4 Years Of Semi-Retirement And Blogging, What’s Next?
It’s the fall of 2021 and I can’t believe I’ve been in semi-retirement for 4 years. I’ve worked 20 hours a week during that time, so I’ve essentially put in 2 years of work where others have put in 4 or more. I can say unequivocally it’s made my life better in every way.
And I’ve been blogging here at Accidental FIRE for 4 years as well. If you’re a regular reader you know I focus on the psychology and behaviors behind our money decisions from a broad perspective of life experiences.
So where am I at? What’s the state of my mind and behaviors now that I’m deep into this semi-retired lifestyle? And how about the blog?
I Keep Changing
In the early days of my semi-retirement I was still pinching myself every weekday that I was home. On those days everything seemed hyper-amazing. Going grocery shopping or to Home Depot with no crowds, riding empty bike trails, and having the Potomac River all to myself to paddle to my hearts content all seemed like heaven.
I still enjoy those things tremendously all the time, but like anything in life you start getting used to it. I do somewhat fear becoming too accustomed to those luxuries and possibly taking them for granted. So every once in a while I’ll go to Aldi when I know it’ll be a bit crowded, or I’ll ride one of the popular cycling trails on Saturday.
It helps remind me how good I have it, and that I earned that luxury.
I’m a routine oriented person and my routines have changed frequently over that past 4 years. At first I got into a routine of working on my business at the library and sometimes coffee shops. Over time I found that to be less than productive and a bit too distracting.
Plus I can create graphic designs much faster on my desktop computer with two huge monitors than I can on my laptop. Now I work almost exclusively at home, both for my W2 job and my business. So far I have not had the side effect of associating my home with work as many report when working from home.
The pandemic has also been a huge factor in my changed routines since I’m no longer going into the office. The 40 miles of cycling that I got every week from my commute has been replaced with 40 miles of intervals or mountain biking. I enjoy the variety more.
The hundreds of miles of D.C. area trails are often empty on weekdays
Struggling With My Own Advice
I still struggle with quite a few of the things I’ve written about on this blog. I’ve written about the trappings of your job as your identity, but still do feel somewhat tethered to a 30 year career in my field of expertise. Somewhat tethered.
I didn’t have any illusions that the thought of fully retiring would be entirely emotionless, but I’m still a bit surprised by the depth of feelings I have when I look at my career and the place it occupies in my conscious.
I’ve written about how it’s good to dream big, yet I’m still struggling with crafting big dreams for my second act in life. I know, pathetic.
I wrote about focusing on yourself and not your competitors, using an example of my cycling buddies and the races we do. But I still tend to drift back to the comparison games, which I know are not productive.
I gave tips to beat imposter syndrome, but still feel it more often than I want. Some very famous creators say it never fully goes away.
Preaching how to forgive yourself for past failures is one thing, practicing it is another. I’ve improved in this for sure but I’m still my harshest critic and can be downright mean to myself when I come up short.
The point is, these things are hard. I’m just trying to be fully transparent here, I don’t have this stuff mastered. I’m fighting along side of you.
And all of these behaviors, these experiences in the messiness of life, affect how we relate to money and the place it holds in our lives.
I own the Potomac River on weekdays
This Bloggy Thing
As for the blog, my original intent in starting this thing 4 years ago was to help others achieve financial independence by telling my stories and relating them to our relationship with money. I have sometimes slightly diverged from that.
For instance I tried doing a series about artificial intelligence and the future of jobs, which of course relates to money. But those posts flopped, big time. People either weren’t interested or I did a shitty job of writing about the topic.
I’ve also done some social commentary posts, and book reviews. The former have done well, the book reviews not so much.
I’ve done many data posts of topics such as housing or income with my own custom maps, and others in which I’ve highlighted 3rd party mapping tools.
I make silly info graphics that attempt to hammer home a point about money in a slightly childish way. And I do a bi-weekly content curation that includes video and music selections, which have been surprisingly popular.
Regular readers know I write a lot about health issues, and those posts generally do well.
I’ve approached all of these divergent topics through the lens of their connection to money and finances. But in the end I’m a really shitty blogger, at least in the world of “blog as hustle”.
