Member-only story
I quit my job, we sold our house, gave away our possessions and moved to the beach
I can’t retire until I am 70. Or I will work until I die. That is what I used to tell myself. I hated my job. There was a time whenI loved it with a passion. But the work culture had grown increasingly toxic. Most days I knew, without a doubt, the path I was on would kill me. I was in a prison of my own making. And yet… I quit my job, we sold our house, gave away our possessions and moved to the beach. We escaped. This is our story so far.
Seeds
Two years ago we were walking the beach with my daughter, when she stopped and said to my wife, “I can really see you and dad moving here… it is so relaxing, so beautiful.” We laughed, “If only!” But then we thought and dreamed. Slowly, “If only!” gave way to “What if?” Was it possible?
The pull of a hope for a life better lived, the push of escaping a work hell fused with an urgency sparked by the sudden cancer death of my formerly extraordinarily healthy brother. Blaring the question, “Could this happen?”
Numbers… “Don’t do it!”
Every article I read, every financial planner said, “Don’t do it!”
“You must work longer! Work till you are 65, 67… or 70.”
