Summer Break Through the Lens of Financial Independence
As the school year starts to draw towards a close with only a few weeks left, I’m getting excited. My wife and kids are about to embark on another year of summer vacation.
Well Deserved Break
During the school year the kids have been busy. They both have homework 4 nights a week. They have each been in evening and/or weekend activities typically 2-3 days per week. It’s great to see them busy and involved, but there have definitely been times that they’ve felt a bit burnt out.
My wife is even more exhausted throughout the school year. She spends countless hours preparing and teaching and grading, and putting in the extra time to further her own education as well. Summer break is a well-needed time to reset and reinvigorate.
Luckily, I’ve built up enough vacation that I can take several weeks off during this time without making much of a dent in my paid time off.
So summer break is a great time of year for us to take some time to grow as a family. We definitely get a chance to relax, but we also spend some quality time at home and on vacation.
I’ve come to appreciate this opportunity we have more and more every year. While most parents are trying to figure out camps, my kids and wife are free to spend the time they want doing what they want, and I will typically join them for several adventures along the way.
Summers In My Past
Summer breaks were always full of fun for me through most of school. My family would travel near and far, and we built many memories together. Most vacation pictures from my childhood are from summer trips.
But there is also the time between trips. My parents worked, and I attended camps, which were fun, and also structured. I made new friends, played sports, and learned some life skills.
… and then, in high school, I got a summer job. Ever since then, I’ve worked most of every summer except one I took off for medical reasons. Since high school I have been shut out of the long stretch of two-plus months without having to report to anybody, and coming up with my own agenda. Of course I’ve always taken at least some vacation time to spend some much needed extra time with family and friends. But it wasn’t the same as having weeks in a row without a job.
Summer Vacation and Retirement
I am always wondering about what retirement might be like in my future and how I might live. I love hearing from family that are retired, along with friends like Scout, and other retirees, young and old, willing to share their stories on podcasts or blogs. But unless you live every day with someone, you won’t understand exactly what their lifestyle and every day grind is like.
So here’s the thing that took me way too long to realize. I can’t think of a time in my life that I was old enough to come up with my own agenda for more than probably three weeks in a row, let alone more than two months… But my wife has!
She isn’t much of a follower of the Financial Independence concept, nor does talking about money or spreadsheets interest her, but she has some insight into what living a Financial Independent life can be like. Sure she’ll take some additional education classes from time to time, but most summers she gets to set her own agenda without any oversight by a boss of any kind.
So this summer I’m going to try to pay more attention to her than in the past as it relates to what could be considered her annual summer mini-retirement. I’m going to try to observe more about priorities, happiness levels throughout a given day and throughout week, and how much of a given day is scheduled. I’m going to ask her more questions about what she enjoys doing and if she could see herself doing similar activities when she’s retired. I’ll also think more about how things might change if I take the whole summer off with her one of these years.
At some point in the distant future, summer vacation will just turn into fall vacation, and then just vacation, and I look forward joining my wife for the ride.
Reader Question
- Have summer vacations been memorable for you?
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