From Madrid, Spain: Work Less Now So You Can Work Less Longer
This comment—and my response—from
who writes the excellent newsletter perfectly encapsulates the first five posts of February.In addition to a preview of the Never Retire checklist items we’ll cover in March, we have focused on food and drink, comparing how much it costs in Spain versus the US. We’ll get back to that in the post after this one, but today let’s focus on a few everyday items and pay extra attention to this notion of work less now so you can work less longer.
For a review of what we’re doing here and what we’ve done, see—
In March, when I’ll write 20 posts in 31 days, meticulously detailing each of the 20 checklist items.
While it looks different on the ground by individual, there’s an assumption when you say you’ll Never Retire that you will work—in some capacity and to some degree—in the years we typically earmark for traditional retirement. However, it’s usually not as simple as saying I’ll do the job I’m doing at 25, 35, or 45 at 55, 65, and 75. Even if you have already found work that’s easy on the body and mind.
Plus if you want to enjoy one of the biggest fruits of Never Retiring—living the semi-retired life—you probably need to find ways to work less now so you can work less longer.
Post #6 in March details different ways to think about and structure working less now so you can work less longer.
This month-long vacation illustrates work less now so you can work less longer.
Wealth doesn’t facilitate taking a month (mostly) off of work to travel.
Lifestyle—and the personal and professional choices we make to have the lifestyle we desire—does.
I wrote about this earlier in the month on Medium—
When you tell someone you’re traveling to Europe for a month, that sense of sheepish embarrassment comes up. At least it does for me. Probably because so many of us who hold onto our parents’ views of work and life as they intersect with money. That only the rich can do something like this.
Maybe it’s just me, but you can see it in their eyes and sometimes catch it in their responses. This sense of, well, wow, lucky you, I could never do that.
The reality is the person I’m talking to probably has more money than I do. Often much more. From a pure financial standpoint, they could pull off something as seemingly extravagant as spending a month in Spain and Italy… way easier than I could.
Except it doesn’t come down to money, which is the real source of any embarrassment we feel in these conversations. Because if I think that you think I’m rich, I feel embarrassed because I don’t want you to see me that way. Plus, I’m not that way to begin with…
It’s not money that holds people back from doing things most other people don’t do.
It’s the decisions people make, not only with money, but in relation to their lifestyle.
You decide to own a business you can never get away from.
You decide to have a job you can never get away from. One that “gives you” two weeks of vacation — or whatever — each year.
You decide to have the rent, mortgage, or car payment that requires that business or job.
You decide to save for traditional retirement, rather than embrace an alternative that’ll free you from the work-a-day grind.
If I said these things to people, I wouldn’t feel embarrassed. I’d feel like a dickhead.
Embarrassed, dickhead, or something else — it’s real talk. Truth, as they say.
An increasing number of people are deciding to forgo home ownership and the American dream.
They’re deciding to kick traditional retirement to the curb.
They’re deciding to do work they enjoy, but can do less of for longer.
They’re deciding to allocate their cash in such as way that they can afford to do things other people dream of on way less money than other people have.
This is the best non-textbook definition of being semi-retired I can come up with.
You take what you have, merge it with what you desire and live the life you wanna live now and for the duration.
So there’s an extended introduction to the work less now/work less longer discussion we will expand and evolve next month.
Now the fun stuff, from Madrid—
As we set out to explore Madrid beyond our neighborhood, we’ll get back to food porn.
Today, we focus on other everyday expenses. Or, at least, frequent expenses for some people.
We are staying in a trendy, 1990’s hipster neighborhood called Malasana. Everything here seems a bit more expensive than Barcelona and Valencia so far, particularly at the newer, modern establishments. We’ll see how things look out of Malasana.
Blowout—Melisse got a blowout (hair wash and blow dry) at Santa Monica Cut & Color, which is, not surprisingly, a Santa Monica/Venice/Southern California-themed salon. It cost 26 euros. Melisse says this would run you $40-$45 minimum in LA.
When scouting places to get a beard trim, one place we walked by charges 25 euros. Around LA prices. And a bit steep compared to the 10 euros I paid in Valencia. As we hit other neighborhoods, I hope to find a less fancy barbershop for the same service.
Manicure—Another first for me on this trip. After having the first Fernet and Coke of my life, I got my first manicure at Mala Bernard.
Melisse was getting one. She suggested I get one with her. So I did it. I’m glad I did.
They charged 20 euros for mine and 39 euros for Melisse’s. Close to LA prices and, again, a function of the neighborhood we’re in.
For the record, we don’t pay for these types of services very often at home.
Laundry—We travel with just one backpack each. So we planned on having laundry done twice on this trip. The first time this week at Pressto + Plus in Malasana.
We dropped off about 10 lbs of laundry for wash and dry and three sweaters to dry clean with next day service and it cost us 22 euros. Ten euros for the laundry and four euros each for the dry cleaning. In my experience, this is a bit less expensive than LA.
If you used their machines to DIY, 30 minutes on either a washer or dryer goes for 5 euros, which is on par with what you’ll pay at most laundromats in Los Angeles.
Over the weekend and into Monday and Tuesday, we’ll venture out of Malasana to give ourselves—and you—a better sense of how things look—and how much they cost—in other neighborhoods.
Right when you step into the subway station from the train station in Madrid, you know you’re in a big city.
It’s busy. Borderline hectic.
Then, when you emerge from deep underground, it’s confirmed.
Madrid feels a lot like Manhattan.
We’re in a colorful neighborhood.
While it’s gentrified, it’s still diverse, at least on the basis of age.
There have been food and drink highlights and lowlights, including a great classic tapas bar and some subpar coffee. We’ll cover that in the next installment, also from Madrid, in roughly 24-48 hours.
The work less now and longer thing is ringing my bell, and we’re working toward that. At the moment, Bryan and I both have 100% remote jobs, so we technically could work from anywhere. We still have a teenager at home, though, so we’re a bit out from that. I’m excited for the steps we’re taking this year to set us up better for the future.
Enjoying your travel photos!
Very much looking forward to eventually making it to Madrid!