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You may be wondering, like I was, what is Chautauqua?
At first, I thought it was like a living history gathering I attended once in Wyoming, which was also called Chautauqua. That one featured talks, music, entertaining exhibits and friendly competitions.
Sort of like a Renaissance Fair, but more of a Mountain Man Rendezvous where people dress up in buckskin clothing and wear knives and carry powder horns for their rifles.
Not what I expected to be reading about on personal finance blogs.
So just what is this other Chautauqua spoken of by personal finance bloggers and members of the Financially Independent Retire Early (FIRE) community?
Uh, no, there are no horses, rifles, or knives. Whew!
After doing a little research, I discovered the original Chautauqua was held near Lake Chautauqua (hence the name), in New York in 1874. Subsequently, it expanded into a traveling tent show that was popular until the mid-1920s.
These early Chautauquas were a mix of art and entertainment and featured superstar speakers, musicians, actors, scientists and politicians.
I learned that modern Chautauquas still exist as living history events, designed to educate, enlighten, inform and entertain.
However, the FI Chautauqua focuses more on money, saving, investing, early retirement and financial independence.
The FI Chautauqua was started by Jim Collins, who also writes the jlcollinsnh blog. Don’t miss the Stock Series posts on his blog or his book The Simple Path to Wealth
Chautauqua is an experience.
Quoting from Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
“…an old-time series of popular talks intended to edify and entertain, improve the mind and bring culture and enlightenment to the ears and thoughts of the hearer.”
Jim said he wanted to “bring together groups of exceptional people in amazing locations for fascinating conversations about life, freedom, happiness and investing.”
He called this event a Chautauqua.
Jim’s previous Chautauquas were held in Ecuador, but we discovered they were sold out for this year.
There was one spot left for a couple at Chautauqua UK. I wondered “should we grab it?”
Chautauqua UK was billed as a week of talks and one-on-one sessions with some of the biggest names in the Financial Independence (FI) space, where we would learn about FI, investing, and retirement.
And it was set in the English countryside, in Stratford Upon Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare?
And we would get to stay in a castle?!!
We decided to go.
What did we love about Chautauqua?
First of all, we loved meeting and spending time with positive, like-minded people. We felt immediately at home, because this group of people shared our values!
Every speaker was incredibly welcoming and accessible. We appreciated the extra time the hosts and speakers gave us, which was way more than just during the one-on-one sessions.
In addition, all of the speakers and their presentations were fantastic, top notch!
It was like a dream come true to meet and hang out with Jim of JLCollinsnh; Vicki Robin, author of Your Money or Your Life
Finally, there were many extra activities and fun surprises. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at an Indian restaurant, where we tried England’s National Dish – Curry!
Just kidding about the National Dish – we did enjoy curry, but the English food we tried included black sausage, toad in the hole, fish & chips, and spotted dick.
More Photos
Our group toured Windsor Castle, enjoyed high tea and a tour at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and we even got to act in a murder mystery dinner.
Our hotel in Stratford Upon Avon was amazing! An ancient English mansion built in 1060AD, it really was like a castle, surrounded by lovely gardens and it’s very own 12th century chapel.
We walked around the lovely town of Stratford Upon Avon and also visited the church where Shakespeare is buried.
I gave an impromptu herb talk while in Stratford Upon Avon! It was so much fun to walk through the garden and talk about the healing herbs. You can read about our herb walk and see more pictures here.
What did we get out of Chautauqua?
My husband and I enjoyed this event and thought it was the best vacation we ever took together.
We just floated through the week on a wave of happiness.
Attending Chautauqua turned out to be a terrific way to reinforce all that I have been learning about the path to FI.
Chautauqua also helped to inspire my husband to get on board with building wealth, without any pressure from me.
In addition, the one-on-one sessions that we had were so helpful! They really gave us the direction we needed for our next steps on the path to FI.
Finally, we met interesting people and made new friends! Our group became very close because it was easy to get to know each other in this setting. Most importantly, we continue to keep in touch with our new friends.
I feel a deep sense of gratitude for each person in the group.
As a result of attending Chautauqua, I have a supportive network of people to turn to that “get it.” I trust this group to answer my questions as I continue on the path to financial independence.
What would I say to someone considering attending a Chautauqua event?
If you can afford it, go. You will absolutely love it!
