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SwampYankee · #3 09-05-2011, 08:19 AM

While not quite the same, in a way, that's what my uncle did. He was a Navy pilot for 5 years after college but repeated carrier launches and landings took their toll on his neck and back and resulted in an honorable discharge with disability. After a brief stint with the ME National Guard (there were some strings pulled so that he could learn to fly helicopters which is what he wanted to do to begin with), he decided he would enjoy himself for the next 20 years. His theory was everyone busts their rear, working for retirement only to be too old to enjoy themselves when the time comes.

He would do some machine work, welding and auto/boat/truck repairs when he needed money to pay the bills and bartered a lot. While not a standard of living I would want, he was hardly roughing it. He would spend the late-spring through fall in the 3,000 sq.ft. contemporary home he built completely himself with bartered materials on a lake in ME and usually spent the rest of the time in the FL Keys on a small boat (he'd do some PT work at the marina in lieu of dockage and for beer money) and later in Austrailia. He always had fast cars, fast boats and Harleys and dated women in their late-20's and 30's who would stay until their biological clocks were ticking and they'd part ways amicably (his vasectomy receipt hung on his wall next to his dogs' neuter certificates so kids were always off the table).

He thoroughly enjoyed himself until he turned 50 when he got a consulting job with a large power generation company, flying all over the US and Canada, working on retrofit and new plant trouble shooting/final prep for startup. His goal was to put enough money away to pay for any of his needs in his later years.

Hindsight being 20/20 it's a good thing he did things that way. He passed away at 59 from lung cancer (never smoked but he attributed it to the welding fumes). While I could never do what he did, it did teach me to take some breaks from the rat race and just enjoy things because you never what the future might throw at you.