Does it make sense to move somewhere cheap to achieve financial independence sooner? It’s a topic we talk about sometimes in our household. If we could lower our housing costs by moving, we could retire much sooner than our plan. We’re in a middle stage of life with three young kids, a minivan, and a mortgage and in…
Viewing category: Travel
5 Truths About Traveling the World in Your 20s
Traveling the world in my 20s was my top priority after college. I ended up visiting more than 40 countries before turning 30, carrying with me a small Eagle Creek Backpack and no more than six pairs of underwear at any time. Now that I’m over forty, I look back on my days of full-time…
The Retire Before Dad Story
At age 27, I was broke, unemployed, and living at home with my parents. Not surprisingly, I was single too. Sounds depressing, right? Not so. I had recently returned from an epic 14-month backpacking trip to Asia and Latin America, spending just $10,000 on the entire journey, then completed a three-month, 8,000-mile road trip throughout the U.S and…
Travel Scams and Robbery on the Backpacker Trail
Throughout all of my adventures, only three times I’ve been a target for crime because I was a traveler. That’s not bad considering I’ve visited 40+ countries over the past two decades. For the most part, using common sense and traveling with a friend or group is enough to avoid travel scams and danger. But…
A Penny Smart, A Pound Foolish
Years ago I went to Ireland with a friend. We rented a car and drove from Galway to Kilkenny via the southwest peninsular route. Ireland is awash with beautiful landscapes and scenic drives lined with intricately built stone walls. The roads, however, can be narrow and tricky to navigate at times. One morning in a…
That’s The Way I Want To Go
Two men from very different places in my life passed away in recent years. Both died almost instantaneously and without any forewarning. Both died in the presence of their peers. One died in retirement. The other died while still working. Loss of a Coworker One morning I learned that an hour before I arrived at…
The Holy Grail of Travel
When it comes to time, money and travel, people fall into one of four categories: Backpackers – Lots of time, but a finite amount of money Vacationers – Enough money, but not much time Broke People – No money for travel and very little time Financially Independent Travelers – All the time and money needed…
Myanmar And The Ugliest $1 Bill I Ever Spent
A while back I read a cool guest post by Money Graffiti on Budgets Are Sexy about the legality of writing on dollar bills. You can read it here. It reminded me of a story from my 14-month backpacking trip about a special and very ugly dollar bill. A consistent necessity throughout my trip was exchanging…