Why This Blog Exist
Hello.
Let’s get a few things out of the way.
This blog exists mostly so I don’t forget. I’ve learned—sometimes the hard way—that if you don’t write things down, life has a way of erasing the lessons you paid dearly for. So this is a record. A journal. A place to leave breadcrumbs for myself, and maybe for friends or family who wander in and recognize something familiar.
I’m not here to sell you a lifestyle or pretend I’ve cracked the code. I’m documenting the road as I walk it.
One of the things I’ll write about is money. Not because I worship it—I don’t—but because in the modern world, money is the ticket that lets you move. It buys time. It buys options. It buys experiences. I don’t need yachts or private jets. I still wear a seventeen-dollar Casio watch and it tells time just fine. But I’ve seen what happens when money is ignored, wasted, or treated like it doesn’t matter. I’ve watched people end up broke, bitter, and angry at a world they didn’t prepare for. We live in a capitalist machine designed to make us want more than we need. That alone makes understanding money a survival skill. I keep a page on this called FI—Financial Independence, Retire Early—though I prefer to think of the “RE” as Recreationally Employed. Work because you want to, not because you’re trapped.
I’ll write about living life in the slow lane. Not optimizing. Not hustling. Not racing imaginary finish lines. Just trying—sometimes failing—to live deliberately, to notice things, to move at a human pace.
And threaded through all of it is my ongoing attempt to live a stoic, essentialist, minimalist life. Not as a performance. Not as a brand. Just as a way to stay balanced in a world that constantly pulls us off center.
That’s it. No grand promises. No five-step systems.
Just stories, lessons, and an honest attempt to live well.
If any of that resonates, I’m glad you’re here. Maybe we’ll compare notes along the way.
~ Bai, Thursday, January 22, 2026, NorCal