A Big Year

[Acristickid]

Life and death.



Been thinking a lot lately about this.



Recently college buddy’s brother who was 47 had a massive (is this the only adjective to describe anything other than a small stroke?) stroke and after 2 months still getting his speech back and movement in his arms.



Yesterday another good buddies brother died at 61 with no known health problems, collapsed after taking the garbage out.



Gotta live now.



But for ME- you gotta balance that with your own responsibilities. Make sure you take care of your family and don’t burden them with stuff when your gone for the sake of your own needs.



Anyways- this year I had a big year with 3 travel and adventure trips. Usually I’m good for one trip a year but I think because I am so close to catching all the species of salmon and trout I am very anxious to complete.



Know it still could take a few years and at 53 I should have no problem but you never know. Have a couple of health issues and I know how I treated my temple for the last 30 years- be surprised if I make it to 65.



I’ve led a bit of a non conventional life by not getting married till 49, hence a crazy amount of fishing and travel. Being a single idiot does not increase your lifespan.



My wife is supportive of my effort with the explanation that it will come to a conclusion one way or another. It will be a big weight off of me to complete then I can focus more on other things.



As I think back to places I’ve traveled, camped, hiked and fished I’m glad that I was able to do that when my body could handle it. I don’t have a desire to sleep on the ground for much longer or tote a 40 pound backpack.



Got three more fish to go at this point-



May 2023

Eagle Lake Rainbow- Eagle Lake , CA

Little Kern Rainbow- Little Kern Drainage, CA



August 2023

Pink Salmon-Pacific Northwest



I hope that some day I’ll look back and say to myself be glad you didn’t wait to pursue some of these things. Don’t feel if I was older I’d want to tent out, hike up and down mountains or even drive for days in the car. So do great but for myself I can see less interest.



Guess for me it’s don’t wait till later because it may never come.



Have a great day fly anglers. Lilly looking for risers on morning walk.

 

[wildtrout2]

My childhood best friend was found face down in a creek he was fishing last summer. He was only 63 years old. He was doing what he loved to do the most. You never know...

 

[Bruno]

My father passed away at 62 and my best friend died at 43. I learned the don't wait , get out and live as much as you can. You are living right Paul .

 

[DomR]

I lost my mom, dad, uncle, and best friend all in the span of 24 months. My BF at 44 yo. I don't wait for nothing anymore. Life is there to be lived.

 

[CRB]

👍 100%

 

[poopdeck]

living because your afraid of dying ain't my idea of living large. It’s a fine line between living life large and living foolishly. I have had friends and relatives die in their teenage years, their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Some lived large in their younger years and died in squalor working menial jobs well into their golden years. Some have lived large, died young and left their surviving families with nothing. Others have reached financial independence, will never burden their family with their care and have plenty of money to live without working into their hundreds.

The option that interested me the most was seeking financial independence which I have done and I’m still alive to talk about it. because of this I can live larger for the next 30 years then I ever could have in my 30’s 40’s or 50’s And never work another hour of my life. Somehow, I manage to reach this goal without ever feeling like I missed out on something or didn’t live life to the fullest. thankfully I don’t and never will measure my life by how many trips I’ve taken, the car I drive or the number and types of fish I’ve caught.

hate to be the buzz kill but that was my approach.

 

[Acristickid]

Logical approach poop.

Certainly more to life than fishing trips but not that much- at least that captives me.

Been doing a lot of landscaping work and the heavy labor that comes with it. Once the big stuff is complete maybe I’ll focus more on the yard. Then you know I’m old. You can also know your old if you buy your wife lingerie with a gift card from Christmas at Kohl’s. Hah.

Guess I have reached some financial independence (the hard part I suppose). Good life balance at this point as I do everything at home , go fishing and my wife has the job. Work is for suckers- that’s a joke for the humor. My family is better off if I’m dead. I do believe it’s paramount to take care of your responsibilities first before rewarding yourself.



