Nomadic-ERE Year 5 - Wanderlust Prevails

Where are you and where are you going?
Western Red Cedar
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by Western Red Cedar »

2Birds1Stone wrote:
Tue Mar 30, 2021 5:24 am
Bringing costs down creatively by leveraging community and mutually beneficial arrangements like house/pet sitting, work for stay, etc all become much more feasible when you don't have a schedule to follow and can stay in one area longer, or at least build up that capital first, then return to an area where such arrangements are possible. I guess what I'm getting at is that we know that if work didn't require a certain style of travel/accommodation/connectivity then our costs instantly drop by an order of magnitude. Ditto for being able to leave the country.
I definitely agree with this sentiment. I think if I got any more "creative" with my current lifestyle it would negatively impact my quality of life or relationship. Much of this is a result of needing to work a regular job that is cognitively demanding and time-intensive. Cutting that cord should not only allow us to design a more interesting, cost-effective lifestyle, but should also free up some mental bandwidth to address "problems" without throwing money at them.

2Birds1Stone
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

April 1, 2020
NW = 40.4X TTM Spending
WR = 2.47%
Feb savings rate = 76.1%

2Birds1Stone
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

March was an active month, with 8 weightlifting sessions, 201 miles walked, and 140 miles biked.

Work was manageable, but far from enjoyable. I am planning how to best exit.

Spending was high, but 50% was accommodation related.

Life was interesting and had a lot of variety sprinkled in. Much discussion with DW regarding future plans and goals.

LiberateMind
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by LiberateMind »

What a WR :!: :)

Is it for this month or rolling?

2Birds1Stone
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

That's rolling, and it's going to go up significantly in the next 9 months as our spending stabilizes......predict somewhere around 4.5%

2020 was an extremely unusual spending year (unsustainably low) for our household.

My individual TTM WR = 1.54%, but that's also going to stabilize around 3.5% by end of year.

2Birds1Stone
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

Musings

Work
My employer is small (<100 employees), and recently acquired by private equity. The new business model is completely fucked. My job is to essentially squeeze every last drop of revenue possible from our existing customer base, with no concern for the long term relationship with our customers. The PE firm wants to increase revenue at any cost, followed by selling the company off in another 18-24 months. On top of that, we are acquiring more small companies and expanding on the model of jacking up prices with no real value in return. It's chaotic, and there is very little upside from a compensation standpoint. Next week, I'll begin training my replacement. They don't know it's going to be my replacement, but there is no way I can stay in this environment long term.

Money
Starting in June, I can start taking my foot completely off the gas at work. Ideally they shitcan me and I get some of that sweet expanded unemployment benefit while DW determines what she's going to do with her career. Starting in June, I'll finally be eligible for the 401k plan. If I don't get shitcanned, the goal is to contribute 85% of my paycheck making earnings essentially tax free. At that rate, I'll have my 401k for 2021 maxed out by end of September. I don't need the cashflow from a paycheck, but it sure is nice.

Spent some time yesterday updating my ERN sheet using most up to date asset allocation, projected SS values, etc. At current CAPE10, our failsafe WR = 3.25% over 60 year horizon with a target end value of 25% original portfolio amount. This means we could cut the work chord and move somewhere LCOL and be fine never working again. It is not however enough to maintain this lifestyle of short term rentals and health insurance in the USA. All good!

Link to worksheet -https://earlyretirementnow.com/2018/08/ ... s-part-28/

Travel
Last week here in beautiful FL. It's been amazing, and the best choice we could have made in January to come down. International travel still remains a big question mark, but we have our next spot lined up, and really looking forward to exploring a new area. I hear the SC coast is beautiful in April/May, should be a good month there. By early May, hopefully we can determine if we'll be flying over to the EU in late June......if not really need to figure out some LCOL area with hiking and MTBing in the NE USA that won't completely break the bank.

