There are many reasons why people choose not to have children, and raising them is the main one. Another important factor is worrying that children will destroy their ideal fire lifestyle. Many imagine traveling the world, indulging in the life of incredible food and spontaneous living, which makes it more challenging for kids to drag a trailer.
I understand this view. I grew up in six countries before college, studied abroad for six months, and worked in international stocks for 13 years. Traveling is an important part of my life. My approach is to achieve financial independence as soon as possible and then have a baby.
As an older parent, I have more time to save and invest. But given how much energy I’ve raised full time, I do wish I was a kid who was 39 and 42 years old. Starting from young, life in the future will mean more years.
To prepare to settle down, my wife and I spent 2012-2017 traveling to about 20 countries before having our first child. We want to get these travel experiences from the system so that we can fully accept them in early stages of full-time parents. When our son arrived we kept rushing to jump on the plane, so our plan worked.
This mentality helps us focus on raising children without feeling afraid to miss it, especially in the first two years of the pandemic.
If you want to fire, don’t be afraid to have a baby
However, after eight years of parenting, I realized that delaying having a baby is a Bad idea If you really want them. Kids don’t derail your fire lifestyle as you think, because their flexibility is actually more than you expected.
Plus, your desire to travel and party will naturally decline as you get older. Instead, you may find yourself enjoying the simple pleasure of reading a good personal finance book in bed or ordering takeout while watching your favorite shows. Take my latest trip as an example.
We were back for another four nights in Palisades, Lake Tahoe. My kid left school for nine days between February 15 and 23, and I think we should make the most of it on another trip.
As frugal personal finance enthusiasts, we planned a strategic visit – Monday, February 17 and left Friday, February 21. This way we can rent out our locations on weekends and after weekends, thus maximizing rental income. For each drive for 3.5 hours, we found four to five nights to be the best choice. Also, the weekend prices are peak speeds, and we prefer the crowds in the mountains anyway.
So many school holidays!
While driving, I couldn’t help thinking: Dang, these kids are really lucky – too many holidays! It felt like they were going to travel more as kids. It seems that education took a backwards when it maximized freedom in the early days.
Upon arrival, I decided to check our school holiday calendar. Sure enough, there are 46 holidays/off days in the school year, excluding the 2.5 months of summer. When you think about these breaks on the weekends, we are looking for 4.5 months of free time every year!
The break these days feels like the beginning of a quiet quit exercise. Maybe that’s where it all started. Anyone else feel the number of school holidays is about to reach a higher level?
Ideal time spent on traveling every year
Before retiring in 2012, I imagined that traveling for about three months each year would be the ideal travel time. I’ve been taking a six-week break during the last two years of my working career. My plan is simple:
- Hawaii one month Spend more time with my parents.
- In Lake Tahoe for a month, do as much snowboard as possible.
- One month of international travel, ideally, at least two countries were visited.
For several years, I have been sticking to this plan, sometimes extending my trip to 3.5 months a year. But in the end, I was tired of everything. Although I’m not so far, I remember the frequent trips I had when I drove to Lake Tahoe.
Although I love experiencing new places, I start to appreciate the balance between adventure and staying. Although three months a year may be the best place for kids, I am now Rethink What is the ideal number?
Children’s vacation usually means more work for parents
While holidays are fun for kids, they usually need to do more from fire parents or people who choose to take a break rather than send their kids to mini camps or daycare. Your child has more and more schools and you need to devote your energy to parenting.
That said, this extra time is a gift, especially if your child is under 12 years old. At this stage, all they want is to spend as much time as possible with their family. One of the best fires is the flexibility to enjoy every school break with them.
But if you are a firefighting parent who has entered a routine where traditional schools are the default structure for your child, you may feel exhausted during your vacation. We get used to habits, and ironically, not having to homeschool makes us softer.
Apart from parenting, most of the fire parents I know have personal passions they love to pursue. For me, it was written on the Financial Warrior, creating a new personal finance book every three years.
To leave more gifts on vacation, I wrote and arranged three posts in advance to prepare. However, inevitably, new post ideas (such as this one) come to my mind, so I had to write and post them. Also, I love interacting with readers’ comments and emails. So when I was on vacation, it was by no means a complete break.