The very diverse kinds of posts listed above are (from what I read elsewhere) the exact thing to not do if one wants a successful blog. Online gurus say you’re suppose to niche down and be more focused. I’m all over the effing place.
But that’s okay. This blog doesn’t make much money, and I purposely avoided putting any ads on it for the first 2 years. I’d still rather not have them at all but I do value my time enough to demand something out of it.
A mid-week backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail with an old friend
The Future
To date I’ve done 437 posts adding up to over 350,000 words. So much for semi-retirement, haha. Thinking about those numbers kind of tires me out.
But I’ve gotten a lot of emails and comments from people who claim I’ve helped them, even if it’s something as simple a “I needed to read this today”, or “your Turnip FIRE post mad me laugh”. Those keep me going, it’s why I started this in the first place.
So for now I’m going to continue. I think I still have something to say, and every once I while I can do so coherently enough to get a few readers.
But at some point I expect to run out of ways to connect cycling or mountaineering to finances 🙂
Thanks for sharing so openly and honestly. Your blog is always very helpful and I hope you feel the urge to continue for some time!
Thank you Crusher, I appreciate the vote of confidence and your readership!
Congrats on 4 years Dave. That’s a huge achievement coming from a fellow blogger who knows what a time vacuum blogging can be.
I always worry the creative ink well will run dry or blogging loses its appeal. But so far it keeps me motivated to continue.
Best of luck with whatever happens to your blog.
Thanks for being a longtime supporter Doc, it means a lot. Let’s hope the ideas don’t run out 🙂
Happy 4th year! The journey is what’s the most fun.
Making money blogging is also nice. But it doesn’t bring joy bc then it feels like work. My blogging joy has declined during the pandemic bc I decided to do more business since I’m stuck at home.
I can’t wait to free up in 2022!
Sam
Thanks Sam, I agree that if the blog starts to feel like a job I might consider stopping. Thankfully being FI means I don’t need the income from it, not that it’s much, especially compared to your blog. And I’m looking forward to ’22 as well, let’s make it better!
Congrats on all you’ve accomplished! I think you focused on too many negative things here where you’ve done more good than “shitty” as you would say.
For one, you’ve inspired me to go after my goals and have helped many others take action on theirs. I know there are so many people that read your blog that don’t comment because I used to be one of them. You make a positive impact in their lives without you realizing it!
I look forward to your posts and emails every week!
Thanks very much Dan and I’m stoked that I’ve inspired you! You’ve gotten off to a great start on your blogging journey and in general you have your sh** together so much more than I did at an early age, you’re bound to reach the stars!
I have had very similar experiences in my years of semi retirement. It is a process and there are ups and downs for sure (just like in all of life). Thanks for your transparency. It is appreciated by some.
Thanks for the kudos Sara, I appreciate your readership!
i’m with you on preferring to blog and do most computer stuff on a dedicated desktop. i always have my old laptop around when we travel but it seems 10x harder for some reason. it’s funny what kind of stuff ends up more popular, isn’t it? i know for my money my boring finance posts have the most value in my opinion but people seem to gravitate towards the madcap zany adventure stuff much more.
anyhow, looks like 4 years well done to me. i hope you keep going.
Ha, I think your stories are so zany that’s it’s natural it would beat numbers about company earnings etc, even for finance-minded people. There’s only so much of the latter we can take! Keep the zaniness coming and thanks for your support all these years!
Dave, keep it up, brother. The journey I have been on recently has taught me over and over that life is about the journey… just write for the sake of writing. You seem to love it, and let it be its own thing.
Focusing on the destination of where I’ll be someday with x, y, and z… almost always ends in disappointment from an arrival fallacy.
Keep up the good work, and hope you are doing well!
Thanks dude, and I can’t believe it’s been over 3 years since I first met you in Orlando at Fincon. It is indeed about the journey, and so far it’s been a crazy ride for both if us!
Congrats to 4 years of awesomeness, Dave! That’s quite an achievement. I love the diversity of your posts and, sure, while it might not be “the way,” from a hustle perspective, I think it is from a reader engagement and loyalty one. Keep it up!
Strangely, I’m working on my “3 years of retirement” article and feel the same about many things you mention, specifically “crafting big dreams” in the 2nd act.
