If you live abroad/travel often, Rule
#1
is to *never* expect that family/friends will visit you. Can't count how many times I've had this conversation 🙃
Genuine question that might come off as a spicy take:
Why is spending $30k on a four-hour wedding deemed societally acceptable, while spending a fraction of that to travel abroad for four months deemed irresponsible?
I can’t believe I used to get up at 6am, put on horrendous work pants, scrape ice off my windshield, and drive 35 minutes to go sit in a beige cubicle for eight hours.
Today my “office” has a view of Lake Como:
This morning I went to the doctor for an annual checkup, and asked a quick question about minor health concern.
“If we talk about this, it’s no longer considered an annual checkup and your insurance won’t cover it.”
🇺🇸🫡
The advice I wish I could give to my younger self:
Don’t sit around passively waiting for life to change. Quit the job you hate. Pursue the things you are passionate about. Book the damn flight. Surround yourself with ambitious people. You’ll figure the rest out.
I try really hard to embrace cultural differences and handle any minor inconvenience that comes with traveling in stride — but the open shower concept is just something that I will never understand 🙈
This topic has been floating around a lot recently:
Choosing to make less money in exchange for having more free time/happiness.
Where do you draw the line in the sand?
I can fly to Australia for $203.60 in March 😱
1️⃣ LAX → Honolulu
Southwest Airlines: ~12k points + $5.60 fee
2️⃣ Honolulu → Sydney
Jetstar: $168 + $30 for bag
SHOULD I BOOK IT?! 🇦🇺🦘 omfg
I think everyone (and I mean everyone) should travel for at least 2-3 months at some point during their adult life.
You may need to save up.
You may need to take a break from work.
You may have to make arrangements for dependents.
But the life experience ROI will be worth it.
Cities I've visited that people (ahem... Americans) warned me were dangerous: Naples, Athens, Barcelona, Istanbul, Mexico City, Medellín
Cities from the above list that I've felt unsafe in:_____
The world isn't that scary, guys. Get out and go see it this year.
The reason many Americans don't travel internationally is the perceived danger of foreign countries.
Someone just warned me to "be careful in Italy" because they are "snatching girls off the streets in Naples."
Fox News is a hell of a drug.
Solo trips are cool because you can wander around cute lil towns just as your little heart desires and then when you find an adorable sidewalk cafe you don’t have to share your cheese board with anyone and there’s also nobody to judge you for asking for a refill of the bread.
Yesterday the power (and WiFi) went out so we stopped working and went to a tiki bar. But then the power came back on and we stayed at the tiki bar 😂🍹🍍
I have no idea where I’ll be living in 3 years from now. Like not even which continent. I don’t even know what hemisphere I’ll be in six months from today.
But here's the kicker: Why is that such a bad thing?
Embracing the chaos that is life lately.
Them: Welcome home! How was your trip?
Me: So great! Istanbul was incredib...
Them: — wait omg, have you seen the pictures from Jessica’s wedding yet? I hated her dress.
Me: 👁 👄 👁
Also me: *immediately books another flight*
In your opinion, what makes a city "livable"?
Mine are:
· Walkability
· Nice weather
· Access to nature
· Sense of community
· Not prohibitively expensive
Soaking up my last few days in Spain — I really don't want to leave 😔
But grateful for the two wonderful months here and that I've found a new spot that feels like home. For sure will be back.
This trip has solidified it for me: I prefer slow travel. I'm talking 3+ months in one place.
I love having a go-to morning coffee spot, a daily running route, a cute little corner market, enough time to make friends, and the chance to naturally discover a city's hidden gems.
@nickgraynews
Zipair is awesome, just as nice as any of the big name US carriers. I flew from Tokyo to SFO for under $300 in October, highly recommend.
There's a girl in my co-living space who is 23, graduated college in May, and has been working remotely and traveling since.
And I quote:
"Why would I go work in an office, that shit is for miserable people."
It's wild how different work culture/"adulting" already is for Gen Z.
