Why are we doing this?

In between our trip to the Southwest USA and our next major adventure we have spent some down time at home in Columbus. We discovered that many people are perplexed with how we are filling our time.  Some ask out of curiosity  just to make small talk.  Others are skeptical and ask about finances.  Nonetheless, the volume of inquiries led to our own personal discussion on the topic.  All the sudden, we are asking ourselves (again): Are we crazy for doing this?  Is this entirely irresponsible?  Why are we getting this reaction? Why from so many people? 

What will happen if we jump off? 

What part of life did I miss while I was worrying about retirement? 

When we thought about it and looked deep into ourselves, the answer is that we still have no regrets about what we are doing.  Here we are, we have stepped off the hamster wheel of corporate America.  This is something that nearly everyone dreams of doing at some point, but usually not until retirement. Of course many simply can't do this because of very real and very practical reasons. Yet, when someone actually does it -- like us, where the situation can work while we are young and able -- there are such extreme mixed emotions towards it.  "Is one of you terminally ill?" Or "Did you win the lottery?" My personal favorite is when I was asked if I was having a mid-life crisis.

It's understandable in a way.  We're all bombarded daily with reminders.  "Work until you retire!" "Build that nest egg!" Is it large enough? Just ask any of the major banks.  I think they do the best job of inserting fear into your future with their commercials.  "Keep investing with us and we will ensure your safety net is secure." 

This decision -- our personal decision -- was many years in the making.  We planned for this and made sure that we were at peace with it prior to doing it.  There are things in this life that we want to accomplish while we are still physically capable of doing them.  We know that it's different and can be difficult to understand in our culture.  In fact, we get why people don't "get it."  

Keep asking us questions.  We love them!