Colorado Come to Life Post FI Life

Colorado Come to Life

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Colorado Come to Life

Colorado Post FI Life Vision Board

Colorado Rocky Mountain High…I’ve seen it rainin’ fire in the sky…you know the John Denver song! 

Sing with me! 

Yep, I was belting that while we were driving from Los Angeles to Colorado on our recent road trip. Love me some Johnny Denver! 

Colorado Come to Life is another saying on my Vision Board and it is really true, Colorado did really come to life for us on this month long road trip. I loved it!  It is a pretty spectacular state and I am a sucker for mountains and you really can’t beat the Rockies! I wrote about our rocky beginning (pun intended) in a previous post, Let’s Hit the Road. Nothing like a little drama to start a good road trip.

How did Colorado Come to Life?

This was a trip for Scott and I to continue with some of our mini-experiments, which included: 

  • Practice being more flexible
  • Build & spend time with community
  • Practice being homeless
  • Test different types of travel

Practice being more flexible

In our Post FI Life, we have been trying to be more easy going and adapt with changes. I am a planner by nature and this trip I was trying to put a little more attention on planning less and being open to more. We had a general timing of where we needed to be, but we left a lot more time available to be able to meet up with friends on the spur of the moment, have a free day or plan things around the weather.

I think this is a good practice for me. Set some loose guidelines and then see what happens and be willing to change if needed. There is certainly less stress and it opens the day to some spontaneity. 

Build & spend time with community

Rats Post FI Life While in Colorado, we did pet sitting for friends and through Trusted House Sitters, which were both great sits. We had fun with dogs, cats and rats! 

Yes, the cats and rats were both in the same household! What were they thinking?!?

The pet sitting gave us time to be close to our growing group of friends that live along the Front Range by Denver and Boulder. Being in this area for nearly 3 week, it was easy to drop in for lunch or bring some ice cream and spend some time with our friends. I really realized that you just need to be close and make frequent visits with people. I have a girlfriend from high school that lives in Denver and she said that she has seen me more than some of her friends that live in the area. It is a good lesson to remember, you need little bits of quality time with people you want to continue to nurture and deepen friendships. 

Practice being homeless

Colorado Come to Life 7Okay, we are not really homeless. 

We have a home, but it is rented out right now for at least the next 3 months, so technically, we don’t have a home to go back to. Is that really being homeless?

Since we did a longer term rental with our condo, we knew that we would be bouncing around a bit and wanted to test that out. It is certainly disruptive since we are not staying in one place for more than a  few weeks. That part is a bit hard. It is hard to really settle in. My sleep is being a bit disrupted since I am in a new place and the bed or pillow is not the most comfortable. But going back to the first mini-experiment I am trying to, “Practice being more flexible”.

I had a friend ask if not having a home base right now was hard? 

No actually. That has not been too bad of an adjustment. We are not ready to give up our condo yet and knowing that we will be going back to it at some point later this year is comforting. None of what we are doing is permanent, so I am okay with this level of uncertainty and all the moving around we are doing…so far.

Test different types of travel

We decided that this would be a big year of travel and wanted to test out different types and ways of traveling to see what we like best. Check out my post about our “traditional” vacation type of travel when we went to Hawaii earlier this year. Since we tested that approach, this trip was more of a driving road trip from Los Angeles to Colorado. We ended up driving over 4,000 miles on this trip and are really thankful my Ford Fusion with over 170,000 miles has held up!

We definitely would like a more comfortable car, but driving for 4-6 hours a day is pretty manageable. What we found on our drive back was, if we switched drivers every hour or so and got out, stretched and walked around, which was much less tiring. Since we have the time, making our drive days shorter and taking the opportunity to stop at interesting sites or places was so much better than just bombing down the freeway.

Slow drive travel was definitely a win on this trip. Yes, it might be more expensive since we were staying in more hotels along the way, but totally worth it physically! AND we got a room at the Virgin River Casino again for $27 per night, so that was a win!

Summary of Lessons Learned : Colorado Come to Life

We really enjoyed Colorado, not the hot days, but the higher elevation areas especially. I love being in the mountains. More leisurely driving is fun since we would stop and explore places was better. Surrounding yourself with friends and having meaningful conversations is recharging. We need to do that more often. Being without a home base is a little disruptive, but temporary and just going with the flow is a good thing.

So, I am enjoying this Year of the Snowglobe and continue to shake things up in my Post FI Life! It’s fun and exciting and you never know what is going to happen! Colorado Come to Life was an adventure!

Check out my YouTube Channel and a video of me twirling around Independence Pass like the Sound of Music!

Jen

Jen

I started this blog to journal about my Post FI Life and help me process my transition from working in Corporate America for almost 30 years. I am on a journey to find happiness, joy and fulfillment. And to have a little fun along the way.

Colorado Come to Life Photos

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4 Responses

  1. What a fun trip! And I love the idea of trying new types of travel and experiences (like renting your home!) to see what you really enjoy. I can see the “freedom” in your faces in the photo. 🙂

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