Relationships
Relationship with DW is stronger than ever. We've gone through a lot the past two years, and those shared struggles and victories have done amazing things for us. We continue maintaining contact with close friends despite the distances, and seeing others more due to our ability to spend time in other areas of the country. Family relationships are a bit of a different story. DW has tensions with family that doesn't understand her desire to leave our hometown and travel/live in different places. Overall the family situation on both sides is shaky. In the family TARP thread, I can see that many others have dealt with similar issues. Our families are very manipulative with their resources, and it's important to not lose sight of autonomy and independence. My own parents started hinting that if we can't get a traditional mortgage to purchase a residence in the EU, they would help (they gave my brother a huge loan last summer to purchase a home), and while it would be the easy way out, I don't want that impacting the relationship in any way....so we will turn it down.

Health & Activity
April is off to a good start! The weather has been conducive to being outside and active. We continue biking around the area, taking walks, weightlifting, and eating home cooking most of the time. My weight is about 7-8 lbs above my "ideal weight" which I would like to get to by end of May.
Last edited by 2Birds1Stone on Fri Apr 09, 2021 3:51 am, edited 2 times in total.

fingeek
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by fingeek »

Looks like you have a nice engineered path out of that crappy work situation, engineered/triggered kindly by the new PE company. Hopefully you will be able to get a golden handshake of some sort!

Stasher
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by Stasher »

Stay safe and enjoy the journey, it appears a lot of reflection has occurred over the last few years from the few paragraphs. The travel and work on and off as well as meeting varied people along the way I would think has added a great deal of insight to build your plan that many of us don't get.

That squeezing every dime is what makes me most sad for the state of capitalism, that indeed is the ugly side.

Laura Ingalls
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by Laura Ingalls »

Keep hiking your own hike. Thanks for the update.

2Birds1Stone
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

May 1, 2020
NW = 41.2X TTM Spending
WR = 2.42%
April savings rate = 78.8%
Last edited by 2Birds1Stone on Fri May 28, 2021 6:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

2Birds1Stone
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

Thanks to social capital and FU$, I will be leaving my current gig for a different one in the same industry.

Better conditions, higher income potential, and an environment that should be much more conducive to growth were all reasons for the switch.

It does anchor us to a relatively HCOL area, but one that we would be close to most of our friends/family. The biggest nut to crack right now is finding suitable housing. We need a space that's suitable for two WFH professionals who need to be in meetings simultaneously. The other factors are cost, safety, and proximity to nature/activities we enjoy.

Currently winding things down with the old gig, getting ready to leave the mid-Atlantic, and looking forward to what the future brings.

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mountainFrugal
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by mountainFrugal »

Congrats on getting out of a PE acquisition company. PE can turn things toxic really fast. Good luck on finding suitable housing. When my partner and I decided to go to a lower cost of living/rural area we were worried about seeing our friends. Surprisingly, we have seen more of our friends (socially distanced of course until recently) since we moved here than we originally thought. If you live next to nature many friends might want to come see you! Win/Win!

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by Western Red Cedar »

Nice to hear you are transitioning away from the toxic work environment to something better. Your professional flexibility and resiliency has always impressed me.

Are you still planning on trying to get to Europe or another international destination later this year? Waiting to see how things shake out professionally for you and DW? I'm curious how others are planning international travel in the Covid 19 era.

2Birds1Stone
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

@mountainFrugal, that's pretty awesome how things worked out for you. Once things get back to a more "normal" way of life, the job will entail being on-site with clients in a specific geography. This specific geography is a very large metro area in the Northeast. Our options within 1-2 hours are a bit limited, and quite costly. Moving further away is an option, but then the commute may be too much to handle on a regular basis. Luckily, it will be several months before I have to worry about that. As for the PE thing, ya! Those people just care about profit and see the business they take over as a P/L statement. I feel happy to get out when I did.

@WRC, once you get to a certain FU$ threshold it gets easier to take bigger risks. Over the past 5 years these risks have usually paid off in big ways, namely compensation increases as well as having the wherewithal to walk away when the situation presented itself. I'm not super thrilled committing to another stint of work, but given what's going on in the world, it's not the worst time to do it.

