- What if the Good Life Requires Giving Up Some Freedom? - September 15, 2026
- What Climbing Grouse Mountain Taught Me About Financial Freedom - August 18, 2026
- My Apartment Gave Me Something That Money Can’t Buy - August 4, 2026
Ever since becoming parents, our routine has revolved around being stuck at playgrounds, obsessing over nap times, stopping our kid from eating food off the floor, toilet training, and then coping with all the exhaustion by stuffing our faces with junk food every night. Working out was so low on the priority list it was collecting cobwebs.
So, when my friend, Emman, suggested we climb a mountain together, I thought he was nuts.
“Um, so when we pass out halfway through, are you going to carry us the rest of the way?”
Emman is also a marathon runner, so of course he just smiled and said, “Sure.”
So with zero excuses and 4 years of zero exercise, we were going to do the Grouse Grind.
For the non-Vancouverites out there, Grouse Mountain is roughly the height of two Empire State Buildings, 1.5 CN Towers, or three Eiffel Towers. The Grouse Grind climbs 800 vertical metres over just 2.5 kilometres, basically straight up. After you pass the quarter mark, it gets too steep and dangerous to go back down, so you have no choice but to keep going.
There’s a reason Outside Magazine referred to it as “one of the 10 most treacherous hikes in the world,” and “only those in ‘excellent physical condition’ should attempt it.”
Given that I get dizzy from standing up too fast, I had very low hopes of ever finishing this thing. But between peer pressure and knowing that you can’t be possibly be considered a real Vancouverite unless you know your Grouse Grind or 10K run time, I was going to get this thing done, even if I have to crawl the rest of the way up.
We set a date.
Then I coped the best way I knew how–by stress-eating, ruminating, and googling.
Then, in a surprising departure from my usual hyper-independent approach of researching everything myself and buying whatever I needed, I messaged my ultramarathoner friend and borrowed his hydration pack.
Maybe I was finally learning to depend on people I’d happily depend on before defaulting to money.
On Grouse Grind day, I was so nervous I had a stomach-ache and skipped breakfast (excellent preparation for climbing a mountain).
We dropped our kid off at daycare, and the three of us drove to the base. It was a gorgeous sunny day. The trailhead wasn’t too crowded, I had water and trail mix in my bag, and was feeling surprisingly confident.
Everything was going according to plan.
We started to climb.
And climb.
And climb.
I tried not to look at my watch, but there seemed to be an endless stretch of stairs ahead of me. My lungs and legs started burning.
Then I started noticing all the signs pointing toward AEDs, or heart defibrillators. This was not doing my mental state any favours.
Do they really need this many of them? How many people have heart attacks climbing this thing?
After what seemed like hours, but was actually only 30 minutes, we made it to the quarter marker.
That’s when the forest started spinning in front of my eyes.
My lungs were burning. Sweat was dripping into my eyes. I started making gagging noises. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, because I’d only had a protein shake and skipped breakfast, nothing came up.
Then I saw the sign.
“Congratulations! You’ve made it to the ¼ point.”
So far, so good.
Then:
“This was the easy section.”
What?!
“Now comes the hard part. The trail gets steeper and narrower.”
And finally:
“Dizzy? Tired? This is the best place to turn around. Beyond this point, downhill travel is not allowed.”
I almost passed out.
THAT WAS THE EASY PART?! There’s no way I can finish this.
I plopped my butt down on the nearest cold, hard rock and put my head between my knees.
“Guys, I can’t do this. I’m so dizzy already. I shouldn’t have skipped breakfast.”
My friend Emman reached into his backpack, pulled out something that looked remarkably like a baby food pouch, and handed it to me.
“Here. Eat this.”
I stared at it suspiciously.
“What is that?”
“Energy gel. It’ll give you instant carbs.”
I opened the top and downed a quarter of it, as he recommended.
