2,880,000 minutes - how do you measure?

reflections on my 2,000th day of early retirement

While not half as catchy as the original “Seasons of Love” song from Rent, my 2000th day since leaving my old office for the last time was still a major milestone for me. It’s funny, because until this week came up on my trusty online calendar, I’d not realized I was approaching this FIRE anniversary. In fact, I’d not even remembered I’d made a point to mark the day at some point! But it is, nonetheless, a marker that gave me pause. 2000 days, or nearly 5.5 years certainly seems like a long time! And yet I can’t truly remember what my “old life” felt like! I’ve fully adjusted to living differently after 23 years in the workplace.

I’ve written plenty on milestones before, including posts about my 4th FIRE anniversary, leaving my first winery “fun job, turning 50 - not to mention the many Two Sides of FI milestone episodes. For some reason this one feels “bigger”, but that’s probably just staring down a large-looking number. It gives me a lot of satisfaction along with my usual healthy dose of gratitude, when I consider those 2000 days. Surely not all were great days - which is life, but merely the fact that I’m sitting here in my sixth year of early retirement writing this, it feels overwhelmingly positive.

I’m thankful that I’d decided my retirement date so early on, and was able to talk openly with my last manager about my FIRE plans. That gave me a much-needed countdown towards that huge milestone of the likely last day in my biotech career. Knowing what I do now, I’d also say it made the likelihood of getting caught up in working “just one more year” - a common FIRE path struggle - that much less likely. And for that, I’m extremely happy. The COVID stock market downturn happened early in my journey, and that may well have given me pause otherwise to consider putting in more time. I also might have been tempted to hang on for the potential payout of a nice annual bonus that could (would, I know now) have been realized after a strong year, working in diagnostics during such a time. But I’m glad I didn’t have to face those opportunities head-on, because I was concertedly working towards an endpoint. Had things been otherwise, I suspect I’d be nowhere near 2000 days yet!

Moving back to the present, my wife and I recently completed a 33-day roadtrip. I spent two weeks with family on the east coast, and then Lorri and I slowly made our way back across the country over more than a month’s time. We visited numerous National Parks we’d been itching to see for years (Badlands, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and Saguaro NP were my favorites), finally spent some days in Chicago (loved it!), saw many sights, and even got to visit a few friends along the way. We had a rough route in mind but didn’t pre-book anything except our first few days’ lodging. Rather, each day we thought about what we’d like to do next and booked hotels or AirBnBs accordingly, one stop at a time. So-called “slow travel” is a dream of many retirees - traditional or early, and we have had a first real taste of it - and are hooked!

It was truly freeing to travel in this way, taking the days as they came, and planning our progress and our schedule however we wanted. There was no workplace vacation days limit, school schedule constraints, or any other obstacles with which we had to work. We’ve certainly experienced some of these benefits along the way, but especially given the context of a self-directed road trip, this is truly the first time they all came together at once. So once again, time freedom - a topic upon which I’ve often reflected, is ruling the day. We remain convinced it is the biggest gain and gift of a FIRE path, and are ever excited that this is something we are lucky enough to get to experience each day.

I’m writing this post the day after US Thanksgiving, so it seems a particuarly apt time to reflect upon gratitude. I have so much for which I’m thankful, most of all my family. I am also grateful for the friends I’ve made and the friendships that have been maintained over the years - some for decades, and some much newer, only since we’ve taken up residence in the CA Central Coast. I’m forever thankful that I got the chance to work on Two Sides of FI with my great friend, Eric. That show, along with my original FIRE blog, has been the most meningful work I’ve done post-career, and has absolutely eased the path into this next phase of my life more than anything. The fact that it has also helped others, as kind words have often conveyed, provides me with some of the most positive emotions I’ve experienced in my adult life.

As always, I’m thankful that others find value in my words, and care enough to read them and share their own experiences and feelings with me in return. So I’m also incredibly thankful for all of you reading this post, taking your precious time to consider my thoughts. It’s been a few months since my last post, and I’m glad that this 2000-day milestone provided me the inspiration to return to writing here. As has been the case since I rebooted the blog, I won’t promise a set cadence of posts to come. But I do promise to continue to share whenever it feels right. Thanks again for being here. I wish you all the very best. Mahalo 🙏

PS - apologies to anyone who may have received this post twice! Apparently, I erred in the way I posted it originally and only today realized it. Oops…