Travel – Living The FIgh Life

10 Things I Have Learned From Two Years Of Slow-Traveling The World Full-time

Launa and I celebrated our second anniversary of nomadic travel this month. It has been an incredible life experience so far with so much more to see and do in the world. After letting go of 98% of our possessions and turning our house into our second rental unit, we embarked on a full-time nomadic life in July of 2023. This anniversary feels like a good moment to take a look at some of our statistics and reflect on all we’ve experienced and what I have learned so far.

[Post cover photo: Our first day traveling full-time, West Virginia, US, July 2023]

Though we travel slowly most of the time, we have slept in 159 different beds during these two years (31 of those during inn-to-inn hikes on Italy’s Via Degli Dei and Turkiye’s Lycian Way. We have logged over 8 million steps ( about 3150 miles) and, as part of that, hiked over 500 miles. We spent 34% of our travel time in the US visiting family and friends and the remaining 66% visiting other countries. Those countries were Bulgaria, Greece, Morocco, Spain, Mexico, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt, Italy, Turkiye, and the UK (where we are right now).

A breakdown of what type of accommodation we stayed in over the last two years. [Note: “guest houses” was cut off in “Camping/cabins/gu…” label]

Based on my values and how I strive to travel, here are 9 lessons and 1 observation I have learned from traveling full time:

1. Pack whitespace.

While we travel with only a carry-on and a backpack, I have found that whitespace, both physical and temporal, is very important in my traveling. Even though I travel slowly, I still pack and unpack a lot. Not completely filling my two bags to capacity makes the packing/unpacking quick and easy. Having some free space means I don’t have to be overly precise with my packing, and as a result I’m less concerned about what’s in my bags. I don’t have to constantly question the worth of each item I own because space is tight. Everything fits easily and that makes travel days more enjoyable.

I also pack some temporal whitespace for my travels. Minimalism has helped me add space between things, but also time between tasks. I have learned to leave plenty of time for each thing I want to do and extra time in between. In Japan, this concept is called yutori. Yutori translates to “spaciousness” or “room to breathe” and goes beyond just physical space, encompassing mental, emotional, and temporal space as well. The idea is simple: by creating intentional gaps in your schedules (and mind), you allow yourself the freedom to think, create, and recharge. Yutori encourages us to resist the urge to fill every moment with activity and instead embrace periods of stillness. It goes against the modern emphasis on constant productivity and multitasking, offering a different approach that prioritizes well-being. Added time to get to the airport, added time between activities, and giving myself plenty of time to stretch, read, and enjoy a cup of tea (or other refreshing beverage) has been essential to my well-being.

2. Live a traveling life, not an endless vacation.

Upon hearing that I travel full-time many people observe “it must be great to always be on vacation.” It is true that on many days my wife and I visit a famous ruin, temple, museum or other touristy spot. However, many days we read, do laundry, shop for groceries, write, plan and book future travel, or just take a walk in the neighborhood we are in. We still need to live our daily lives and we quickly tire when we pick up the touring pace. We have found that staying at least a month in one location (i.e., a single accommodation) is a good target. Between these month-long stays we have spurts of busier travel as we transition from one place to another. Traveling slowly is our secret sauce to avoiding burnout and keeping our travels affordable.

Left/Top: Making homemade pasta with our son and partner. Right/Bottom: Enjoying a homemade Christmas dinner with our daughter (she cooked!) in Sevilla, Spain.

3. Recognize that the faster the travel pace, the more travel planning is required.

It came as a surprise to me, but even though I travel slowly, I spend a good amount of my days researching and booking our upcoming travel and obtaining necessary visas. It takes time to decide where to travel to and even more time to find quality affordable accommodations and transportation. Once we know what we want to book and when, I spend hours actually completing all of the bookings. The more frequently we move places, the more this workload is multiplied. By traveling slowly I have more time to enjoy each destination and my daily life.

4. Limit time spent on the next destination

When I vacationed in my past life, I spent a lot of time planning in advance the sites to see each day at our upcoming vacation spots and brushing up on the local language, history, and culture. I had time at home before the vacation to do this. But as a full-time traveler, I don’t want to spend my time in one country thinking about what I am going to do day-to-day in the next country or learning new language phrases when I am currently using a different language. This degrades my enjoyment of the place I am currently in. Understanding a few things like transportation to the next place, basic accommodations when we arrive, and an occasional show or festival tickets that benefit from advance purchase, I research what to do in a country when I am in that country. Slow traveling enables this as I have extra days built in for planning our explorations. If we learn about a weekly event, we know that we will have several opportunities to enjoy it before we move on. This enables me to more fully enjoy the place I am in and live in the moment and not always be looking toward what’s ahead.