It tasted remarkably like strawberry jelly, but the effect was instant. I suddenly felt like Popeye after downing an entire can of spinach. The dizziness disappeared, the trees stopped swaying, and the burning in my lungs softened.
I stood up. “Alright guys. Let’s keep going.”
Turns out the sign was wrong. I made it to the halfway mark. It wasn’t easy, but somehow it didn’t feel as hard as getting to the quarter mark.
Maybe it was the energy gel. Maybe my body had finally warmed up. Or maybe I had simply stopped thinking about how much mountain was left.
I found a rhythm. One foot. Then the other. Then another.
Before I knew it, we hit three-quarters.
The steps did get steeper, but I didn’t stop. Several elderly ladies passed me. Then a ten-year-old kid. Then a group of twenty-somethings, one of whom was wearing a shirt that said, “Fuck the Grouse Grind. Let’s get drunk instead.”
I kept going.
I didn’t bother looking at my watch and I stopped trying to calculate how far I was from the top. All those people passing by me no longer mattered.
I was simply there, putting one foot in front of the other.
And something weird happened.
I started enjoying it.
The last ten percent was actually, dare I say, even easy.
We reached the top after one hour and 45 minutes, including frequent rest breaks.
I did it! I was finally a true Vancouverite. And what made it even better was doing it with friends.
At the top, Wanderer, Emman and I high-fived each other, got cold beers, and took a selfie. I ordered a giant poutine that probably contained more calories than I’d burned climbing the mountain, but I didn’t care. I’d earned it.
What surprised me afterward was why I’d enjoyed myself. I hadn’t raced to the top or pushed myself to my absolute limit and, as a result, I definitely hadn’t achieved an impressive time.
But I’d found the right level of difficulty. It definitely wasn’t easy but it wasn’t a death march either. I had found a sweet spot that psychologists like to call “flow”. This is basically the state you reach when completing a task that is just hard enough to challenge you but not so hard that anxiety takes over. That’s how you suddenly look up and realize 2 hours have disappeared.
The part I hadn’t expected is that I didn’t find “flow” by pushing harder. I found it by making the challenge more manageable.
I rested when I needed to, I ate the strawberry goo, I stopped checking the time, and I ignored the elderly ladies smoking me on the stairs. When I needed help, I accepted it.
I had literally climbed something called The Grind and discovered that I didn’t have to grind. And that got me thinking about financial independence.
A few weeks earlier, I’d met a reader who was stressed out and miserable at her job. She desperately wanted to reach FIRE, and there was one question she kept coming back to:
“When will I finally be free?”
I get it. I’ve been there. When you’re stressed at your job, it feels like the bars are closing in on you and all you want to do is escape. FIRE is very good at giving you a concrete solution. Simply take your annual spending, multiply it by 25, and voila! That’s the mountain you have to climb to get out of this. Accumulate that much and congrats! You’ve reached the top.
For years, I’ve taught people how to do exactly that. But now I realize there’s a danger in treating financial independence like a mountain you’re supposed to climb as quickly as humanly possible.
For some people, saving comes naturally. It’s a fun exercise in optimization and they have no trouble accumulating, spending less, and optimizing harder. This challenge let’s them be in the”flow”.
But that doesn’t work for everybody.
Look at investing for example. The best portfolio isn’t necessarily the one with the highest theoretical return. It’s the one you can stick with when the market crashes and every cell in your body is screaming “SELL! SELL! SELL!” A theoretically perfect investment strategy you abandon at the worst possible moment isn’t a perfect strategy.
FIRE works the same way.
If getting to FIRE in eight years makes you miserable while getting there in twelve gives you a life you actually enjoy, take twelve instead.
That’s what I’d discovered halfway up Grouse. I could have raced up the mountain, refused breaks because other people weren’t taking them, obsessed over everyone passing me, and treated my finishing time like a measure of my worth.
I would have hated every minute. Instead, I found my pace, and I didn’t do it alone. My friend wasn’t a distraction from my progress. He was part of what made the progress worthwhile.
