Western Red Cedar's Journal

[theanimal]

What a cool experience at The Shire! The scenery in those photos is amazing, I can only imagine how much better it looks in person. I hope you do end up staying out there for a full year at some point. I think you'd get a lot out of it..and I'd like to read about it

[2Birds1Stone]

Welcome to the DINK life. It really does accelerate things quite a bit.

LOVE the pictures from the homestead, can second theanimal's recommendation

[Western Red Cedar]

@theanimal and 2b1s - Thanks! The clouds, fog, and light were particularly compelling while I was up there. Spending some extended time up there is definitely high on the list. Even if I can't make a full year happen anytime soon, a nice 1-2 month retreat represents a great opportunity for reflection and relaxation.

Looking forward to the acceleration! DW had her first day yesterday and it seems like it will be a good fit.

[RFS]

I started a daily meditation practice again this week, as well as my gratitude journal. I'd let that slip and wanted to renew it in an effort to try establishing habits that support my mental health.

Hell yeah. I've been meditating every morning for almost 2 years, and it has changed my life immeasurably. I hope you stick with it- you are so worth it Plus, it is the ultimate act of goodwill. Not only for yourself, but for the people you care about in your life. You will become a more loving, more present, and less reactive version of yourself when you spend time with them.

I use The Waking Up App, by Sam Harris. For Westerners that grew up thinking meditation was exclusively for hippies, he is the best teacher. I happily pay $100/year for this app. I think in 5-10 years, I may get to the point where I can do it on my own. But I am still a white belt at meditation, and I greatly benefit from the sessions. I'd be happy to send you a 30-day trial of the app- feel free to send a PM if you're ever interested.

[Western Red Cedar]

Thanks for the tip @RFS. We actually just renewed our subscription to Headspace for another year on a black Friday sale. DW really likes Headspace and I'm quite happy with it as well.

Plus, it is the ultimate act of goodwill. Not only for yourself, but for the people you care about in your life. You will become a more loving, more present, and less reactive version of yourself when you spend time with them.

I've been pretty consistent with my practice over the last month and I've definitely noticed what you've described. I've actually experienced it most with work colleagues and my management. I'm quite fortunate to avoid the toxicity of MegaCorps (or BoringCorps) and most of the people I work with are hard-working, dedicated public servants. I'm not sure if it is the gratitude journal or the meditation - probably a combo of both - but I'm getting better at compartmentalizing my stress, appreciating the challenges of my colleagues, and collaborating from a better headspace.

Of course, I have a bit of a lull in my major project and some time off for the Holidays, so that obviously helps as well.

[Western Red Cedar]

“We move through the world on paths laid down long before we are born. From our first breath, there is a vast array of structures already in place - ‘spiritual paths,’ career paths,’ ‘philosophical paths,’ ‘artistic paths,’ ‘paths to wellness,’ ‘paths to virtue,’ - which our family, society, and species have provided for us….Just like physical paths, these abstract paths both guide and constrain our actions - they lead us along a sequence of steps, progressing toward our desired ends.”

“In the end we are all existential pathfinders: We select among the paths life affords, and then, when those paths no longer work for us, we edit them and innovate as necessary. The tricky part is that while we are editing our trails, our trails are also editing us.”

-Robert Moor

[mooretrees]

Stunning. Those purples and blues, wow.

[shaz]

That photo is happiness.

[mountainFrugal]

Excellent quote photo combo! On Trails by Moor was such a delightful read.

[Western Red Cedar]

Thanks all. @MF - Just finished On Trails on New Years Eve. Quite different than I expected but a fascinating and enjoyable book.

[Western Red Cedar]

January Update

Financial:

NW 456,066 (+ 19,126)

Ending the year by hitting a major milestone on our FI path felt great. We moved past 75% of our target number and still keep happily plugging away. DW worked briefly before a nice break for the holidays. It will be nice to add some extra momentum to the snowball as she starts working more regularly this month. I opted to max out my Roth IRA today for 2022.

