The odds are extremely high that you live to be at least 80 years old. If you plan on not having any money beyond when you're capable of doing what you're doing now, you're going to have a bad time.

"If you plan on not having any money beyond when you're capable of doing what you're doing now, you're going to have a bad time."

Oh for sure. And no, I am not doing that. But I am not optimizing for my retirement. I optimize for the now. If the now runs smooth, the momentum will also provide enough money and other support later on. But doing a shitty job will bring me a shitty life for sure. Taking a break from that, gave me new and better perspectives, than beeing trapped in a tight routine. We can compare in the future.

I also have a really hard time relating to the the whole financial independence / retire early crowd. I think I'd rather take the chance on growing as much as I can now so that I can be the wise person I want to be when I'm much older. Prioritizing experiences rather than aggressive saving. I figure the worst case is that I'm old living an extremely frugal life in a tiny place in the middle of nowhere Japan (where I currently live) reading books and playing all the games I bought when I was young, happily content with a life fully lived.

I recently went on a very personal international trip that wiped all my savings. I was able to reconnect with my culture and I made two friends who I cherish so much. The kind of friends that I would drop everything to help. I didn't have to go on these trips, I could have kept saving. But I don't regret that experience at all and it changed me immensely.