The other thing John liked so much about his schedule was that he had plenty of time to work on his writing. He actually wrote two books: on skiing and on surfing. Unfortunately, all he ever got from publishers was rejection letters and he could never bring himself to self publish his work online because that seemed to be useless except for its vanity value; instead, he just gave copies out to his friends occasionally. Becoming a Writer

John continued working at ski resorts and surf shops for the next two decades until both of his knees deteriorated to the point that he could no longer enjoy skiing or surfing. The less time he spent on his two lifelong hobbies, the less he enjoyed working in the environment that continually reminded him how much he missed participating actively. However, by that time he had managed to get enough of his writing published in skiing magazines...

However, both of John's brothers admitted to John that they actually envied his carefree life. Both of them had been married and divorced, and remarried; both were overweight; and they envied John's independence. John's only real regret was that his parents both died unable to appreciate that his choices in life were the right thing for him. Ultimately, John actually lived a more fulfilling life than his brothers and never regretted his choices in life.