Finding Your Perfect Work-Life Balance | Lauren & Steven from Trip of a Lifestyle | The Financial Independence Show Podcast

In today's episode, you'll hear from Lauren and Steven who write over at Trip of a Lifestyle.

This awesome couple took a six-month honeymoon to Hawaii and that changed everything.

They got a taste of traveling on a budget and earning along the way.

We can't wait to showcase how they took control of their work-life balance and living life to the fullest.

Listen, learn, and let us know what you think.
Episode Summary
Discovering Financial Independence

Lauren started paying attention to income in college
She worked her way through college with scholarships and jobs
Then when her and Steven moved together to California they started talking to advisors
Steven's started getting interested in investing after he started working
They ended up getting sold some really bad investments from a bank investor
Although it was a bad situation it was a big learning moment
They actually came up with this idea of having investments covering your expenses before formally discovering FI
It was also really helpful that they started early before they had faced lifestyle inflation
The big change for them after finding FI/RE was just saving with more of a purpose
They end up moving back to Florida to take advantage of a free master's program for Steven
This program was based on a requirement that Steven would teach for a bit in Florida
During his teaching commitment, they got married and started brainstorming their honeymoon

Long Term Honeymoon

They had a goal of really driving down the cost per day for a Hawaii trip
Instead of a week or two, they would stay six months
They bought a used car, rented an apartment, and worked 10hrs per week
When the trip was over, they had broken even and their net-worth actually grew
This trip supercharged their will to retire early
Lauren & Steven were actually more excited about work because they knew what they wanted now
When they returned to Florida they also bought a small condo for cash
Even though they owned their house, they brought in roommates to bring in more money

Finding Work-Life Balance

To enable this type of travel they leveraged their skills to earn money while on the go
Steven picked up some private tutoring jobs
They both also do photography
Lauren negotiated with her employer for a part-time remote job which they agreed
When they would go on trips after buying their condo, they'd sign short term tenants
Lauren will also help out small business with social media

All 61 National parks in seven months

After a period of working after returning from the honeymoon, work started taking a toil
They felt really burnt out and felt like they should just be doing more of this travel
So they came up with this idea of seeing all 61 national parks
Total cost of the trip including van depreciation, healthcare, chartering planes etc was $37k
That's total for two people and seven months
It would have only cost $21k if they skipped a couple of the really remote ones
Over that seven month period between side jobs and rent, they earned $37k
So their income matched their expenses while taking an incredible trip
You can get the full breakdown of this trip here

Their Spending

They have spent $18k-$27k per year
They are comfortable not chasing a specific FI number
Lauren & Steven look to continue their side jobs but have no interest in starting a business

Key Takeaways

Test driving FI/RE: Lauren and Steven talk about how their trips are a test run at what financial independence will look like.
Avoid burnout at all cost: It's so important to enjoy the journey on your way to retirement
It's ok to not be a boss: I think it was very insightful that Lauren & Steven would rather use businesses than create one

Call to Action

Take a mini-FI/RE vacation and take some control over your work-life balance.

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