"I have a lot of respect for Morgan, so was disappointed to hear him say this: Everyone I know who retired early has gone back to work. My experience has been almost the exact opposite of Morgan's. I know plenty early retirees and almost none have gone back to work. Those that have went back to work on interesting projects on their own terms. But also, I live in a bubble."
"I'm a cold-weather person, so views like this light me up. On the way home, I pulled over and took a look around: Wow, just wow. It was 11:39am on a Thursday and I had just spent almost 3 hours at the gym. How fortunate am I to be able to spend this much time working on my health? How fortunate am I to live in a place that looks like this?"
"We were frugal DIY people who drove old cars and liked to walk. Our new neighbors were in a competition to outspend each other. Their high school children had nicer cars than we did. We had nothing in common. Making friends as an adult is hard. There was no way I was going to find good community in this place."
A personal account contrasts a claim that every early retiree returns to work with observations that many remain retired or return only to pursue chosen projects. The narrator finds deep satisfaction in cold-weather scenery and values long morning hours spent on health at a gym in Longmont. A 2012 move to Colorado produced social mismatch with conspicuously spending neighbors, prompting plans to leave. Discovering an online financial community revealed like-minded people living in Colorado. A reply to an email in early 2013 became an inflection point that led toward finding community and relocating.
Read at 1500 Days to Freedom
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