It is perfectly fine to take breaks in life since we never truly know when our life can come to an end. Experiencing life outside of our own box is something many people do not do because of working too much. A common saying that I have heard is "Money is the root of all evil" so how much are you willing to trade your time for money. Often people spend their peak primes working away and not enjoying their life until they retire. My Uncle is 75 now and retired early because he knew many people that received one social security check and passed away. He would rather get a smaller check than wait on the possibility of receiving one check. FIRE an acronym for Financially Independent Retiring Early is a method I will implement. This involves spending less money on stuff and saving it which allows you to invest your money. Over time you will make your money off assets allowing you to work less and give you more time. I am part of many people that spend too much on unnecessary things. On my fathers side of the family the life expectancy is short with my grandma passing away at 48 and my aunt recently passing away at 45 this year. So I believe that if I really want something then I should just buy it. For example I save enough money until I can comfortably buy the things I want and not have buyers remorse. I do not have expensive taste so the money I save comes from not buying expensive clothes or going to eat in fancy restaurants. I really liked the saying "save and invest, catch fire, become time rich." Time is all we have in this life and it's best to invest in time with yourself and family more than your time being invested only in money. It also goes along with the saying do not put your eggs in one basket or maybe do not put your time all in one place. Freedom to me is being free to pursue whatever you want in life with no restraints. I have never bought things to impress others but can see how that can become a problem. As Adam Baker said "The pursuit of these things we start to identify with our things" this is living life that is not yours so eventually you will break yourself down and be left only with these things that used to mean something to you but are of no real asset. With this ongoing people become more obsessed with their image than your financial, mental and physical health. Debt is used as a security blanket but can become something that will haunt and eventually hurt you later. Debt will create stress forcing you to work harder to pay it off. Ovoid the cycle of debt and live the life you are able to so eventually you can buy the things you want later in life. In the article I found that many people are not pursuing the American Dream in America anymore. They are moving to other countries that give twice the chance of getting financially comfortable when starting from the bottom. Often there's a saying in the US that states "The rich get richer while the poor get poorer". Many people, including myself, believe we have the right to seek higher education without having to go in debt for the next 15 to 20 years. There are other countries that provide this and free healthcare along with it. In the article they did a poll and 75% of people said that the American Dream is in danger of becoming extinct, the rest believe they are living the American Dream and others claim to be living it to an extent. Part of the 75% believe that the American Dream is not obtainable. Moving to another country can be very difficult and also you have no idea what you will get into. It could be worth a try but I believe that we can ask for help and try to adapt to every situation as best as we can and follow the FIRE acronym and sell our excess we can eventually be in a comfortable position in our life.