It was also realizing that maybe I hadn’t spent four years doing “zero exercise” after all. I’d spent them walking everywhere, carrying a growing kid, hauling groceries and climbing a ridiculous number of playground structures. Apparently, that counts for something.
I’ve also realized I don’t actually want a life without challenges. Instead, I want challenges I can choose, at a level that stretches me, without consuming me. That’s why I chose to write books and have a kid after FIRE, when I could’ve just sat on a beach and gotten massages all day. That would’ve bored me too much after awhile (though Wanderer would’ve been perfectly content, so to each their own).
I’m in “flow” state because instead of removing challenges completely from my life, FIRE simply gave me control over which challenges I take on.
On Grouse, when we reached the top, we could barely see the view because fog had rolled in. But I didn’t care. Getting to the top wasn’t the most memorable part.
Sitting on that rock at 25%, ready to give up, then letting my friend help me, discovering along the way that this supposedly out-of-shape “Mom-bod” could, in fact, climb the equivalent of 2 Empire State Buildings, and laughing at myself when elderly ladies passed me–those were the most memorable parts. No longer caring about how much farther I had left to go made the whole climb enjoyable.
I was just in the moment, putting one foot in front of the other. Nothing else mattered. And I loved it.
When it comes to the question, “When will I finally be free?”, financial independence gives you an extraordinary amount of freedom. But after reaching the top of one mountain, I think there’s a second question worth asking:
“Free for what?”
For me, the answer is: to choose challenges that stretch you without overwhelming you, to climb at your own pace, and to choose the people beside you that make the whole climb worth doing.
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Congrats on finishing the Grind! It’s a must-do activity in Vancouver. When your kid grows up, you can fo it with him 😊
I’ve heard of someone doing the grind with their 3 year old! It took 4 hours, but they did it! Crazy! I’m excited to have LMS try it when me when he’s older.
That’s kind of normalish if you hike a lot and have kids. 😉
That said, good job. Keep at it!
Love this analogy! We have a similar grind just outside Calgary called Prairie Mountain if you’re ever looking for conquering another grind!
Ooh fun! Will take you up on that offer if we ever visit Calgary!
Nah, real grind is Moose Mountain 🙂
Really appreciate this perspective and reminder.
Thanks, Charity! Glad it was help.
Mom strength is real!
💪💪💪
Great article!!! I myself achieved Fire a year ago. And I totally agree that a purpose for living a life after Fire is a must. For me is traveling. I am currently discovering Porto Alegre and Rio Grande do Sul. Making new friends and visiting old ones. As you pointed out the journey is always more important than the destiny. So the best approach is to enjoy it whatever stage we are at. I do like changing things as well, so for anyone who is miserable at work just change it. Try to find something closer to your heart. I believe in simple life so we are travelling with my wife each one of us with just a small backpack. It is wonderful!
Congrats! What is your favourite place that you’ve visited so far!
Look, I like your post, but as a parent who’s been there, your fear of homeownership is honestly getting into unhealthy territory—and you really need to push past it for your kid. Staying stuck in a renter’s mindset because a 30-year mortgage feels like a “Grouse Grind death march” is an irrational mental trap. You literally climbed a mountain that Outside Magazine called one of the most treacherous in the world, yet you’re letting market headlines and hypothetical repair bills paralyze you? Right now, your kid is eating food off the floor and playing at local parks; they need physical stability, a backyard they can’t be priced out of, and the long-term wealth building that housing provides. Dragging out this fear when you clearly have the financial chops and discipline to handle it is just stress-eating and ruminating under a different name.
You’re like one of those “friends” who tell you “you look unhealthy” when someone loses weight and gets fit. Please don’t ever ask me to climb a mountain with you. Thanks for the excellent reminder that FIRE is the reason I can choose to do whatever I want with WHOMever I want.
