[Update] - involuntary FIREd

This is an update to my post six months ago about being prematurely FIREd.

Here's what I did in the last 6 months and my plans for this year:

• Took a one month trip to SE and East Asia ($7300)
• Officially separated from the company (I was given 2 months to find a new position within the company), received severance
• Bought a cheap laptop to replace the company-issued MacBook ($150)
• Took a one week trip to Chicago by Amtrak ($1500)
• Renovated my kitchen ($35k)
• Just returned from another 45-days SE Asia trip ($7000)
• Received about $5k in unemployment benefits

With more free time, I was able to occupy myself doing these things:

• Cooking and baking, using my new kitchen
• Solo hiking

Ironically, I spent less time on one of my other passions once I had more free time (lost interest). Hopefully I will get it back once I settle in from all the traveling.

For health insurance, I took advantage of the 2 months I was still covered under the old plan (before my separation) to take care of all my needed shots, clean my teeth, and get new glasses. I didn't buy insurance for the two months after separating, counting on COBRA to retroactively kick in. For December, I bought travel insurance while overseas. Starting in January, I bought a high deductible plan for catastrophic coverage, subsidized through ACA.

Here are my plans for 2025:

• Through a connection from my alma mater, I will try my hand at teaching a course for a quarter
• Take a couple of overseas trips, though with less budget (~$2k of each of my 2024 trips was spent on gifts for others)
• Budget for about $50k in income by selling enough of my RSUs and buying VTI, and converting some of my 401k to Roth.
• Receive about $5k more in unemployment benefits

I'd welcome any suggestions on what else I can do or if I should do anything differently.