Skip to Content

What Location Independence Would Mean for Me

What Location Independence Would Mean for Me

Have you ever dreamed of being able to work your job from anywhere? Not being tied down to a 9-to-5 job that requires you in the office your entire career? I think a lot of people have and it's only natural. Life gets boring when it's the same thing over and over and over. Over the past 7 months, I have slowly begun to realize the possibilities of using my blog income to accomplish this feat. As I have talked about my early retirement plan and transitioning to working 3 days a week to maintain my income from my online ventures, I have realized I could achieve location independence. In other words, I could work from where ever I wanted.

What Location Independence Means for Me

My wife and I have lived in the same area basically since got married. We moved to New Jersey because there was a graduate school that I really wanted to go to. I had been accepted and we made the big move. After moving, it was one of the most difficult years that followed. Luckily, we both got jobs so that we pay the rent, but we did have to settle. We both ended up working jobs that we despised by the end of the first year. My wife was working long hours without getting overtime. She would leave at 8:30 and return late – the earliest being 7pm. Often it was more like 8pm. Because it was so difficult of a transition, we decided that the next time we move it will be for an already-secured job that can cover all of our expenses.

As my online income has slowly developed, I have seen the possibilities expand. If I am actually able to achieve my goal of early retirement through my passive income streams, I would be able to take my work with me. All we would need is an internet connection and we would be able to get that within a couple of days of moving. Ultimately what this allows us is the possibility for my wife to follow her career dreams, which means a lot to her. She has a lot of ambition and I see her moving up in the non-profit world very quickly.

There are so many people who pass up their career goals or ambitions because of their spouse or family commitments. To be free of these commitments without having to give up the benefits of being married seems to be the best of both worlds. As I see it, making a decent living from blogging gives us the ultimate flexibility. While many may see location independence, or the ability to work from anywhere, as the gift to work on a cruise ship or sitting on a beach somewhere, I see it as a tool to support my wife's goals. With her working in an office, it does mean that we are tied to a location, but it is her career that also enables me to dream of retiring at the age of 27 – not because I am lazy, but because there are more important things I would rather do.