Have you ever read a Travis McGee novel and thought — Man, McGee is living the life. I wish I could be free like him, not being tied down to a job and being able to travel the world or just being a FL beach bum. Well, it’s getting late…I better drag myself to another day of work, sigh. But, what if “Going McGee” was well within your reach? Because I think it is. Let’s explore.
For the uninitiated, Travis McGee is the creation of FL author John D. Macdonald, the greatest FL author, in my humble opinion. McGee is a “salvage consultant” who will recover what was lost for 50% of the value of the lost item. He only works when low on money. The rest of the time he lives on his house boat, The Busted Flush, in Ft. Lauderdale and takes his “retirement in installments.” He is a bonafide beach bum that drinks, exercises, and hangs around with fun and interesting people.
(For more information go and order Travis McGee #1, The Deep Blue Good-by.)
He is free of job-dependency. He is free of location and can go where he wants, when he wants. He has the time to take care of his body, fish, take long ocean swims, hang out with friends, and do good deeds when the mood strikes.
Maybe this lifestyle for the Average Joe was fantasy when JDM unleashed McGee back in the 60’s; there weren’t really that many ways that a person could take mini-retirements while still paying the bills.
But times have changed!
Thanks to the power of the internet it is possible to earn money while you sleep, play with your kids, read a good book, or work at a job you enjoy (I had to put that last one in because I’m one of those weirdos that likes my day job and wouldn’t quit even if I won the lottery, although I would take more vacation).
Yup, basically, it is possible to create personal online money machines that keep pumping money into your pocket and if you do it well enough you can replace all of your expenses, at which point you are free to take your retirement in installments, just like Travis McGee!
What would your average Tuesday look like?
For McGee it would involve a pretty lady, a philosophical discussion with his neighbor Meyer, leg lunges and an ocean swim, and some chores to keep the houseboat in shape.
For me (if I was taking a mini-retirement from my job) it would be waking up early to write more articles for this blog, walking my son to the school bus, a workout followed by a swim in the pool, old books, playing with my kids, time with my wife.
Ah, yes. Living the dream with the ones I love in the land I love.
I think this sounds like a good idea. We should all do this.
This is going to be the article that kicks off the “Going McGee” series of articles examining how to get this done. It would be grand indeed if, like McGee, we can build a fun community of like-minded people committed to freedom, fun and working to make the world better every now and then.
The basics are building an online money machine that can generate more money than our expenses, doing good things for this great state of ours and being able to hug our kids more. If you don’t have kids, well, then you get to do more day drinking.
