Wandering Money Pig - A journey of early retirement and FIRE (financial independence retire early)

  The last time we had visited the famous “ Grand Strand ” area, encompassing roughly 60 mile stretch of beaches along the Atlantic Ocean in South Carolina ranging from the town of Little River down to Georgetown , it was with our Pomeranian Toby.  We stayed at a golf course community in the town of Murrells Inlet , several miles south of Myrtle Beach, for a duration of 3 months. After a veterinary examination that revealed a serious kidney condition in early December, we realistically knew we only had maybe several months left with our fur baby.  It was some of the toughest times we had ever experienced, knowing our time together would come to an end, very soon. Knowing this, we strived to make the best of the situation, and decided to make as many good memories together as we could.  We went everywhere: local parks, state parks, community parks, scenic spots, city of Charleston , Myrtle Beach boardwalk, and many others. We knew Toby was having a hard time keeping ...

  Helen Keller:  “What we have once enjoyed we can never lose.  All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” If there’s one thing I’ve learned about life is this:  nothing is permanent.  When we were young, with having nothing to do during the idle summer recess, it seemed like time itself is frozen, with every second and minute ticking by at a glacial pace. In those seemingly innocent summer days, we feel almost invincible.  It’s as though we are stuck, in our youth, and that nothing can hurt us or anyone near us. This perception continues, until it doesn’t.  With the first news of a relative’s (close and not so close ones) death, followed by a celebrity’s death or two, we slowly begin to realize how nothing is ever permanent. One minute we’re enjoying our simple, innocent lives, having not much to worry about at all, then we run into this thing called life.  Life can be this dual thing.  At times utterly beautiful and amazing, while at ot...