Tim & Angel Mathis: nurses, hikers, lapsed Christians

Tim and Angel Mathis are married nurses and lapsed Christians who enjoy hiking, running, and traveling very long distances. Tim is the author of The Dirtbag's Guide to Life (timmathiswrites.com) and Angel teaches investment skills to fellow nurses (learn.nursesinvesting.com).

Tim begins by sharing his feelings about me stealing the term "dirtbag rich"—which he coined in his 2019 book—and transforming it into a larger concept that emphasizes purposeful work.

Tim finds his own purpose as a mental health nurse and book writer. He tells the story of losing his dad in the middle of a Pacific Crest Trail hike, the period of hedonistic dirtbag drifting that followed, and how he went from evangelical Christian, to Episcopal minister, to fully leaving the faith. He describes how ultrarunning and thru-hiking offered a quasi-religious new community, sense of belonging, and positive emotions. "Nature is my spirituality now," Tim says—and this is a "deeply American thing."

We then hear from Angel—the financial brain in the marriage—who shares the story of getting laughed at by a financial advisor early in their careers. The couple ended up doing everything the advisor didn't think possible: buying a house, getting graduate degrees, making work optional after age 35, and traveling 3-6 months each year.

Angel's sense of financial security comes from taking a hard look at the numbers each month, using the same method that she teaches to other nurses. As a nurse practitioner, she enjoys helping many patients in a short amount of time—just as long as she's working part-time. Raised Catholic and later baptized Protestant, Angel laughs about enjoying a diversified spiritual portfolio, even as nature-oriented rituals have replaced the religious ones (e.g., long runs on Sundays instead of church). She reflects on how easy it was to build new friendships in their thirties through long-term traveling hiking, where low time pressure allows deep relationships to blossom.

Find Tim and Angel on Instagram: @dirtbagguide / @nursesinvestingforwealth

Full transcript: dirtbagrich.com/timangel