Yes, we would still like to go to Poland for at least a month after my first few weeks in the new gig. I shouldn't have to visit clients for a while, and if I can WFH, then who cares if I'm on another continent. They may care, and I'm debating if it would be better to ask for permission than forgiveness. Leaning toward the latter, but not sure I want to risk it. Right now we realized that staying put in the USA for a while is likely our best bet. When/if things go back to pre-covid from an open borders and mobility standpoint, we would love to go back to vagabonding.

Realistically, my DW would like to put in 2-3 years to see where this career path takes her. For me, I essentially committing to 12-18 months in this position. Depending on how things shake out, we may drop DINK status if she loves her job and it's flexible, because mine won't have much flexibility for long term travel.

Musings

Right now we're stuck in the mid-Atlantic, and with the fuel shortages still impacting things over the next week, having a bit of a stressful time planning how we will make it back up north. My new employer will be sending everything I need to start w-o-r-k the following week up to my parents place, so I need to get up there by next weekend. Keeping fingers crossed that the shortages along the I95 corridor improve enough that we can make it without too much stress.

Once I start work, a lot of pressure will be gone. We will be able to overpay for housing without feeling too terrible about it. We also need to replace this 24 year old car which is on its last breathe. Being mobile and having to move around on a stricter timeframe will require something more reliable. As funny as it would be showing up to clients in a rusted out beater, I don't think it would fly over that well.

The markets are looking frothy and momentum appears to have reversed, or is in the process of reversing. Coupled with insanely high real inflation, it's going to feel much better not drawing from our portfolio at this time. Yesterdays drop in equities basically wiped out an entire year of living expenses 0_o

2Birds1Stone
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

June 1, 2020
NW = 40.4X TTM Spending
WR = 2.48%
May savings rate = 77.7%

We are back in NY for the foreseeable future. We have some leads on housing but nothing 100% baked yet.

The income spigot is going to open back up in June quite a bit, which will make some of our bigger concerns seem more trivial. It's the salaryman copout, but hey....when in Rome....


It is REALLY nice to see family and friends again. We have a packed 3 day weekend with plans to visit with a good chunk of our social circle up here. The weather is not really conducive to outdoor gatherings, but we'll do our best to be responsible despite everyone being fully vaxed at this point.

Once I get a lay of the land at work, going to be looking at options for getting to EU for a month. July would be the best window before work related travel resumes.

Happy Saturday, y'all!
Last edited by 2Birds1Stone on Wed Jun 30, 2021 3:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

2Birds1Stone
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

July 1, 2020
NW = 39.2X TTM Spending
WR = 2.55%
June Savings Rate = 82.9%

We ended up being homeless and bouncing around family/friends for almost the entire month of June. Finally got moved into our new place a few days ago. After 16 months of being nomadic, it feels good to put down roots again for a bit.

Income was high between two paychecks, 401k/HSA contributions, Q2 dividends, and our state tax return finally going through. Despite spending drifting up YoY we managed a respectable savings rate and NW increase. Piecemealing our furniture from craigslist/FB marketplace and a few items that need to be purchased new (ie mattress/couch) since we don't want to risk bedbugs or other nastiness. Since we owned nothing, it's going to take a while to get a 2 bdrm apartment set up the way we need for two WFHers. It's also going to mean spending is going to be uncomfortably high for the next month or two. We landed in one of the highest cost of living areas in the country, so just our housing right now is going to cost us more per month than our total monthly spending was in 2020. Despite that, happy to be here. The area has a lot to offer, and in close proximity to family and friends.

It turns out that my job has some golden handcuffs which make it pretty compelling to stick out till mid 2023 before pulling the plug again. Right now I'm enjoying the work, it's well paid, and there is no commute (for now). Once business travel resumes, it's a 50% travel role, which could have me looking for an exit sooner. The bare minimum will however be another 12 months, as maxing out the 0% tax bracket and retirement accounts next year would be too good to pass up given how lean our projections are staying in the US longer term.

