outdoors Archives - CLIPPING CHAINS

March 1, 2021March 1, 2021

Fear and Limping (Alone) in Las Vegas

This week’s post is not about ways to save money or plan for a retirement. There’s not even much here about climbing. I spent some time alone this week, and as such, fell (pun intended) into a bit more of a contemplative mood. This is an essay on wild places, loneliness, and the compounding emotional effects of night. Finally, and perhaps unexpectedly, we examine the continued relevance of the death of Chris McCandless in the Alaskan wilderness.

December 16, 2019December 16, 2019

Charles Sheldon: FIRE Before It Was Cool

Charles Sheldon lived over a century ago. There was no Twitter, no hashtags, no websites, and no “financial independence movement.” After a brief but lucrative career in the railroad and mining industries, Sheldon became a self-made millionaire in his 30s and retired at age 35. He used his newfound freedom to track down bighorn sheep and then, you know, became the “Father of Denali National Park.”

So, it begs the question: what would we do if we were given the gift of time?

March 4, 2019June 21, 2019

Personal Finance: Not Very Sexy, huh?

In terms of interests, I’ve always strived for simplicity. Drawn to the outdoors at a very young age in the dense Appalachian forests of western North Carolina, and later to rock climbing, I believed fully that a life in pursuit of simple pleasures was good enough. I didn’t need a big salary to buy nice things to impress others. Sadly, this is the rhythm and life of too many people. I never considered the utility of a personal finance strategy. So why should you?