Hope you get out and celebrate your success sometime this week!
Can’t wait to see what you have in store for future dreams, something tells me it might involve music and that might be true for me as well! Keep rocking dude, the world needs more rock!
One of the best things about your blog is the variety of topics you write about. If you follow the advice and stick to a niche, you’ll get a niche pool of readers. This way, you might have less readers, but I bet we’re a more diverse crowd.
I never thought of it like that way but yes, you make a great point. I’d like to think my readers are more than just the folks looking for the usual FIRE advice which is mostly about investments and taxes etc. Thanks for that Veronica!
Don’t beat yourself up so much and enjoy the moment more. I’ve been out of the 9 to 5 for three years at the end of this month and your early blog posts help me step out from full time work; you’re doing good work here.
I live at the other end of the GAP/C&O trail from you. If you ever want to ride it one way, I’ll give you a tour of the ‘burgh and throw in a car ride back to DC for you and your bike.
Wow, you just made my day! So stoked that I could help you step away from your job, that means a lot.
And you may not be surprised to know that I’ve done the GAP/C&O before, back around 2013 or ’14. I rented a car one-way to Pitt and rode home, bikepacking style carrying all of my camping gear and food etc. It’s amazing, and the fact that you can connect these two major cities without getting on a road is incredible, it’s a national treasure if you ask me. It’s not out of the question for me to do it again, and if I do I’d definitely like to go the other way and I’ll surely take you up on the offer! Thanks so much!
Cheers! I did PItt to DC last October, staying in B&Bs and hotels. May give camping a try next time.
Sweet! Bikepacking is of course more challenging both logistically and physically but there’s something very cool about having everything you need strapped to the bike while moving through places and traveling. It’s liberating!
I’ve enjoyed every minute of those 4 years reading along the way. I like you am all over the place on the blog but I like the diversity of content I share and I guess that is what matters. Keep on riding and climbing into the future, both on the blog and life.
Chris you’re one of my original supporters and have stuck with me and it means lot. I found your blog before I even started blogging myself and your lifestyle, pictures, and posts influenced my thinking on work and retirement. Those of us who find sanctuary in the outdoors tend to have a similar ethos and I look forward to seeing more of your adventures as well out there in that gorgeous place you call home!
I love this blog. I appreciate its focus on psychology, behaviors, and the outdoors. As others say in the comments, the variety and straightforwardness are what bring me back. The Friday curations are excellent, and I hope those continue. They’re reliably exciting and thought-provoking.
Thank you for continuing to share your perspective – and I disagree that it is pathetic that you don’t have “big dreams.” It’s relative anyway – you do you.
THANK YOU, that means so much! And it stokes me to hear that you love the TGIF Fridays because they’re by far my favorite posts to do. Thanks for your readership!
Turns out, people don’t live in a niche, so feel free to wander. It makes your writing more human, and therefore relatable. Congratulations on making it to year 4.
Haha, living in a niche does sound pretty miserable eh? It would be like being in one dimension. Thanks for the kudos and for stopping by!
Congratulations on 4 years of semi-retirement and blogging!
While I only stumbled upon your blog about a year ago, when I was transitioning out of the workforce, it’s become one of my favorites. I like that the focus is on money mindset, psychology and health… perhaps because those align with my own interests. Plus, you’re an excellent story teller and your transparency/honesty shines through every story.
I think there are a lot of other folks in the FIRE community who want to talk about more than just money, so kudos to you for sticking to what interests you and resisting the urge to turn blogging into another job (the draw is strong).
Thanks so much Mrs. RFL and it’s been wonderful having you as a new-ish reader and commenter! Mindset, psychology, and health…. I think we agree that those 3 things kinda cover all of life. Cheers!
I was just thinking – what’s next. I was out for a walk to get a scooter and that side gig is starting to look iffy. Blogging is slowing down a lot for me too. For some reason, I lost a lot of readers (and income) when the pandemic started and hasn’t recovered yet. It might be time to try something else, but I don’t know what. Maybe I just need a vacation.
I think your blog is great. Keep going if you still enjoy it.