There's just a different kind of bond among travel friends. No one flinches at unorthodox life plans, nor cares how you landed here. You immediately have 100 things in common and share similar outlooks on life. It's great.
Someone who has been traveling full time for 6 years just gave me advice: “You need to leave places while you still love them and they still have that intangible magic. If you stay too long, it’s like the fourth shitty sequel to a movie that nobody wanted.”
Agree or disagree?
City walking tours are the best. I always try to do them within the first 48 hours of arriving to a new city.
It gives me the lay of the land and immediately calms that "go-go-go" feeling of needing to see and do everything right away.
I just met an older solo female traveler staying at my place who is in town for a Surf Camp for 50+ year old women and all of my life goals have now been reset 🏄🏼♀️
I genuinely don’t think I’ll ever get sick of traveling.
I won't do this full-time schtick forever, but I'm convinced I'll still be hopping on trains to random cities when I'm 90.
I have a friend whose manager won't let them travel while working remotely because they think it'll be a distraction.
🌶️ My hot take: Working while traveling is still a lot less of a distraction than if they had a toddler at home.
I want to keep traveling to new places and eventually see the entire world ✈️🌍
…buuuuut spending a few weeks in Italy every summer (just for the food) might become a thing that I do 🍝🇮🇹
I'm pretty sure I'm not a cruise person (never done one) and I'd def get seasick on an ocean cruise BUT ☝🏼 I still have this irrational desire to go on a repositioning cruise.
Some of the deals are insane. 20 nights from Italy to Miami for $449?? What am I missing????
Four years ago, when I told friends/family that I wanted to travel while working remotely, I was met with looks of extreme confusion and a million questions.
Today, people are starting to get it. There's still a ways to go, but the world is changing and it's fun to watch.
Never not daydreaming about my constantly-changing top bucket list countries — which at the current moment are:
· Vietnam 🇻🇳
· New Zealand 🇳🇿
· Morocco 🇲🇦
What are your top three?
Tonight my friend hosted a little dinner party, but first made us sit through a 20-slide presentation trying to convince us to go to Egypt in October.
Nomad friends are fun.
Starting to plan a 4-month trip to Southeast Asia beginning in March.
It’s mostly a blank slate right now, but eyeing Malaysia, Cambodia, the Philippines and Thailand.
What are your SEA underrated/hidden gems?
Living out of a suitcase forces you to be a minimalist.
I cringe thinking about the “Target runs” I used to do to kill time on lunch breaks, always filling a shopping cart with unnecessary crap.
Never again. Experiences > material things.
Against most of my better judgement, today begins 3 months of hopping around Europe (and one stop in Africa!)
Excited to check off a few bucket list countries, go in blind to a few random cities and revisit a favorite spot from last year.
First stop: Rome ✈️🇮🇹
Once you realize that there is nothing stopping you from booking a flight to pretty much anywhere in the world besides a few hundred dollars, maybe some visa paperwork and most importantly, a dose of courage, you simply won’t be able to put those worms back in the can.
I love this: The option to pay for an extended late check-out.
I wish more hotels/accoms would offer this, especially when they don't have someone else checking in same day.
8pm train? No problem, you can pay to stay until 7. No more waiting around in post-check-out purgatory.
I’ve lived in 6 different Spanish speaking countries for at least a month each. Which means I’ve learned five different words for straw 🥤 four for popcorn 🍿 and three for sunglasses 🕶️
I do not recommend this strategy 🫨😂
Living in a new city every month has made me realize the MASSIVE impact that my immediate surroundings has on my mood, energy, motivation and happiness.
If you're stuck in a rut, move.
Move apartments, move cities, move continents, whatever. Just move.
Today marks 3 years since I boarded a one-way flight and began traveling full-time 🤯
An unforgettable and life-changing few years. Forever grateful for this wacky lifestyle and for all of the fantastic people I’ve met.
My advice: When in doubt, just book the damn flight.
