Be an Outlier. Interview Series | Meet the Satchells, FI/RE with a Focus on Family
Imagine being able to spend time with someone who’s living the life you want. Someone who’s living a life that most people only dream of. From traveling the world, to working remotely, to being financially independent and retired early (FI/RE)… and beyond. In other words, being an outlier!
In our inaugural interview we’re bringing you the Satchell family, who aren’t only pursuing financial independence, retire early (FI/RE) but are doing it with with a young growing family, a rarity by many who are pursuing FI/RE. See what they’ve learned about themselves through travel in Mexico and what ultimately brought them home… for the time being.
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Be An Outlier Interview Series
After several years of sharing our story on Screw The Average (be an outlier.) we thought it was time to ask others about their story living outside of the norm. Considering our way of living isn’t the only or correct way of living, we’re excited to see what life others have chosen to live.
Being a digital nomad couple pursuing financial independence, retire early (FI/RE) while traveling and house sitting full time is a unique way of living. It comes with many adventures, times of pushing our comfort zones, and significant personal growth.
We’re two outliers among many more and this interview series seeks to spend time with others that look at the world a bit differently. We want to hear their stories, learn from their mistakes, and walk away with a few good pieces of advice.
We’re glad to have you join us on this journey!
Each interview is unique in that responses are done by our guests in their own voice/writing. We’ve done minimal editing to stay true to their personal stories.
Meet the Satchells: FI/RE with a Focus on Family
We’re excited to start off our Be an Outlier. interview series with the Satchells!
We first met Chris and Steph when we house sat for them in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. We were incredibly fortunate and grateful to care for their cats and home in such a beautiful city.
We quickly realized we had a lot in common with Chris and Steph, like their philosophy of financial independence, retire early (FI/RE) and exploring the world through slow travel, so we were sure to keep in touch with them. When we decided to do this interview series, asking them to participate was a no-brainer!
We’re excited to share their story with you and hope that you’ll be inspired with their approach to FI/RE while caring for their growing family.
Without further ado…
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Introduction
Tell us about yourselves!
Hi, we’re the Satchells!
We’re Steph (37) & Chris (39) and we’ve been married for almost 5 years.
We have a 3 year old son (Meyer) and a 1 year old daughter (Zoey).
We both worked in finance for a defense manufacturing company for about 15 years but decided to take a break from work after our son was born.
“We sold our home and moved to Mexico to focus on spending time together as a family. ”
After spending several years in central Mexico and the Yucatan peninsula, we recently moved back to our hometown of Tucson, AZ to be closer to friends and family.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Right now we spend a lot of time at home due to nap schedules, so you’ll usually find us on the floor playing with our kids, building things, reading books, etc.
We probably eat out about once a day (Tucson, AZ has some really good restaurant options!) and most afternoons we go for a nice walk to a nearby park so our son can get some exercise on his balance bike.
Lifestyle
Can you describe your lifestyle and how it differs from the cultural norm?
Until recently we were living in Airbnbs and furnished apartments so we don’t have a lot of belongings, but we’re slowly accumulating only those things that we really need (and usually buying them used).
It can sometimes feel weird renting an apartment and shopping for furniture on craigslist while pushing 40, but these are the decisions we’re making so that we can spend as much time as possible with our children.
“We aim to spend our money and time very consciously and track our spending religiously.”
What led you to change your lifestyle?
Once we were pregnant with our son we realized that our work lives and the lives we envisioned with children weren’t compatible.
We thought about moving to less challenging roles, but we figured that probably wouldn’t stick given our drive to excel at work. So we made the decision to take a leave of absence and move somewhere far away so we could focus on our new family.
After doing some research into moving to different countries, we decided to go to Mexico given the ease of access, generous visa policies, and the fact that we had two cats to bring with us so driving them down would be a bit easier than trying to fly with them.
Our tool box is full of resources! From travel hacking to house sitting, digital nomad jobs to privacy and security, financially independent retire early (FI/RE) to entertainment, plus travel hacking (credit cards, miles, points, and rewards), and much much more…
What have been some of your biggest challenges while pursuing your lifestyle?
It’s been hard trying to balance young kids’ schedules while trying to explore another country.
