In June 2017, I left my high paying software job in Silicon Valley to dedicate my life to rock climbing. I was 39 at the time. Here if the summary of my adventure so far.
Rock Climbing
The ability to follow the seasons and climbing in many climbing meccas when they are at their best has been amazing. Being able to climb on weekdays when allowed me to climb many classic routes without having to fight the crowds.
My main goal was El Capitan. Seeing how I was living so close to Yosemite and yet never managed to spend much time there was a big motivation for FIREing. I was spending a fair amount of time in the climbing gym when I was working, but I knew very well that I was gravely lacking in real rock experience. I spent most of my first year getting as much mileage as possible doing trad and aid climbing. After 9 months or so, I started to seriously work on the logistics of multi-day climbs, including spending many nights on a portaledge mounted in my friend's garage.
In October 2018, I finally got up the big rock via the Salathé Wall route. It took my partner and I 4 days, plus one extra day to pre-haul our bags to Heart Ledge. I lost 5 lbs doing this climb, despite very carefully measuring 4000 kcal of food for each partners each day. It's that intense!
I went from being a rather intimidated 5.9 trad climber to a confident 5.11 one. I am particularly proud of the following:
* Hypertension in Squamish – 5.11a, offwidth;
* Serenity Crack in Yosemite – 5.10d;
* Heart of Darkness in Joshua Tree – 5.11a, on-sight;
* Pipeline in Squamish – 5.10d, offwidth;
* Abracadaver in Cochise Stronghold – 5.11a.
I'm OK with face climbing on limestone and sandstone, but more than anything, it's long granite cracks that make me the happiest. I like how technical it gets, how comfortable the rock feels while still exhibiting texture, how confidence inspiring protection tends to be, and how I have to use my engineering brain to build an adequate safety system with the trad gear.
Nomad Life
I am a full time nomad. Right after leaving my job, I made the drive to Texas to establish my domicile there. It took about half a day to get everything sorted: car inspection, car registration, and driver's license.
I am with the Escapees RV club and they handle my snail mail. Most of my paper mail is scanned by them. Things that I need physically like new credit cards and car registration stickers are forwarded to wherever I am. I got stuff sent to Airbnbs, but most of the time I go for general delivery at the post office, which is more flexible, especially if mail is delayed and arrives after the end of my stay somewhere.
I travel in a passenger hatchback that gets between 28 and 30 MPG. I like to stay in short term rentals, but there are places where housing is too expensive or too inconvenient, in which case I will happily camp in a tent.
Software
During my first two years I hardly touched my computer except to find climbing partners and to research routes. Anything else felt too much like work.
I recently started coding for fun again. I have been delighted to see how far some technology like Docker have evolved. Being stuck inside because of the pandemic is probably helping me go back to my old habits, but I think I will keep it up after things open up again.
Purpose
As long as I was pursuing El Capitan, finding direction in my life was really easy. Almost everything I did was to get stronger and more competent. I felt a great void after El Capitan. The satisfaction was still strong, but it was much harder to do long term planning. I kept climbing and continue to enjoy it very much. I have since set new goals for free climbing, but I have yet to set one as ambitious compared to my present situation. I'm sure it will come, but I'm happy to chase low hanging fruits until the inspiration comes.
I feel like I should have non-climbing goals at some point, but I have not been very good defining those. It might have something to do with the fear of being stuck with a commitment that feels too much like a job. If there is something that I learned about myself during this adventure, it's that I really appreciate freedom.
There definitely are days when I wake up and ask myself what my purpose truly is. I am not sure if this question can be answered, but so far I find relief noticing that many people out there seem to be living very happy lives without ever knowing why they do it.
Finances
I like to track my expenses with a daily allowance. At the beginning of the month, I guesstimate my fixed costs, like housing and insurance, then I figure out my discretionary daily spending for the month. I did my first year shooting for $100/day ($36.5k/y, ~3%WR). After seeing that I had things under control and that my fairly high summertime housing costs consistently balanced out with cheaper housing in the Southwest during the winter, I started to increase my target to 4% withdrawal rate.
I'm pretty bad at spending everything I can so my yearly spending hovers around $42k/y.
COVID-19
This one took me by surprise as much as everyone else. I'm extremely grateful to have the flexibility to change my plans to avoid having to go to a crowded work place. I was in Oman at the time. I scrambled to get back to the US and have been spending a lot of time at home ever since.
At first, all parks were closed so I had to do pull-ups at home to stay in shape. Then things started reopening, but I would rather avoid putting partners at risk, so I get most of my climbing fix by doing top-rope solo a few times a week. I access the top of a cliff from a hiking trail, secure a rope to a top anchor, then climb back up after attaching myself to the rope with a one-way progress capture system.
I have perfected my bread and pizza making quite a bit. It's hard to imagine buying grocery store bread now. I will still go for a nice artisan bread when things are open again, but for now, the one that I know I can make at home are definitely above the 50th percentile of all the breads I ever had. Besides, it's hard to beat the smell of freshly baked bread in your kitchen. Even when the bread if a flop, the smell is always deeply comforting.
I don't know when we will be able to travel again, but I have plenty of time to make plans for something grand and ambitious. I'm the meantime I'm staying put in Portland, OR, a very bikable city with plenty to keep me occupied.
I sold my positions in bonds and some VMRXX early during the crisis. I wanted to cover all my expenses for the next year with my cash. I am pretty much back up to where it all started with my stock portfolio, but I don't think we have seen the end of this crisis yet, so I'm staying with a large cash position for the time being.
Future Plans
I don't miss work one bit. I don't miss the pressure, I don't miss the meetings, I don't miss the free food, I don't miss the company supplied top-of-the-line computer. I feel like I should miss the salary, but I only need to take a glance at what I actually spent to rationalize that I don't need it. I might take a contract just for the fun of doing something technical, but I'm not going back to a full time job ever again.
I plan on resuming my nomad life when things open up. I don't need a home base, but I will probably simplify my migration patterns over time to add a few islands of predictability in my vast ocean of possibilities.
If you are on your way to FIRE, keep at it. It's totally worth it!