Uh oh, “when scooter charging turns bad”, haha. Just kidding Joe, perhaps you’ll post about why you’re having a change of heart but either way you’ve done pretty good with that hustle. As for blog readers, I think most of us have lost traffic from what I hear/read. My page views this year will be down from last year and close to 2019’s number. I’m not a growing blog by pageviews, but I have had better engagement and much longer dwell times this year, so there is some good.
Congratulations on the 4 years. Let’s turn that into 40 years soon!
Thanks David, I appreciate you’re readership!
Dave,
I have thoroughly enjoyed your blog, thank you for the time and effort that goes into each post. Keep enjoying your semi-retirement, as that is what I am doing and I find it to be fantastic!
Thanks so much Olaf, I’m stoked that my writing connects with you. Here’s to the good life!
Congrats on 4 years. You bring some cool angles to subjects I wouldn’t think twice about. I enjoy the health and active lifestyle aspect you bring to the table. Hats off to you for the creativity you pump out weekly. I know it ain’t easy.
Thanks a bunch Noel and no, it ain’t easy. I’m glad you mentioned more obscure topics because sometimes I wonder if I drift too far out but in the end I just write about what’s on my mind, and my mind drifts, haha. Thanks for your readership!
What I love most is how thought provoking you are Dave!
I have to admit your blog, along with Fritz and Freddy have inspired my journey. Based on the comments, it appears you have touched many people’s lives.
Me, Fritz, and Freddy. Motley Crue 2.0 here we come!! I’m so grateful to have you as a reader Shannon and you’ve been a long timer, so thank very much and keep enjoying your retirement because you too set a great example and touch readers with your writing!
I can definitely relate about being your own harshest critic. That’s me to a ‘T’. Still struggling with that one!
Thanks for all that you do Dave! It may not reap huge financial rewards, but it does bring a lot of value to the world.
Tako it’s been so great having you as a reader because I respect your writing and blog so much. You put a ton of thought into each post and it shows, so thanks for supporting me!
I think I’ve read each new post for a year or two now; I find it entertaining.
Awesome Pete, I’m glad you found my blog and thanks for your readership!
Dave,
Your eclectic approach to life and FIRE is always enjoyable…sometime more takeaways than others, but always worth the read and experience the personal naked insight! I think this is key in the connections you have forged many of us. This early retirement stage is much of a transition and two years into it, I often feel I have not yet found my solid footing. It will come.
Thanks so much Lambo, I hope you keep finding your footing but I know it’s a constant pursuit and I expect my experience to be the same.
For what it’s worth, yours is still one of my favorite money blogs out there. I enjoy that you just post your thoughts and links and share your passions. Keep it up!
It’s worth A LOT J.D.! You are one of the pioneers and so many like me are doing this because of the ground you broke. Thanks for all of your support over these past 4 years and I hope our paths cross in person again!
What are the best bike trails outside DC? I’m planning a trip to Harper’s Ferry. I’ve ridden the Washington & Old Dominion trail and I’d like to ride the C&O. Any recommendations?
Well when you say “outside D.C.” that to me means any side of the city. The W&OD and C&O are the most famous and well known. One of my favorites is the Fairfax County CCT (cross county trail), which travels the length of FF County from north to south roughly. On the south side of D.C. is the Mount Vernon Trail which goes from Roslyn to George Washington’s doorstep in Mt. Vernon and is very popular and awesome. Those would be my next go-to’s
Great posts, if you think you’ve got imposter syndrome imagine how I feel comparing my posts to yours! Oh wait, that’s that unhelpful comparison game thing again. I’m approaching year six with no regrets I can think of and truly enjoy your blog.
Haha, thanks so much Steve and as you know I love your writing as well. You’ve been a longtime reader and I greatly appreciate it!
Congrats on four years! I’m sure you won’t run out of topics. You’ve got a talent for this, that is for sure. Cheers!
Thanks!
Congrats on the 4 years Dave! I wasn’t here at the beginning, but I’ve read nearly everything on your blog since I found it a few months ago and it’s been SO inspiring to me. More than you’ll ever know. BTW, you ARE niche, you’re Dave niche:) Which is why we’re all here following along.
This might not be the kind of inspiring you were looking to be… but you really did help me make a life-changing decision. A lot of people tell me I have one of the ‘coolest’ jobs in the world. Which may be true for other people, but it’s not for me. I recently asked for a ‘demotion’ in my organization, in order to take, what to me, is my dream job.