Having the cats with us was also very hard, from finding furnished apartments that accept pets to dealing with vets in a foreign language.
What have been some of your biggest achievements while pursuing your lifestyle?
We’ve picked up some Spanish, had a baby girl born in Mexico and broadened our horizons quite a bit as far as understanding that there’s more to the world than what we had been experiencing.
“But more than anything our biggest accomplishment has been learning how to be okay with being uncomfortable and becoming more willing to take on new and challenging things. ”
What were some of the highlights of your time in Mexico?
A big highlight of our time in Mexico was experiencing the rich culture and history of the country. Whether it was visiting nearby ruins or simply enjoying the sights and sounds of a town square that had been there for hundreds of years, it felt like the history of Mexico (and the pride that it brings out in the Mexican people) was always nearby.
“Another highlight was the birth of our daughter. ”
The level of care we received was phenomenal despite costing a fraction of what we paid for our son’s birth in the U.S. Every prenatal appointment included an ultrasound performed by our OB (not a tech like in the U.S.) and there was more comprehensive screening conducted to evaluate potential pregnancy risks.
The billing process was straight-forward as well - the hospital advertised a “birth package” with two up front prices (one for vaginal birth and one for cesarean) which covered the facilities, nurses, and a delicious dinner, and then we had one other bill to pay to our OB who distributed payment to the anesthesiologist and pediatrician she had on her team.
For those interested, here is what we paid:
What do your friends and family think of your lifestyle?
Most everyone has been supportive, some have been inquisitive, and very few have been dismissive.
We’ve heard the ‘Mexico is dangerous’ line only once or twice.
What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made while pursuing your lifestyle?
Our biggest mistake came in our plan to explore more of Mexico - we decided to move every couple of months and see more of the country.
This proved to be very hard for us - we had a hard time wanting to explore an area we were leaving soon - and ended up being a strong motivator for leaving Mexico and moving back to Tucson to relax for a while.
Thinking about the future, what ideas, dreams, goals do you have?
Our long term goal is to get our kids exposed to some of the variety of life - whether that be through traveling to different places (in the U.S. or abroad) or living in those different places, we want our children to grow to have an appreciation for the vastness of it all.
Right now we’re not 100% sure what exactly we’ll do, but I imagine that we’ll be venturing outside of Tucson at some point in the future, although we may wait until the children are a little older.
Financial Independence, Retire Early – FI/RE
For those who may not know your story, could you walk us through your FI/RE journey?
In mid 2014 Chris read a clickbait article about a guy in his early thirties who was close to retiring. That article (which was about the Mad Fientist) made mention of several websites (including ERE and MMM) and Chris started reading, sharing what he was learning with Steph, and getting way too excited.
“We’d both been doing OK with saving up to that point, but after learning more about the possibilities of FI/RE we ramped things up considerably. ”
Having recently moved in together and become engaged, we had already started to combine finances, and once we had simplified everything to where we could easily understand all the money coming in and going out, we set to work prioritizing and reducing our spend.
If you’re wondering how to travel internationally, or simply vacation nearby and not spend a fortune on airfare or hotels, then we’d like to welcome you to the world of ‘travel hacking’. See what credit cards we carry, and how we take full advantage of the points and miles we’ve earned.
What’s your approach to reaching FI/RE?
Between our good incomes and our low cost of living area (Tucson, AZ is pretty cheap), we were able to save a very high percentage of our income (I think 70% was the highest we hit) which we invested aggressively.
Since the market has been on a tear the last decade*, we were able to ride that tide and have seen our investments (most of which are quasi-untouchable in retirement accounts) grow considerably.
*Interview predates the Coronavirus (COVID-19) stock market downturn.
Once you’re FI/RE, do you plan on continuing to work (in any capacity)?
We expect to need to / want to go back to work at some point, but it will likely be in much lower income and lower stress jobs.
“Because our lifestyle is fairly low cost, we won’t need high paying jobs to keep things afloat. ”
We think seasonal work (such as income taxes in the spring or Amazon warehouse work in the winter) would be a fun way to earn some income while still maintaining overall flexibility in life.
What’s one of the best and one of the worst things about being financially independent, retire early?
