. “found happiness and contentment through everyday experiences”

Privacy & analytics

AfterFire uses Google Analytics only if you accept. It helps us understand visits, referral sources, pages and chapters people open, filter use, and clicks to original sources.

After acceptance, Google receives page titles and addresses without query strings, content and chapter IDs, filter names (not selected values or search terms), campaign source/medium/name tags from shared links, original-source domains, referring sites, approximate location and browser/device information. Analytics cookies distinguish browsers and visits. Campaign labels are stored in this tab only after acceptance and expire after 30 minutes without activity. We do not enable advertising personalization or Google Signals, or send your name, email address or account identifier to Analytics.

Declining sends no Analytics data to Google. Accepting starts with the page currently open; we do not replay earlier browsing. Withdrawing consent stops tracking, clears this site's Analytics cookies and reloads the page. It does not delete measurements already received by Google.

We remember your choice on this browser for up to six months. Detailed Analytics data is retained for up to 14 months; aggregated reports can remain longer. Site hosting still processes requests needed to serve these pages.

Read Google's privacy policy and how Google uses information from sites.