I hardly ever took any vacations UNTIL I could afford to bring some of my grandkids along. Those were great vacations! You might call this approach, "Seize the day, eventually."
I'm glad you enjoyed your vacations with your grandkids. You brought a good point here. Seizing the day alone isn't worth it. It's better to enjoy the moment with our loved ones.
"You can plan for the future and enjoy the present at the same time" is exactly it. AKA, You can have your cake and eat it, too.
Back when I worked in Panama City as an expat, I could have afforded a sweet spot. Instead, I rented a room in my friend's apartment. Went to San Blas (nice photo!), Santa Catalina, Playa Venado on weekends and stayed in hostels. Had an awesome time. Saved mucho money, which has since quintupled. Ten years later, I'm living in a one-bedroom apartment with my wife and two young sons. We live by the beach, escape to South Africa for the winter, and are free to spend all the time we want with our kids instead of at some office or on business trips.
My only quibble about the post is about regret minimization. From what I've read, that's too defensive, which can lead to poor decision making. Better to adopt a mindset of trying to maximize the opposite of regrets (anti-regrets): actions that pay dividends for the rest of your life.
Thanks for sharing your story, Chris. It seems you had a great time in Panama without neglecting your future. That is exactly the essence of this post.
As for the regret minimisation framework, that's a good critique. Focusing on maximising anti-regrets sounds like a sound approach too.
Appreciate the shoutout Alejandro! I wrote that essay as a reminder to myself to stop my natural tendency to delay as much gratification as I can all in the hopes that I live long enough to enjoy myself eventually. My wife is the opposite so we help balance each other out.
Im curious, which side do you lean? Are you an instant gratification junkie? Or do you get sweet satisfaction from saying no to the marshmellow?
I hardly ever took any vacations UNTIL I could afford to bring some of my grandkids along. Those were great vacations! You might call this approach, "Seize the day, eventually."
I'm glad you enjoyed your vacations with your grandkids. You brought a good point here. Seizing the day alone isn't worth it. It's better to enjoy the moment with our loved ones.
"You can plan for the future and enjoy the present at the same time" is exactly it. AKA, You can have your cake and eat it, too.
Back when I worked in Panama City as an expat, I could have afforded a sweet spot. Instead, I rented a room in my friend's apartment. Went to San Blas (nice photo!), Santa Catalina, Playa Venado on weekends and stayed in hostels. Had an awesome time. Saved mucho money, which has since quintupled. Ten years later, I'm living in a one-bedroom apartment with my wife and two young sons. We live by the beach, escape to South Africa for the winter, and are free to spend all the time we want with our kids instead of at some office or on business trips.
My only quibble about the post is about regret minimization. From what I've read, that's too defensive, which can lead to poor decision making. Better to adopt a mindset of trying to maximize the opposite of regrets (anti-regrets): actions that pay dividends for the rest of your life.
Thanks for sharing your story, Chris. It seems you had a great time in Panama without neglecting your future. That is exactly the essence of this post.
As for the regret minimisation framework, that's a good critique. Focusing on maximising anti-regrets sounds like a sound approach too.
Appreciate the shoutout Alejandro! I wrote that essay as a reminder to myself to stop my natural tendency to delay as much gratification as I can all in the hopes that I live long enough to enjoy myself eventually. My wife is the opposite so we help balance each other out.
Im curious, which side do you lean? Are you an instant gratification junkie? Or do you get sweet satisfaction from saying no to the marshmellow?
I'm more of a chronic deferrer, but I'm good at enjoying the moment too. I'm all for eating out, travelling, or splurging on meaningful experiences.
That's great. Travel is the one area that I have no trouble splurging on. But I could still use some work. Thanks for the reminder!