Our 6 year anniversary of our early retirement: A journey of FIRE (financial independence retire early)…
August 2026 marks my wife and myself’s 6 year anniversary of our early retirement. Has it already been 6 years? Wow…
It seems like yesterday. I handed in my resignation in July 2020, worked another 5 weeks, then said goodbye to my boss and the company I had worked for since 2007, on August 17, 2020. We then had couple of weeks to sell/donate/get rid of most of our belongings, empty our home, then leave the place we called home for the previous 14 years.
My wife deserves most of the credit for working frivolously, getting our townhome ready for sale, getting rid of our stuff, putting down new floors in the kitchen, and doing countless hours of miscellaneous work, in the months leading up to our last day in Pennsylvania, August 24, 2020. We still remember going to our home closing on August 24 (by 9:30 a.m.!) to sign our closing documents, then heading towards our new life, as retired nomads.
We spent the roughly 10 hours driving to our brother‘s place in North Carolina inwardly thinking about what had happened, what’s to come, and wondering if we made the right choice. Had we made the right choice, looking back?
I can honestly say that with a resounding yes! Early retirement dream hadn’t really occurred to me until I encountered FIRE (financial independence retire early) movement about 16 years ago. Prior to that, I thought I would work until my so called retirement age (somewhere around 65), then hope for the best.
I didn’t have a retirement plan at first. Like most people my age, retirement was something I didn’t want to, nor care to think about, as it felt so far away…
I thought I can save what I can, then hope Social Security would cover most of my retirement. It wasn’t until I turned 35 or so, that I realized that retirement wasn’t so far away.
Something clicked in me at around that time in my life. I felt this urgency, this fire burning inside the very deep pits of my stomach, telling me I needed to change my ways soon, otherwise, I would be retiring with no money which means definitely not enjoying the retirement that we had envisioned.
I owe my deepest gratitude to the many pioneers of the FIRE (financial independence retire early) movement, like Peter Adeney (Mr. Money Mustache), and Jacob Lund Fisker (Early Retirement Extreme), for showing me the way towards becoming financially independent and to retire early. Had I not known about this, I would still be chugging along, doing the daily grind, and hoping I might hit a lottery.
Prior to knowing about the FIRE movement, I would spend gloomy Sunday nights (or any other night I would be restless, worried about the future) actively searching for an answer to my problem: How do I stop working and do the things that I always wanted to do, like traveling?
Even during my working days, there were times I would browse the internet looking for answers. I came upon so many “get rich” schemes, and many others who were selling products/courses designed to entice people like me, to waste money on buying their so-called “secrets” to wealth.
I’m glad I didn’t buy any of those. But out of literally hundreds of articles (along with these “get rich quick” schemes), I stumbled upon this idea that if I save 25 times my yearly expenses, then I can retire early, living off of that savings. That, was an epiphany!
I seriously got into reading the blogs by Jacob Lund Fisker. He had this specific post where he talks about living on $7000 a year in the United State! I couldn’t believe it.
From that point forward, I seriously thought about my retirement. I got this sensation that maybe, just maybe, that I can also retire early, like Jacob did.
I started planning, to see how I can retire early myself. That plan started like everyone else, well at least those who have seriously thought about reaching financial independence, which is budgeting!
We cut out frivolous spending, became semi-minimalists (to not buy things we didn’t need), and started to save a bigger chunk of my salary towards my 401k account. What started out at a mere 3% savings rate, ended up at the maximum allowed amount by the year 2019, the year prior to our retirement.
The rest, they say, is history. We have been retired now for 6 years, and have been enjoying the life since.
So, how have we lived those 6 years since our early retirement? Here are some highlights:
- Cross country road trip #1 (North Carolina to Southern California) November 2022-February 2023
This was our first major road trip since we retired. With our dog Toby crossing the rainbow bridge in that year, we embarked on a trip that took us from our home state of North Carolina, stopping over at multiple national parks/national monuments, visiting many cities, then returning once we got to San Diego, California.
This trip took over 10 weeks, with over 12000 miles driven during that time. We visited 14 states, spending a night or more in all but 3 of them.