Professional:

Things are going smoothly on the work front. The beginning of the month was busy and a little stressful, but a couple four-day weekends and some quiet days before the holidays were a great way to end the year. I have a couple weeks before my big project takes off again so I was able to wrap up some old projects or continue progressing on some smaller projects. Things will certainly be heating up over the next few months, with some major project milestones in early and late spring. I've got loads of vacation time so I'm going to do my best to actually use it, even if it means hanging out at home and reading or hiking. DW really likes her job thus far and enjoys the structure and purpose. Happy wife, happy life.

Health:

I've developed some tendonitis in one of my elbows so I've put lifting on hold as of about 10 days ago. Hopefully it heals up quickly and I can start again next month. My routine is typically pull/push/legs, and in hindsight I realized I was doing to many compound sets on the pull/push days. I followed compound lifts with isolated lifts for either my biceps and triceps. Overzealous and overtrained - hopefully an important lesson learned without too much damage done.

I'm looking at it as an extended de-load, but I've started doing more at-home ab exercises, yoga, and taking daily walks. I had DW take a bunch of measurements in late November. Most of them were the same, but I saw some growth in my deltoids and chest, and lost an inch on my waist. This kind of surprised me because I didn't eat very well over the holidays. I have been more deliberate about intermittent fasting. That combined with fasted walks on my lunch break may be a good combination for targeting fat loss. I'm hoping I'll be able to maintain a lot of the muscle gain I've made over the last six months by keeping my protein levels between 100-150 grams per day and eating clean. It is definitely a challenge for me to hit those protein numbers though.

I've been pretty good about broadening physical health habits into the mental health sphere. I've been meditating most mornings and doing my gratitude journal in the mornings and evenings. I got a digital copy of The Daily Stoic for $1.99 and will be adding a stoic reflection each morning to my routine. In December I completed 23 meditations and 47 gratitude journal entries.

Habits and Goals for 2022:

I realized reading other journals here that I've really been slacking. I've been using work as an excuse to procrastinate on goals and I sit in front of the TV too much as a numbing mechanism. I've only been averaging a book a month, and life is too short to read that little. Shoutout to @mountain frugal, AxelHeyst, and 2birds1stone (among others) for offering inspiration and meticulously tracking a bunch of different metrics. Thinking about it, looking into Getting Things Done, and reflecting on how my analog tracking of meditation, journals and muscle growth looked inspired me to set up a better system, at least as a trial, for 2022.

It is just a basic spreadsheet with a few tabs. The first tab is lists all of the goals and habits that reflect my ERE WOG or the list of things I want to work on over the year. They generally break down into health related topics (mental and physical), household necessities, and other hobbies (guitar, Spanish, reading). I've allocated basic times for each row and will record seven numbers in the first column each week for each activity on a daily basis. I read for 2.5 hours last night and my goal is 30 minutes, so I put in a 5 for that item.

I'm not trying to hit everything every day. After just a few days, I've noticed one of the most unexpected benefits is the behavioral nudge when I complete a task and mark it down, to then move on to another item on the list. I also have some of my bigger goals that I established for the year on my birthday down at the bottom of the spreadsheet as a reminder to keep thinking about them. These are things like an overnight bicycle tour, 3 epic backpacking destinations, video/photo courses, and international travel.

The second tab on the spreadsheet is focused solely on health metrics. Weight, BMI, and measurements (neck, shoulder width, chest, upper arm/delts, bicep/tricep, upper waist, lower waist, upper thigh, mid thigh, and calves). The third tab is just for notes. I'll probably reengineer the system at some point, but it feels a little more organized than scratching things out in a notebook. It is one of the only documents on my desktop so I see it any time I open my computer.

Other ERE Victories:

DW and I had probably our least consumerist Christmas ever. My parents just bought a half of a cow from a local farm and gave us a frozen roast, which is something we can use. My siblings respected our no gift request, with the exception of some really delicious smoked salmon my BIL made. DW painted a bunch of gifts for members of her family, and surprised me with a painting that fits me well. We did have a few presents to open from DW's family which was nice on Christmas morning. They mostly comprised of tea, a couple new mugs, sweets, and books. I've been actively trying to declutter and get rid of stuff, so it was great to keep things simple. I bought DW an Apple pencil so she could use the Procreate app more effectively and continue exploring digital art.

[Western Red Cedar]

One More Year?

