Motivation

2 Helpful Books That Are Great in Completely Different Ways

2 Helpful Books That Are Great in Completely Different Ways

Leave a Comment / Here's Why I'm Liking..., Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts, Health and Fitness, Life in Early Retirement, Motivation, Product and Service Reviews / /

I’ve always loved reading ever since I was a kid. I actually had a relatively big toy box that I kept in my bedroom closet. It was obviously meant for storing lots of toys, but I filled it completely with nothing books instead. I read so many books all the time and loved it. Yeah, I’m a nerd, but who cares? Over time though, life got in the way. Once I got to high school and college, reading what I […]

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3 Powerful Keys to Living a Healthier, Wealthier, Happier Life

3 Powerful Keys to Living a Healthier, Wealthier, Happier Life

8 Comments / Motivation, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Health and Fitness, Life in Early Retirement, Taxes and Financial Planning, Travel and Vacation / /

In 2018, we finally told our family and friends that we were moving to Boquete, Panama in 2019. That was a mixed bag of support and in some cases a big old dumpster fire. Obviously, there was some sadness that we were moving away to another country. But what was more interesting was that a lot of the feedback we got was about how dangerous it would be with drug cartels, human trafficking, and excessive violence. Here’s a little secret…

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6 Years of Early Retirement: What I've Learned About Life, Money, and Happiness

6 Years of Early Retirement: What I’ve Learned About Life, Money, and Happiness

16 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Blogging, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts, Health and Fitness, Motivation, Panama, Spending, Travel and Vacation / /

Today is the anniversary of my last day of work six years ago. At the end of the workday on December 31, 2018, I became free in a sense. That was the day my early retirement began. If you’ve dreamed about early retirement for a while like I did leading up to this, there’s a little surprise in store that you might not know… It’s not going to be exactly the way you envisioned. That’s because when we daydream or

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Privacy and Security: The Essential Guide to Reclaiming Your Digital Life

Privacy and Security: The Essential Guide to Reclaiming Your Digital Life

10 Comments / Consumer Protection, Here's Why I'm Liking..., Motivation / /

I spent the last 13+ years of my career in IT as a manager, but I’m still a techie at heart. Even now, almost 7 years into early retirement, I still enjoy keeping up with technology and tinkering with various parts of it. Over the past few years though, I continue to get increasingly concerned about how we don’t protect our data and identities in the digital world we live in. Privacy and security tend to get put on the

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Time Is Precious: Rekindling Relationships Is Now a #1 Priority

Time Is Precious: Rekindling Relationships Is Now a #1 Priority

11 Comments / Motivation, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts, Health and Fitness, Life in Early Retirement / /

Around 14 years ago, one of my closest friends told me he had been diagnosed with colon cancer. I was shocked by the news but he didn’t seem any different and I knew he’d be just fine. After all, he was in his mid-thirties like I was and it was just a hurdle to overcome and life would be fine again. But then it wasn’t. As the months progressed, he got worse and worse and the chemotherapy and radiation didn’t

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Why a Part-Time Job Might Be the Next Chapter in My Early Retirement

Why a Part-Time Job Might Be the Next Chapter in My Early Retirement

42 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Blogging, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Motivation, Self-Employment, Taxes and Financial Planning / /

Life is interesting. And that’s a good thing. How boring would it be if every day on this planet was the same? For about a decade now, we’ve made some choices that have swung our days into some crazy adventures. There’s no doubt this took us out of the realm of monotony. Between retiring at the age of 43 at the end of 2018 and then moving to Panama for a few years starting in 2019, we got a lot

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The Art of Aging Well: Navigating Friendship and Mortality

The Art of Aging Well: Navigating Friendship and Mortality

8 Comments / General Thoughts, Health and Fitness, Life in Early Retirement, Motivation / /

Who woulda thunk it? I’m a little over a year from turning 50 and I couldn’t have imagined that I would be posting about aging well! I guess time flies when you’re having fun, right? And indeed, I have been having fun. Life truly is what you make of it and most of you know that we’ve done some unusual things that have opened up a new world that we never knew existed before… These things might not be the

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Wellness, Wealth, and Wanderlust: Paving the Way for 2024

Wellness, Wealth, and Wanderlust: Paving the Way for 2024

18 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Health and Fitness, Investments, Kids, Motivation, Road Trip, Spending, Travel and Vacation / /

In the blink of an eye, 2023 has come and gone. Whether you had a great year or not, it’s time to decide if you’re going to make 2024 a better one! Our 2023 was something truly different and not anything I would have imagined. Our wanderlust took over and we ended up buying an RV, letting the lease lapse on our apartment, putting our stuff in storage, and set off to travel the country. We’ve been learning the RV

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It’s Amazing What Being Alone With Your Thoughts on a Walk Can Do for You

It’s Amazing What Being Alone With Your Thoughts on a Walk Can Do for You

15 Comments / Motivation, Health and Fitness, Life in Early Retirement, Road Trip / /

I had no plans to go for a walk today. Lisa and Faith were gone and that’s usually when I focus on getting things done. Sometimes I’ll work on projects around home (which is the RV right now!) and other times I’ll work on a blog post for Route to Retire. For whatever reason, the idea of being alone usually means I’m going to work on something and get it checked off the list. But today was different. Today I

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Risk and Reward: Overcoming the Doubt Can Transform Your Life

Risk and Reward: Overcoming the Doubt Can Transform Your Life

8 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Motivation, Self-Employment, Travel and Vacation / /

When I was younger, weighing the risk and reward in a decision was a lot easier. In your youth, you’ve got time on your side and most of the chances you take aren’t going to make or break you. If you’re in your younger years, remember that. Don’t be afraid to take calculated risks that can change your life for the better. As time marches on though, the choice between risk and reward can sometimes be a lot tougher. When

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