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by jasonkester 4881 days ago
Here are three of my decades thus far. I'm trying to decide which of these was "wasted" according to the article:

Phase I, 21-30: "Work hard/Play hard" mode, socking away retirement savings, building skills & reputation to prepare for Phase II, nights & weekends packed with climbing trips and going out. "I think I can get a full night sleep the weekend after next".

Phase II, 30-40: "Semi-retired nomad" mode, working short (~3mo) contracts about once a year, logging several laps around the world & entire seasons spent chilling at some of the best climbing areas anywhere. Building SaaS products from the beach to finance Phase III.

Phase III, 40-: "Comfortable family guy" mode, working remotely from a little village in the countryside south of Paris with some of the best bouldering in the world, playing with the kid in the garden, and doing "vacations" involving actually booking hotel rooms and not forcing myself to live on $15/day when on the road.

I think according to the article, I was supposed to swap out the "work for employers" part of Phase I for the "build products" part of Phase II. But I'm not sure where Phase II would have come in, had I done that. It's tough.

I guess the best a fella can do is pay attention to one's life and try to at least have a plan. Had you asked 25 year old Jason what his plan was, he would have described something remarkably similar to the above. Except that Phase III might have involved a 19 year old Swedish girl and happened in his sixties:)

3 comments

Hi Jason, I looked at your business http://www.expatsoftware.com/ why does it have to be " staffed by a number of expatriate Americans."??? Good developers don't depend on citizenships. The world is flat now.
Similar trajectory here. Probably a number of HN'ers in the same boat?

Phase I, 18-29. "Work, train (athletics), travel, and save money." Started working at 18. Never settled down anywhere, after 21 I started saving money. Also building contacts that will carry me into phase II.

Phase II, 29-34 (now). "Husband/father/freelancer/student/athlete/coach". Pursuing studies in Math (my passion) getting ready for Grad school (2014). Funding it with Phase I and working part-time from home. Lots of family time and staying in good shape. Keeping a consistent routine (something I never did in Phase I).

Phase III. Probably starts around 35 next year: Math PhD? Post-doc, etc. Nothing set in stone. But without Phase I in my 20s the way it was I wouldn't be in the position to do this now.

I think I was supposed to be a student first, then start a career. Not the other way around.

Clearly the lives you describe are interesting. And probably happy. Many middle-class-and-upper people strive for such a life. But these lives also seem quite photoshopped, like a packaged tour version of life. Not judging or anything, but i'm wondering if, given its utmost uniqueness, a life should be lived on a predefined plan.
You need plans (however rough) to achieve goals.

It's also quite unlikely that they summarized the entirety of their lives in ~6 sentences. Nuances and changes of plans aren't mentioned. These summaries are in retrospect. The plans are plans, and subject to change.

I think it just so happens that when you look at comfortable people's lives from 30,000 feet, they look similar. "I was young, did a bunch of fun stuff, thought about the future", then "I started a family, or got less risky", then "I know what I want to achieve next".

Well, I'm only 24, but my life seems to be taking a pretty similar route already :)

Mind if I ask where this beautiful bouldering near Paris is? Are you referring to Fontainebleau? I've really been meaning to take advantage of being in Europe and heading down there but haven't had the chance to yet. Perhaps this summer.

Yep, Fontainebleau. Ten minutes on foot to Franchard Carriers, or five minutes in the car to most of the better known areas. Close enough that I can bill a full day and still get out on the rock for a full session if conditions are good.

Property in France is amazingly cheap if your only other point of reference is Southern California.