The wind blew like a hurricane last night, which is so weird because the daytime wind is so gentle. I woke up during the night and had to make sure no one tried to open my door because the wind blew against the door so strongly it sounded as felt as though someone pushed and pulled against the handle. But it was just the wind. I spent all day today writing about the last several days. I also sent out a few emails.
This blog is about freedom. It’s a travel blog right now because I currently am expressing my freedom by traveling around Costa Rica. Today, I exercised my freedom by not doing anything active. I enjoy writing, so that is what I did. I also find that writing is good for me. Writing has been easy the last several days because the last several days have been so unlike my routine at home.
There is more to freedom than travel. Non-stop traveling would be as limiting for me as non-stop working used to be, so clearly there’s a balance to be found. Ultimately, I am aiming to design my life such that I do what I enjoy as much as possible and do what I dislike as little as possible. Debt-freedom and spending money in accordance with my desire to be free is a big part of this lifestyle design. Paying off my remaining student loans means either that I’ll have a couple hundred more dollars a month to spend on whatever I wish (including travel), or that I can take a job that pays several hundred dollars a month less without negatively impacting my standard of living. Smart spending is critical to my freedom. The less money I spend on things which chain me to an expensive lifestyle (high rent, a crushing mortgage, large student loans, big car payments, needlessly expensive clothing, etc.), the less I need to work highly paying but highly stressful jobs. This means I can have more of the experiences I truly enjoy like the time to write, or a goodnight’s sleep uninterrupted with worry for the next day’s obligations, time with my family, time with my friends, and time traveling in the world.
In short, prioritizing exactly what I want out of life and then spending my money, time, and energy on those things and experiences instead of on things and experiences which do not support my priorities will be an important part of being free.
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