Not including your traditional 22-year old backpacker hostel dorm types, I'm always pleasantly surprised at the age group of people I meet out on the road.
I'm 33, and I'm often on the younger end of the spectrum.
My daily schedule for the next 6 weeks:
· Wake up by 7am ☀️
· Run 2 miles in the park 🌳
· Coffee + an hour of writing ☕️
· Work on my ecomm empire 🏰
· Ride my bike to the beach + volleyball 🏐
· Tapas (and maybe a tinto de verano) 🍷
· Repeat 🔁
Zero complaints 🇪🇸✌🏼😎
Sure, the stereotypical digital nomad pictures of a laptop at a beach are cringe, but have you ever worked in one of these?
Happy Monday to everyone who is seeking more enjoyment out of life ☀️
Two weeks ago, Mexico banned smoking in public places, including outdoors/on the beach. Old habits will definitely die hard on this one, but it's a big step in the right direction.
Orillas sin colillas 👏🏼👏🏼
It's the first year of the new and improved
#NCAAGym
postseason format in actual ✨bracket format✨ featuring play-in meets, YES THAT'S RIGHT, I SAID PLAY-IN MEETS (!!!) and the NCAA puts out a half-assed, half-complete bracket with a warped logo🤦♀️ Don't worry, I fixed it.
There’s approximately 30 adorable cafes in Antigua and I’m here for approximately 30 days. Coincidence or fate?
Day 1: Fernando’s Kaffee (strong start in this beautiful courtyard) ☕️🍃
My biggest realization as I enter year four of full-time travel: Community is everything. It’s now a non-negotiable that I live in a walkable neighborhood, close to friends.
This being almost non-existent in the U.S. is a big reason so many are so miserable. And it's so simple.
The question "what do you do for a living?" yields boring cookie-cutter responses in the form of job titles.
The question "how did you end up here?" yields much more interesting replies that tell a whole story.
There are some people in this world who simply want more out of life. Whether that’s traveling, starting a business, picking up a new hobby...whatever.
Find them, surround yourself with them, and start doing cool shit.
They say if you want to get to know somebody, take a trip with them. That goes for romantic relationships, friendships and — *BIG REALIZATION* — also just for yourself.
That's why I think everyone should solo travel at least once in their lives.
I'm traveling with someone on their second ever trip outside the US (first was to a resort in the Bahamas).
Hearing their random comments/observations is a great reminder (albiet, often hilariously cringe) that traveling makes us so much more open-minded and tolerant.
In my circle of nomad friends, the magic number is about 2-3 years of full-time travel before burnout sets in and the desire for (at least partial) roots somewhere creeps back in.
I’m at the 2.5 year mark myself, so I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on what’s next.
People often talk about how hard it can be to make friends as an adult. My suggestion? Travel.
Without a doubt, the best accidental benefit of spending the last few years on the road has been the dozens (!!!) of new, interesting, ambitious and open-minded friends I've made.
A non-travel friend from home (aka a muggle) just told me "traveling has turned you into a hippie" and honestly, I couldn't think of a better compliment.
I spent last week in the Austrian Alps with 19 (old and new) friends at Nomad Summer Camp ⛺️🛶🇦🇹
A week full of hiking, games, adventures, schnitzel and nonstop laughs. Austria is stunning, but this was proof yet again that the people are the best part of this wacky lifestyle.
For the first time in 2 years, I spent the morning doing a bunch of errands by car.
Not to be dramatic but I can’t live in the US anymore. Strip mall parking lots are horrific and most other drivers are assholes and/or texting. Car-centric towns are truly a terrible way to live.
I enjoyed the past two months in New York, but it’s just not my city (I already knew this).
The problem is, my answer to “when are you moving back home?” is “when there’s a city in the U.S. that’s walkable enough for me to live without a car” and guys it’s just not looking good.
It’s interesting to me that even once we’ve doubled or tripled our salary from that first full-time job at age 22, most people would never consider a 10% or 20% reduction in working hours.
Why does nobody want to buy back their time?