Best: Having the freedom to do anything you want!
Worst: The guilt that comes with having the freedom to do anything you want, but feeling like you’re squandering the opportunity.
“As driven people, we can sometimes feel down on ourselves for not doing X or Y with our free time. ”
Being more present with the kids.
Learning more Spanish.
Blogging more.
We’re getting better about dealing with this and not being as hard on ourselves, but it’s still there. We aspire to be more like Justin at Root of Good.
Don’t miss our Ultimate Gear and Packing Lists! Whether you’re traveling long-term or going on a short vacation, we'll show you how to travel with a single carry-on. We share our packing lists (his and hers!), packing tips, and our favorite gear. Plus, we discuss what we don’t carry and why!
Advice
If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?
We would pull the trigger sooner.
“If we’d taken a mini-sabbatical at a younger age, pre-kids, we would have learned a lot more about ourselves without the challenges of adjusting to life with a baby. ”
What tips do you have for others who are traveling with kids?
We’re definitely still in the painful process of sorting out what works, but there are two things we’re trying to learn from and implement:
The first is that kids will absorb your energy, so if you get stressed traveling they will pick up on that and it will affect both their mood and behavior.
“So while it can be hard to put on a happy face when you’re running late for a flight and your baby just spit up all over you, learning to roll with those punches and laugh at the calamities of travel can really pay off. ”
The second is to try to focus on the big things and let the little things go. If the kids have a good schedule (eating, sleeping) then that’s 90% of the battle and you can probably relax a bit in other areas as needed.
So if your toddler is playing a little with his food or your baby wants to get out of her high chair and crawl around on the floor for a spell, that might not be the hill to die on.
“Focus on relaxing and enjoying yourself, and then stick to your guns on the stuff that really matters.”
In general, what’s your best money advice?
Spend consciously - track your spend and use that tracking to ensure you’re spending on the things that are truly important to you.
What advice would you give to someone starting on a path similar to yours?
“Don’t look for the magic recipe - there isn’t one. ”
The key is to find what works best for you and your situation.
Some people find using a budget is essential, others can’t stand it.
Some people only set foot in a restaurant twice a year, others would lose their minds if they tried to limit themselves like that.
Some people drive their jalopy with pride, others would lose all motivation for saving if they didn’t have a nice car as their one big luxury.
Sorting out what works for you, rather than trying to model what works for someone else, is an important part of putting together an approach to saving that will actually stick long term.
Tell Us More
Tell us about your blog
We have a “what’s going on with us” blog - Pack Your Satchells - that we started when we first moved to Mexico. It honestly began to feel like more of a chore than a fun hobby so it’s not updated very frequently anymore.
What books, apps, podcasts, websites, and tools, would you recommend to others seeking to take a similar life path?
Early Retirement Extreme and Mr. Money Mustache were instrumental in changing our mindset on how we could live.
The Mad Fientist and Go Curry Cracker gave us a chance to nerd out on the hardcore finances of it all.
The Radical Personal Finance and ChooseFI podcasts were great to hear motivating stories from people in all walks of life.
And, at least for Chris, the CheapRVLiving YouTube channel was very motivating in that it shows just how comfortable and content people can be in living situations that most of us would see as quite dire.
What would you like to share but we haven’t asked?
The names of our cats!
“Jack and Dave”
Final Thoughts
Thank you so much Steph and Chris for sharing a bit of your story with us!
A couple of things really stood out to us.
First, thinking of that pivotal point of having a child on the way and realizing that your family and work goals didn’t work together. It’s impressive in that you were able to not only see it, but willing to make big life changes!
Second, we’re sometimes told by others that they’d love to live a life of travel, but they fear doing it. However, your story reinforces our belief that there’s little to be afraid of.
In fact, you’re more likely to learn about yourself and grow if you take the jump and get out there and explore. And most of the time, if it’s not right for you or something goes wrong, you can proudly return home. Friends and family will usually welcome you home with open arms and give you the grace to reset and regroup.
“Often times you learn more from the journey than you do from the destination.”
We’re honored to call the Satchells friends and we hope you enjoyed their story as much as we did!
Be sure to follow their story at Pack Your Satchells!