Home ownership is a cult. Just smile and nod as they tell you they have found the one and only way. Your lives are showing people another way to thrive in the modern world. You are a source of inspiration to other parents who are seeking FIRE while renting in a large city.
Look, I’ve got three houses and while I love the sense of physical “security,” this shit ain’t for everyone. We would have certainly enjoyed greater gains had we invested all the extra cash we’ve thrown at these properties. So I enjoy hearing from people like Wanderer who’ve opted out. After all, most people in the world don’t own a home, and seems like most of them are just fine–even if, gasp!, their kids are playing at local parks instead of their own yard.
Just wanted to say that I grew up in apartments and I turned out just fine. Successful even. And now I live in a city where most people are raising their children in rentals, in a country where home ownership isn’t the be all, end all. Some of y’all are so goofy.
Good post Firecracker. Keep grinding.
Love this. Thanks for the perspective and the reminder to just go for new challenges at your own pace and enjoy the ride. Glad you made it to the top!
As a follow-up, this post really hit home in another way – that whole realization about finding your own pace and not turning the journey into a total death march applies so heavily to the FIRE path right now. When you look at the political landscape, Trump’s economic policies – like massive, unpredictable tariffs and ongoing trade conflicts – introduce serious market volatility and inflation that can really mess with your portfolio and your safe withdrawal rate. Plus, in the U.S., any threats to the ACA make budgeting for early retirement health insurance feel like a complete gamble. sure, corporate tax cuts might offer a brief bump to stocks, but trying to rush toward financial freedom under that kind of instability just adds extra stress to the “climb”; keeping a steady, manageable pace is way easier when the underlying rules aren’t constantly shifting under your darn feet!!
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Really great post! Setting attainable goals for yourself rather than measuring success by what others achieve is itself a liberating feeling. I climbed Marble Mountains in the Vietnamese heat earlier this year, though Grouse sounds a lot harder. Now I have a new travel destination! 🙂
This was my favourite column!
Congrats on completing your first Grind! Definitely a very 604 thing to do. Can you believe some ppl do this multiple times a day?! Sadly, I only do it once or twice a year now, but each time I am reminded of how much climbing this mtn is an analogy for worthwhile and difficult pursuits in life such as building a business, striving towards FIRE, or getting fit.
You just put one foot in front of the other, focus on the next step, don’t look too far up or try to think about how much further you have to go, and just embrace the moment (and the suck).
Practicing positive self talk always helps too (“I can do this.” “I’ve got this.” “Don’t give up.”) Cliché but true. And eventually you stop measuring yourself against others because there is always someone faster, but rather try to be better than the old you who did the previous climb.
Enjoy that beer, or three. You guys earned it.
Speaking of climbing mountain, I first think about space waves – a browser-based game that challenges players to control an arrow precisely. Financial freedom is what everyone desires.
So glad you finally “got to” do the Grind! And a great philosophy about pacing yourself.
If you want to explore more of Vancouver’s mountains, there are quite a few local hiking groups you could check out. A lot of the groups will plan carpooling so you don’t need to drive.
What an incredible read! Thank you for sharing this—it’s such a refreshing perspective on both fitness and FIRE. I love how you connected the Grouse Grind to the financial independence journey, especially the reminder that the goal isn’t to race to the top at all costs, but to find a pace that lets you actually enjoy the climb. The part about ‘flow’ and choosing challenges that stretch without overwhelming really hit home. And honestly? The image of you downing strawberry energy gel like Popeye and then getting passed by elderly ladies while wearing a ‘Fuck the Grouse Grind’ shirt is the motivation I didn’t know I needed today. Saving this one for when I need a reminder to stop obsessing over the finish line and just put one foot in front of the other.
