I just got this notification from WordPress that it has been 6 years since I started babbling nonsense through this blog. In January 2015, I still was 14 months from quitting my job and living a life of nonsense.
This writing project was inspired as a way to perhaps help others think through their journey to early retirement. I found very few longer-form descriptions of what went into reaching financial independence and retiring early (FIRE). There were even fewer ‘diaries’ of what it was really like if you made it.
The first article I posted only got 16 initial reads. I thought it would be worth writing more if readership built up to an average of about one hundred people per post. I got to that level in year one and it’s stayed well above that mark to this day.
First Post: Chief Sparky’s Blog (January 2015)
As I look back, I’m glad to see my initial principles on how to plan your FIRE journey have held up when I look at the 6 years later. I have to say, I am surprised there are so many dimensions to reaching FIRE and living a FIRE lifestyle, so I guess I’ll continue for awhile.
I learn a lot writing the posts and learn even more when I read the comments and hear how others approach the same challenges.
Thanks SO much for that!
Eric – “Chief Sparky” – “Mr. Fire Station”
MrFireStation 
You’re a veteran in the space now! 6 years is like 60 in “career” years! 😉
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Good observation! It is a bit like dog years, isn’t it?!
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J. Money! Enoughs enough…It’s time for your own blog again. Miss your posts!
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Good Morning Mr Firestation. Thanks a ton for the blog. It’s an inspiration to us full-timers still grinding it out. 15 months to go for me.
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Shooting for April Fool’s Day 2022? That’s not far off!
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Me too! April 1, 2022! I will be about to turn 53 and will have 30 years at my organization. Times up!
Thank you Mr. Firestation for your wonderful blog. I read a lot of FIRE blogs and you’re definitely in my top 3. Congratulations on 6 years!
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That’s nice to hear, thank you! April Fool’s is such a perfect day for retiring. I did 4/1 and my boss thought it was funny so he did the same date the following year!
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Hey, Dapo – Just looking back at this. Did you early retire this Spring (2020)? Wondered if you kept on track …?
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Nonsense or not (I personally don’t think so)… I enjoy reading it so, please, keep up the good work.
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Thanks, Donna – just trying to keep it all in perspective! 🙂
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Here’s to the next six years, Chief! Keep up the good work!
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Congrats Eric. Six years is like 42 years in the FIRE space! I started reading your blog after you had just published your first few posts. I remember it well because I was just a few months away from my own exit target date and thinking, wow, this guys on the same trajectory for leaving maybe this will be a good blog to follow. I got OMY syndrome, and you ended up beating me out. So it’s been great reading along, and recognizing the similarities in our paths since retiring from our respective MegaCorps. You remain one of my main bi-weekly FIRE reads after six years. Here’s to the next six years! (Easy for me to say, as you do all of the lifting!) Congrats on the longevity! Keep up the great work.
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Thanks SO much, Thom – I have appreciated all of your comments over the years. As you say, our experiences parallel each other in so many ways. Did you decide to head down to Florida this year, or are you still sitting right? We’re going down in 2 weeks. It would be cool to see if we could meet up sometime we are both down there.
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We went down to Florida three times in 2020. We cut our normal month-long trip (last March) short due to the initial COVID closures. We went back down for a week in August to visit with friends, and we just got back last week from a short visit!
So we decided not to do our normal month long Keys trip this winter. Not due to COVID, although it was also a consideration. But rather, we simply couldn’t stand the thought of being away from our new 7 month old grand daughter for a whole month! 😆 She’s our first, so we’re really enjoying having her close!
We are planning a cross country drive for 2021. Flying out to Seattle, and sight seeing our way back to the East Coast over a a couple of weeks. Our oldest is military and will be PCS’ing back to the East Coast this year for her next duty station. So she and her golden retriever will be coming but back with us. While her “stuff” ships back.
We definitely need to connect! Are you coming any where near Virginia anytime soon? Maybe we can grab lunch or a beer. Would love to catch up and compare FIRE notes!
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We live in the Midwest, so I’ve never done a cross-country drive. That sounds great to do it over a couple weeks and stop and see a lot of the cool things along the way. Must give you a real appreciation for how big of a country it is.
Beyond Florida, we don’t have anything planned right now. Summers are terrific in Minnesota, so there isn’t any urgency to go anywhere outside the Midwest until Fall. I guess we will see how the CV19 lockdowns look.
We have some friends that are suggesting a couples trip to Australia / New Zealand in October, but I’m not sure if that will work or not. Right now, NZ is closed and AUS has a mandatory 14 day quarantine on arrival.
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Those sound like great trip options. We hope to do Australia and NZ some day too. They are at the top of my world list. We are planning to focus on the US again this year and hope that the C-19 situation is significantly improved in 2022. Maybe then we will venture outside the US again. (Although the US may be worse in some respects, we just feel we can manage it better here for now. Best of luck on your trips!
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