A day in the life of an early retiree: Binge watching in the afternoon and watching the rain in the evening…
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| Myrtle Beach, SC |
Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Life is a journey, not a destination.”
On February 4th, a Friday, my wife and I were binge watching a new Amazon Prime TV series Reacher. What’s even remotely interesting about this statement is that we were doing this on a typical workday. In our previous life (working 40 hours per week like most people), the idea of binge watching would only be possible during long holiday breaks between Christmas until New Year’s Day.
During that week (or more like 8-10 days when counting the weekends), we would chill at home, and veg out, doing absolutely nothing but watch movies or tv shows, with snacks by our sides. That used to be our annual ritual during the holidays.
We would catch up on movies we had missed, or rewatch some of our favorite movies/tv shows. What we remember the most about those carefree week off from work is that we loved that we were doing absolutely nothing at all, without worrying about work for that entire time off.
Fast forward to now, and we’re still doing the same thing, except now, we’re doing this any day we choose. It no longer has to be only over the holiday break, or when we would be on vacation for a week. Because everyday is a day off (or a vacation day), we can totally do as we please! This ability to do whatever we want, and when we want, is one of the greatest perks of early retirement.
A workday, like a Friday, would’ve been spent at work, dragging through the day, waiting for the day to be over. As everyone who works for a living knows, Friday is the happiest day out of the entire work week, as the weekend would be coming!
On some lucky occasions when we took off that day, we would most likely be so tired that we wouldn’t be able to binge watch the entire day. Most likely, we would sleep late, eat breakfast, then just tune out for hours, trying to get our brains to shut off and shut out work…
Even on our days off (or time off), our brains would still work overtime, rehashing things that happened over the work week. Stress, in all its form, was too much to bear when we worked full time.
Thanks to early retirement, we can now do what we were only able to do when we had a good 7-10 days off from work. For that we are really grateful…
On a side note, for those of you who are interested in knowing whether or not we liked the TV show Reacher, the answer is a resounding yes! We are both fans of Lee Child’s book series Jack Reacher. We must’ve read at least 12-15 books in this series. He is one of my favorite authors these days for sure…
The show is an awesome adaptation of the book to TV series. There are moments that are so similar and familiar to the book, that any fan of Jack Reacher books will surely appreciate it. We ended up watching the entire 8 episodes within a 24 hour period, and loved every one of them! On my rating system, I’d give it 4 paws out of 4 paws!
Sure, we were tired and weary from binge watching, but we loved it! It brought us back to those holiday breaks when we did the same. The only difference nowadays being totally free from worrying or thinking about work, and thinking about the upcoming ‘rat race’ about to happen all over again, come early January…
After binge watching, our brains were fried, so we got some shuteye after lunch. Of course, if you know me by now, I take afternoon naps every day when I’m home, and not exploring a place. This isn’t anything new, BUT we certainly could use the nap especially after finishing the series!
That same day, we got rain in South Carolina where we were staying, at around 5 p.m. Our pack (my wife, myself and our Pomeranian) sat out in the covered back porch and enjoyed the rain coming down for about 30 minutes. My wife and I took turns holding our spoiled rotten prince Toby, and he seemed to like it. He stayed where he was and was enjoying the smell of rain (and of wet earth).
We both sat, using another chair to use as leg rests, to really immerse ourselves in the rain. We loved the rain pattering the ground and the patio. We loved the sound of rhythmic tapping of rain as it hit the rain gutters, but more so, the louder sound of water gushing out from the rain gutters.
The smell changed all of a sudden, to something earthy and woodsy. We closed our eyes, sniffing the air like Toby. There was a breeze that evening and we can smell various things: smell of diesel fuel coming from a truck idling the engine, smell of rain as it interacts with the ground and the plants, and the smell of food, wafting through the air to our patio.
We were totally in tune with our surroundings…
We looked at the dark, but still able to make out, the faint silhouette of the tree line directly in front of us near the golf course, and we loved it. We also loved the light coming from the lit condos directly to our right, brightening the area around it, allowing us see the raindrops…
It’s these little moments that we truly are taking our time to enjoy, since our early retirement. What may seem trivial to some people, is really magical and beautiful when one knows how to appreciate it fully. Life is full of these little moments and if you don’t stop to enjoy them, you’ll miss them completely…
In conclusion:
The reason for early retirement will probably vary from one individual to the next, but the idea of being able to do what you want, and when you want, is probably the same for most. Accumulating wealth is obviously important so you can retire. Don’t just concentrate on the tree branch, when you want to be focusing on the forest instead, that is, know why you’re working towards early retirement.
Is it to enjoy these little moments with your loved ones, like watching the rain? Is it to do what drives you after retirement, like a new career or a business idea? Is it to travel the world with your significant other, because you were so busy living your life?
There is no same answer for everyone. The only right answer is to know yourself and to know what you like to do. Know why you’re trying to achieve financial independence and know what makes you happy. The truth lies in knowing that so you can be ready to enjoy retirement when you get there…
It’s only when you figure out who you are, can you then truly enjoy the fruits of your labor!
Have discipline, work hard, save/invest the right way, budget, always budget, enjoy the process, and the journey. Enjoy when you’re accumulating wealth, enjoy your progress, then repeat!
Everything will be so worthwhile once you reach financial independence. You can choose to binge watch and watch the rain on a work day like us, or do whatever it is that makes you happy once you retire. Think about all the things you’ve always wanted to do but couldn’t. Have that goal in mind to get motivated!
Thank you all for reading!
Jake
Wandering Money Pig
Please check out our YouTube channel ‘Wandering Money Pig’ showcasing our travels and our Pomeranian dog! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3kl9f4W9sfNG5h1l-x6nHw
