Very cool, Jason! I can identify with several things here.
I had three friends who post high school ventured into flying. One ended up purchasing his own plane and going full in. Another would fly (via renting) pretty regularly post college, but that decreased over time as life got busy, etc. The last abruptly ended his journey through lessons after accidentally slowly flipping a plane (tail over nose) during landing practices. No one was hurt and I don’t remember the damage cost, but he never overcame the anxiety from that event to try any additional lessons. My reaction to the flying experience was similar to yours. While going up in a small plane at the end of high school as a passenger just to see what it was like, I had the experience of mild anxiety and sweating (both unexpected) towards the end of the flight. I think it was the roughness of the ride, as you described, that did me in. Definitely glad I tried it as the views were amazing, but I immediately knew it was not for me long-term.
As far as the RV journey, glad to hear your experience was positive! My wife and I definitely want to try some variation of this. We have friends who have a fifth wheel and love it, but don’t use it very often. The idea of renting sounds fantastic for us (all the benefits minus overhead & depreciation cost, maintenance effort and cost, etc), and I would say this is cemented in as something we will try.
I would say the thing that tugged on my heartstrings the most is the discussion about a child transitioning out of high school. Our two kids are currently a senior and sophomore in college. Boy, is there a volume of things to discuss there. At times you’re very happy for them, but also a little nervous. You’re glad they’re getting older and more independent, but you’re also a bit sad that they’re getting older (surprise - it also means you’re getting older). I will say this, as you and Eric talked about in one particular episode, the amount of time we will spend with our kids post high school is very very small in the big picture, so my wife & I are absolutely soaking it in and very present when we are with them - really enjoying every opportunity.
Appreciate all you (and Eric) share through your journey!
One final suggestion for you and Eric. After releasing your most recent episode of 2 sides of fi where Eric is now considering indefinitely postponing retirement based on his new business development and excitement, it might be interesting for you both to revisit the episode where I posed on Speak pipe the question about one more year. Based on Eric’s newly developed/discovered information, how would he answer that question now? Do his thoughts and answers from that episode hold up now? Just a thought experiment…
Hi Jason, I appreciate your blog and 2 sides of FI. Good for you for testing out your dream of flying. That’s awesome. The readiness, the trying, is all.
Very cool, Jason! I can identify with several things here.
I had three friends who post high school ventured into flying. One ended up purchasing his own plane and going full in. Another would fly (via renting) pretty regularly post college, but that decreased over time as life got busy, etc. The last abruptly ended his journey through lessons after accidentally slowly flipping a plane (tail over nose) during landing practices. No one was hurt and I don’t remember the damage cost, but he never overcame the anxiety from that event to try any additional lessons. My reaction to the flying experience was similar to yours. While going up in a small plane at the end of high school as a passenger just to see what it was like, I had the experience of mild anxiety and sweating (both unexpected) towards the end of the flight. I think it was the roughness of the ride, as you described, that did me in. Definitely glad I tried it as the views were amazing, but I immediately knew it was not for me long-term.
As far as the RV journey, glad to hear your experience was positive! My wife and I definitely want to try some variation of this. We have friends who have a fifth wheel and love it, but don’t use it very often. The idea of renting sounds fantastic for us (all the benefits minus overhead & depreciation cost, maintenance effort and cost, etc), and I would say this is cemented in as something we will try.
I would say the thing that tugged on my heartstrings the most is the discussion about a child transitioning out of high school. Our two kids are currently a senior and sophomore in college. Boy, is there a volume of things to discuss there. At times you’re very happy for them, but also a little nervous. You’re glad they’re getting older and more independent, but you’re also a bit sad that they’re getting older (surprise - it also means you’re getting older). I will say this, as you and Eric talked about in one particular episode, the amount of time we will spend with our kids post high school is very very small in the big picture, so my wife & I are absolutely soaking it in and very present when we are with them - really enjoying every opportunity.
Appreciate all you (and Eric) share through your journey!
One final suggestion for you and Eric. After releasing your most recent episode of 2 sides of fi where Eric is now considering indefinitely postponing retirement based on his new business development and excitement, it might be interesting for you both to revisit the episode where I posed on Speak pipe the question about one more year. Based on Eric’s newly developed/discovered information, how would he answer that question now? Do his thoughts and answers from that episode hold up now? Just a thought experiment…
Enjoy the final year of high school! Best wishes.
Thanks for sharing, Grant! I really appreciate the details - and your support.
Hi Jason, I appreciate your blog and 2 sides of FI. Good for you for testing out your dream of flying. That’s awesome. The readiness, the trying, is all.
Thanks very much, Shelley! I appreciate your support 🙏