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

  Riverview Park, North Carolina  My wife and I are recent early retirees at ages 51 and 48.  Since August of last year, we’ve been traveling with our Pomeranian dog, Toby, to various destinations in the eastern parts of the United States.  We plan to continue living this nomad lifestyle in the foreseeable future. On August 24th of last year, we had closed on our home we had lived in for 14 years in Pennsylvania.  After the closing, we headed down to our brother’s house in North Carolina that same day.  Our SUV was packed to the brim as we had to stuff all of our remaining belongings that day.  Our closing that morning was at 9:30 am, and we were still packing our stuff until about 8:45 am! We set off to our brother’s house which would take us about 9 hours from Pennsylvania.  It was a hot sunny August day, and our poor Toby was having a hard time due to the lack of space in our SUV.  We had to put his bed (and him) at the bottom footwell area of front passenger side, which made both T

  Emerald Isle Boating Access, North Carolina  Ovid:  “Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” During our journey through life (and financial independence), we needed to find a right balance of work/life to get us through.  Stress is one of the most destructive forces that can ruin everything in life.  It can ruin your mental health, finances, and relationships.   In this post, I’d like to share with you my thoughts on the utmost importance of destressing in achieving financial independence, but also in living your life day to day.  Without having the ability to destress or unwind, you’ll have a hard time enjoying your life.  Over time, stress will eventually lead to health issues, feeling burnt out at work, and myriad other mental health related issues... My mom always said growing up, that I was a very calm baby.  I rarely fussed over bedtime or for food.  She said I used to cry a bit when diaper needed to be changed, but that was about it.  Even when bathing, she

  Balanced Rock, Trough Creek State Park, PA Our travels took us to Claysburg, PA in the month of April, 2021.  During our one month stay there, we found two of the most beautiful and serene places we’ve encountered anywhere. It is our pleasure to introduce the Trough Creek State Park and Shawnee State Park , which are both around an hour drive from the town of Claysburg. Trough Creek State Park is located in the town of James Creek, PA.  It is a scenic gorge formed as Great Trough Creek cuts through Terrace Mountain, eventually emptying into the Raystown Lake. The park borders the Rothrock State Forest and the Raystown Lake, making the Trough Creek State Park an excellent area to enjoy nature.  Park features scenic views, picnic areas, hiking, and the creek. Our drive to the Trough Creek State Park started at around 9 a.m.  We packed drinks, lunch, and Toby’s (our Pomeranian) food and headed out for some adventure! Once we left the town of Claysburg, the roads opened up nicely, reve

  Saying goodbye to a loved one is never easy… Helen Keller:  “What we have once enjoyed we can never lose; all that we deeply love becomes a part of us.” My mother-in-law passed away recently at the age of 82.  She had been suffering from complications from a stroke suffered in June, and her heart finally gave up the fight.  She leaves behind 4 children and 6 grandchildren. In this post, I’d like to share my thoughts and my memories of my mother-in-law. When my wife and I prepared to retire early in the summer of 2020, one of our main objectives was to spend more time with loved ones.  We realized how brief life actually is, especially the time we have to spend with our parents. Our parents weren’t getting younger and neither were we, so we wanted to do as much as we can to do exactly that.  Since our early retirement, we spent time with my mother-in-law every time we were back in New York City. Those months were September, November, March, and May.  During those 4 months, we took her

  Northeastern view from the Blue Knob Resort, PA For the month of April, my pack (myself, my wife, and our Pomeranian dog Toby) traveled to Claysburg, Pennsylvania.  This would be our first trip out to the central Pennsylvania area, west of Harrisburg, PA.   We were pleasantly surprised by so much natural beauty and scenery surrounding this part of the state.  We had no idea I-99 is such a beautiful highway.  It cuts through the heart of the PA’s mountainous region (Allegheny Mountains) north and south, and it affords awesome views, not unlike the Swiss Alps. Each drive in and around Claysburg area was jaw dropping as we would climb up towards the peaks of mountains, only to be greeted by similar jaw dropping drive on the way down the mountains.   I enjoyed goosing the accelerator when climbing and hearing the turbo engine spooling up to provide much needed power.  I made sure the SUV was in all wheel drive mode during our entire stay at Claysburg for better grip in these mountainous

  World Trade Center (Twin Towers), New York City  9/11 (September 11th) 2001 would forever be remembered as a day that would change my life.  It was what triggered my first inkling to want to live somewhere else.  It kickstarted a wholesale change to my life in more ways than one.   Within the next two years, my wife and I would leave New York City for Oahu, Hawaii.  Two years after that, that move would eventually land us back on the East Coast where we settled for the next 14 years or so until our early retirement in August of 2020. In this post, I’d like to share with you my experiences of 9/11. I remember 9/11 because it was such a beautiful day.  Skies were blue and the heat of the summer was slowly being replaced by cooling breezes coming over the East River.  I felt better than most days because of how nice that day started. I took the usual #4 train to get off at Bowling Green station in lower Manhattan.  I was listening to music on my headphones as usual.  I knew something wa