Dragon Gal and Dragon Guy are a 40-something couple living in the United States. The name of this blog was inspired by the fact that we were both born in the Year of the Dragon (only four days apart!).
We hope to use this blog as a way to chronicle our journey, reflect on our experiences, and be creative with our writing. Thanks for connecting to our story!
Once a upon a time…
We met in college our senior year when we were next door neighbors at our campus dorm. Dragon Guy loves to say he’s been happily married to the girl next door for over 17 years!
We were fortunate to start our married life without student loan debt, thanks to the generosity of both sets of parents. We started working full-time immediately after graduation; Dragon Gal, as a teacher, and Dragon Guy in the finance industry.
We lived a normal life and enjoyed traveling until our mid-thirties, when Dragon Guy was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML). Dragon Gal was devastated, and struggled with her new role as a caregiver. She wondered how a cancer diagnosis would affect the marriage.
But Dragon Guy had faith in his treatment and didn’t let his diagnosis stop him from doing the things he loved, and we were back on a plane traveling, a mere six weeks after Dragon Guy’s diagnosis.
The magical enchantment of FIRE…
More than five years after DGuy’s diagnosis, things had returned to normal in our lives (for the most part).
We stumbled upon the FIRE movement in early 2017 when DGal decided she wanted to quit her full-time teaching job (this time for real) and Googled “Early Retirement.” She found Mr. Money Mustache’s blog and started reading. She knew she had to convince her number-cruncher husband that her quitting was a viable option.
Thankfully, DGuy was intrigued by the FIRE movement and quickly started binge reading multiple blogs, taking notes, and creating different spreadsheets. What we discovered was we were financially independent, we just didn’t know it.
After months of planning, DGal retired at age 40 in the summer of 2017, with zero regrets!
DGuy wished he could retire early too, but he continued to work. Due to his chronic illness, he needs access to good healthcare coverage. He would much rather be slow traveling around the world than sitting in boring meetings at work.
And they lived happily ever after…
After a lot of preparation, number crunching, and reflecting on what he would do during retirement, Dragon Guy left his job in late 2019!
DGuy has worked hard on his health and as a result, his oncologist believes he might be able to stop treatment soon. This is great news! However, if DGuy stops taking his drugs, he’d have to submit to more lab tests to ensure he’s staying in remission. These lab tests are expensive without the right insurance. In late 2019, Dragon Guy stopped his cancer drugs!
DGal launched a free seven week healthy habits support group program for young adult cancer survivors and caregivers in Spring 2019. She is partnering with the local cancer non-profit she has volunteered for since retirement. DGuy co-facilitates the group meetings, and we are hoping to offer a new session in early 2020.
Other than that, Dragon Gal continues to relax and enjoy her favorite activities (reading, writing, biking, and traveling). She writes about what she’s doing in her retirement regularly through her “Retirement Happenings” series.
TO OUR READERS
So what does this mean for those of you visiting this blog? Dragon Guy’s wish is for this blog to be about our slow travels and his FIRE journey with a chronic illness. However, only Dragon Gal has early retired at this point, so for now, our blog is about living a beautiful life despite a cancer diagnosis.
Hopefully, you’ll come along for the ride with us. We hope to make this funny, cute, cheesy, and real enough so we can all enjoy this blog together. You’ll get to read all about:
-our commitment to live a healthy lifestyle, physically and fiscally
-DGal’s early retirement (the good parts, not so good parts, and deep thoughts)
-DGuy’s struggle to figure out the healthcare situation
-our travels to Asia, Europe, North and South America (We hope to make it to Africa and Australia soon!)
-and occasionally, our cats.
Please connect with us if our story resonates with you. Email us at thedragonsonfire@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @DragonGuyAndGal. We would love to hear from you!
The Dragons on Fire 