Early Retirement Week 2: The Vacation

by A Purple Life, posted in Early Retirement, Early Retirement Updates, Finance, Fitness, Food, Hobbies, Keto, Musings, Relationships, Spending, Travel
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Welcome to another installment of exploring what’s inside my head during the first few weeks of retirement! You’ve been warned 😉 …

The Retirement Update Schedule

Based on a few comments I received, I think I created confusion with my last post when I said I would be doing weekly and then monthly ‘retirement updates’, so here is my timeline for my blog posts all laid out. I am still posting every Tuesday until at least October 2021.

At that time, I’ll reassess if that’s a schedule I still want to maintain in retirement. If not, I’ll decide if I want to post at all or post less frequently and let y’all know what that schedule will be. But, until then, I will continue to be here every Tuesday and the posting schedule for the next few weeks is as follows:

10/27: Early Retirement Week 3 Update
11/03: Early Retirement Week 4 Update
11/10: Early Retirement Month 1: Ask Me Anything
11/17: TBD aka Whatever I Want To Talk About That Week
11/24: TBD aka Whatever I Want To Talk About That Week
12/01: TBD aka Whatever I Want To Talk About That Week
12/08: Early Retirement Month 2 Update

That’s the current plan. I was going to post 4 weekly updates and then switch to only checking in on my retirement thoughts monthly, but a few of you have requested additional weekly updates, so I’ll take that into consideration. If I decide to extend the weekly posts past 4, you will hear about it here 😉 . Alright, now that that admin stuff is out of the way, let’s get into it!

What Did I Do This Week?

I’ve continued to record what I’ve been doing every hour in my Google Calendar just for shits and giggles…maybe one day I’ll release that information, but since it mostly shows me napping, reading or tanning, perhaps I should keep it close to the chest to preserve my FIRE community cred 😉 . But, in that same vein, here are the productive things I did this week:

  • Initiated my 401k rollover to a Traditional IRA at Vanguard (I did a direct rollover to my Vanguard Traditional IRA – let me know if you’d like more info on that!)
  • Changed my Vanguard taxable dividends from being reinvested to being deposited into my checking account every quarter
  • Applied for WA health insurance (that is required to use my stopgap travel health insurance plan)
  • Attended a virtual ChooseFI Meetup
  • Started watching films that inspired my early retirement, starting with the classic Office Space
  • Went on the first vacation trip with just my partner to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
  • Surpassed my previous record for my longest vacation ever (2 weeks)
  • Domestic stuff like fixing the squeak in our front door with WD-40, installing a new router, figuring out our laundry machine and learning how to air dry clothes
  • Published 1 other post: Celebrating 5 Years With Republic Wireless: A Comprehensive Review 

This is definitely a shorter list than last week! I’m proud of myself – one step closer to the lying facedown on the floor retirement of my dreams! Maybe I should take beach vacations more often…

Physical

Sleep

Sleep has been going really well. It usually takes me a bit to settle into a new location (even a fancy Airbnb near the beach), but I didn’t have trouble falling asleep in our new Hilton Head digs. I woke up a few times throughout the first night because I was hot and went to turn on the AC, but otherwise it was smooth sailing.

This kind of chill approach to my previous nemesis (sleep) continued throughout the week. I’m starting to suspect that the stress I used to impose on myself to “go back to sleep immediately or you won’t perform as well at work tomorrow!” was actually not helpful and had the opposite effect 😉 . Knowing that I don’t have a set time I need to wake up and can take a nap whenever it fits my fancy, takes all the pressure off of sleep and I love it.

The ability to change plans is also an amazing one for my shut eye. For example, while at the beach, my partner and I decided before dinner one day that we would get up at 6am the next morning to walk to the beach and watch the sun rise over the Atlantic. Then 10pm rolled around when we were supposed to be in bed and we just…didn’t feel like it.

My partner was gaming like a loon and I had (happily) fallen down a YouTube rabbit hole. So we postponed our plans one day, stayed up late and had the time of our lives before awakening whenever we wanted the next day – spontaneity and flexibility, such wild concepts to my nerd brain 🙂 .

