about

in my youth i was an avid backpacker. between school obligations i spent much of my time in the wild. i went to college, graduated, and did some menial work while i figured out what i wanted my career to look like. but i didn’t want a career. i just wanted to be outside.

i took jobs that allowed me to spend time outside, but they were either backbreaking work and/or payed so little i would have had to couch surf in order to save any money. eventually i landed an entry level job that payed well, in computing.

i had no formal computer science education, but technology came naturally to me. learning networks and systems filled my time for the next 10 years. i was known and respected. my career trajectory was to be envied. i stopped backpacking entirely.

eventually a company i worked for was bought by a multinational technology corporation. at the multinational i was no longer a person. i was just a number among hundreds of thousands. to the multinational it’s employees were assets and not people, and it treated them as such. 5 years go by. the job market is still suffering the effects of the 2008 financial crisis. raises are nonexistent. we’re told we’re lucky to have jobs.

after a particularly bad day doing uninspired work, i web search “how to retire early” and find among others:

• 1500 days to freedom
• afford anything
• jim collins
• mad fientist
• mr. money mustache
• your money or your life

i read and read and read.

i’ve always been a saver. i’ve been maxing out my 401k and roth IRA for almost my entire career, so i’m in a pretty good place financially. but now everything goes into overdrive. i am focused like i’ve never been before, i take side jobs and save every penny. a few short years go by and i hit the crossover point.

the financial news for the last five years has been about how the economic recovery can’t possibly last another year. i recalculate and work another year and a half before i tell my boss i’m quitting. my pay has been steadily declining for a decade due to the rising cost of healthcare and either no raises or raises that weren’t enough to cover the healthcare increases. i’m asked if i would reconsider for a salary bump. i politely decline. i’m 410. gone.¹