Three months of travel per year are enough
It’s completely different to traveling with a partner or traveling with a child. If I were alone, I would throw everything into my backpack. But with kids, our SUVs are packed with extra food, specific food, clothes, stuffed animals, puzzles, games, and more. And if we fly, we inevitably check our luggage. Thankfully, we passed the stroller and car seat stage.
Because traveling with kids requires more effort, my initial three-month travel goal felt far enough. In fact, A trip of eight weeks a year may have many children. Even if the kids can travel 365 days a year, we won’t do that.
Looking ahead, there is still four-day school break in March, followed by two three-day weekends. Two weeks later, do we really want to go back to Tahoe? perhaps. Always attending ski school is perfect for development. But maybe we’ll choose Sonoma/Napa Valley, which is only 1.15 hours away to change things.
Then in April, there are 9 days off during the spring holiday. When the temperatures reached the 40s, I liked spring skiing. But if the snow is too thin, we might go to Honolulu to visit my parents – if they have us.
It feels overwhelmed when you have the freedom to travel during every break in school. You have to plan, pack, pay, coordinate and travel. But staying at home doesn’t feel like a waste of anything to do. As a result, the natural tendency is to plan and proceed.
Real fun begins with parents in summer fire
With 46 school days off throughout the year (no weekend count) you may feel exhausted when you go to school in June. But then there is a 2.5-month summer vacation plan!
Most parents rely on summer camps if you can secure a spot. In San Francisco, the game is very intense, and I think so in other big cities. If you don’t land in a place, it’s parents filling the days.
Personally, I run a “Dad Camp” for the kids, which includes swimming, cycling, hiking, Pokémon Go Adventures, Reading and Pickleball. I also have “responsible camps” where I teach them life skills in adulthood. Subjects included behavior, communication skills, housework, landscaping and rental property maintenance. It’s fun, but it’s also a lot of work.
This summer, we plan to spend at least a month in Honolulu. If we let the kids go to local summer camps, it would be a reward – like winning a lottery, because outsiders are at the end. But if not, Dad Camp and Become a Men Camp will continue in Honolulu. However, before booking tickets, we need to lock in a 30-day or long rental property. Does anyone have one?
You can travel enough and enjoy your freedom while you are in school
Ultimately, having a baby won’t ruin your fire lifestyle – you can still travel with them. Traveling becomes more meaningful as you get older. They will not only read about Egyptian pyramids, but also see them in person. They actually eat enough to justify the cost rather than bite into expensive meals. More importantly, you will co-create amazing memories, 4.5 months a year.
When you go to school, you will regain about 40 hours of work a week to do whatever you want. That’s when you might experience a real early retirement life again because you don’t have to work. When they go to college, you have 168 free hours a week if you want.
Having a baby will enhance your fire lifestyle as they will provide you with more purpose of exploring. Yes, you will be more tired, spend more passive income, and conduct endless testing of your patience. But children will greatly enhance the joy and purpose of financial independence. So, if you want, don’t let your pursuit of fire stop you from having a baby!
Finally, with so many flexible work arrangements today, do you still need to retire early? Many of my friends at Meta and Google work from home on Fridays and Mondays, effectively turning it into a four-day resort every weekend. Whether hitting the hillside or relaxing on the beach, they have enjoyed the taste of the fire lifestyle without having to retire.
Getting paid to go on vacation and travel with your kids is like a double reward. As someone who didn’t even get paid parental leave, I’m not sure I’d give up on such privileges.
If you are a fire parent, I would love to hear how having kids can affect your fire lifestyle. Did it change the way you initially planned your life? Have you found yourself planning your adventures while you were in school, or have you learned to resist FOMO and enjoy a more relaxed local lifestyle? How do you plan to have a vacation with them?
Subscribe to Financial Warriors
If you want to better resolve your financial situation, please sign up Authorizationan excellent free wealth management tool. I’ve been using Empower since 2013 to track my net worth and optimize my investments at overexpenses.
Listen and subscribe to the Financial Samurai Podcast apple or Spotify. I interviewed experts in my respective fields and discussed the most interesting topics on this website. Thank you for your stocks, ratings and reviews.
To speed up your financial freedom journey, join more than 60,000 people and subscribe Free Financial Samurai Newsletter. You can also subscribe to my posts and once published your Inbox you can sign up to get it here.
Financial Samurai is one of the largest independent personal finance websites established in 2009. Everything is written based on first-hand experience and expertise. My goal is to help you achieve financial freedom as soon as possible so that you can do more of what you want.