Congrats! I tackled the Grind when I was a student at UBC. We hiked it on a whim so I was wearing the most inappropriate footwear (picture leather lace up dress shoes), but as a 20-year-old it sounded like a good idea. This post was what I needed right now honestly. I’m so focused on FIRE and 6 years away, looking at a mountain we need to overcome to get us there. We travel a lot and don’t cut expenses immensely but it allows us to enjoy our lives outside of our own daily grind. Your analogy is so helpful to get me living in the moment and taking the time we need to enjoy our lifestyle while we climb towards our FIRE goal. Also, we own a couple of properties we’ll sell to reach FIRE and they are great investments but, like someone else said, a huge financial burden. Definitely not for everyone and the maintenance was a lot easier when we were 30. Now in our 40s, the maintenance either costs a lot or is back breaking when we tackle it ourselves.
If anyone was going to convince you to try the Grouse Grind it would be Eman. Have you also signed up for Parkrun now?
Have added this to my Vancouver list for next time I visit. My current hard thing is setting off to walk 650kms across Spain. One foot in front of the other! I just ran FIRESPARK Retreat (an Aussie FIRE weekend) and had a couple of fellow Vancouvernites join us, but I think you start a Canadian FIRE retreat (that isn’t camping) if you want something else hard to try?
Hah. Parkrun is awesome, especially if you can get the kids out. Makes me feel very old though. 🙂
The twelve-versus-eight line is the right way to put it. One thing that rarely comes up in these conversations is that the savings-rate math changes a lot depending on what you do for work, not just how hard you push at it. We run a job board for traveling skilled trades workers, and the reason some of them save so fast is not grinding – it is that the employer pays a per diem, usually $100-125 a day, so housing and food come off the expense side entirely while the $35-45 an hour keeps landing. That does more for a savings rate than another year of pushing. It is not for everyone and being away from home is the real cost, but if you are running the numbers on how fast you can get there, what a job actually clears once housing is covered by per diem is worth a look.
This reminds me of a hike I did in Greece in late August a few years ago. Much, much shorter than this, but steep, next to a caldera so loads of eggy sulfur fumes, and Grecian summer heat is nothing to sniff at. I did it the same way you did: one step at a time. I still think back on it with pride.
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Free for what, indeed! What are we “running” (or hiking?) to?! Glad you enjoyed yourself
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This article is what inspired me to try the Grouse Grind on my first trip to Vancouver, and reading it afterwards, the reflections were spot on: Going at your own pace, finding your flow, and appreciating the work. Thanks for the inspiration!
Really enjoyed the way this post connects climbing, personal growth, and the idea of financial freedom. Stories like these make big life lessons feel relatable and worth reflecting on. For those curious about exploring public business records, California Company Filings can be a helpful resource. Looking forward to seeing more creative voices and meaningful stories like this!
An unrelated question: I was reading one of your blogs in investment series and landed at GoCurryCracker. I used to follow that site few years back. I found no posts from Jeremy, Winnie since middle of 2025.
Wondering if they are fine…
The Grouse Grind really is the perfect FI metaphor — brutal, repetitive, and you can’t see the top from the bottom. My recovery ritual after hikes like that is a cozy game session; lately it’s Witchspire, and I keep my familiar and recipe progress on witchspire.org so I can just play instead of re-figuring out where I left off. Small systems, big peace of mind — same lesson as the climb.
Climbing Grouse Mountain is a great reminder that financial freedom takes patience, effort, and a clear goal. I enjoyed how you connected the challenges of climbing with building a secure financial future. Just like checking Harris County Records can help people find useful information, planning ahead can make life’s journey easier. Great insights and an inspiring read!
Seeing you celebrate completing the Grind on Grouse Mountain really captures how physical challenges can mirror the discipline needed for financial independence, especially when you tie it to family moments in Vancouver. For anyone juggling multiple priorities, a focused tool like Transylvania Property Search Online can illustrate how data‑driven decisions simplify long‑term planning. I love the idea of passing the grind to a future generation, and the Prairie Mountain comparison adds a fresh, regional twist. Keep turning those peaks into milestones!