Wandering Money Pig - A journey of early retirement and FIRE (financial independence retire early)

  Highpoint Scenic Vista and Recreation Area, Wrightsville, PA My wife and I have lived 14+ years in the state of Pennsylvania.  Being that I’m a wandering soul, I’ve always sought out beautiful and scenic spots wherever I go.  My passionate hobby is researching places to visit by using Google searches.  I usually find a scenic place and a place to eat nearby.  Traveling and eating are two of my favorite things in life, along with talking about money matters!   Pennsylvania has its share of so many beautiful spots, which we will be sharing today.  All these scenic spots are located with an hour’s drive from each other, so you can probably do all three spots in one day.  All three of these spots also share their commonality with having the Susquehanna River as its main feature.   Top 3 scenic vistas we would like to recommend are: Highpoint Scenic Vista and Recreation Area: Highpoint Scenic Vista and Recreation Area is located in the town of ...

  Don’t give up, always dream for a better future! Nelson Mandela:  “The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.” My wife and I are recent early retirees at ages 51 and 48.  We’ve been slow traveling with our traveling companion Toby, a 13 pound Pomeranian dog since our early retirement in August 2020.  We’ve spent a month or longer in various destinations across the eastern parts of the United States, visiting Ocean City (Maryland), Atlantic Beach (North Carolina), Claysburg (Pennsylvania), and the Poconos (Pennsylvania). In this post, I’d like to share my thoughts on how tough childhood impacted my current self in life and in pursuing financial independence and retiring early. I didn’t have a good childhood.  Before immigrating to the United States in 1981 (I was 9 years old), my family lived in a one room studio with no modern appliances or a bathroom.  Our bathroom was a combination outhouse (for doing our ‘...

  View of Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City  My wife and I had the pleasure of visiting Quebec City, Canada when we lived in New York City.  It is a decent drive as it took us close to 10 hours to get there.  Quebec City is located about 520 miles north of NYC.   Quebec City is the capital city of province of Quebec, Canada.  It is home to over 500,000 residents.  Quebec City has the distinction of being the only walled city in North America.  Old Quebec (Vieux Quebec) is designated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.   The name ‘Quebec’ is originally an local Indian tribe (Algonquin) word for ‘where the river narrows’ as St. Lawrence River narrows around the city and Cape Diamant.  Quebec City is home to such landmarks as the Chateau Frontenac which dominates the city skyline and the Citadelle, an intact fortress and active military base.   My wife and I picked Columbus Day weekend (October) to visit Quebec City.  The itinerary had...

  New York City, NY F. Scott Fitzgerald:  “The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and beauty in the world.” Both my wife and I had lived in New York City for over 20 years.  We went to school there, fell in love there, worked there, and lived there for a very long time.  Even if we no longer live in New York City these days, we still go there to visit our family.  We left there over 18 years ago, but it’s like we never really left... In this post, I’d like to share our thoughts about New York City and our pros and cons. I was 9 years old when my family immigrated from South Korea to New York City.  We settled initially in Astoria (Queens) on a third floor walk-up apartment building.  My first recollection of New York City from my vantage point in Astoria, would be the New York City skyline. I would walk out a block or two, then I’d be able to see all those high r...

  Pinnacle Overlook, Pennsylvania  My wife and I are recent early retirees at ages 51 and 48.  We’ve been slow traveling with our traveling companion Toby, a 13 pound Pomeranian dog since our retirement in August 2020.  We’ve spent a month or longer at various destinations throughout the eastern parts of the United States, and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. In this post, I’d like to share my thoughts on finding a purpose after your retirement. Getting to early retirement gave us a goal during our accumulation phase of our journey to achieve financial independence.  We were totally focused on reducing our expenses and saving much as we could towards our retirement. Although we read about and discussed how we were planning on living our lives after retiring early, we didn’t really know what retirement was actually going to be like...It’s like the saying goes, “No plan survives first enemy contact.”   Our initial plan called for two main t...

  Vdara Hotel, Las Vegas (entrance area) My wife and I had visited Las Vegas on numerous occasions.  I had visited five times while my wife had visited three times, up until the last trip.  When we decided to go on a vacation, we again decided Las Vegas was the right destination for the both of us. Las Vegas is a desert oasis that is home to nearly 2.7 million people.  Over 45 million visitors have stopped over at Las Vegas in 2019.  It is the most exciting city west of New York City, and it certainly earns its moniker of ‘Entertainment Capital of the World’! I started going to Las Vegas in 2001 when COMDEX trade shows were still being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  This was right after 9/11 happened. COMDEX was held in November of that same year. I remember going to the airport with trepidation and worry.  New York City was still reeling from the aftermath of 9/11.  There were still cleanups going around downtown Manhattan.   From...