More concerned about longevity/mobility aspect of my journey with at times pretty strenuous activity. Still some mountain hikes out there for me. The catching of the fish was an unplanned thing. Just caught so many that it seemed possible and I thought I would try.



Glad I’ve pursued because it’s taken me to beautiful places and keeps me very engaged - fishing , traveling, hiking, planning , learning. But being so close to the goal creates some anxiety to get to it a done.



You never know when you could stroke out or as my dad would say get hit by a beer truck.

 

[Prospector]

This is could be a really important topic for some younger folks on this board as they consider life’s possibilities.

First, you need to understand where you are headed financially. That’s going to dictate what level of goals you might have. Regardless of your level of financial security you can have a very fulfilling life.

With less money you might need $100 to buy a one man Kelty tent and fish a lot of wild trout stream tucked back in the valleys of PA. That is an awesome experience. You can also take your kelty all over the US. With more disposable income your accommodations will improve a little. But either path is great.

For you young folks I’d recommend finding a way to save some money for retirement. If you are fortunate to work for a company that offers a 401K that simplifies things. Otherwise you might need to find a broker. Create a simple spreadsheet with about 5 columns.
- year
- your age in that year
- money saved for retirement at yearend
- cash expected to be generated from that yearend sum, somewhere 6% - 8%
- money you plan to contribute in a calendar year***

Have a row for each year until you are 90.
Figure out how much money you want to have at age 65 and beyond and just make sure you religiously contribute that amount you arrived at in column 5 marked with ***.

Once you take care of your retirement goals. Then spend most of your disposable income on the things you and your family want to do.

For us we had 4 main things that me and my family wanted to do: hunting, fishing, and attending sporting events. I used the methodology above to ensure a good balance between current spending and future needs. It has allowed me to hunt in 28 states, fish in 12 states and attend sporting events in 31 states. I’ve been everywhere except Hawaii and North Dakota.

There were Trail Blazers on the out of state experiences. @wbranch is one of those guys who did it before it was in vogue. My generation took it further but the generation behind me is really going to do big things.

The development of interstate highway system combined with improvements in vehicle performance has made out of state experiences commonplace. My grandparents in PA through a series of events ended up inheriting a house in FL before the interstate highway systems. They had a diary of daily progress in the early 1960s from PA to St Cloud FL. It took like 10 travel days and they had 7 flat tires (when tires still had inner tubes). Just driving secondary roads the whole way Now that would put a cramp in out of state fishing trips.

 

[wbranch]

"@wbranch is one of those guys who did it before it was in vogue."

Yes, I can say I was fishing most of the great Montana rivers and spring creeks long before they became well known to the new anglers of the 1970's and beyond. If I never fished another day in my life I can look back fondly at amazing experiences and thousands of wild trout.

 

[mtman]

Going to be turning 63 next month, so this thread really caught my eye. The way me and my wife have always looked at it is, if we are able to do something now is the time to do it. There are no guarantees on tomorrows. My brother and I have come up with a phrase called " retirement days" . Days we call out from work and go fishing, because we may not be able to do these things in our retirement due to health, finances or whatever. I 'm an HVAC service tech and worked 6 days a week all during this brutal summer . All the overtime is funding a two week trip fishing in Idaho and Montana starting next Friday. Will be spending time with our daughter from Missoula and having our daughter from here out with our grandson. Work will feel like a million miles away.

 

[poopdeck]

Please take no offense mtman, but working 6 days a week in my 60’s was exactly what I wanted to avoid. I set a goal to retire at age 50. That didn’t work out because I failed to recognize how expensive college is/was and my desire to pay in full for my kids education costs. I did retire at 55 but an opportunity presented itself that I couldn’t turn down and I was still young. At age 59 every day is retirement day, no overtime, no 5 days a week, no stress, no limitations and great health.

 

[FiveWeight]

living because your afraid of dying ain't my idea of living large. It’s a fine line between living life large and living foolishly. I have had friends and relatives die in their teenage years, their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Some lived large in their younger years and died in squalor working menial jobs well into their golden years. Some have lived large, died young and left their surviving families with nothing. Others have reached financial independence, will never burden their family with their care and have plenty of money to live without working into their hundreds.

