People get financial freedom wrong.
I’m not going to tell you about sipping/not sipping pina coladas on the beach. The subtle nuance of a work-optional life is that nobody knows what it’s like until they experience it.
I don’t know many retirees who fired their bosses before hitting their retirement age. But I got a taste for financial freedom on a recent vacation in Thailand.
The goal was to chill, not to study my behavior in a warm country where things are a tad cheaper than in Germany, where I’m from. But the extended stay (one month) got me thinking about what it’d be like if I lived in Thailand.
I discovered three unexpected takeaways.
1. You need structure in your day
Imagine you’ve settled your financial issues. Money is no longer a concern as long as you spend it responsibly.
Now it’s up to you to give meaning to your life.
You realize that after a few days in a new place. The initial euphoria from being abroad, trying new food, and the warm weather vanishes. Tourist attractions bore you. So does yet another variation of teriyaki in a new Japanese restaurant.
You’re forced to think about your day ahead every time you wake up in the same hotel room.
Structure gives you meaning. Suddenly, staying another half an hour under the blanket feels like a waste of time. Here’s how I structured most of my days:
- I went to the gym first thing in the morning.
- I had a slow breakfast, preferably in a new restaurant.
- I went back to my room during the sun peak hours to read and write.
- Then I had lunch and went to explore the city (Bangkok and Pattaya).
The evening wasn’t planned, as I wanted to leave room for spontaneity and end up doing something I’d never done before.
Structuring my days made me feel fulfilled. I wasn’t only chilling. Writing and reading activated my thought process, and I felt a sense of accomplishment at the end of each day.
It may seem trivial. But structure is key. I made it a rule to write and read for a few hours every day. No excuses.
That came naturally because I’ve been writing online for two and a half years. If I find myself in another country with nothing specific to do, I’ll know how to occupy myself.
You should know what to do with your free time before you retire. This is why the advice of creating something on the side, like a hobby or a side project, while working a 9 5 job is so useful. You find your passion and use it to give meaning to your new life.
The goal is to transition into retirement gradually, allowing you to be your boss after working for someone for a few decades.
You’ll still be busy once you retire. You’ll just be doing what you love most.
2. Social life requires effort
We shouldn’t take talking to people for granted.
Your day job provides a truckload of opportunities for communication. You’re around people. Your customers call you. In the evening, you’re exhausted from all the social interactions and wish everyone would leave you alone.
It’s the opposite abroad, where you can have meaningful conversations with just a handful of people.
English is a barrier. Google Translate doesn’t help because it can’t identify people’s emotions when they use specific words. AI helps, but it often feels like you’re talking to a robot, not a person.
And being a retiree could make it worse.
I met a 70+ guy from Australia while working out in a park. We started chatting, and it soon became clear he needed someone to listen to him. One of the things he said was
“I’m alone here; nobody ever calls me.”
Moving to Thailand was his choice. He loves the country, but he’s lonely. It’s no different in Australia due to his age. Many of his friends and colleagues could be gone.
So my acquaintance was doing his best to be social. I was alone too. But it’s easier to find company when you’re young.
I love observing people. I went to local bars in the evening, ordered water or juice, and just sat there looking at passers-by. This made me feel social. But I went a step further and talked to people like the Australian guy. Simply asking another customer, “Is it your first time in Thailand?” is a great icebreaker.
I met a British guy who needed to get started with investing. My Substack newsletter is about investing, so I was happy to walk him through the basics. We went to play pool after.
I met an American guy in a restaurant while looking for shelter from the tropical rain. The guy was in Thailand for the fourteenth time and knew a few tricks for obtaining a long-term Thai visa for retirees.
Meeting new people is not just a pastime; it’s beneficial for your mental and emotional well-being. Make an effort to talk to strangers, and you’ll be surprised at the meaningful connections you can form.
3. Get ready to talk to yourself (for a long time)
I went for two weeks chatting with people here and there. And then I stopped.
Being social no longer mattered. Being one-on-one with my thoughts did.
You begin to hear your inner voice when social interactions die off. Your emotional response to your thoughts and actions makes itself palpable. You turn into a mini version of Tibetan monks who spend days in silence. And when you add a daily dose of fitness and writing, your mental state is damn near invincible.
Being alone like that is not just solitude, it’s a form of meditation. It helped me understand that happiness doesn’t come to you. You create it through self-reflection and purposeful living.
I was obsessing over Thailand because it seemed like a retiree’s perfect destination:
- Prices are low.
- The weather is great.
- The people are friendly.
- There’s an infrastructure for just about anything.
But I realized I was at the same happiness level as in Germany (7 out of 10) after the first two weeks.
The beginning is always exciting. You look ahead and plan all the cool things you’re going to do. And for a while, they give you meaning.
Then you get used to them and go back to your fundamental state. That’s asking yourself how to make your days meaningful.
It boils down to self-improvement. You want to know you did something worthwhile, like working out or writing a post on social media. The country where you do that doesn’t matter.
Now I understand that Thailand won’t make me cheerful unless I find a reason to be pleasant. The people living here still face bad days, health issues, and financial problems.
While Thailand remains an attractive option for my yet-to-come work-optional life, Germany (or any other country) should also do well.
Financial freedom is not about where you reside. It’s about finding meaning in your life without worrying about money.
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