Naps

Naps were strangely lacking this week – maybe because I just slept as long as I wanted and generally lazed around, but I didn’t feel the need to nod off on the couch while watching an Anti-MLM YouTube video for the millionth time 🙂 . Maybe I’m finally catching up on all that sleep debt.

Food

Since we were on vacation, my food was (understandably) all over the place. My Mom kindly packed us some frozen keto meals, we got grocery pick up for the first time (it’s free during the pandemic and usually just $5!) and acknowledged that we were going to eat out a fair bit to check out the local talent. All that to say, my food has been varied, delicious and not always nutritious 🙂 and I’m happy with that.

Fitness

This was also mostly a fail while we were on vacation. I kept up my love of walking (including some fun sandy adventures), but nothing wild was done. I thought about replacing my pull up bar goal with push ups and then…didn’t feel like it. Oops 🙂 .  Remembering to improve my posture has been going well though!

Tanning

By the end of the first full day in our beachside Airbnb, I had figured out where the sun was during each section of the day so I could follow it around the house. Luckily, most of the day it was on a large back porch we had on the property so I soaked up the sun there when I wasn’t on the beach enjoying the direct sunlight.

Mental

Learning

Learning about the world around me is still going splendidly so let’s dive into Fun Facts Nobody Asked For!

  • After some back and forth, I learned what the giant 5″ spider hanging out in our carport is: A Banana Spider (Google at your own peril)! I had incorrectly identified it as a Joro Spider from East Asia which strangely has been seen around Georgia (though I see did one of those later in the week during a walk!)
  • I learned that only oak trees have acorns
  • I became even more of a birder and identified Blue Jays, a giant flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds and a Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • I asked around about how to identify birds through sound and was given the amazing suggestions of the (free!) Audubon Bird Guide App by @hippie_finance for general identification and the (also free!) BirdNET App by @Seriiiously. That app actually listens to your surroundings to identify bird sounds – SO COOL!!! With those apps I identified a Brown-Headed Nuthatch, Carolina Wren and a Pileated Woodpecker in the backyard and a flock of Wilson’s Plovers and Brown Pelicans at the beach!
  • I learned that Hazelnuts and Olives grow on trees (Whaaat?!)
  • I learned that a bird in Georgia is called a Tufted Titmouse…and snickered about it for way too long (yes…I am a child 🙂 )
  • I became obsessed with the Spanish Moss that hangs on trees around Hilton Head and learned that Spanish moss has no roots, but instead soaks up water from the air and that because they absorb materials from the air they are susceptible to air pollution and can serve as an indicator of bad air quality. The moss was also used by humans in the late 1800s/early 1900s to stuff furniture and car seats – random!
  • I made a friend while bird watching: A Green Anole gecko looking thing! It crawled onto the bench I was sitting on in our backyard and hung out for a while
  • I continued my stargazing obsession and identified my favs Mars, Saturn and Jupiter in the South Carolina sky while being super confused where the moon was until I realized it’s a New Moon!
  • I learned that the word “extant” means the opposite of extinct
  • I had an encounter with a Black Widow Spider (it was in a web that I didn’t see that was connected to my porch chair) and did some googling to combat my fear and learned they rarely bite humans and they are venomous, but their bites don’t usually kill people. Phew – logic and data made me feel better!
  • I discovered that the small brown pellets on beaches are Ghost Shrimp Poop…I had assumed it was crab poop my whole life. The more you know 😉

Creativity

Creativity is still firing on all cylinders! I’ve been more curious (as you can see above) and more inspired to write than ever. For example, I usually write 2-3 sentence film and TV show reviews every once in a while on my Instagram. But then this happened:

I was writing notes so furiously that my typing was shaking the coffee table. I had way more to say than I expected, so my first ‘thoughts on a film’ post is coming out…sometime in the future. Set deadlines and retirement don’t mix 😉 .

Time Dilation

This is something new that I’ve been contemplating. I used to think that a month was a LONG time. When a month was the length of a work project, it sounded more like a century. However, when a month was the length of time we stayed in a Seattle Airbnb, it completely flew by (even when I was working). That’s why I mentioned we’re thinking about changing our minimum slow travel Airbnb stays to 6 weeks (and possibly get a discount for doing so…TBD 😉 ).

