Welcome to my blog! This is work in progress, and my first attempt at designing a website, so I’ll apologize here and now for any technical glitches. If you catch something, or have any feedback, please shoot me a message through the Contact Me page, or leave me a comment, to let me know.
About Me
My name is Rachel. I am 40 years old, not married, no kids. I live right outside Washington, DC, where I was born and raised. I currently work a 9-5 day job in DC, where I do have an office with a door and four walls (which is an upgrade from the cubicle I started in).
I have always loved to travel. My first trip overseas was with my mother at age 8, to attend my uncle’s wedding in Switzerland. I studied abroad twice in college, and once in law school. I have been to more than 30 countries. I took my first solo trip immediately after college, backpacking through Europe for seven weeks. That trip cemented my desire to live overseas. I thought I could do that as part of my career, but I haven’t been able to make it happen. So, I’m ready to change course.
I also love photography. My father was an amateur photographer and for my 13th birthday, my parents bought me my first camera. I have been hooked ever since. I used to work as a portrait photographer, but turning my hobby into a job took the joy out of it. I stopped shooting photos for a while. I’ve recently started shooting again, and promised myself that I will never let it become a chore or a necessity again. You can find my portfolio through the link in the top bar, or at Wandering Browncoat Photography
I decided a while ago that I wanted to quit my 9-5 job, travel full time, and focus on my photography. Easier said than done, I realized I needed a way to fund this ambition. I read a lot of travel blogs by people who have quit the rat race to make a living from travel, or work full time as digital nomads. But most of them either have jobs they can do remotely, or have skills that they can take to a remote job. My job does not allow for that. Without going into a lot of boring detail, suffice it to say that there is no way for me to take my current job and become a digital nomad. So, I’ve looked for other remote jobs that I could do based on my skills. Since my goal is to travel in places that are cheaper than the DC area where I currently live, I don’t need to match my current income. This job search led me down a rabbit hole of digital nomad, remote work, and work from home job boards and blogs. And eventually, it led me to the FI/RE movement.
Financial Independence, Retire Early (FI/RE)
The basic idea is that I just need enough money to sustainably generate the amount I need per year. If you are unfamiliar with this movement, I’ll direct you to the first blog I stumbled upon on the subject: Mr. Money Mustache. I’ll include links to other blogs I follow in this Resources page. The FI/RE movement is based on the Trinity Study, which says that if you can live on 4% of your assets, you have enough assets to sustain yourself indefinitely. The math works out to show that you need 25x the amount you spend annually (or that you plan to spend annually in retirement) in order to safely pull the plug on your 9-5 job. Within the FI/RE community, a lot of people continue to work, but they engage in projects and jobs they love instead of having to be most concerned with the paycheck. So, you can see the appeal to me: I can leave my day job, travel anywhere and everywhere, and focus on my hobby of photography, without having to worry about earning enough to keep going.
My Goal: Retire by 40
I have always been a saver. I have a sizable amount in retirement accounts, and additional funds in investments, savings, and my condo. So, I did the math. And then I did it again. And then I made some adjustments and did it again. I crunched the numbers every which way and realized, I was already pretty close to where I needed to be to retire early.
Given how much I would ideally spend per year, I hit my goal number by the end of 2019. But I want to create a buffer before I pull the plug, in case my goal was too optimistic. I decided to to give myself a little over two more years to save and set up my life accordingly, and I would FI/RE when I was 40. And that’s exactly what I’m doing. It is currently the beginning of December 2021, I just gave notice at my job, and my FI/RE life begins at the end of this month!
I’m starting this blog to:
- Share my travels– destinations, tips, tricks, reviews, etc., for my friends and family and anyone else who might be interested
- Hold myself accountable, and have you hold me accountable, to the goals I’ve laid out above
- Share my photography and build my portfolio.
If you’ve made it this far, I hope you stay with me. I’d also love to hear from you. Subscribe to receive emails when new posts come out. Send me a message with your thoughts and (hopefully) encouragement. Leave a comment here or on one of my posts. If you have any questions about anything on this page, please let me know. I look forward to trying to answer them.