Everyone is questioning it- family, friends, co-workers… How could I give up my big paycheck/prestige/authority/blahblahblah…? My family is confused. My boss is pissed. My team doesn’t understand it. My colleagues think there must be something else going on, because WHY would anyone ever voluntarily give up a big paycheck.
Well, I don’t care too much about those things to begin with and your semi-retirement made me think a lot about it and in the end, really inspired me to follow-through on what I felt was right. It isn’t all about the money. It never has been. Not for me. It was great to go down the road of managing a big operation in an amazing place at the ends of the earth, but in the end, it didn’t make me super happy. I thought a lot about your story and how happy you seem to be after taking a step back. And I made the leap.
So, thank you. Your blog has inspired a lot of people and I hope you know that.
Wow Andrea, that means so much that I inspired you, I’m humbled. And it sounds to me like you made the right decision – as you wrote you “felt it was right” and you have to go with your gut in life, even when it’s hard. Your job was adventurous and unique and I can only imagine very hard to give up but life is long and there’s more adventure out there! Thanks for your readership!
I’m new to your blog but will be bookmarking and subscribing based on this post alone. I love your writing style, and being a blogger-in-development myself, can tell you that being personal and authentic trumps being focused and niche. A smarter person than me said to think of it as the difference between telling people “what” to do vs “why” you do what you do. One post and I know I’ll come back for more, not because I want to know what to do or how to do things, but because I’m really curious how you are navigating a phase of life that I can relate to (I’m mid-forties, stopped medicine this year, and am super pumped about dual ventures of woodworking and teaching Canadian doctors about money). Thanks for putting yourself out there. ~Matt
Thanks for the kind words Matt and I’m glad to have you as a new reader! Yes, the “why” to me is far more fascinating than the “what” and offers endless opportunities to write about and think about. On a side note woodworking is something I’ve never done but always had a great curiosity about – maybe one day 🙂
I was going comment about how you probably write my favorite blog on the internet right now and how I LOVE how it is “all over the effing place”… In scrolling through the comments to get to this text box, it seems like a lot of your highly respected peers in the p.fin space feel the same which has to be 10x more validating than anything I could say. Your posts on health and fitness have encouraged me to make some changes to my life, and if 100 other people (conservative estimate) have done the same, you’ve probably added at least 100 years of life to your reader. That’s like saving a life . You’re doing an awesome job!
Holy smokes Matt that means a lot! And yes the support from other awesome bloggers is really rewarding, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet many of them before at Fincon. What means the most to me is what you said about affecting changes in your habits regarding health. That stokes me to no end. Losing weight and getting healthy completely and utterly changed my life for the better, and if I can move others in that direction I’ll sleep happy every night!
Congratulations on making it 4 years! It sure seems like I’ve been reading your blog for longer than that. You know I think your blog rocks. I’ve told you before, but I’ll tell you again today anyway. You are a talented storyteller with lots of thought-provoking content. Keep sharing your stories!
Thanks so much, you’re too kind. I appreciate your readership!
Happy 4 years! I also, along with your many fans, enjoy the nature of the posts being on many topics. When you find someone who’s opinion you respect, hearing their opinion on a multitude of topics is nice.
As for combining FIRE/outdoors, I’d love a series on bigger international trips (like bikepacking the Peru Divide, wink wink nudge nudge) that show when you have time you can do these incredible trips without limitation (and cost wise, once you have the gear it’s really only a matter of having the time and motivation!). This is one of my main drivers for FIRE, as the trips require large amounts of time which is challenging when you have a career.
An idea for when you’re ready to go full retirement.
Thanks for taking the time to write for us!
Matt
First off thanks a ton for the kind words, I really appreciate it! Would I love to go bikepacking in Peru – sign me up. Haha, there are tons of things I hope to do once I fully retire that require longer chunks of time, and you are correct that it’s a limiting factor, even in semi-retirement. I’m also helping take care of my Mom which is another limiting factor, so even after I fully retire I won’t be able to just take off and wander around, as fun as that sounds. We’ll see, I’m always messing around with adventure ideas and planning. There’s a lot to do out there!