How do you answer the question “what do you do?”  After we retired we tried many answers to this question.  We would tell people that we are travelling, we are retired, we are writers or sometimes we are homeless.

After a while the fun slipped away and we started to wonder who we actually are.  There is only so long you can sit on a beach in Vietnam or Mexico before you start to lose yourself.  We wondered what we are doing.

I am sure you have heard the stories of other FI bloggers heading back to work as they found an empty hollow existence in their retirement.  People just don’t seem to be able to enjoy “retirement” and it seems the Donegans are no different!

The time has come to return to the UK. Turns out we’re just not cut out for all this freedom. We plan to buy a place within commuting distance of London so that Katie can relive her glory days.

In her own words “I just missed Southwest trains so much. I long for those hours on the train, jammed in between other commuters with questionable personal hygiene.  We’ve had some wonderful times on our travels but now it’s time to come back to reality. We have broken society’s rules for long enough”.

Alan plans to apply for corporate jobs too so that we can both get back into corporate life. He missed the structure and early mornings.  He missed staying in the office for no other reason than to show he had put in his hours!

Katie asked Alan what had happened to the philosophy he teaches at Rebel Finance School, the Extraordinary Life course and the Rebel School. Alan said “yeah it was all just made up really. I wouldn’t pay any attention to any of that. Unfortunately it’s not possible to live a life you actually want. I’m tired of pretending it is possible. Back to the grind for me.”

So there you have it Rebels. We’ve decided to stop living the life we want to live so we can fit in with everyone else. We suggest you do the same. Being happy just isn’t possible or achievable or even really desirable.

The FI of financial independence worked perfectly.  Our net-worth has gone up and up but the RE, Retire Early bit really let us down.  Who really are we without jobs?

The thinking required to overcome our demons, develop confidence and character and truly develop inner happiness was too much.  So we are going back to corporate life in the UK.  Someone else will do the thinking and we can just commute into London, follow orders on a daily basis and sleep at the weekends.

A life without the need to actually think for ourselves is what we require!

I hope that you have realised that this is an April fools post?  If not then you don’t know us that well yet!

The sad thing is that this kind of thing actually happens to people.  They go back to work because it is easier than working on their confidence, their personal development or what they actually want.

We are coming back to the UK this Summer but out of a sense of excitement to see the UK in the sun, see our friends and run Rebel Finance School from the New Rebel HQ in London.

Don’t let the retire early part of FIRE put you off.  Find purpose in your life, find energy and exciting things to do.  As my Mum used to tell me, only boring people get bored.

Your life is up to you.  You can have any life you want to live you just have to build it.

Happy April Fools

Sending you love from Japan

​Alan and Katie

PS we will be announcing this years Rebel Finance School shortly.  Join the mailing list below to make sure you get the dates