I grew up in Montana, surrounded by the Rocky Mountains and the wide open spaces of the American West. My first bicycle was a purple Schwinn with a banana seat and monkey handlebars.
Those stinky long drop toilets encountered during family camping trips in the 70’s left their scars. As an 80’s teen, my idea of adventure was trekking across the local shopping mall. Luckily, that changed.
After some college craziness, I settled down and got a job in banking. I was your typical 90’s career climber focused on and nabbing the coveted corner office with a view of the City.
In 1995, an old high school friend came to visit. Unlike me, this guy was not wearing business suits and plotting his career advancement. He seemed to be having fun and following his own path in life.
Wake-up call! I quit my job in San Francisco, sold everything, and set off for Asia. After a year teaching English in Korea, I morphed into your typical Lonely Planet toting Southeast Asia backpacker. In Laos, I crossed paths with a skinny Frenchman on sabbatical. I thought his accent was charming and I got a kick out of the way he called a flashlight a torch and thought yoghurt was a proper desert.
A year later, I’d married the Frenchie and we were living with his parents. So, yeah, life’s bumpy sometimes.
Eventually we got proper jobs and moved to Germany (bye-bye in-laws). In our early thirties, hubby and I began plotting ways to become financially free. We dreamed of being full-time travelers. Today you’d say we were part of of the FIRE movement. In case you’ve never heard of it, F.I.R.E. stands for “Financial Independence, Retire Early.” The goal is to save and invest very aggressively—somewhere between 50–75% of your income—so you can retire sometime in your 30s or 40s.
If you’ve got a decent job (and don’t mind cutting out every possible non-free fun thing in life) it works.
After several years of serious saving, we quit our jobs in 2006.
Traveling by bicycle is the perfect way to see the world. We go at our own speed and have the freedom to explore spots far off the beaten path.
I graduated from college, got a job in banking, and joined corporate America. Normal 90’s stuff.
Then one fateful day in 1995, an old high school friend came to visit. Unlike me, this guy was not wearing business suits and plotting his career advancement. He was having fun and following his own path in life.
Wake-up call! I quit my job in San Francisco, sold everything, and set off for Asia. After a year teaching English in Korea, I morphed into your typical Lonely Planet toting Southeast Asia backpacker. In Laos, I crossed paths with a skinny Frenchman on sabbatical. I thought his accent was charming and I got a kick out of the way he called a flashlight a torch and thought yoghurt was a proper desert.
A year later, I’d married the Frenchie and we were living with his parents. So, yeah, life’s bumpy sometimes.
