Had a conversation with my boss the other day about where my career was going to go next (I went coast-FIRE/part-time and fully remote, out of state, a few months ago). I wasn't sure exactly how to answer him, since I still feel like I should keep my options open if possible, so I made various noncommittal statements about how I still want to work there, blah blah blah.
Truthfully, my current job will be ending in 1-2 years due to program changes outside of my company's control, and a follow-on arrangement will be challenging. My thought was that a 1-2 year coast-FIRE arrangement should give us more than enough financial security to go full FI, but that's easy to say now with the (much smaller) paychecks still rolling in, with no health insurance headaches.
Those smaller paychecks still cover all of our living expenses, even though we've been spending up a storm, by our standards, in order to get us settled in our new lifestyle up here. I'll definitely need to make sure that all of these "one-time" expenses are indeed one-time, or at least very infrequent (things like kayaks, mountain bikes, ski gear, cold-weather gear to survive the winters, a bit of furniture for the new house...the list has seemed endless but I think it's finally slowing down). It's felt very non-mustachian; however, one of the big reasons we moved was to partake in all of these fabulous outdoor activities. At least I've mostly been buying used, where practical.
Ideally, we work this part-time schedule for another year, 18 months, and the job naturally goes the way of the dodo bird. My company then allows me to stay on a casual basis, just grabbing work here and there when I feel the hankering to scratch an itch, earning a few bucks, and our stash grows to a more comfortable 3% SWR or better level in the meantime. I'd definitely feel more comfortable there, given the unknowns of some potentially huge dental bills for my son and eventual college expenses.
However, I'm not quite ready to tell the boss that I want to quit part-time status just yet. Thus, I will continue to string them along for a bit...