Touching FIRE - Hrodwulf´s Journal
Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2021 6:16 am
I´ve been lurking at the shadows of these foruns since 2015. I read and read the stories here and they amused and taught me much. To see others on the same path for freedom as me, to know I am not the only one crazy enough to tackle such an unorthodox path has been helpful. By pure chance I returned here these last feel days. No, it was not chance alone. The real reason is I am almost at the end of the tunnel. I am so close to retire early, to touch FIRE, the most important goal of my life for the last 7 years.
The bright light outside this tunnel doesn´t hurt my eyes anymore. 7 years of walking this dark path to get out of the rat´s race gave me doubts, but faith in the process kept me going. In walking blind, I slowly saw the bright dot many miles away. It got bigger as the years passed, and I did my homework as a good boy. Save here, don´t spend there, cut expenses, don´t buy a dime of chocolate wrapped in a $100 package.
Even after all my effort, despair hit me. That guiding light lost its intensity to the point it vanished before my eyes. I saw the pandemic crashing the markets. I saw my savings going down, but I waited. I knew they would bounce back in the long term. They did, but that´s when I realized the tunnel was again dark. My account numbers were back where they were, still, the purchasing power of my third world currency got a 40% devaluation in comparison to the US Dolar. In a matter of weeks, all my years of saving had lost half their value. I felt half as rich. I´d need to double my retirement target if I wished to retain the same lifestyle. The initial 10-year plan to early retirement would take at least 15 years now. This was the light vanishing at the end of the tunnel.
My head bowed, but my feet kept doing what they grew so accustomed to: walk forward towards the light. Almost a year went by, and I noticed the light returning. The tunnel was not longer, I had only witnessed night for the first time since I got here. A new day dawned and everything was like before. Since I didn´t stop moving, I was closer to the exit. Some of my bets during 2020 turned into huge profits. The 10-year turned 15-year plan now looked closer to a 7-year plan. The feeling of distant future became the feeling of now. I stretched my arm and I could touch the light outside. I was at the tunnel´s exit. Yet, something unexpected happened.
The light was warm. The longer I held my arm outside, the harder my skin burned. I touched FIRE, but could I stand outside without the protection of the roof above me? I read here people talking about their retired lives. Some turned back to the tunnel because staying out was not as productive as they dreamed. Their voices echo in my head as I decide if I should quit the rat´s race or not...
This is my story. I am about to touch FIRE with my whole body. Or should I wait a while longer? Doubt surrounds me because I know my tunnel will close the moment I step outside and I´ll be left alone in the Sun. My career will be over once I quit. If I want to get back to "normal 9 to 5 life" again, I´ll have to find another tunnel. I plan on detailing here the highlights of my journey. The Universe is my witness of how some of the journals here kept my morale up along the way.
I am a pretty boring person myself, but I was lucky to live and do some interesting things during my last 7 years. Just to tease, I lived within an indian village at the border of Venezuela and Brazil, I spent more than a year living in the Amazon Jungle - literally IN the amazon jungle, - and I lived in many different regions of my country, Brazil. All the while saving for retirement, i learned minimalism and read all sorts of subjects like nutrition, stoicism, sleep, zen, etc. My path to FIRE made me who I am today. As I draw near the end of this huge goal, I wonder if I am ready to embrace all the freedom that comes with it. Still, there is a part of me that wants to tie some knots before I leave. We will see how things progress.
I know I spoke in riddles and analogies, but as this journal grows, I´m sure I´ll give you more details. I hope I got somebody´s interest in what´s to come. See ya around.
The bright light outside this tunnel doesn´t hurt my eyes anymore. 7 years of walking this dark path to get out of the rat´s race gave me doubts, but faith in the process kept me going. In walking blind, I slowly saw the bright dot many miles away. It got bigger as the years passed, and I did my homework as a good boy. Save here, don´t spend there, cut expenses, don´t buy a dime of chocolate wrapped in a $100 package.
Even after all my effort, despair hit me. That guiding light lost its intensity to the point it vanished before my eyes. I saw the pandemic crashing the markets. I saw my savings going down, but I waited. I knew they would bounce back in the long term. They did, but that´s when I realized the tunnel was again dark. My account numbers were back where they were, still, the purchasing power of my third world currency got a 40% devaluation in comparison to the US Dolar. In a matter of weeks, all my years of saving had lost half their value. I felt half as rich. I´d need to double my retirement target if I wished to retain the same lifestyle. The initial 10-year plan to early retirement would take at least 15 years now. This was the light vanishing at the end of the tunnel.
My head bowed, but my feet kept doing what they grew so accustomed to: walk forward towards the light. Almost a year went by, and I noticed the light returning. The tunnel was not longer, I had only witnessed night for the first time since I got here. A new day dawned and everything was like before. Since I didn´t stop moving, I was closer to the exit. Some of my bets during 2020 turned into huge profits. The 10-year turned 15-year plan now looked closer to a 7-year plan. The feeling of distant future became the feeling of now. I stretched my arm and I could touch the light outside. I was at the tunnel´s exit. Yet, something unexpected happened.
The light was warm. The longer I held my arm outside, the harder my skin burned. I touched FIRE, but could I stand outside without the protection of the roof above me? I read here people talking about their retired lives. Some turned back to the tunnel because staying out was not as productive as they dreamed. Their voices echo in my head as I decide if I should quit the rat´s race or not...
This is my story. I am about to touch FIRE with my whole body. Or should I wait a while longer? Doubt surrounds me because I know my tunnel will close the moment I step outside and I´ll be left alone in the Sun. My career will be over once I quit. If I want to get back to "normal 9 to 5 life" again, I´ll have to find another tunnel. I plan on detailing here the highlights of my journey. The Universe is my witness of how some of the journals here kept my morale up along the way.
I am a pretty boring person myself, but I was lucky to live and do some interesting things during my last 7 years. Just to tease, I lived within an indian village at the border of Venezuela and Brazil, I spent more than a year living in the Amazon Jungle - literally IN the amazon jungle, - and I lived in many different regions of my country, Brazil. All the while saving for retirement, i learned minimalism and read all sorts of subjects like nutrition, stoicism, sleep, zen, etc. My path to FIRE made me who I am today. As I draw near the end of this huge goal, I wonder if I am ready to embrace all the freedom that comes with it. Still, there is a part of me that wants to tie some knots before I leave. We will see how things progress.
I know I spoke in riddles and analogies, but as this journal grows, I´m sure I´ll give you more details. I hope I got somebody´s interest in what´s to come. See ya around.