12 Comments

Hi Jason! I recently stumbled upon your substack, and saw you are also a Central Coast resident. My wife and I are also on the FI path living in the same area, and are getting to the stage of transitioning to part-time and/or a long sabbatical. Feel free to reply or reach out if you'd ever like to meet up in person!

Related to your article, the achievement aspect of certain actives resonates a lot with me. Outside of work, that has been fitness and golf related accomplishments for me lately. But with more time, I'm also interested in pursuing other hobbies like music, surfing, and cooking where some level of accomplishment is part of my interest.

During COVID I did some hour long lap swimming sessions (without music/podcasts), and noticed I would gain more clarity on thoughts rattling around in my head. I should probably revisit doing occasional swims/hikes without that audio distraction again.

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nice to "meet" you, DV! feel free to drop me a line via "Contact Us" at the 2SFI site if you like: https://twosidesoffi.com/

thanks for sharing your own experiences. cooking was also a huge pursuit of mine, particularly in the first two years post-RE (lockdown played a role in that!). funny enough, both on the YT channel and in earlier blog posts i also discussed how casting my usual podcasts + audiobooks aside during walks was remarkably head-clearing! i haven't done as much of that likely but like you, would probably see benefit from it. best wishes to you!

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will do!

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The guidebook that most use is from John Brierly which is available on Amazon. Depending on where you live there are chapters of the American Pilgrims on the Camino, Americanpilgrims.org that you could engage with. I am in Sacramento, CA. We have a thriving chapter of about 600 people who have walked, are planning to walk or are dreaming of walking some day. My favorite book is called To a Field of Stars by Kevin Codd it is about his walk.

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In full honesty I'm now completely obsessed with the Camino, having read several books, gone through the whole Americanpilgrims website, and watched endless YouTube. I'd welcome the opportunity to connect more on this if you're willing! thenextphaseisnow@gmail.com

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Thanks! This is really great. I've downloaded To a Field of Stars now :)

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Hi Jason, have you considered walking the Camino de Santiago? It is an amazing walk through Spain.

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Hi Andy, it's definitely on the list to consider. Admittedly I don't know tons about it but what I've read has been pretty compelling. Assuming you've done it, what did you find that made it so amazing? Thanks!

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Yes, I am kind of a Camino junkie. I have walked it several times. Well, first the walk is beautiful, on the first day you walk up into the Pyrenees mountains and enter Spain from France. The walk takes you across northern Spain, through small villages and big cities such as Pamplona. For me the most amazing thing is the pilgrims. You will meet people from all over the world. Everyone is sharing a common experience and yet each is having their own unique experience. For me it was life changing in a very good way. Feel free to reach out if there is anything that I can do to help. I love walking and do it every day. I've been retired for the better part of 17 years. Fire at 45.

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Thanks! That sounds like an amazing experience. Did you find any books or websites particularly helpful for learning about / preparing for your first walk? I'd love to dive into research on this. And thanks kindly for the offer for help! 🙏

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Very good share Jason! Much of what you said resonates with me. I also like accomplishing things, and for some reason, I enjoy my weekends a little more when I’ve accomplished more things during the week. I suspect this will carryover and be something that’s still important to me once I retire. As far as your hike, you’ve got to acknowledge that spontaneously deciding to go 30 miles is quite a feat — congratulations to you for accomplishing it! Several years ago, in my mid-ish 40s, I spontaneously filled in for an adult baseball league game. I played hard, and played well, but my body was SORE for a week after that, so I know your pain! Lol

Keep up the posts whenever you are so inspired. Thanks for sharing.

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Thanks, Grant! I suspect you are 100% right. We certainly do take longer to recover these days, eh? :) Best wishes on your journey! Thanks for you support. 🙏

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