Early Retirement Extreme Forums

It's a different line though so it adds a lot more travel time for people coming from anywhere east of the Mississippi. For example, Chicago to Barstow is one line, direct, 38 hrs. Chicago to Bakersfield is 72 hrs and then requires a bus transfer to Bakersfield. The price is about the same. Once Qu...

There was a guy who did this from North Carolina to Southern Oregon for the bike classes. The train was delayed at some point in Denver and he got his return trip fully paid for/reimbursed. Amtrak is often delayed for one reason or another, but they take care of you. My outgoing train stopped in Gr...

..barstow Amtrak stop is close, but bus connections to QH are tricky. A much more convenient stop is Bakersfield Barstow - two quick and cheap buses through scenic mountains will get you to within 4mi of QH, if you line them up. I just took the Amtrak from Bakersfield to Denver (San Joaquin to Sacra...

I'm listening to Tim Ferriss' interview with Martha Beck and I think there are some interesting take-aways wrt freedom-to: The Path of Not There: They're talking about the tracker Boyd Varty, and how part of any tracking is losing the track. But the key is that you're not lost, you are in a state of...

This discussion is making me think of the work I did/am currently doing. I'm modeling mechanical systems for buildings in a 3d environment where the objects aren't just dimensional but also informational - a duct knows how much air is going through it and what the velocity and friction drop are, etc...

For me the takeaway of this thread is that, in so many ways, achieving RE (or high-agency semiERE status) is the real beginning of the journey/work. What comes before is prologue.

+1 starlink. It's the slamdunk solution. Heads up, though, about the energy consumption, could be a dealbreaker depending on your friend's infrastructure and time zone schedule. Confirm the operating continuous wattage vs. rated wattage with the heater element running. Another option, I had a cell s...

It would call it the main thesis of this discussion, not the underlying assumption, to be honest. ;) But - no, I don't think freedom is always stressful/burdensome. I think *most* people assume freedom is always awesome, all the time, and that's what I'm poking at. Just two recent examples of decisi...

I wonder if a contributing factor to people "failing out" of freedom is just this - that it's not discussed and maybe not fully recognized? The stress of freedom is this vague sense of existential nausea that most people can't figure out, or attribute to other things, and eventually go bac...

...However, I would note that "strong" practice of submission or "relaxing in feminine energy" would entail more "respect" than your note of "mediocrity" would suggest. Ah, yeah, I agree. I think it's mediocre/a cop-out when one is using relaxing into someone...

Project NOPE Debrief About a year ago I was feeling frustrated about how many projects I had going on that felt like obligations - they were other people's projects that I'd said 'yes' to. I had a 9hrs/wk handyman/laborer gig for a neighbor and then two offgrid solar PV design/builds (one for a nei...

AC/DC chest style fridge/freezers are good, I have one. I assume they’re more expensive than a normal house small fridge? Def not a gimmick, although there’s a range of quality. I have an iceco and it runs great.

You can buy standalone ACs with tube vents (I believe they include kits to match window openings). Pretty sure these units even have casters so you can scoot it around easily. Get a unit that’s rated for a bit more square feet than your bus is and you should be good on capacity. You won’t probably b...

This is very interesting thanks for sharing Scott. I’m curious - how are the tshirts and bag signaling?

Scott, this isn’t so much moving away from COL as it is adding another cognitive tool to the kit. Your question is good though. For the sorts of things I’ve got in mind we’re talking about floating my COL from 0.5 to 1.0 or maybe 1.5 jafi, temporarily. If an experiment came in at >>1jafi I’d have to...

“Not FI in terms of random yolo lifestyle experiments”

Small ERE thought of the day: at a certain point/circumstance, COL isn’t as important a metric to watch as net flow. Yes, duh, but I think focusing on COL can subtly limit imagination for freedom-to. For example I’m planning on crossing a FI threshold soon and then being “done” with earning money, b...

Grundomatic, your point that Tucson is already thinking about and doing something about the limitations reminds me of "The future is already here, it just isn't distributed evenly" (William Gibson) and "The ruins of the unsustainable are the frontiers of tomorrow." - (Bruce Sterl...

Yes, I'd say mmmhq is a mixtape of coworking space, makerspace, tool lending library, gym, and community-event space.

I think you guys are underestimating people's willingness to pay for something like this. I think MMMHQ is replicable in just about any decent sized city. If I lived near one, I'd sign up! I'd love to have a space like that with approximately like-minded people. I wouldn't start or co-run one, thou...