My perception of time is changing and it’s so weird. I used to do SO much in one day – but it was all things in service of my clients – things that I would not be able to remember a year later. Now time seems to fly by (cause I’m having fun?…) BUT I also have SO many more memorable moments.

I used to have maybe one memorable moment a month and now it feels like I have one a day. Either it’s something that makes my Mom and I split our sides laughing while on a walk or something my nephew does that makes me and my SIL smile. There’s so much more happening and it makes my days feel full – even though they’re not ‘full’ in a ‘my Outlook calendar is packed’ kind of way.

I do not have a set schedule or any ‘hard stops’ (feel free to play a corporate bingo drinking game if you’re so inclined – I won’t be saying much of that nonsense I promise). I guess I thought time would move more slowly because I have ‘less going on’, but in actuality, I have more, IMPORTANT things going on.

I’ve seen my Mom more in the last 2 weeks than I have in almost a year. I’ve seen my SIL/BIL more in these last 2 weeks than I have in the entire time I’ve known them….all 12 years of it. My time is full of memorable moments that wouldn’t fit in a work calendar.

Money

Ah money – maybe this should be a whole section since I suspect this is what most of you are here for 😉 . I am shocked to report that I have continued to not even care about money. I haven’t been checking my YNAB before paying unexpected costs that are serious and less serious (see below).

More serious:

Less serious:

I was curious if this reaction to not caring about my budget was a passing fancy that only hit me the first week of retirement, but it has continued – even while I’ve dropped hundreds on a rental car with an unexpected $200 deposit charged to my account, even while ordering fancy mocha drinks for breakfast and adding a hefty tip at all times. I really don’t give a shit about my budget, but when I did check it for this post – all this spending has barely moved the needle.

Living in a tiny house instead of a villa and galavanting around the American South instead of Australia and New Zealand (as planned) has really opened up my budget possibilities. I don’t have to watch it closely because even when I spend lavishly, it really hasn’t made a dent. I’m curious to see if this feeling continues or if the budget miser I expected myself to be will show her green eyeshade covered head 😉 .

Emotional

Reflections On Stress

For basically as long as I can remember, I’ve felt stressed and that stress felt like a weight on my chest and a tenseness in my shoulders. I had to actively think about moving my shoulders down from around my ears. And here’s the weird part: I literally haven’t felt that feeling since I quit – AT ALL.

This has made me think that there might be different kinds of stress because stressful shit has happened during my retirement – like getting pulled over by cop as I mentioned above or family drama that made me cry or having to swerve around a recliner that was dropped by a truck on the highway after I had not driven for almost a year.

Regular life can be stressful, but stress doesn’t feel like it used to. I haven’t experienced anywhere near my ‘normal’ amount of stress that I had while working and that’s been absolutely amazing. Everything in comparison to that has actually seemed easy – probably because I’m tackling the emotional fallout instead of burying it or trying to handle everything at once (which for me at least just…doesn’t work).

Besides the unique situations above, the ways my life are stressful are understandably related to this pandemic. I may be at the beach this week, but whenever I leave my home, I’m dodging people who are usually not wearing masks despite the fact that Hilton Head has a mask requirement in place.

My partner has tried to combat my fear with the facts that the chances of catching COVID outside with this serious ocean breeze while staying 6 feet away from people as much as we can is quite low, but the anxiety is still there 🙂 . So after getting back from our people filled beach adventure, I sat on our Airbnb’s back deck and watched squirrels play around the Spanish Moss covered trees and tried to identify the new bird songs I was hearing. So, in summary, life’s not perfect – but it IS better than it’s ever been 🙂 .

Conclusion

So that’s what I got up to this week! This post is still a monster, but based on last week’s retirement update feedback, it seems like y’all aren’t scared of monster sized posts so I didn’t try to edit myself too much 🙂 . Let me know if there is anything else you’d like to hear about!

We’re now halfway through my planned 4 weekly retirement update series. I’m considering extending it because I’m enjoying it so much – let me know if you’d be down for that as well 🙂 . Thank you for being here!

