Where I’ve been… chasing freedom.

On this entry, I explain why I’ve been absent from the blogging world for so long.  It’s a long entry, and it includes a sad story with a happy ending.  

The Bonnie situation

I’ve been gone for about 8 months, I’ve been restructuring my life as a newly single guy. Yes, you read that right. In March, my ex-wife decided she would chase her dream and I wasn’t included in the plans. Yes, it broke my heart, but I didn’t want to have her around if she no longer wanted to be around, so when she told me she wanted out, I set her free.

She wanted freedom from a life she no longer wanted to live. I wanted freedom too, from this monotony and a day job that sucked the life out of me and made me absolutely miserable every day. Our lives were speeding in opposite directions. I helped her chase her dream every step of the way as much as I could, whether it was a lot or a little.  She helped me too, she even gave me a tablet so I could work from anywhere in the world. She wanted to become a chef and become anchored to a restaurant, I wanted to travel and work from anywhere.

In the end, we became extremely stressed out because we both were not where we wanted to be, so after a couple of months, the transition was done. So I started learning to live alone again, just like 20 years earlier when I started my college years. I reinforced and kicked my minimalism into high gear, since no one could put things in my house that I didn’t want, and no one could stop me from getting rid of things. I started getting rid of all the stuff that no longer served a purpose.

And when the house started looking pretty much empty, (with the exception of the kitchen, my office, and my bedroom) I started thinking, “why do I need this house in a private residential in the richest district in my state? I’m not even going to live in this town for much longer anyway?“, so.. I could sell it and move to my favorite place about 4 hours away, or I could rent it out and get myself a small apartment. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with it, but I am leaning more toward renting it out. The rent alone would be twice what I was making at my day job. So that would be nice.

Butch and Mr. Wallace

I finally quit my day job which was totally wrong for me and I was wrong for the job. Let me go back about four or five months and tell you how I did it. I started working on a side project on my own, every day after coming home, no distractions, everyday, no TV, until one day my laptop broke, so I bought a new one and kept on working. I paid it off in about 3 months (as opposed to paying it off in 12 or 18 months as the store credit suggested) I didn’t want to be stuck paying for something for such a long time, so I just paid it off in 3 months. I don’t like owing money or being tied down to a payment plan. That’s why I don’t have credit cards anymore. Anyway, I got myself a new laptop and kept working on my side hustle and got 4 clients, who have trusted me and my skills to do a good job for them.

Then I asked for my yearly vacation time at work and I went to see my brother in Houston for about 10 days. At the time I was working alone on one of the projects I was hired to do, when my brother saw what I was doing, he started helping me out and everything worked smoothly. That’s when I realized that we could partner up and start a business together. We talked about it briefly and I returned to my hometown but we continued talking about it, after a few days, it was done.

Upon my return to the office, my boss said something that changed me. He said I came back with a different look on my face. That’s right, I was on a mission. I would partner up with my brother and work from anywhere in the world. …and just like that, the fear was gone. I always knew the time would come for me to leave my job eventually, but after all the pieces started falling together, I took noticed that it was time. So I turned in my two-week notice and I felt free at last. I knew that nothing was going to happen to me financially, because I already had made some money on the side and I had saved most of it, plus other savings, and a few other things like money from renting some equipment, etc. Like I said before, the fear was gone and I was free at last.

On the last day, I went to work, did my thing, and at the end of the day, I put everything of value that belonged to me into a small box and walked out, but not before going to my boss’ office and saying good bye and thanking him for the opportunity he gave me over 4 years ago.

The next day, the guys (and gals) from the office organized a going-away cookout for me and most people showed up. It was a good send off. It was a very fun time.

Today, I can honestly say that working from home is a good new experience. It’s great. Now I can travel and go hiking. I’m thinking of traveling the country. I can work from anywhere as long as I have my laptop and my tablet with me.

But first, wiggle your big toe… (sorry, that was a movie reference. I couldn’t help myself)

Let me try this again… But first, I have to figure out if I’m going to rent out my house and move my stuff into a small apartment or do something completely different. All I need is a bathroom, a bedroom, a small kitchen and somewhere I can have my office. One thing is for sure, I have a feeling that I’ll be getting rid of a lot of stuff in the coming weeks.