2Birds1Stone
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

Musings

It's been a while since I introspected on my ERE journey, but having settled into our new home has given me a pause to do just that.

I originally declared myself FI as an individual a few years ago, when spending was optimized and geoarbitrage was the preferred method of keeping future costs down. Housing inflation and muted arbitrage opportunities had me seriously reevaluate my plan, as did getting married to someone who was much earlier in the accumulation phase. After traveling for nearly 18 months and taking a 13 month break from employment, it feels strange to be back to work and living in same area we left. Not strange in a bad way, but almost as though we never left.

Our current situation is interesting, as we want to put down roots for a bit, but not for too long. The urge to redo our trip from 2020 is strong, once the world opens it's borders and things "normalize" (if it ever happens, ha!). For the time being, I'm trying to determine how to best navigate this new "normal", both from an opportunities standpoint, as well as an FI/ERE standpoint. It's clear that our expenses will be dramatically higher with our new housing arrangement and other inflation. We won't know where we stand from a X years saved perspective until we've gotten a year of living here under our belts. Interestingly enough, many of the places we previously considered for geoarbitrage have gone up in price dramatically, likely due to all of the "revenge" travel.

I feel like the past few weeks has been a blur, between starting a new job, moving, and being around family and friends (and all of the good/bad drama that's related to that). Too many problems have been solved with monies, and we have definitely succumbed to a bit of a consumer mindset when kitting out our new home, purchasing a propane grill, enclosed fire pit, some furniture, etc. The mentality has been that we want to make our home comfortable enough that we enjoy spending time and can have friends and family visit instead of going out all of the time. These are things that we had in the past and used them very often. It's still at odds with the ERE way.....

There is also a strong sense that my ere wheaton level has taken a .5-1 level hit over the past few months, and I need to start thinking more in terms of systems, yields, and flows again.

Money will be coming in rather steadily over the coming months, and our financial goal is to make sure we're saving/investing at least 2/3rds of it. There is also a strong desire to obtain some items (ideally BIFL type stuff), that will be used to enjoy the next phases of our adventure. Since we got rid of everything to travel, it's kind of like starting from scratch. But finding the balance between obtaining things that will bring our lives value and at the same time embracing the minimalist mindset that gave us courage to leave paid work for an undetermined period of time.......that will be a tight rope to walk.

This is mostly incohesive rambling as I struggle mentally with my actions vs. desires.

basuragomi
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by basuragomi »

Housing is a topic I keep circling back to over and over as well. Housing is nowhere close to liquid on a local scale which makes it challenging to fit into a specific lifestyle without consumerist band-aids. One tactic I use is to hedge rent with housing REITs, but it isn't a real solution.

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Ego
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by Ego »

Sorry to add to your ramblings with some of my own but we are in similar circumstances so.... here goes.

I am always tempted by BIFL stuff as well and since I typically find things very inexpensively I tend to accumulate a lot while we are here. Then when we get ready to go again I am faced with the prospect of selling or storage. On one occasion we stored most of our stuff and learned an interesting lesson.

One of the best things about this lifestyle is how it encourages change, growth and reinvention. Each time we come back we are altered by the experiences of the previous year. How much of that change "sticks" depends on a number of factors, one of which is the stuff we decided to keep.

Having lots of bike tools and supplies encourages one to be a cyclist or a bike repair person. Having beer brewing equipment or boxes of economics books or half-completed furniture refinishing projects or a high-maintenance classic car or a subscription to a genealogy research site.... predetermines how future-you will spend his time. The sheer fact that I have a tuxedo in my closet causes me to be slightly more interested in events that require a tuxedo.

In other words, the stuff that past-you decided to keep makes changes to future-you less indelible than a clean slate would.

suomalainen
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Re: Semi-ERE Year 3 - Wanderlust Prevails

Post by suomalainen »

Personally, I am very interested in when we see the "we're having a baby" post.

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