My First FI Meetup

It was a warm August night, the dog days of summer still wagging their tail. 

I had left work early to beat the long commute home so that my wife and I could attend one of the premieres of “Playing with Fire.” 

I was both excited and a little bit nervous.  This would be a landmark event.  I had never attended a FI function before and didn’t know what to expect.  Would people be cool?  Nerds?  Weirdos?  Would I fit in?  What would they look like?  Is there even a FI look? 

You know, all those little insecurities that start drifting to the surface when you’re embracing the unfamiliar. 

I had been binging on the ChooseFI Podcast recently and they were promoting the documentary non-stop.  So I had gone on Tugg and found a local viewing being hosted in LA and signed my wife and I up for two tickets.  The organizer had posted to feel free to come an hour early to meet and chat about FI at the theatre bar. 

Perfect, I thought.  After a year of consuming FI blogs and interacting over social media, I would finally have a face to face with someone who understood what I was talking about. 

After a time, you kind of forget that you have all of this knowledge bundled up inside of you that has no outlet.  You can’t lecture people (not that you would want to do that in the first place) and any normal person would have no idea what you were talking about if you started shooting off FIRE lingo.  You’re an anomaly, and finding birds of a feather is hard.  So to finally be able to have a real conversation, with like-minded people who share your interests, is an opportunity that I jumped at. 

My wife and I were actually on track to arrive early (a miracle for LA traffic), so we decided to grab a bite to eat before we went into the theatre.  We walked around the quaint downtown for a short bit before deciding on a cool little gastropub that just so happened to be right next to the theatre.  We were able to grab outdoor seating on the sidewalk and lo and behold, we had found the perfect people watching spot to scope out my new FI compadres that would be attending the movie. 

I was stoked.  We sat, ate, watched and I mused about the passersby. 

Are they just walking by or will they turn into the theatre?  Are those people a couple or just friends?  Can you even tell what a FI person looks like with such a diverse group?  Hmmmm.  Look at that guy, yeah, he looks like a software engineer… 

With 30 minutes to spare we closed out our tab and headed over to the main event. 

Inside there was man and wife hosting.  They were sweet and friendly when we approached the table to get our tickets.  The normal chit chat ensued about where you live, how’d you find the out about the documentary.  Then the woman asked how I had learned about FI and it all came spilling out… ChooseFI binging, I’d always been saver… yadda, yadda, ya. 

She smiled the entire time I rambled and then my wife nudged me.  “There are other people behind us Q-FI.” 

I probably turned red at that moment and told the host we would talk later.  Then we moseyed over to the bar. 

I have to admit, I was disappointed (all by my own making).  There were only a few groups of people sitting in the area, not many at all.  It wasn’t the bustling, raucous FI party I had been envisioning in my mind.  Everyone smiling, laughing and welcoming you with open arms. 

So much build up.  So much hype I had placed on this moment.  But I wasn’t giving up yet.  When you get that close, you start to realize how starved you are to talk about all of this stuff. 

We grabbed a table in the middle of the floor and glanced around.  I didn’t know if anyone was FI or not.  They could have just been random moviegoers, but I was studying them.  I tried to make some eye contact and see if we’d get a friendly nod to join anyone, but it didn’t happen. 

After about 15 mins we decided to make our way to our seats. 

Inside, the theatre was about half-full, but you could feel the excitement.  Everyone here was a fanboy.  These were my people.  They were in the know.  This was how the beginning of an underground movement began.  You could almost cut the anticipation with a knife. 

We had walked in at the perfect time and were still able to grab good middle row seats.  I surveyed the scene and scanned the crowd.  There were all different types of people, it was just like seeing any other movie.  Nothing special on the outside, but we were all linked on the inside.  Somehow, someway, we had all found ourselves here by a connection to financial independence. 

I checked my watch and saw we had 5 minutes until the start. 

Swoosh!  A large man plopped down into the luxuriously cushioned seat next to me. 

I glanced over at him and there was this goofy, contagious smile hanging off the side of his mouth.  He introduced himself, but I don’t remember the name, all I can remember was the accent. 

“You’re Australian, right?”  I asked. 

“No, I’m a New Zealander.”  He answered beaming and cracked a joke. 

(I think I remember hearing that one of the worst things you can do is confuse an Australian with a New Zealander or vice versa.  But this guy didn’t miss a beat.  He was a ball of joy.)  

And then we talked.  Of course, MMM came up as a favorite shared FI starting blog and then we each got into our own unique stories. 

This guy was an airline pilot from New Zealand.  He was staying the night over by LAX and had randomly looked up the “Playing with Fire” schedule and saw this screening being hosted in LA on the same night.  So he Ubered on over and was now sitting next to me. 

Crazy!  What are the chances of that? 

Our entire conversation was only 5-7 minutes total, but I got my fix.  Here was this guy, literally on the other side of the world, doing things just like me.  Sharing in the same goals and mindset. 

It felt great.  It felt exhilarating.  I had found what I was looking for and knew in that moment that I was on the right path. 

And that was it.  The movie played and people enjoyed it.  No one really lingered afterwards since it was late for a weeknight. 

I probably only had two real FI conversations the entire night.  But I came home happy, and eager for more… 

-Q-FI 

P.S.  Do you remember your first in-person FI experience?  Where was it?  What was it like?  Tell me all about it in the comments section below.