Lessons from One Night in Amsterdam

So, I'm sitting here writing this in the Priority Lounge in Amsterdam.  We're enjoying a free breakfast, and a free cup of coffee in the airport.  (Thanks Chase Sapphire Reserve Card!!)  But I'm not writing this to talk about all the perks that come from having a great credit card.  Yeah, TSA precheck is nice, priority pass (depending on the airport) is awesome, and yes, Global Entry is clutch saving us immense amounts of time getting through customs.

View from Priority Lounge in Schipol

But what I want to talk about today is how the universe is a crazy interesting place and if you don't keep your eyes open and take a chance you might miss out on the experience of a lifetime.  But what does any that have anything to do with us sitting in Amsterdam?

Let's start from the beginning.

The Trip

We're on our way to Cape Town, South Africa, in fact when this is finally published we will already be there.  It's a long, long trip.  The flight we booked is direct LA to Amsterdam for 10 hours, then direct Amsterdam to Cape Town another 12 hours.

We decided it would be fun to take a little break in Amsterdam, so we booked a flight that had a 23 hour layover.  We were there a few years back and enjoyed the city, plus it's Amsterdam... I mean come on!

Originally our plan was to fly into Amsterdam, get a hotel room and then spend the day in the city.  As I was researching hotel rooms, we came to realize we're going to pay almost $200 for one night in a crappy hotel. Yes, we have points, I get it, we could make that work, but, seeing how this is a business trip, the entire thing is deductible. Why waste the points on something we can deduct?

Well, we decided we'll just rough it out one night and sleep in the airport.  We even checked our bags, sacrilege in the Kingdom of Waffles, so that we wouldn't have to tote them around while enjoying our lay over or scrounge around to find a locker to store them for the day.  Besides, we have access to the priority lounges, and they have showers, food and a bunch of other amenities that would make our ability to stay in the airport all that much more "comfortable".

Our Stay

We land in Amsterdam, pass through security and customs, find our way to the train station.  We head directly downtown and quickly stumble upon...

Yes, these were tasty!!

And like any good FI bloggers, we found a local micro-brewery and bellied up to the bar.  We got to talking to some guys sitting next to us and they mentioned another brewery that we should go to.  It was actually the same place we had been to years before, so we figured why not.  Once finished, we walked over to the next place.

It was packed.  We walked in, ordered beers, and then tried to find a place to sit.  There were not a lot of spots, so Mrs. Wow walked up to a couple sitting at the end of the table with seats across from them.

Is any one sitting here?  Can we sit here?

A simple nod followed, so we sat down.  Mrs. Wow and I are just talking to each other, when finally someone breached a "How ya doing?" to the couple sitting across from us who so graciously let us sit down.

They were locals from Amsterdam, and happened to be fascinated that we were from LA.  The guy was a huge rap fan, and wanted to know all about Compton, Long Beach... IngleWOOOOD.  Turns out they were our age, Mrs. Wow and the better half of the couple have similar jobs.  Well, one hour turned to 3 very quickly as we traded stories of travel, and how awful America's healthcare system is.  We traded purchasing rounds of drinks.  Then the brewery closed, so we asked where we should go next.

Yes, the brewery had a windmill, how very Dutch!!

They asked where we were staying as to point us to a place close so that we could get home easily.  That's when we mentioned that we were planning on just heading back to the airport and finding a nice bench to crash on.  Well, they weren't having it.

Why don't you guys just come back and stay at our place?  We'll take you to the airport in the morning, it's like a 15 minute drive.

Umm... we just kind of looked at each other.  We weren't quite sure what to make of it.  But we decided to at least go with them to the next place to grab a drink and see where the night takes us.

We ended up at a bar with all Dutch folks, just hanging out along the river at a "beach" club.  We shared a couple more drinks with them and then it was time to pack up.  They were on bikes, as the Dutch tend to do.

We needed a cab.  They called a cab for us and told the driver where to take us.  As we were in the cab, we discussed what happens if things go south.  We just need to have our wits about us and if either is uncomfortable, we bail, no questions asked.

The cab pulls up in front of an apartment complex, and sure enough, here come our new friends, riding up just as we were let out of the cab.  We walked into their apartment, and then out into the back yard.  Ummm... they made their own BierGarten in their backyard!  It was amazing!  We sat around drinking great Dutch beer and talking until almost 1AM, then we went in and stayed in their guest room.

The next morning we woke up, they poured us a delicious cup of coffee and then drove us back to the airport.  We made it a point to let them know that they always have a place to stay in LA, hopefully they take us up on it.  Then we parted ways, we headed to Cape Town and they headed back to their lives in Amsterdam.

What does any of this have to do with FI?

Outside of us being completely cheap and trying to sleep in an airport to avoid paying for a hotel, there's a lot this has to do with FI.

Risk is something that's inherent in everything we do.  You have to understand risk, but risk can also be paralyzing if you are not willing to take it.  We kind of threw caution to the wind and ended up staying with some folks we met in a bar, on the other side of the planet.  They took a risk as well.  But, both of us ended up with new friends.  Friends that we are hoping return the favor and come visit us in our neck of the woods.

The other part that I think really has to do with this whole FI journey is that you have to be open to new opportunities.  If you're constantly working, you can't take an opportunity that presents itself.  You have to let yourself go with the flow, and make sure that you have your eyes open.

People get so myopic focusing on their FI number, or all these other mundane details, that they don't see that there might be a different way, a better way to get to their goal.  What if that different or better way isn't what you had originally thought?  What if this new development delays you a little bit, but makes you that much happier along the way, is that so wrong?

Being flexible is required on this journey.  You need to have a plan, but you also need to be able to adjust on the fly as different obstacles or opportunities present themselves.

This isn't to say that you need to throw everything into the wind and say "F It!"  But it is to say that you need to have balance in your life, you need to make progress toward your goals, and you also need to enjoy the journey along the way.