Time for change
/The time has finally arrived where the hubs and I have decided it is time for change. While we know the direction we are heading (the mountains!!) we are trying to follow our hearts.
“We will figure it out when we get there!”
The mountains are calling
We’ve decided to do a roadtrip to Colorado and find the new place to call home. We don’t have great reasons for relocating besides the fact that our hearts long for wide open space, fresh air, gorgeous views, and a change of pace for life. Last week we ordered a brand new, wholly perfect 4Runner and are trading in our gorgeous, perfectly fine X5 BMW. Simply because we are doing what we want; stepping out of the rat race corporate America has created and creating the exact life we want.
We are also looking for land so we can grow our own food. We also love woodworking and creating good quality furniture so we need a good workshop. I’m loving painting lately and I want a little paint studio to allow my heart to overflow with inspiration. Besides that, we are following our hearts. We’ve talked about chickens and having our own organic eggs or other animals but those are details we are going to figure out when we get there!
Rat race
For many years, the hubs and I have actively worked very hard to get to this point in our careers. We both have multiple degrees, the Mr. even teaches at the master level at a well known university. We’ve both held leadership roles and led large teams supporting millions of dollars in projects. This feels a little bitter sweet because we haven’t reached some of the corporate goals we set for ourselves but we know they no longer fulfill us and it is time to move on.
There comes a time in life when success no longer feels like a good career. We now look at success as being happy and healthy, doing the things we want and leading a satisfying life. Our sleepless nights used to be full of stress and anxiety from work and the past few weeks; since we made this decision our sleepless nights are filled with excitement and brainstorming. We aren’t looking to make a big fuss that we are leaving, simply silently step out of the race we don’t want to be part of and live the life we want.
FIRE
We’ve followed a fire lifestyle for some time now and saved and invested smartly. This is allowing us to make this change in our life. Since we closed out the year with over 7 figures in assets for the first time ever, we are getting closer and closer to retirement! While we aren’t ready to retire today, we are considering all options for our 9-5’s. At this point in life, the little nest egg we’ve created will continue to grow and take care of us in the long term. But we haven’t done the best job of investing in ways to utilize that money before the typically retirement age. With that said, we are considering getting any job we really want that can support us in the meantime. We are looking for jobs we enjoy that aren’t as high demanding or stressful.
This might be in the form of part time jobs that are less demanding at our current companies, to ensure every bit of our 401k’s fully vest. But it also might be at a local bike shop helping our locals, or at a bakery making yummy cakes! But it might also mean we sell more furniture on my Etsy site or start selling my paintings. At this point, we are just following our hearts! Living the FIRE lifestyle has been a great experience and we are just starting to see the huge benefits of all our hard work!
Pure excitement
Currently, there is pure excitement in our home. We are excited for all the new experiences and the journey we are about to discover together. We openly gave ourselves the permission to fail and hate life a year from now and move right back to the city. We can change our minds at any time. Openly having that discussion helped us both feel free to brainstorm without worry and truly work to create the life we want. There hasn’t been this much excitement in our home for a very long time.
Over the years, we’ve had many ideas and dreams like this. Typically we share these ideas with others and they punch holes in our plans and ask questions that make us double think things. This time, we are just doing it! Not a single person knows yet of our plan. Again, we aren’t looking to create a big fuss, but silently step out of the race we no longer want to be a part of and create the life we want. I will say, having spent years focusing on our careers and chasing the Jones’s so to speak has us struggling to answer the question of what are we going to do with all our time and effort once we retire!
Stay tuned as we continue down this journey and I document it. The road trip is our first step to creating the life we want! You could be a road trip away from the best life ever!!
