My wife and I spent September in Australia. This essay, the first in a series, recounts our sun-drenched start before things took a turn for the worst.
Continue reading “The Flat White Chronicles”The Flat White Chronicles
“The Rewards of Being in One Place for a While” (Meghan Walker and Callan Cooper)
By popular demand, I’ve decided to extend a travel series centered around the topic of building community or maintaining our need for social interactions when away from home. Community building is especially complicated when abroad, where cultures and languages vary considerably from our own. My guests today, veteran travelers with considerable expat experiences, are perfectly suited to discuss this topic.
Meghan Walker, a previous guest who writes at awaytofi.com, spent many of her formative years living abroad in Kenya and New Zealand. Her husband, Callan Cooper, is an expat living in the United States from New Zealand, where they met. Meghan and Callan joined me in my home in Colorado for a rare in-person interview, where we discussed in detail the beauty and challenges of international extended travel, careers, evolving travel philosophies, and financial tactics that can have you living a similar life much sooner than you think.
Continue reading ““The Rewards of Being in One Place for a While” (Meghan Walker and Callan Cooper)”The Social Dilemma of Extended Travel (Jeff, A Way to FI)
In October I published a mini episode on my thought processes on the pros and cons of extended travel abroad. Many of you left comments or emailed me your thoughts, and I’m so thankful for your input. You’ve all given me plenty to consider. One of the most insightful emails came from Jeff of awaytofi.com, a previous guest on this podcast (Episode 44). Jeff has been living abroad for over fifteen months with his wife, Rose, and as such is well-versed in discussing the impacts of extended travel, particularly on our social lives. This week’s episode is an in-depth exploration of extended travel, especially as it relates to our human need for a sense of place and community. Travel takes us away from our tribe, so how do we create new ones? Do we even need to? You can probably expect more content like this with upcoming guests and articles.
Continue reading “The Social Dilemma of Extended Travel (Jeff, A Way to FI)”Mini Episode: Is the Best Life Lived at Home?
Years ago, we decided to one day try living abroad for at least a year. We always loved traveling and also always felt that we never had enough time to truly experience a place beyond the superficial. I wanted to stay for a while, learn the language, and slowly morph into a new life mode. But now I’m starting to question the wisdom of this decision. Is living abroad a bad idea?
Continue reading “Mini Episode: Is the Best Life Lived at Home?”Your Questions Answered: Volume One
This week I decided to dig through my emails and finish answering some questions.
In this post we take another look at investing now vs later, the dynamics of financial independence without retiring early, housing and home ownership, more on day trading and investing apps, what the hell I do with my time, and much more.
Here is what is keeping you guys up at night, or at least spurring mild curiosity.
Continue reading “Your Questions Answered: Volume One”Lee Cujes: Super Psyched on the Long Game
This week I’m thrilled to bring you an interview with a pinch of international spice and flavor. Please welcome to the site, the legendary Australian climber Lee Cujes.
In this interview we take a hard look at the long-term aspects of finding a balance on career, lifestyle, relationships, nails-hard climbing, and future prosperity. Lee graciously shares with us how he was able to carve a career niche while climbing at an elite level, how he and his wife Sam made the big move out of the city to a small climbing mecca in the Blue Mountains, and how Lee has used the same, boring and lazy-ass methods of passive investing to build an enduring path to financial freedom. And during some of his darkest days, Lee and Sam embarked on an incredible global climbing trip. Yeah, let’s discuss that too.
Shall we?
Continue reading “Lee Cujes: Super Psyched on the Long Game”Sicily, Part 3: Two People, Two Weeks, $1300.
Hey guys, we’re back stateside (coronavirus free?) and I’m here to provide the final installment on our trip to Sicily. We’ve discussed the climbing, the lifestyle, and the food, but perhaps there’s a feeling of dismissiveness because it all seems too outlandishly expensive to go galavanting around in Europe. But is it?
Continue reading “Sicily, Part 3: Two People, Two Weeks, $1300.”A Winter in Sicily, Part 2: The Big City Life
Alrighty then, welcome back to more spray-down about our trip in Sicily. If you missed last week, check out the little ditty on the beachside climbing mecca of San Vito Lo Capo. This post highlights the cities of Syracuse and Palermo, a stark contrast to the low-key coastal town we experienced in our first week.
Continue reading “A Winter in Sicily, Part 2: The Big City Life”A Winter in Sicily, Part 1: San Vito Lo Capo
So last week I quit my job. And now we’re in Sicily. Greetings from the sunny Mediterranean! And sunny it is, a wonderful departure from the snowy and dark northern latitudes where our journey began. We find ourselves this first week in the small town of San Vito Lo Capo, living that peninsula life in northwestern Sicily.
Continue reading “A Winter in Sicily, Part 1: San Vito Lo Capo”The Astonishing Cost of Unused Vacation
Hey you guys, it’s 2020, a new year! One of my favorite (past) pastimes is to begin each year with a plan for using all of my vacation. Studies, however, reveal that Americans are rarely capitalizing on the full gift of paid time to not work, and it’s costing us all big-time. The rippling effects go far beyond our own well-being and can affect society at large.
How much are we truly leaving on the table?
Continue reading “The Astonishing Cost of Unused Vacation”