Back in January, I stumbled upon the possibility of getting tickets for Camp Mustache 2016. After about 15 minutes of thinking, I decided to go. I’m lucky I did because tickets sold out within a day or so, as I found out later.
What Is Camp Mustache?
The official website describes it as “4 days, 3 nights, 2 mountains, 1 rainforest – Meet like-minded badasses and learn about financial independence, in a relaxed outdoorsy environment”. I would describe it as the most inspiring experience in my financial independence journey so far. In case you are wondering, the event is named after Mr. Money Mustache (MMM), a former Software Engineer who retired at the age of 30.
Who Attends Camp Mustache?
50 awesome people who share the common goal of financial independence. From what I recall, about 10-15 attendees no longer need to work for a living, and many others are only a few years away from financial independence. This year’s featured guests included MMM, the Mad FIentist, and Paula from affordanything.com, all very successful bloggers and wonderful people. Overall, it was an amazing group, everyone was very open and willing to share their knowledge and experiences.
The Venue
Camp Mustache takes place in a beautiful retreat in North Bend, WA. Here is the wife at the entrance of the retreat:
Our backyard for the weekend:
Other Good Stuff
Hiking up Mount Si: one of the highlights of the weekend for an outdoor and exercise enthusiast like myself. 9-mile round trip from the retreat with 3,500 feet of elevation gain. The company is top notch as well!
The hike according to Strava:
Top of Mount Si:
Always something to learn: throughout the day there were breakout sessions on different topics related to FI. These included taxes, travel hacking, investing, solar power, etc. Besides the breakout sessions, everybody was always open to talk about anything, which made learning a continuous experience.
Push-up challenge: towards the end of one breakout session, MMM came in and shouted “100 push-up challenge outside right now!“. I could not tell if he was joking or not so I stayed inside and looked through the window first. I then saw a dozen people or so doing push-ups. I did the only sensible thing one can do in such a situation: run and join them!
Favorite random moment: an attendee apologizing to MMM for how un-mustachain his car was and explaining that it was a rental.
The bad: not being able to be in several places at the same time to meet more people and attend more breakout sessions.
Should You Attend Camp Mustache in the Future?
If you are interested in financial independence and can afford to attend without breaking the bank, absolutely yes!
I’ve been reading MMM since he started the blog but reading this makes it sound awful “culty”.
People apologizing to someone for the car they drove?
Thinking that the only sensible response to someone yelling “100 push up challenge” is to join in?
What I always liked about MMM and many others who want to live sanely and simply is that it attracts individuals marching to their own drummers. From reading this, the camp seems like a bunch of sheeple answering to the “big boss”
Other than possibly my wife it is nobody’s damn business what kind of car I drive. That’s the rule whether I think they are looking down on me because I drive a Sentra with 220,000 miles and it is also the rule if they are looking down on me for driving a new SUV.
To me the only “sensible response” to someone yelling “100 push up challenge” would be to think “if I wanted to do push ups I would just do them. I don’t need a challenge or the feeling that I have to somehow fit in”.
I am a voracious readers of these types of sites and blogs. Love much of the content available (particularly from MMM) but the way you describe the camp strikes me as downright creepy.
Glad I didn’t go. I might get some very good tips on managing money and then have to blow all that money on a deprogrammer.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Weston.
I see how someone can interpret this post the way you did. Let me say a few things to clear the air a little.
The MMM reader community is somewhat “culty” indeed. You can see right in the MMM home page where he encourages readers to join his email list by saying “join the cult”. I think that’s the way he sees the community he has created where people appreciate not only the concept of building wealth, but also others things such as being healthy, minimizing one’s environmental footprint, etc. Each individual is free to “join the cult” to the extent they want, whether it involves the whole lifestyle or just some pieces of it.
Regarding the car apology: I suppose that one person shares MMM’s views on cars, and it was more a joke than an actual apology. MMM responded by smiling and saying that he didn’t care.
Regarding the push-up challenge: “the only sensible response” is my own thought given that I am an exercise junky who loves challenges, so this particular activity was something I didn’t want to miss out. The challenge was 100% optional and as you can see from the photo, many people did not participate.
Regarding the “big boss”: there were a couple of attendees who wouldn’t have been able to recognize MMM if they saw him in the street. They were readers of other blogs who were there to have a good time and learn about FI, which is the whole point of the event. MMM is not bossy at all! I think he sees himself as just another attendee and most of us do as well.
Here are a few of the other posts written by other attendees if you are interested in other perspectives:
http://www.fierymillennials.com/camp-mustache-2016/
http://moneymetagame.com/fi/hiking-and-the-journey-to-financial-independence/
http://thehappyphilosopher.com/a-walk-in-the-woods/
http://www.tillerhq.com/blog/2016/6/4/a-weekend-with-mr-money-mustache-on-financial-independence