If you’re interested in the other weekly retirement updates I’ve written, they’re all here:

Weekly

  1. Early Retirement Week 1: The Freak Out
  2. Early Retirement Week 2: The Vacation
  3. Early Retirement Week 3: The Whiplash
  4. Early Retirement Week 4: The Heartbeat
  5. Early Retirement Week 5: The Election
  6. Early Retirement Week 6: The Trophy
  7. Early Retirement Week 7: The Train
  8. Early Retirement Week 8: The Challenge
  9. Early Retirement Week 9: The Question
  10. Early Retirement Week 10: The Game
  11. Early Retirement Week 11: The Recharge
  12. Early Retirement Week 12: The Holiday

How was your week?

40 thoughts on “Early Retirement Week 2: The Vacation”

  1. Hi Purple! Thanks for clarifying your blog plans, and here’s one vote for continuing past October 2021 even if you reduce your frequency. I’m glad you’ll let us know what to expect 🙂 I find it so helpful to hear what the post-retirement experience is like. One of my biggest concerns is that I’ll have more anxiety about spending so it is great to hear that hasn’t been the case for you despite some of the unexpected costs!

    Reply

    1. Hi! I’m so glad I could help clarify after causing the initial confusion 😉. Also good to know you like knowing what to expect. I can be more transparent about my blog schedule plans in general (when I know them in advance – that isn’t always the case haha).

      That’s obviously a fair concern and I really did expect to be laser focused on money. It’s weird how my relationship with money has changed as my net worth has increased… maybe I should write about that too 🙂 .

      Reply

  3. My experience is 6-7 weeks in a place gives you more time to really know and enjoy the place. I say 6-7 because at 6 I find myself wanting to stay longer, and at 7 I feel the need to move on, until the last moment, at which point I want to stay again. However, when I leave at 7, I am happy to have moved on!

    Reply

  4. Oh, your analysis of stress and how it shifted after quitting has me reconsidering continuing to work after FI. I feel that ever-present stress even in a job I like, and as you said “for as long as I can remember.” I’m glad things are going so well for you, and that budget stress hasn’t replaced work stress. Reading your reflection, it seems as if everything just got better!

    Reply

    1. Everything did indeed get better 🙂 . And WOAH those are some big reflections! But for me that’s definitely the case – there’s no level of my old career that would remove that baseline work stress. It’s built into the fabric of the job. Excited to hear what you decide!

      Reply

  6. Totally true on stress. I had a bit of an argument about this with my yoga teacher, who argued stress is natural. There are two kinds of stress I think – the acute stress (ie, oh shit a bear run away!) and chronic stress (like the work kind). I think what you’re experiencing in retirement is the more natural acute stress – it sucks in the moment but doesn’t hang over your head like the sword of Damocles. Work stress is that sword.

    And the chronic variety is what leads to sleep loss. It’s really hard to deal with, other than to remove the sources of stress.

    I had a similar experiment with de-stressing in 2018 when I went to yoga teacher training in Mexico. I completely removed myself from my regular environment, all my work projects and deadlines were gone, and for nearly three weeks I did nothing but learn about yoga. I slept like a baby. Eight hours every night, straight through. And though I still had minor stresses, like trying to complete my assignments and do well in the class, it didn’t compare to the Sword of Damocles that typically hung over my head as assignment deadlines loom.

    The sleep stayed for a while but as work stress built up, my sleep declined. It’s still currently hit or miss, but thanks to some relaxation techniques and some occasional green assistance I can usually get back to sleep. Usually.

    So there are some real health benefits to FIRE as well! But it also makes one think: couldn’t we just structure jobs so that they’re not completely stressful all the time?

    Reply

    1. I do think it’s possible to structure jobs in a way that they’re not stressful all the time. Europe seems to be doing a better job at it – 3 months off, a focus on family that isn’t just lip service and similar productivity to the US. Wild stuff.

      I think you’re totally right about the different types of stress. I need to read more about it and reflect more on it. The kind of stress I felt at work didn’t feel like anything else, even when I was trying to be the best at school. Maybe because it’s linked to a paycheck and our ability to feed ourselves 😉 .

      Reply

      1. What a good point, that gosh darn “focus on family” and let me add on the “wellbeing of their employees” being just lip service is such a stressor!

        Being constantly on the lookout because we can’t trust that their actions will actually match their words is EXHAUSTING. It’s not that hard to actually be clear in your promises to us and follow through, yet apparently I’ve only had one great boss out of many who truly did her best to do that, and the organization did not make it easy for her to do so.

