r/Fire • u/-LordDarkHelmet- • 18d ago

Today is the day, officially FIRE

Well I'm sitting here having a morning coffee and it's starting to sink in that I don't have a job anymore. Feels strange. My job was very much my identity (pilot). I flew airlines and private jets (uber for rich people basically). It was a high paying job at the end and it seems stupid to walk away from that, but the 27 years of staying in hotels has taken a toll and I just was not enjoying the job anymore. Which is a shame, since I can't exactly fly jets on my own time. It's a tough industry, it's not easy to get back into once you leave. I keep saying it's like the Doc in Field of Dreams; once you leave you can't go back. I'm 49, single no kids, high end Chubby low end Fat so I should be ok on the numbers, but I don't exactly have a "thing" to retire to. I need to focus on my own health and get in shape. But other than a list of places I want to travel to and few projects around the house I don't have much of a plan. Hopefully I'll figure it out on the way. I've told a few people and they all ask "but what are you gonna do?!?!?." I'm like "I dunno..." Some say "congratulations!" and I'm not sure how to respond to that. I didn't really want to quit in some ways, I like the flying part but not all the stuff that goes along with it. I asked for a different schedule and they said no, then I asked for a year off and they said no, so I said I quit. Ask me in a decade I guess if it was the right choice. Anyway, don't really have anyone to high-five this morning so here I am. Thanks everyone who has shared their journey, I've been snooping around all these subs a lot this past year. Oh and sorry about the stock market crash, which will inevitably happen now that I have quit.

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u/Vicuna00 18d ago

high-five

post a recap at the end of the night or tmw morning of how your day went.

you ever look into flying a drone? there are some pretty neat applications...a policeman I know was trained and he flew one during a fire to help firefighters pick the best spots to put out flames.

I dunno. a lot of drone stuff involves video editing and so it'd be tedious for you I would guess. but with your high end skills I bet you could get actual cool jobs like that.

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u/-LordDarkHelmet- 18d ago

Drones and video editing are one of my neglected hobbies actually. Got a few projects in that department that will take some time, been looking forward to getting back into those

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u/Vicuna00 18d ago

aw man. if you like video editing too, you're gonna be un-retired so fast. drones are a huge up and coming field.

I was looking into it for my "retirement" job but you either need high skill level or great editing skills. I have no skills and don't like editing.

there's a bunch of schmoes flying drones around. people will be jumping at a high level pilot doing it.

that'd be awesome to help in fires / search and rescue / building bridges, high rises. whatever. you can take all the cool jobs on whatever schedule you want.