The option that interested me the most was seeking financial independence which I have done and I’m still alive to talk about it. because of this I can live larger for the next 30 years then I ever could have in my 30’s 40’s or 50’s And never work another hour of my life. Somehow, I manage to reach this goal without ever feeling like I missed out on something or didn’t live life to the fullest. thankfully I don’t and never will measure my life by how many trips I’ve taken, the car I drive or the number and types of fish I’ve caught.

hate to be the buzz kill but that was my approach.

Fully agree.

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Just live life and enjoy what you have. Each of us is "rich" in one way or another. If you put things off until a better time comes that time may pass you by. My wife and I say that we have been very lucky in our lives by being able to go place we dreamed about and doing things that we never thought possible. Get out there and make it happen. GG

 

[mtman]

No offense taken PD, I guess my point was the Golden Years look different for everybody. I would prefer not to be humping it at my age , but a job relocated out from under me and had to start a new career in a different trade which set us back financially . So my plan is to do what I can with the time and resources I have available. Because the typical retirement scenario is probably not in the cards for me. Enjoy your time as best as you can.

 

[poopdeck]

One thing we can never plan for is fate and karma. I guess luck factors in a bit as well.

 

[CLSports]

Take care of the things that are in your control; mainly your health, wealth and family. If all of those are secure then you will have the means to do anything else you desire.

 

[dryflyguy]

Been at this sport for 40 years now.
And have always made it a point to fish as much as I can - and make the most of things when I'm there.

And really hold the same philosophy for all aspects of life
The wife and I think the same way with family vacations too.
Who knows - we may never be back there again.

Really glad I've lived that way too
I'm retired now, and set financially.
But am also dealing with several health issues that could throw a wrench into things.

So yes, whenever you can, make the most of life.

 

[rrt]

I echo what DFG has just posted.

Also, life involves responsibilities, and you must take them seriously, especially those to your family.

As far as trout fishing, read Traver's "Testament of a Fisherman." It sums things up pretty well for fly-fishermen.

 

[Redhooker]

Like many of us, I worked hard and did what was needed to support family and responsibilities. Retired in January at 66. Spent the last couple of years eating less ,better, and getting more exercise. Now I am in better shape than I was in my 30’s. I can fish, travel anywhere any time. I enjoy the fishing more, not need to rush. I don’t have to fish in bad weather . I plan to travel, fish and enjoy life more in the coming years. We all get old… I appreciate the area and life we have in PA. We all have friends or family that are not as fortunate,,,life is not always fair.

 

[sam]

Thanks for sharing.

I've been thinking about this for a while now and I'm taking some steps to change my approach to life and experiences. I'm still young - turning 37 in a few months.

My dad had a stroke when he was only 52 and at the time, he was in better shape than most people I know. It actually happened during an endurance race he was doing and the underlying cause was unrelated to other environmental issues faced during the race. Thankfully he survived, but he's quite disabled now and has never been able to fish since the stroke as he has limited mobility - fishing was one of his favorite activities. He does join me from time to time and I try to go to places where he can sit close by the steam and watch me fish.

I've been talking with my wife about how we need to take advantage of opportunities now and not just continue to defer things to "retirement" or some unspecified time in the future. We've both been really good about saving for retirement and not getting into debt so we're in a great spot financially which makes me feel lucky given that my parents were quite poor.

We decided a few months back that we are both going to take a year off and just travel around the country. It's been a dream of mine to do a long road trip like this for as long as I can remember, but kept pushing it off and would say maybe later.

We finally just got to a point where we asked if not now, then when? I'd rather get out and see these places while 1) I'm alive and 2) I know I'm in good enough physical condition to fully immerse myself in the experience. I know some other board members have recently lost their furry companions. I've always wanted to do a trip like this with my pup since I got her 10 years ago and I think I think she's got one big adventure left in her.