        These problems go so deep into the work mentality in North America… I do see talk by different organizations of wanting to make things better but there is still a long way to go!

        Reply

        1. YES – such bullshit unfortunately 🙁 . I’m glad you had a boss that followed through, but UGH to organizations making it difficult. I’m going to hold out hope for progress 🙂 .

          Reply

  7. I for one LOVE your weekly retirement posts. Please keep it up if you have the inclination while still enjoying your best #sluglife. 😁

    Reply

    1. Yay!! I’m loving them too. I think I’ll continue them until I don’t feel like it anymore. So definitely more than 4!

      Reply

  8. Enjoy the honeymoon phase of retirement. It’s awesome. 😉
    I’m with you about stress. Life is just a ton easier without work stress. I think it’s cumulative. The amount of work + life stress just makes life harder than it needs to be. Especially since work is so stressful these days.
    Live it up!

    Reply

    1. Uh oh – that seems to imply this phase has an end. Now I’m scared 🤣 . Totally agree the stress is cumulative. When I think back to what I was dealing with at work only a few weeks ago I don’t know how I dealt with all the other stresses at the same time…or maybe that’s it. I didn’t deal with them, I buried them. And will do!

      Reply

  9. I love the idea that there could be different types of stress. Now I’m seriously curious if there have been studies on it– with stress seemingly integral to our current culture it wouldn’t be hard to find study participants.

    Once again reading this gives me a feeling of zen. I know that the tendency for most people is to bandy about how much they have to do, almost like a competition of who has it worse, and it’s such a nice change to read something where that ISN’T the central theme.

    So glad to hear your week 2 included surpassing your max vacation time (isn’t it wild that we can work for decades without taking more than 2 weeks off???) and I love that you added a Relationships section because that aspect is definitely something I’m interested in since my partner plans on working for a long time.

    Reply

    1. I’m super curious about it – if you find any interesting studies please let me know! I’m so happy this still gives you a zen feeling – I hope the next one is the same though it’s a bit of a doozy 🤣.

      And yes it’s absolutely ridiculous to work for a decade and never take more than 2 weeks. Technically I’ve actually never taken more than a week (my last boss just told me to take the second week without telling anyone. It would have been more than my PTO allotment).

      Good to know on the relationship section!! I’ll keep those insights coming.

      Reply

  10. I’m enjoying your weekly retirement living updates. I did some bird watching in the spring when we had several bird nests in the backyard. That was fun!

    Reply

    1. So happy you’re enjoying them and that sounds like a lovely time! I haven’t found any nests near us, but I suspect there are some. I should investigate!

      Reply

  11. This looks fun! My turn soon I hope…
    Was wandering if you will stay anonymous on the blog now that you are retired?

    Reply

    1. It was indeed! And I’m staying anon in retirement so I can always provide my exact numbers as an example. The alternative is stopping that just to show my face and name and I don’t think that would be as helpful.

      Reply

  12. These retirement posts are such a joy to read! I hope you find the inspiration to keep them coming for a while. Here are a few things I would be very interested to learn from you:

    I would love to read about how you guys find your perfect AirBnB’s, how you narrow down the search, and what criteria (price and otherwise) they have to meet.

    Do you have any hobbies that have lasted for more than a few months that you hope to dedicate more time to in the near future?

    Perhaps you can pick an upcoming month, do a spending breakdown for it and compare it to a typical month’s spending from your Seattle working days?

    Reply

    1. Yay! Thank you for telling me. I think I’ll have an interest in them for a while so I’ll keep them coming until that steam runs out!

      Thank you for these topics! I’ve saved them as post ideas. To answer them quickly: Airbnb – I usually look at price, location and if they often have monthly renters based on the comments. No old hobbies I want to dedicate more time to, but it seems like I’m accidentally finding new ones every day! I do annual spending posts and will be separating the averages to be based on where I’m living so you’ll be able to see that breakdown in December!

