Author Topic: FIRE in Fiji :D  (Read 5639 times)

Sere

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FIRE in Fiji :D
« on: August 01, 2016, 03:41:41 AM »
Thank you to everyone on the forums, and to Mr. Money Moustache whose blog was instrumental in DH and I securing our own financial independence. I dropped off posting on here for a while, mainly because I was paranoid someone from my work would find out, but it turns out everyone was quite surprised when we resigned, so I guess the secret was safe!
Today we started volunteering at a school in Fiji, which is something I've wanted to do since we were here earlier this year (for a vacation) when Cyclone Winston hit. I'm so glad that we now have the freedom to be able to do so (normally, it would be absolutely impossible to get this time off work).
To everyone still striving for FIRE, keep going - you will get there! And to everyone who has reached that goal - I raise a glass to you!

arebelspy

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Re: FIRE in Fiji :D
« Reply #1 on: August 01, 2016, 03:44:26 AM »
Congrats, and thanks for your volunteer work!
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

limeandpepper

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Re: FIRE in Fiji :D
« Reply #2 on: August 01, 2016, 09:23:52 AM »
Congratulations! Enjoy your time in Fiji! :)

Roots&Wings

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Re: FIRE in Fiji :D
« Reply #3 on: August 01, 2016, 10:25:30 AM »
I'll echo the others in saying nice work and "Congratulations!". Would love to hear more of your story too if you might be willing to share. Inquiring minds!

gardeningandgreen

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Re: FIRE in Fiji :D
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2016, 12:48:23 PM »
That is so awesome! Also I am so jealous! I studied abroad in Suva and would love to go back! Fiji is such a beautiful country with amazing people!

Little Aussie Battler

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Re: FIRE in Fiji :D
« Reply #5 on: August 01, 2016, 12:56:02 PM »
Bula!

What a wonderful way to spend your retirement. The Fijians are so open and warm.

Congratulations! Enjoy your time in Fiji! :)
I think you mean Fiji time.

Sere

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Re: FIRE in Fiji :D
« Reply #6 on: August 05, 2016, 04:01:52 PM »
Thanks arebelspy and limeandpepper! Sorry for the late response, the school we are working at currently doesn't have power, so my internet opportunities are somewhat limited.

Step-in-time, I've written an outline of our story on my blog https://www.enrichmentality.com/about-me/ if you're interested. I'm hoping to add more detail in posts as I get the time. Although I was too nervous to share much during my working years, I kept pretty meticulous records and journals on a closed forum elsewhere, so I hope to put together a lot of that stuff. Reading the journals on the forums here, and MMM's blogs really helped me so I hope I can do a fraction of the same for others, from a different bent. (My field of specialisation is linguistics, so my blog is mainly on the language of money).

Gardeningandgreen, that's so cool that you studied in Suva! I have only visited Suva for 1 day, but loved the museum there. We're based in Lautoka at the moment, commuting to one of the cyclone-damaged schools.

Bula, Little Aussie Battler! :D Yes, we are enjoying 'Fiji Time'! (although we're experiencing the joys of getting up early to catch the bus and trying to build desks with much more limited tools than we'd normally be used to!) I do like the relaxed pace of life here though - although I think some of the other volunteers find it a little frustrating, we're used to it and just go with the flow! There's no point being upset about things that can't be resolved (e.g. unavailability of certain tools etc). (MMM's posts on Stoicism highlighted this for me!) :P

Eucalyptus

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Re: FIRE in Fiji :D
« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2016, 08:15:01 PM »
Thanks arebelspy and limeandpepper! Sorry for the late response, the school we are working at currently doesn't have power, so my internet opportunities are somewhat limited.

Step-in-time, I've written an outline of our story on my blog https://www.enrichmentality.com/about-me/ if you're interested. I'm hoping to add more detail in posts as I get the time. Although I was too nervous to share much during my working years, I kept pretty meticulous records and journals on a closed forum elsewhere, so I hope to put together a lot of that stuff. Reading the journals on the forums here, and MMM's blogs really helped me so I hope I can do a fraction of the same for others, from a different bent. (My field of specialisation is linguistics, so my blog is mainly on the language of money).

Gardeningandgreen, that's so cool that you studied in Suva! I have only visited Suva for 1 day, but loved the museum there. We're based in Lautoka at the moment, commuting to one of the cyclone-damaged schools.

Bula, Little Aussie Battler! :D Yes, we are enjoying 'Fiji Time'! (although we're experiencing the joys of getting up early to catch the bus and trying to build desks with much more limited tools than we'd normally be used to!) I do like the relaxed pace of life here though - although I think some of the other volunteers find it a little frustrating, we're used to it and just go with the flow! There's no point being upset about things that can't be resolved (e.g. unavailability of certain tools etc). (MMM's posts on Stoicism highlighted this for me!) :P

Wonderful story! Good on you for volunteering, and enjoy Fiji!

Roots&Wings

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Re: FIRE in Fiji :D
« Reply #8 on: August 07, 2016, 07:51:06 AM »
Step-in-time, I've written an outline of our story on my blog https://www.enrichmentality.com/about-me/ if you're interested. I'm hoping to add more detail in posts as I get the time. Although I was too nervous to share much during my working years, I kept pretty meticulous records and journals on a closed forum elsewhere, so I hope to put together a lot of that stuff. Reading the journals on the forums here, and MMM's blogs really helped me so I hope I can do a fraction of the same for others, from a different bent. (My field of specialisation is linguistics, so my blog is mainly on the language of money).

Thank you Sere for posting more details! Love your initiative and this mentality: I began studying towards a Diploma of Financial Planning—not to become a financial planner, but to better understand the industry and our own finances. It cost me less to enrol in the Diploma than to seek a single Statement of Advice from a planner.

Look forward to reading more of your Enrichmentality blog posts and your time in Fiji. Congrats again on achieving financial independence and enjoy!

Sere

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Re: FIRE in Fiji :D
« Reply #9 on: August 24, 2016, 03:46:26 PM »
Thank you Eucalyptus and step-in-time. I'm glad the studying for a Dip. Fin. Planning made sense to someone - most people I come across either think I'm nuts or that it's a fallback plan!

Sere

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Re: FIRE in Fiji :D
« Reply #10 on: February 23, 2017, 11:28:37 PM »
Just a quick update in case anyone's interested in how we're going: I just posted an article to 'Beautiful Budget Life' on how we've been traveling: http://www.beautifulbudgetlife.com/travel-longer-less/
After Fiji, we visited another 11 countries, on a budget of around $50 a day (for both of us)!

limeandpepper

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Re: FIRE in Fiji :D
« Reply #11 on: March 01, 2017, 07:33:12 AM »
Nice article! Thanks for the update, very impressive that you've been travelling on about $50/day for the two of you!

Sere

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Re: FIRE in Fiji :D
« Reply #12 on: March 04, 2017, 09:33:22 PM »
Thanks limeandpepper. I should note that all of the figures in that article are in USD, so our expenses are currently a bit above $50 AUD (our home currency), but we're still happy with the amount - long term travel has turned out to be more affordable than we originally thought it would be!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!