MR1: Our Mini-Retirement Backstory

I pitched the idea to Kyle sometime in Winter 2024. I remember because we had friends visiting for a ski weekend, and I told one of them that I suggested the idea to Kyle but was doubtful much would come from it because he tends to be risk averse (ex: moving to Denver and uprooting our life in Seattle was my idea, surprise!). However, she told me later that when they were in the car driving up to the mountains (without me), Kyle was the one who brought it up to them as something we were considering. This was huge - it meant he was seriously considering it. This was definitely the fastest seed I've planted and sprouted.

I don't quite remember how the travel year idea popped into my head, but it definitely has to do with having kids. We want a family at some point, but I was fearful I would be resentful toward the kids because I didn't feel like I traveled enough before them. Thus, the idea to explore the world in the way we can as two healthy adults was born. (Birthing crazy ideas instead of children, ha.)

As the year progressed, we revisited the topic every few months, discussing what would need to happen to make it a reality. I always told him that if he ever felt it wasn't the right decision or if it was highly detrimental to his career, just tell me and we'll scratch it. I also needed to know because not doing this trip would trigger me to start looking for a full-time job. "No" never came, but our first milestone did - making sure Kyle received his annual bonus in March. At this point, we were 75% certain we were going. The next step was then speaking with HR to see if they would approve a 1-year sabbatical or leave of absence. If possible, Kyle having a job lined up to come back to after our year away would provide less risk and uncertainty. However, when we learned the max they could do was 3 months, Kyle shared he actually felt a wave of relief by not being obligated to return. Great, this means he's quitting and we. are. going! The final milestone? Having the conversation with his managing directors, choosing when, and, of course, transition planning.

What about me? I had just finished launching a third Airbnb (a property I didn't own but was going to co-host), so once we knew we were going, my March/April onward was focused on prep. Yes, prep for the trip like researching insurance, flights, what to pack, etc., but it also included looking for local property managers for our Airbnbs, prepping the houses so they were good for summer, and prepping our own home to rent out. More blog posts to come around those specifics.

If you don't know me, then let me tell you that I am massively into the credit card points game. Like we had over 1,000,000 points in Chase, Amex, hotel, and airline points before leaving. Once Kyle spoke with his leadership and was told that they just needed to know his last day, I realized I was always the one in charge of that day because it was up to me to find the flights. Oops. Kyle's main request was to have a few weeks after his last day to decompress (versus going on this large trip the day after he quit). My preference was for him to quit earlier in the month so we would have health insurance through the month. A few hours and a few days later, on March 11, I booked our direct premium economy flights to London, leaving on June 21, 2025. And the rest is history!

Credit to ChooseFI episode 451 "Mini-Retirements to Accelerate Your Path to FI | Jillian Johnsrud" for introducing me to the term "Mini-Retirement". Apparently ChooseFI/Jill have quite a few episodes on this!