      Reply

  14. I didn’t realize your partner hadn’t retired too! Is he a remote worker? Is that why’s he able to travel around with you?
    I totally get the possible tension surrounding domestic duties. My husband and I are both unemployed at the moment but for a couple of months I had a contract gig that kept me very busy and I would definitely get annoyed if I felt like he wasn’t pulling his weight around the home with the domestic duties. Oops

    Reply

    1. Haha yeah he’s not retired yet. He’s worked remote his whole career and I did the last 4 years. He can travel wherever while working, but my job was weird and claimed I needed to be in Seattle despite being remote. Now that I quite we’re location independent!

      Haha oops indeed. It’s a weird situation since logically I get thinking the other person has more time, but I don’t think that means they should do more than 50%. It’s an evolving thought process though and obviously I’m biased 🤣 .

      Reply

  15. Tufted titmice are some of the most entertaining birds you will ever have the privilege to watch. When they come visit our feeders (we started with 1 and now have 6) they are daring little acrobats who handle the bigger birds without a problem and fly circles around the non-natives, like the house sparrows. Love your posts, the longer the better!! 🙂

    Reply

    1. Oh wow that’s awesome! I heard one in the forest yesterday, but didn’t see it. I’ll keep an eye out! They sound fascinating. And I’m happy to hear you like the long posts! I won’t hold back then 😉 .

      Reply

  16. I always vote for more posts!

    On a micro level, definitely work stress is a whole category of its own. Not just the stressors of each individual job but the stressor of having to pack in work and home life stuff and things that are actually important to you. Work always edges those things out. I feel it much more acutely during the pandemic because now I’m juggling 3x more work at work but also at home and just the inability to double my time to fit everything into a day alone frustrates me to no end. But on the weekends if I choose not to work, I find myself operating on a completely different plane of stress. I’m not wound up to a breaking point all day. I can do chores and LIVE and the minor annoyances stay minor.

    I do wonder how things will shake out on the home front for you in terms of an equitable split of chores and expectations for either partner. It’s gotta be hard to avoid the mindset of “I’m working but Purple isn’t so she should do X”.

    Reply

    1. Woohoo – good to know! I’ll keep them coming 🙂 . You’re totally right about stress. I’m sorry you’re doing 3x the work right now and hope that lets up. I’ll keep y’all posted on the relationship stuff. I’m confident we can figure it out. We’ve both been funemployed at different times and didn’t have the expectation that the other would do extra, even if they weren’t actively looking for a job. We’ll get there 🙂 .

      Reply

  17. Hi purple! Love your blog. It’s the only one I follow. I quit my job to start a business and this is my first week off and I get what you mean about having a lot of things to do. My business won’t really pick up until January so I have some time off in between.

    It’s interesting what you said about your partner. I definitely see that as potential conflict. I live with family and they do seem to think I’m more available for errands now that I’m not in the office. I’ve also wandered about how that would work with a partner if I’m ever able to retire early or just have more flexible hours with the business. Like I did not work this hard to save to be someone’s stay-at-home wife haha.

    Reply

    1. Oh wow Ruth – that’s a huge honor, THANK YOU! Congratulations on starting your own business – that’s exciting! And yep I’m totally with you. Maybe we should put “I didn’t work this hard to be your housewife” on a t-shirt or something 🤣 .

      Reply

  18. Hi Purple! I’ve noticed the time dilation since my partner and I both started working from home FT this March. Subtracting our commute has allowed to sleep 8+ hours nightly. I wonder how much adequate sleep reduces the experience of stress even while working the same job… Appreciate your musings! I look forward to reading more about how your relationships and feeding habits morph over this transition to early retirement.

    Reply

    1. That’s so interesting. I noticed something similar with I started WFH 4 years ago. So much time back! Which allowed me to finish my job tastes faster and have more time for my life. So lovely. And thank you for letting me know what topics you want to hear more about! I’ll keep y’all posted 🙂 .

      Reply

  19. Perhaps because I had a really rough week sleep-wise thanks to working til 10:30pm on Mon and 12am on Tues (ugh), I am so struck by your reflections on sleep! Particularly your point that you are sleeping better because you don’t feel pressure to get a certain number of hours in before an alarm AND you know you could nap if needed the next day. Sounds AMAZING. I also love your continued updates on what you’ve learned about the world around you! Excited to keep reading this series <3

    Reply

    1. Woah that’s a wild schedule – I’m sorry! I hope this week was better. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the series! Will keep them coming 🙂 .

      Reply

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