“So what do you do?”

Invariably when you meet someone for the first time, this question is bound to come up. It tells you a lot about that person and gives you a baseline for some of the interests and background of that person. In fact, I ask it a lot myself.

In Colorado we had pretty “normal” answers. Britton and I both worked full-time professional jobs, had a standard house and yard to maintain and had a few hobbies like our chickens, bicycling and gardening.

But now that we have moved here to Rincón, Puerto Rico, when we are asked that question, it is a little harder to say. We are not exactly retired, but we don’t exactly “work” either. I would say I work physically a lot harder than I ever did before, but I don’t get paid to do it. So is that work? Or do I just “hobby” around? It’s funny how our self identification seems more clear when we are paid to do something rather than when we choose to do it on our own time. Why is that? Why does money muddle who we are? Wouldn’t you think it would be the opposite? That what you do just because you do is actually closer to the real you? And what exactly is the difference between doing something professionally or as a hobby? Is it that you have an “official” title and job description or does it all boil down to the paycheck?

Meeting reminder: Paint, meet the trim of the cabana

Well we don’t work for a paycheck anymore. So what do we do if we don’t do that? And more importantly then who am I? How do we describe ourselves and “what we do”? Well, every day we do something! Sometimes it is painting a house. Sometimes it is tearing apart a deck. Sometimes it is clearing trees and vines. Sometimes it is planting new trees. Sometimes it is figuring out computer issues. Sometimes it is laying on the beach. Sometimes it is going on marathon shopping trips to Home Depot or garden nurseries that will mean even more work the next day. Sometimes we go out and meet up with people. Sometimes we just lay around the cabana and read and watch shows on the laptop and cook food. Essentially, what we do is…live!

 A day at the office

But I think the question beneath the question of “what do you do” is really…”How do you make money?” And when you separate the daily what-you-do from the money question it makes it much harder to define. If what I do doesn’t directly earn me money is it then therefore still who I am? I think this question has plagued stay-at-home moms and dads for a long time. They could be working their butts off day and night but because there is no paycheck, it doesn’t seem as “real” to some (usually those who are still wage earners) as paid labor.

The “work hard” mentality is usually tied to earning money. And that is a hard game to play, especially for low-wage earners because the shortage ultimately will be – time! You can only work so many hours in a day. If you are a mid-range (and especially high) wage earner it will still be tough, but if you want to, you can stop playing the stressful rat race game. In reality, if you want to get off  the rat race treadmill you have to change your mentality toward working hard and climbing the ladder only to spend more and climb more. At least that was our wake up moment.

Everything boils down to how you envision your life. To us, we saw keeping expenses down as more important than earnings and so we were able to get out of the rat race. Just like it takes a lot more effort to run 10 miles than to just not eat the cookies, it takes a lot more effort to work your whole life than it does to just not buy into all the consumerism. There is some discipline and will-power in there somewhere too, but it is much simpler to just go without sometimes. Not always. Just sometimes. And that’s what we did to get here to this point where we could pretty much do whatever we want to do each day. Seemed like a good trade to us.

My office view

The money game is really not that hard to figure out. You need to be able to save more than you spend. You should have as little debt and subscriptions (AKA ongoing expenses) as possible and you need to figure out some recurring income. We set a goal to save up enough money to live here with very little expenses and we have a small amount of investment income as well. We worked at our traditional jobs with that goal in mind and bought and worked on our investments and now we are here! We also intend in the future to possibly sell some agricultural products (fruits, plants, chicken eggs, etc), have a little cabana rental income eventually and always keep an eye out for what other opportunities might come up that speak to our spirit.

On the task list: Fog the mosquitos

And what is really cool about living here, especially in Rincón is that there are so many other like-minded people! Nearly half the “expat” community of people we have met have made a similar jump to the unknown and come down here with a hope and a dream (and sometimes a plan). They start doing what they love to do and soon they are even being paid to do it or they make a business out of it. People come here to play, and I don’t just mean in the ocean.  They, we! come to play the game, the life, of our choosing. When you get down to it, that’s what life is really all about.

The board room

Sure you need to have your basic needs met. And like I said, for some people this is harder than for others. But if you are blessed with your basic needs met then beyond that, your dreams, your creativity, your preferences, your real true self underneath it all should mean something too. And if you feel that you are at your highest self working a traditional job, then by all means do that! But if you have an itch to go out and try something new, if you know deep down that you are ready for an adventure then work towards living the dream! And then go do it! It really IS all that it is cracked up to be. Believe me. It’s what I do for a living.