Money Lessons On The Inca Trail

“Is she gonna be okay?”, I shouted through the door of the women’s bathroom.  “I think so, she’s just really sick… go on and have fun, we’ll be okay”.  The voice that shouted back was from Jen’s Mom, and Jen was the patient.  And we weren’t at just any old women’s bathroom, we were literally smack dab in the middle of Machu Picchu, Peru.

In 2004 I decided to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.  As a history geek the place always gnawed at my conscience, and I knew I had to go there.  As if I needed proof with my own eyes that something so amazing actually existed. 

So I went, and everything about the trip far exceeded expectations.  From wandering the streets of Lima and Cusco, to the majestic beauty of the hike along the ancient trail, it was a trip of a lifetime. 

Like any good adventure I took lots of things away from the experience.  But what happened to my friend Jen left me with lessons about planning and luck that can be applied to your financial life.

 

All Planned Out

Hiking the Inca Trail is very regulated by Peru, so you have to go with a tour group which includes a guide and porters.  I hated the fact that poor Peruvians would be carrying my stuff.  I was a strong hiker and perfectly capable of carrying my own load, but I also realized that being a porter for rich tourists was a pretty good paying job in Peru.

My group of seven included a mother and daughter pair named Audrey and Jen.  After a few hours hiking with Jen I realized she knew absolutely everything about what we were doing, where we were going, how far it would be, and how long it would take.  She knew everything about the history of the Inca, the Inca Trail, Machu Picchu itself, Hiram Bingham (who discovered the lost city in 1911) and every mountain pass we would climb. 

She also knew about every indigenous plant and animal we’d encounter, and the backstory behind all of the ruins we’d see on the way to Machu Picchu.  

Most importantly she knew exactly what she wanted to do when she got to the lost city, and which parts of it she wanted to explore and climb on. 

At times her knowledge and eager willingness to volunteer it, which often meant interrupting someone else’s conversation, were grating.  But you had to give her credit, she had read about and planned her trip in thorough detail. 

I was not ignorant of the history of Machu Picchu by any means.  I’m well read in history and geography, and have degrees in both of those subjects.  But my travel ethos is a bit different, and I don’t want to know every last thing about a place before I go. 

I want it to unfold before me, the way it will, on it’s own terms.  I want to know enough to be safe and cover the basics, but then let serendipity and experiences teach me the rest.  Jen was obviously different, but she was a nice person and I got to like her despite her flaws.

 

The Little Things Get You

Going to any third world country incurs some risks, and getting sick is one of them.  To be accurate, Peru is now officially classified as a developing country.  But if you’ve explored the third world or developing countries outside the confines of an all-inclusive resort you’ve likely had Montezuma’s revenge, or a form of it.  You bring Cipro, take precautions, and hope for the best.

As we hiked along people in my group started getting sick, one by one.  I expected it since the porters cooked all of our food and sanitary conditions out in the Peruvian mountains weren’t exactly good. 

I had avoided the fate up till the fourth day, then woke up in my tent that night with a queasy stomach.  It was my turn.  Thankfully my case wasn’t too bad, perhaps my stomach had grown a bit of iron in its lining after 4 years of heavy travel in the 3rd world. 

But finding a place to go on a mountain hillside in the middle of the night with nothing but a headlamp still sucks. 

That left Jen.  She was now the only person in our group who hadn’t gotten sick.  She knew it too, and perhaps thought her preparation had protected her. 

 

The Destination

The final day of the hike was a short one.  We camped not far down the opposing mountain side from the lost city the night prior, and the next morning we were rounding the last switchback to the end in short order. 

Machu Picchu lay before me, and I had a whole day to explore it. 

As I excitedly bounced around the narrow passageways of the ruins like a kid I noticed Jen and her mother were not with us.  Our guide broke the news that Jen was feeling sick and was trying to take care of it. 

I went with the rest of our group to the bathrooms to see if we could help.  We soon found out that Jen wasn’t just a little sick, she had it bad.  She wound up spending almost the entire day in the bathroom at Machu Picchu, and she could barely even keep water down. 

At the end of the day we wound up helping her down to the small town of Aguas Calientes where our train back to Cusco awaited. At one point we were looking to find a doctor or have one called for, her condition was that dire.

After all that preparation, and all that planning, Jen’s day at Machu Picchu was ruined.  She didn’t get to see any of Machu Picchu except the inside of the woman’s bathroom.  We felt horrible for her, but probably not as heartbroken as she felt herself.  

 

An Instant

What does any of this have to do with your money?  Think of retirement as Machu Picchu, and your planning for retirement as the journey on the Inca Trail.  You can learn everything about money, plan, and execute perfectly.  You can amass a huge stash, and map out a perfect retirement.

And then it can all go to shit in an instant.

Jen did all of her homework and planned meticulously.  She dotted every I and crossed every T.  And then fate threw her a wicked curveball, and she never really got to see the very thing she planned so much for.

This financial independence and early retirement thing, to me it exists to get you as fast as possible to a more ideal life.  Not a perfect one, that one doesn’t exist.  But one that’s hopefully better than the one you’re living now.

The term “shit happens” is an overused and tired joke, but it’s spanned generations because it’s true.  And shit sometimes happens at the worst possible time. 

Like it did for Jen. 

Enjoy life now, and do everything you can to make it better.  You may never get to where you want to go, whether it be that next promotion, retirement, marriage, or whatever.  

If you’re planning to retire early or just plain retire, the impending market crash might come at exactly the same time.  Or a health crisis, or a bad accident.  Your preparation might be thorough and detailed, but the world might have other plans.  

I went on many big trips after Machu Picchu and Jen’s fate reminded me to strive to enjoy the whole thing, not just the intended destination.  Because I might not get to that destination. 

And I pulled the trigger on semi-retirement as fast as I could because it meant a much better lifestyle than I was living before.  I wanted to start living better now, before any major shit happened in my life.

So far it’s lived up to the hype. 

It would be stupid to do a post about a trip to Machu Picchu and not include some cool pics.  So here ya go…

 

** Check out my Instagram post to see a short video of what it’s like to wake up high in the beautiful Peruvian mountains with alpacas raiding your campsite!