- Road trip #2 (North Carolina to Alabama; American Deep South) December 2023-February 2024
We visited the Deep South, a place we tried to avoid while living in New York City for its reputation as a not so friendly place for foreigners. We were completely wrong and definitely prejudiced about the Deep South. It was a place of renewal, rejuvenation, and a very happening place full of good people.
We learned a lot about ourselves during that trip regarding our own unjust prejudices about the Deep South. This is why we must travel: To experience a place ourselves so we can make our own informed decisions.
We visited so many new places full of amazing experiences including Hilton Head Island (South Carolina), Savanna (Georgia), Gulf Shores (Alabama), Providence Canyon State Park (Georgia), and Jacksonville (Florida). This trip took close to 8 weeks, with over 7000 miles driven. We visited 6 states, spending a night or more in all of them.
- Road trip #3 (New York City to Idaho); June 2025-August 2025 *Posts to come on this trip soon!
We had always wanted to visit national parks like Yellowstone and Grand Teton. These were so epic and grand (and very far) that we never dared to get out there.
Well, that finally changed when what started as a long term rental search led us to the state of Minnesota for the summer of 2025. We were unable to find any suitable Airbnb long term rental on the east coast for around $1300-$1400 range.
That led me to search far and wide, which got us to a small town near the border of Minnesota and South Dakota. We figured, if we’re already out there on the Midwest, why not finally go visit the famed Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks?
After booking this one in Minnesota for $1200, we also booked another in the state of Idaho for around $1550. We were going to fit in all the others (hotels, attractions), as we got near the summer.
Long story short, we left the second week of June and came back to New York City around the end of August. We drove over 10000 miles again, but what a trip!
***This trip will be covered in detail in the coming months!
- We have visited additional 15 states since our early retirement
Prior to our early retirement, we had visited a sizable number of states thanks to my wanderlust. But since our early retirement, we added these additional states to our list:
- Maine
- New Hampshire
- West Virginia
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Texas
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Iowa
- Idaho
- Montana
- Wyoming
- New Mexico
- Nebraska
- Tennessee
- North Dakota
- Washington
- Oregon
We will eventually get out there, but we’re in no hurry. We figure we’ll visit these 3 states within the next 6 years or so.
- Seen many places we otherwise wouldn’t have
In our olden days of travel, we probably wouldn’t have visited many of the places we ended up staying at. It was because of the availability of month long rentals (at a discount) that allowed us to get into the lifestyle of “slow travelers”, letting us see parts of America that not many travelers get to see.
We would’ve preferred to stay in popular tourist destinations like Las Vegas, near National Parks, or other well known attractions in our rat race days. These days, we do have to be mindful of our budget. This means looking to save money on the biggest expense monthly, which is lodging.
By saving on lodging by using long term rental platforms like Airbnb or VRBO, we save quite a bit. It also gives us a glimpse as to what life is like in a particular area. Living in different places had been a dream of mine, ever since I was a little kid.
Thanks to my early retirement, I get to live out my dream of living in different places, living like locals would, eating local foods, visiting local attractions (both big and small), and seeing parts of America that I never knew…
These are some of those often overlooked places:
- Snowshoe, West Virginia
- Murrells Inlet, South Carolina
We stayed there for 3 months and visited so many great places nearby (and sometimes not so near), like Charleston, Congaree National Park, Myrtle Beach.
- Atlantic Beach, North Carolina
We stayed there for 3 months, and we really got to live the life of a beach bum. Visited just about every attraction nearby.
- Ellicottville, New York
We went outside as long as the sun was out (or if it wasn’t raining), and ended up going outside 19 days out of the month. We visited so many attractions in town (tree top adventures) and nearby towns (Erie, Pennsylvania).
- Indiana, Pennsylvania
During our month long stay, we visited the nearby cities (Pittsburgh, Johnstown) and nearby attractions (Jimmy Stewart Museum).
- Altoona, Pennsylvania
- Bottom line: We’ve visited places we’ve always wanted to visit!
- Spending time with my family
