This is a guest post from Brian Groener – Get Money, Got Money – a 22 year old index fund investor from Philadelphia, PA.Recently graduated from university, he is currently working as an engineer just outside Philadelphia. Although he enjoys his job and has just begun his journey to financial independence he is also an outdoor and travel enthusiast which he plans to pursue further once he has reached financial independence. He’s here to show how money can be used for freedom instead of buying more junk.Please let me know if you would like to guest post on RFI!
There are a few things I am passionate about, and while they’re completely unrelated, finance and the outdoors happen to be two of them.
It wasn’t until college that I developed either one of these passions but once I found them I was hooked. The summer after my freshman year at James Madison University in Virginia, I drove across the country to work for the summer in Yellowstone National Park. With abundant wild life, endless hiking trails, and breathtaking views all around, it was easy to be amazed. I then spent my next summer studying abroad in South Africa and backpacking Europe. After my junior year, instead of taking an internship, I drove to Wisconsin to live in a tent and get paid to be a whitewater rafting guide. Coming up on graduation, I wasn’t even thinking about working. I wanted the most badass adventure I could find. I would have an unlimited amount of time, but I was low on money so I wanted to pick something that would stretch out what I had for as long as possible. So a week after officially graduating from college, I flew to California to hike the Pacific Crest Trail.
The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is a hiking trail that begins at the US/Mexico border and finishes at the US/Canada border, 2650 miles away. The landscape changes from desert, to mountains, to forest, and just about everything in between. In early May of 2016, I took my first step of this journey.
The first day, in fact within the first few hours, I realized this endeavor was not going to be like anything I had imagined, expected, or experienced before. And while I had been hiking and camping a lot throughout college, I never had been on a trip longer than 3 days. If I was to make it to the end, it would take me about 5-6 months to complete.
Every day I would get up around 6am, have some breakfast, hike until noon, eat lunch, hike until 3 or 4pm, set up camp, eat dinner, and relax. After about a week of hiking, I’d have to get to the nearest town to resupply my food stash. Often, this involved hitchhiking. Never in my life would I have imagined myself as a hitchhiker, and here I was doing it regularly. It’s funny, when the options are hitchhike or starve you tend get over the idea quickly and surprise yourself at what you can do.
A little over a month into the journey, I began to wear down mentally. The initial thrill had worn off and I began to consider if I wanted to spend 5 more months doing this. My parents decided to come out and visit which I gratefully welcomed. Instead of the reboot I was expecting this to give me, it ended up giving me too much time to think off the trail and I couldn’t get myself to go back. This ended up being just shy of Yosemite National Park. My trip had taken me just over 700 miles in about 5 weeks. Every day at my current job, I have flashbacks of the trail and can’t believe I willingly stopped. I would take the trail over work any day.
So what does any of this have to do with money? I’m glad you asked.
The greatest lesson I learned on the trail is appreciation. Appreciation for water, for people, for heat and air conditioning, for cars, for everything. In “the real world” we often grow up feeling entitled to so much of this and take much of what we have for granted. I was able to live an amazing life out on the trail with only the 25 pounds of gear on my back and spent next to nothing along the way. My only expense was food.
So often we become attached to material things that don’t make our life any better, or make us any happier. We easily forget the difference between what we need and what we want. The fact is, you can live a good life with a lot less than you have.
I think the most important lesson that I learned from all of my outdoor adventures so far, which was reiterated on the trail, is that the people we surround ourselves with have incredibly profound impacts on our lives. The great thing is, friendships are free.
The less we can live on and the more awesome people we can surround ourselves with, the better. Your life will be less cluttered by stuff, you’ll make more meaningful memories, and ultimately the closer you will be to financial independence. After all, if you can live on $10,000 a year you’d only need something like $250,000 to retire. If you insist on $100,000 a year, you’re looking at more like $2,500,000. On an average salary of $50,000/year that’s the difference between retiring at 30 and retiring at 65. I know I value freedom much higher than my possessions, do you?
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Yes! I love the outdoors and being surrounded by nature really helps you appreciate live and the resources nature provides. It helps us escape from the expectations and comparisons we create based off materialistic living. It’s so true – the best things in live are free!!
Glad someone else agrees!
Well, I haven’t hiked 700 miles, but I’ve certainly lived with less. I’ve spent some time in the Boundary Waters where you learn to appreciate the warmth of a campfire, the ability to filter lake water to quench your thirst, and catching fish means you’ll have appetizers before your rehydrated dinner.
Brian, do you dream of going back to finish the quest?
Cheers!
-PoF
PoF,
Absolutely. Because my initial goal was to hike the entire trail and I announced that to my friends and family, I actually felt as though I was letting people down by stepping away early. But I needed to do what was right for me at the time. Having some experience under my belt now I know when I get back out there I’ll be more prepared and hopefully more successful the next time around. Who knows, if things go well maybe I’ll try to tackle the Appalachian Trail too!
Awesome! Glad to hear it. Best wishes on your upcoming adventure(s).
Best,
-PoF
I could not agree with you more. I have always believed my true purpose was to travel indefinitely and to make home wherever I was on the planet. After taking the leap and traveling for 6 months, all I wanted was to get “home”. Friends and family play a much larger part in my life than I had initially realised.
I will never stop travelling but I learned so much about myself and adjusted my purpose to one that is realistic as opposed to the ideal in my head. I learned to live with so much less and that has transcended into my simpler, happier life back in South Africa. As you know, a beautiful country to live in.
Great honest article, thanks Brian.
Congratulations for hiking that long stretch of trail. I read wild and have known two people who hiked the PCT and I have to admit I’m tempted. I don’t know if I would do it though. I lived in Colorado and got my taste of hiking on weekends and cubicle-ing during the week. That’s a good balance for me until I hit FI.
What a great read and an amazing trip. I hope to to the Pacific Coast Trail or the AT one day. It’s wonderful that you learned the lesson of ‘living on less’ and ‘making your money work for you’ a such an early age. Keep up the journey; something tells me we will be reading about you never having to work again in no time.
Beautiful scenic views and wildlife viewing on the Pacific crest trail just outside of the historic town of Etna Ca. Walk for miles along the world renowned trail with pristine scenic views. After a day of hiking enjoy the comfort of a bed and breakfast or a great pint of beer and a meal at Etna Brewery!