In high school I became disillusioned with society and the system it had created for how we were to live our lives. I knew what society expected and how it functioned, but I preferred a different life. Well, I was a teenager after all. I wanted to be free and live a simple life without rules. I spent a lot of time thinking and learning about things. I enjoyed having existential discussions and learning about foreign cultures and other ways of looking at the world.
During college I was exposed to new exciting ideas and people, but still felt disenfranchised. At the end of my second semester I read Hermann Hesse's book, Siddhartha. The effect was very powerful at the time. It was all I could do to even make it to my final exams, though I did well as always. That would be my last semester of studying for a while. At least in a classroom.
That summer I went on a road trip out west with my high school friends. Things felt right. I spent the rest of the summer living in a campground with my college roommate. That was pretty awesome. It was real freedom. I didn't go back to school in the fall and then at the end of the year I made another significant decision.
I went on another road trip. Then I kept on going. With new friends, I lived on the road and in the woods for the next three years. I hitchhiked all across the country. I lived in the desert and the rain forest. I lived in vans and a school bus. I cooked, ate, and gave away free food. I lived almost entirely without money. Then, with my friends all separating to the wind, having no direction or purpose, I decided to go back home. I didn't want to need to live like this when I was old and had no options. I was free, but having no money left me quite insecure.
Back home, I still didn't know what I would do, but anything was better than nothing. Having purpose is important. I got a temp job and started studying the martial art, Aikido. I found that I did enjoy learning (formally). I decided to go to community college just to learn. I studied whatever I wanted, including languages I didn't think I could learn -Japanese- and got 4.0's. I discovered that a bachelor degree would allow me to go overseas and teach English. So, I resolved to go back to university and finish my undergrad degree.
After college I decided to go to Taiwan and teach English. At the job I found, I worked about 20 hours per week mostly in the afternoons and evenings. It was a good job though difficult at times. It wasn't a bad life. When I needed to make a return trip to the US, I discovered that my job wasn't that secure. Being a foreigner presented some barriers to making a life working there. I had more money, but was less free.
After returning home again, I decided to stay in the US and find a job that I could settle into a bit more. Maybe I could work for a while and save some money for my future. It took a long time to find a job. I was looking in a specific field where experience was important and I didn't have much. I did eventually find a job and I moved after just a phone interview with no idea what sort of place I would be working at. I started saving in retirement accounts. My hourly rate was not that different from my job in Taiwan, but I worked twice as much and could get overtime too. Overtime was actually required. At some point I had the idea that I could work 'til around 40 saving money the whole time. Life was hell though. Where was my freedom? I needed more of my time back. Money is useless without time. I looked for another job.
I found my next job not far away in the same region. The pay was lower, but I had more free time compared to my last job. I also felt my job was more meaningful. There were several parts of it that I thoroughly enjoyed. But, I still spent the majority of my time at work or preparing for work. For me, that was too much. And 40 years old was a lonnnggg time away. How much life would I waste just waiting for 40? And would I leave and wander the world at 40? That sounded old. I wondered if I should set a financial milestone instead of a random age. Maybe I didn't need as much money as I was thinking. So I continued saving in tax advantaged retirement accounts. Then about four years into my full-time work life, one year before I left my job, I had The (Financial) Epiphany.