DW finished her second week of work yesterday. She loves the new gig and say it is a lot easier than some of her previous jobs. We talked last night about our long-term plans. She still wants to slow-travel internationally, but we are thinking about putting it off until the summer of 2023 now. We aren't sure how open some countries may be by this summer, and because her job is a good fit, it would make sense to commit to another year. She has summers off, and with my 6+ weeks of vacation we could still do some really fun regional trips over the summer.

This plan has some obvious financial benefits as well. Aside from continuing to save, stash, and leverage compound interest, it also allows me to maximize my pension calculation. Every month I work at my current wage replaces 1 pension credit at a lower rate. DW also has access to a pension now, and needs another four years to vest in the system. Working through the middle of 2023 would give her the experience to come back a year or two later and get a similar position without too much trouble.

She doesn't make much money, but by ERE standards it is more than sufficient. The best part about all of this is that she finally has access to decent medical benefits. It is very similar to my own benefits. That solves one of the biggest challenges in my ERE/FI puzzle. I could leave at any time at our current spending levels now. I'm still planning on working through at least this summer to finish my big project and continue making money. We could start putting aside some money for property or a house, which would reduce our ongoing expenses significantly over the long-term. My FI budget is a bit lean, and I suspect it would be wise to add a bit of a buffer there. I've always thought flexibility and creativity would serve as my buffer, but money certainly doesn't hurt.

Although I'm not a big fan of staying in our current situation without working, I've started thinking more about some big adventures I could do. Things like riding my bike around the PNW or up into Canada, longer backpacking trips, hunting, fishing, and other projects. I suppose it isn't really OMY if we aren't at our number, but I feel like I'm swimming in those waters.

[2Birds1Stone]

It will never be the perfect time to travel!

These are times where you have to be fluid and adapt to changing circumstances. It's doubtful that things will return "to the way they were" any time soon. Make your decisions to leave based on your health, opportunity, and some faith in your abilities to course correct after some time has passed. OMY is not necessarily a bad thing. We ended up doing it (but similar to you, not at our $# yet as a household unit), but after taking some significant time off. I would highly encourage you to take a test run before you're at 25-33X. There are certain things you may enjoy doing while younger, and backpacking and roughing it a bit through some slow travel might be one of those.

We're also in identical boats wrt spouses work situations. DW has finally found her career stride after four years of underemployment followed by a forced break due to work related disability. After we returned to work she landed a gig that's both satisfying to her and financially rewarding. I want to avoid her feeling any regret for not seeing how it pans out due to my influence. While she's enjoying it and it's accelerating our timeline to FI, I have to figure out my own plan.

Please continue to share your thoughts on these topics as time goes on.

[Western Red Cedar]

It will never be the perfect time to travel!

These are times where you have to be fluid and adapt to changing circumstances. It's doubtful that things will return "to the way they were" any time soon. Make your decisions to leave based on your health, opportunity, and some faith in your abilities to course correct after some time has passed. OMY is not necessarily a bad thing.

Good advice @2B1S. I think the main impetus for OMY is to give DW an opportunity to enjoy some professional success. She had a rough 2021 so it will be nice for her to enjoy some structure, contribute to something meaningful, and receive positive feedback from colleagues. The monetary benefits of that strategy are also quite nice. I'm enjoying my work right now, so we'll see how things feel later in the year when my schedule and deadlines become more demanding. The most exciting part of her new job is that she has great benefits, so that relieves a huge mental burden that I had been carrying regarding my continued employment. I could basically pull the plug relatively soon, but I want to make sure I've set up an environment that will allow me to thrive without the structure and purpose that my work currently provides.

Travel restrictions are less of an issue in my mind, particularly because we would be quite content spending 3-6 months in Mexico, then heading south to Colombia and/or Argentina for 3 month stays. I don't think we would have too much trouble with that kind of itinerary right now.

I'm pretty keen to see how @AxelHeyst's trip works out, particularly in terms of cutting costs through workaway. I've been mentally budgeting $1,000 per person per month. That is close to what we averaged almost ten years ago, but we were targeting some pretty cheap countries like India, Nepal, and Guatemala. I tend to stress a lot more about money, and DW is more of a free spirit. A little wiggle room in the budget appeals to me, but I don't want to turn our trip into an endless consumer experience - I'd like have some balance in terms of building skills, volunteering, and doing other low-cost adventures like walking across Scotland or Spain.

