I grew up. I'm not a child anymore. Not even a teenager. Then, I discovered so called western world. Yes, I'm from different part of the world. I moved to the "west", to the one of the richest cities in one of the richest countries in the whole world. And then I started asking even more questions, as I had to learn everything from the very beginning. But this time, I was in an adult world, and I was one of them. After 7 years, I stopped asking questions. There is nothing to understand anymore. The world is upside down, and I will never get it fixed, so I just do what I have to do and don't care too much about the rest. Better for me and for them.
I've been frugal since I remember. I never spend money or other resources on useless crap on regular basic. I believe this is the reason why I always sucked at strategy games. I accumulated too much, focusing too much on defense and safety approach, than taking quick steps toward victory. When I started my first proper job, just after 20th birthday, the plan was to work 2-3 months and save for new computer. But I failed. I never get this new, fancy machine. I'm writing this story just now, using same old laptop, which I had back then. As an ex computer wizz, I keep it in great shape in terms of software and hardware and I did some cheap upgrades, so it's still in great condition. Let's back to main story: The next thing was a car. I had a rather basic job, but my savings were growing pretty quick. Same as expectations for my new car. I kept changing my mind: bigger, quicker, fancier. Until I said to myself: What the hell are you doing?! Where you gonna drive it, if you have 10min walk to workplace? What's the point of spending all the money for machine sitting at car park 24/7? So I dropped the idea of having a car. I'm car free for my whole live. And I don't plan to have one at the moment. But when I walk down the street I know that I can afford to get this car just now. And that one as well. And another one. All at the same time. Great feeling.
Then I get another idea. Travel the world. See all these great places. Discover something more than my home country and little bit of Europe. So I booked my first "big" holiday trip to Thailand. That was a big shock. For me and for my wallet. Later on I spend weeks on looking for deals and ideas how to travel for close to nothing. You know, low cost carriers, error fares, shitty hostels, hitchhiking, backpacking and this kind of stuff. By the age of 25 I've visited about 50 countries on 5 continents. I know, it's not about the numbers, but I can't find better way to describe it in one sentence. I've traveled mostly by my own and I learned a lot about world, about people, my comfort zone and crucially - about myself.
During all this time I was saving money. I changed job twice, and now I'm on the limit in terms of salary, as it's getting very hard to find something better without a good degree (too lazy) or good skills (too lazy again). But it doesn't matter that much, as I'm happy where I'm just now. This year I discovered all this early retirement stuff, which was a bit boring for me, as 80% of the stuff is rather obvious. But it help me a lot. That was a great way to systematize my knowledge and put all the things together and direct me to the right way of thinking, as the mindset is crucial.
So, let's add it up:
I'm 27 yo male from Europe, introvert, frugal by nature, non native english speaker, living in UK, having no debt, no mortgage, no kids, no cars, no addictions, one girlfriend (with rather similar values, but still a lot to learn), 75% saving rate and six digit net worth in british pounds, euros, american dollars or any other main currency. I'm ready to retire in 3 years, but as I want to buy a flat/house, and I want to travel round the world for 1-2 years when I show middle finger to my "career", I need to work for another 5 years... I guess
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)