You can learn all about FIRE and the path to FI on your own by reading blogs and books.
However, attending Chautauqua and spending time with positive, like-minded people who really get what you are trying to do with your life and your money is a unique experience.
At Chautauqua, you will have the opportunity to ask all your financial questions.
In conclusion, your questions will be answered and you’ll be inspired to take the action needed to reach your financial goals. Therefore, I highly recommend Chautauqua!
Wonderful write-up, Kathy….
…you captured the magic that is Chautauqua.
So glad you and Brett joined us. It is people like you who make the whole thing so special.
To answer the Mad Fientist’s question: I’d be a Chautauqua host. 🙂
Thank you, Jim! You, Alan & Katie, and all the speakers went above and beyond to make Chautauqua an amazing experience. I’d go again in a heartbeat!
Love this write-up Kathy! It sums up the magical feeling of Chautaqua to a “T”! So glad you could join us and hope to meet up in the world again in the future!
Thanks, FIRECracker! Definitely looking forward to seeing you and Wanderer again!
This is really interesting, thank you. I’m just at this point in my life, trying to retire early, but figuring out how to do it… I’ll look more into this 😊
Once you go down the rabbit hole of early retirement and the path to FIRE, there’s no looking back!
Thanks so much for stopping by, Samantha!
Thank you for this write up Kathy, it’s really helpful. We’re in a similar boat to yourselves, baby boomers working hard towards FI, but we’re not quite there yet. We’re keen to attend the UK Chautauqua as it’ll be held less than a hundred miles from us and I feel it would be rude not to! I don’t have a blog though, did all attendees blog? I’ve been a bit of a lurker so far and haven’t got around to actively joining the FIRE community – maybe this could be the jumping off point 😬!
Hi Seona,
I’m so glad it was helpful! Chautauqua was a wonderful experience, and it will definitely inspire you on your path to FI. Most of the speakers were bloggers, but not the attendees. Don’t worry, you don’t need a blog to attend Chautauqua! After all, Chautauqua is not about blogging, it’s about financial independence! It’s really an opportunity to listen to speakers on FI and living your best life, meeting interesting people who understand what you are trying to do, and getting your money questions answered. I hope you go – if you do, please come back & share your experience in the comments!
Such a different and interesting post! It looks like you really enjoyed the experience
Hi Izzy, thanks so much for your kind words, and for stopping by! Yes, Chautauqua was a great experience & it’s one that I highly recommend.
Wow! This looks like such an amazing experience. Would love to be able to experience it one day!
Thanks, Robyn!
I’d have to agree that attending Chautauqua was definitely an amazing experience! I hope you do get the chance to experience it!
Sounds like you had a lot of fun! I need to get out to more events like this.
It was so much fun, Michael!
What’s funny, is that many attendees talk about how introverted they are (like me), yet end up feeling completely comfortable once at Chautauqua. It’s like discovering a group of people who all have similar values & ideals, who instantly get you. And the entire group knows how to have a good time, lol.
How interesting that your FI event carries the name of Lake Chautauqua which is in WNY where I grew up and one of my oldest friends lives right on the lake these days! (Such a small world) What a wonderful event, I love that you were able to get to have some unique travel experiences along with the event!
Thanks, Kelly! It is fun to look back on the different types of Chautauqua gatherings, especially the historical ones. Education was at the heart of all Chautauquas. The one we went to focused on financial education, but included a lot of fun activities and sight-seeing.
That’s a great venue for an event like this. You learn and get to experience beauty and history.
Definitely a fascinating area to explore, Retirestyle Travel. So much history in England! This Chautauqua has also been held in other exciting destinations like Greece & Portugal. I wrote another post about our trip to Greece for another Chautauqua.
I’ve never heard about this event before but it looks fun! Glad you managed to try some signature English dishes too.
Thanks so much, Francesca! It’s a lot of fun to try new foods when we travel. The meals in England were great.
I have only heard about Chautauqua from large musical tent events so this piqued my curiosity. Looks like a great support group for FI.
Yes, Smalltownplussize! I had some preconceived ideas of Chautauqua before this trip, too. Probably because I’ve visited many mountain towns and attended living history events. The FI Chautauqua was a wonderful experience and we enjoyed meeting so many like-minded people to discuss financial topics.