This month, Traveling Vines turned one year old. The first year has been pretty unremarkable in terms of blog metrics. We haven’t promoted the blog and it took some time to figure out a posting scheduling that worked reasonably well for us. Twice a week was too frequent given our lifestyle and career demands. Once... Read More
Initially, we titled this post "the perfect day." But it occurred to us that perfect takes many shapes--depending on mood, the weather, the season, and even what we did yesterday. What makes this example the one I chose to include is that this perfect day embodies the freedom to enjoy simple pleasures on our own... Read More
Monday April 15, 2019 0 Comments Blog, Personal Finance
Because we are aggressively pursuing financial independence and the ability to permanently quit our day jobs at relatively early ages, it might seem silly that we set goals for those day jobs. Today, we'll talk about why it's important for us to be successful in our careers and how excelling at our day jobs actually... Read More
It’s the season for spring cleaning! Seems like it arrived late this year, but our desire to clean up, refresh, and pare down is in full swing. Like so many others, we were somewhat caught up on the movement towards a minimalist lifestyle--from selling our first home to aggressive decluttering. But we realized that we... Read More
March, like February, was another relatively uneventful month for our finances. This is good. Boring months make for a nice, steady flat graph. March was a decent month in the markets, helping to boost our net worth. Our nest egg size is getting to the point where good market months can make a big difference;... Read More
It's no secret that we love the beach. Our vacations often find us close to big water, but a decade ago, we explored Phoenix on a weekend getaway. The desert surprised us and we knew Arizona was a place we wanted to revisit. Since that first trip, we've returned to the Phoenix area several times... Read More
Trip recaps are one of the most difficult posts I write. That is strange for someone who enjoys travel as much as I do. Perhaps it is because I have so many thoughts to share about travel, especially big travel, that it is difficult to collect those thoughts into a single article. Are there any... Read More
The first destination race I completed was the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon at Walt Disney World in Orlando. I'd long wanted to participate in a runDisney race, but the timing never seemed quite right and the entry fees are steep. I have a friend who is local to Orlando and she started running... Read More
February was a relatively quiet month for our finances. Winter weather kept us fairly close to home for the most part. Work was busy for both of us. Overall, it felt like we settled into a post-holiday routine. We made some plans for travel later this year and resisted the desire to book any pricey... Read More
I’ve mentioned this list on several previous occasions, most often in progress updates when setting goals for the month to come. For those who were curious, here’s the post you’ve waited for: an explanation of how it works, what’s currently on my list, and of course the status of those tasks. I first tried a... Read More