[MBBboy]

I agree with above that there won't ever be a perfect time to travel - and a recent experience of a close friend has me thinking to go whenever you get a chance.

He's always been a very healthy and strong guy. Life going along swimmingly, married, kids, career, etc etc. Has a great home gym setup, spends a lot of time working out, out shooting and doing drills to prep for competition, etc.

And then out of basically nowhere, his spine is jacked up. Nothing happened per say, but he apparently has a disc issue. Pain for weeks and months, steroid shots, unable to walk or get out of bed. Ultimately culminates in a spinal surgery where they injected stem cells, which is apparently incredibly painful.

Recovers and life is good again - until a few weeks ago, where everything devolved overnight and he's back to square one. Now he's sort of day to day, talking to a bunch of doctors about next steps.

So don't take health for granted - do stuff while you know you're able.

[fiby41]

@MBBboy a colleague's friend offed himself a of couple months back as his spine injury's pain became unbearable.

[MBBboy]

@fiby41 That's awful

[Western Red Cedar]

I appreciate the suggestions and nudges to prioritize travel. One of the big lessons from the pandemic is that nothing is certain. I've always thought multiple months or years ahead of me. Lately, I'm trying to take things day by day and week by week.

------------------------

My work has been staffing up and it sounds like I'm going to drop about half of my regular clients. My supervisor will likely keep me on some of the more complicated cases, but my job should be a bit easier moving forward. I've been feeling great about work lately and quite grateful to continue working from home full time.

I've been really consistent with my meditation habit and have finally established a really nice morning routine. That, combined with 8 hours of sleep, really sets me up for a productive day.

I'm two weeks into my new tracking system with my habits and goals. It is going well and provides a little extra incentive to follow through on skills and habits I want to build and maintain. One unexpected side effect of the new system is that I'm starting to see homeotelic actions more clearly.

[Married2aSwabian]

Sounds like things are going well, WRC!

Honestly, I don’t know how I would have made it through the whole pandemic thing without daily mindfulness practice. It’s kind of like brushing my teeth now - just normal part of every day.

Any new backpacking trips planned?

[Western Red Cedar]

Honestly, I don’t know how I would have made it through the whole pandemic thing without daily mindfulness practice. It’s kind of like brushing my teeth now - just normal part of every day.

Regularly incorporating Yoga into my week has also been pretty powerful. I did it every day on my lunch break this week due to lots of snow and ice outside. It is a really nice complement to daily meditation and a good example of a homeotelic activity in my tracking system. I get the mental health benefits of 30-45 minutes of focused breathing, along with a nice Shavasana at the end. I usually also pick a class focused on either my core or loosening up tight hips, legs, and lower back muscles. I also feel like I'm improving an important skill/hobby that I want to continue working on in the future.

I really like daily walks on my lunch break, but I have to admit I feel a lot better after the Yoga sessions.

Any new backpacking trips planned?

Nothing too specific, but I have a list of hikes or trips that I would really like to do in the PNW. This is the time of year that I start digging through the guide books though. I talked to my brother about trying to get out for a 2-night trip. He has young kids and doesn't really get away much. The Hells Canyon Recreation Area has been on my list for many years now because you can hike it pretty early in the year. It is actually preferable to do it early before the Rattlesnakes are active. It is a long drive though which is why I haven't tried it yet. I'm probably most stoked on the idea of getting out for a multi-night, self-supported cycling trip. I had to put this on the back burner last year but I want to experiment with it and see how I like that kind of trip. I'm hoping it is enjoyable so I can do some longer trips via bicycle and limit carbon admissions on my future outdoor adventures.

Unfortunately, I'm anticipating a pretty hectic work schedule through the middle of the year as I try to wrap up my big project before the summer. If we stay in the PNW rather than pursuing international travel for the latter part of the year, I should have plenty of opportunities this summer with all of my vacation leave.

DW is currently using the car every day for work, but she experimented with the busses when the roads were particularly bad and it was fairly straight-forward. That means I can probably use the car and get out for a long weekend this Spring if I have a lull in my work schedule.