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

  Dave Wenzel Tree House, Nay Aug Park, Scranton, PA When my wife and I (and our Pomeranian Toby) lived near the suburbs of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), one of our favorite pastimes was exploring the great outdoors with our dog.  Eastern Pennsylvania is blessed with beautiful lakes, serene rivers, rolling hills, famous Pocono Mountains, and tons of state/county/local parks everywhere in between. During a typical workweek, I would research potential locations to explore on the weekend.  It was, and still is (after early retirement), one of my favorite things to do.  Sometimes, researching a place to visit is arguably better than the actual trip.   It’s the thrill of the hunt, figuring out where our pack would hike or explore, that really got my blood pumping.  Like most worker bees, I lived for the weekend, thinking about visiting somewhere scenic outdoors so all of us can enjoy together, spending quality time together… We visited many great places during ou...

  Toby, our Pomeranian baby Anonymous:  “A companion is gone, but the memory lives on…” It is hard to fathom how fast time flies.  It has been over 2 years since we said our final goodbyes to our baby, our sweet, loyal Pomeranian Toby.  He was without a doubt, our absolute joy.   As my wife and I were traveling to the Great American Midwest state of Michigan during the month of March, I had almost forgotten the day our dog crossed over the rainbow bridge.  Had it not been my wife mentioning it, I may have missed it.   Humans, I think, are really selfish creatures.  We forget, both the good and the bad memories over time, and I think this was exactly what this particular selfish human was doing that day… I guess it’s good that we can move on from traumatic experiences over time, because otherwise, we will suffer for eternity thinking back and constantly rehashing those same experiences.  Why do we remember the bad memories so much better than ...

  Taughannock Falls State Park, NY During the month of October, my wife and I were very lucky to have stayed in the famous Pennsylvania Poconos region, thanks to a good friend of mine who agreed (again) to let us stay at his place.  We were really thankful and excited to be able to see incredible fall foliage that is the region’s calling card for generations of people. While we lived in the state of Pennsylvania, we made frequent trips to the above mentioned area with our trusted little furry creature, our Pomeranian Toby.  We would explore places like Jim Thorpe , hike the beautiful Pocono Environmental Education Center , and see the awesome Grey Towers .  We had so many great memories out there in the Poconos, our pack spending time together in the great outdoors. We still remember the happy smile of our dog as soon as he would get out of the car realizing he was in a new environment with all new smells, sights, and sounds.  He, just like myself, loved new env...