Making my goals public!

Today I have decided to make my goals public. The title and description of this blog give you some idea but not the complete picture. I am going to list my goals in this post and create a page to track them as part of this blog. I am forcing myself to be even more accountable!

Goals (in priority order):

1. Consolidate and accelerate debt payments (consumer debts, student loans)
   
2. Build adequate emergency fund (3 months for now but possibly up to 6 or 8)
   
3. Build side business and retirement savings (and hopefully be self employed)
   
4. Have enough residual income to work part time from anywhere in the world
5. Travel perpetually on the residual income

So far I have taken some steps towards all of the above as they are related to each other. I have now decided to tackle them in order so I can reach them faster. Item #1 is in the works and once I am finished with my house remodel I will have consolidated and paid a good chunk of my debts. I must first get my total monthly payments lowered so I can get to item #2.

Now that I have listed my goals I will give you the story behind them. Back in 2004 I took a 3-week study abroad course in Europe as an elective for my business degree in Finance. I immediately felt a passion for travel and wanted more. I finished college and did another 2-week backpacking trip in Europe in 2005 as a reward to myself.

This second trip only added to my "travel bug" and all I could think about was getting back on the road. I was working full time at a local financial advisory (independent) firm and saving heavily. I was laid off just before the holidays in 2006. I was very upset about it and started looking for work. I soon decided that now was a great opportunity to go travel more. I left in December 2005 for the open road.

I ended up traveling around the world (literally) for a total of 18 months and covered 25 countries. I had some savings but also credit cards. I was on the road living it up and ended up running high balances on my cards. As they started to dry up I decided I better get back to the USA and figure out what to do. Bankruptcy did cross my mind and I seriously considered it.

I got back home in May of 2007 and did a full personal review of my financial mess. My minimum payments were quite high and I was 2 or 3 months late on some of them. My family stepped in and bailed me out. It was hard asking for money but they paid off all of my cards and I am to this day paying them back each month. They really saved me a lot of stress and interest. I also negotiated with the credit card companies to take off the late payments on my credit report if I paid them off today. It worked.

I found a job about 2 months later and that is the job I am still currently working as an IT project manager. It allows me to travel domestically for work and I am able to travel abroad using my skymiles for my vacations. I of course want to travel a lot more but I have to take care of finances first then the fun stuff. My financial situation has drastically improved since May of 2007.

Today I am working hard to pay down my debts. I have generated some side income which for now I have been putting in my emergency fund. Given the current state of the economy I feel it is worth it to have at least some money for emergencies. I also just bought a house in July 2009 that needed a lot of remodeling (it was a foreclosure). Between my Dad and I we can do most of the work ourselves. As of today it is about 80% complete.

I will also get the large tax credit from the government next year and will have a lot of equity once the remodel is finished. I should be done by mid-October. I have again borrowed money from family to do this remodel (they offered!) and will get an equity loan to immediately pay them back and to refinance some other debts to a lower interest rate. I can then work on the emergency fund to an adequate level and then accelerate the payments on this new loan.

My long term vision is to build wealth and work until I have enough fixed income to live life on the road. I want to travel and see everything the world has to offer. I plan to live out of my backpack and experience the food, people, culture, history, architecture, and simple life that traveling the world provides. I will stay in cheap hotels or hostels, eat street food, and live like a local. My income requirement will be hopefully lower or at least equal to what I earn today. I have the travel bug and it never goes away!

In order to reach this vision I will build my savings to the appropriate level and sell everything except for what I intend to take with me. This makes my situation different as I will not own any real estate at "retirement." I will have no need for it as a traveler. The only exception is if I decide to have rental property as part of my income. Based on these facts I calculate my net worth accordingly. I still have to decide exactly how I plan to generate this income. This will be more concrete after my debts are eliminated.