5. Choose less famous and less busy over famous and overrun.

The crushing crowds prevented the contemplative atmosphere that the Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine in Kyoto, Japan was intended for.

I was disappointed after visiting the famous UNESCO World Heritage site Kinkaku-ji Temple (a.k.a.Golden Pavilion) in Kyoto, Japan. The crowd was an endless line of people jostling for a picture. The stream of tourists were kept on a narrow roped path and could not stray from the set route. We were not allowed to enter any of the buildings at the temple complex and 30 or so minutes after we entered, we were spit back out at the large tour bus parking area. I learned little from the visit and only learned about the history of the temple later, online. I had a similar experience at the super popular Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine that was so crowded that we physically had trouble moving around. In contrast, I visited the far less popular Ninna-Ji Temple (also UNESCO designated) just a short public bus ride away. I felt like I entered old Japan—immersed in a historical and meditative environment. With far fewer crowds, we entered several buildings and lingered in the gardens and courtyards, rang the bells, sat on the benches, listened to unique music recorded there, and took photos easily without other people in the background. I felt immersed and contemplative. Going to less popular destinations (or during less popular seasons) is more rewarding than fighting the crush of crowds.

No crowds at UNESCO listed Ninna-Ji Temple, Kyoto, Japan not far from the overly-popular Kinkaku-ji Temple (a.k.a.Golden Pavilion) and Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine. It was super easy to get a nice photo and enjoy the meditative surroundings making it far more enjoyable.

6. Take public transportation.

Immersing in the local culture is very important to me. Most tourist transportation options (e.g., airplanes, tour buses, private boats, and cruise ships) insulate tourists from the day-to-day lives of the locals and tend only to show a curated perspective on the place being visited. I have found that taking public transportation provides a fabulous (and less expensive) window into the local culture. We sat on the floorboards of a small public boat transporting dozens of locals and a load of cargo from Labuan Bajo to Komodo Island in Indonesia. We learned so much about the pace of life in the small village and the economic dynamics between it and its nearest city. It was invaluable. We have had similar cultural experiences with local buses in Oaxaca, Chania, Hanoi, Sapporo, and Marrakech, the subway in Mexico City, and the trains in Morocco, Italy, and Indonesia. We travel local whenever we can.

Public boat to Komodo Island. It was slow, inexpensive, and one of the best cultural experiences of my 2 years of travel. So much kindness from our fellow passengers!

7. Trust that people are kind and places are safe.

I have found people around the world to be generous and kind. While we have met an occasional salesperson trying to make an extra buck in a transaction, the vast majority of people we meet go out of their way to welcome us and help us enjoy their beautiful country. Many times we have been offered helpful directions. At a chestnut festival on Crete, we were adopted by an elderly Greek man who explained in broken English what was going on with the stage presentations. In Bulgaria, a grocery store owner gave my wife an orange to welcome her to the neighborhood. There are so many examples of this kind of big heartedness.

When we decided to spend two and a half months in Mexico, many of my relatives expressed their worry for our safety. Unfortunately, the rare crime against a visitor gets way too much publicity. In my experience I found Mexico to feel very safe. I felt safe walking at night in Mexico City, Oaxaca, and several other cities. I felt completely safe riding public buses and subways. In earnest, I have never felt unsafe anywhere I have visited around the world.

8. Stay connected with family and friends.

One of the hardest parts of full-time travel has been keeping up with close friends and family. This is important to me. So while travel is one of my top values, increasing quality time with friends and family is also important. To balance the two, we travel back to the US every 3 to 6 months and spend at least 1 to 2 months making the rounds. We visit our son and partner in Richmond, VA and our close friends in Arlington, VA, then we spend time in the Pacific Northwest visiting our daughter and her boyfriend in Oregon, my mom and sisters in northern Idaho, and Launa’s family on the Olympic peninsula while fitting in some visits with old friends in the area. I was so heartened when my mom expressed how great it was to see us so much more compared to when we worked full time—success!

When we are on the road, we schedule weekly calls with my mom, Launa’s parents, and our two children and periodic calls with other relatives and some of our closest friends. We fund our kids to come visit us on the road at least once a year, and we have met up with friends in Vietnam, Oaxaca, and Mexico City. All of this has helped us maintain our close relationships.

I know many people who are single and travel full-time solo. Some are extroverts and easily meet friends on the road, while others are introverts and more easily enjoy time alone. Though I am an introvert, I don’t like to be alone for long stretches of time. I need to be around close friends and family. A key part of my traveling success has been having my closest friend of almost 38 years with me—Launa. Traveling full-time with someone requires spending A LOT of time together. Fortunately, our interests and traveling styles overlap and compliment each other. This made our decision to travel full-time much easier and a key reason why we are still enjoying this life. We definitely need our alone time which we carve out during our travels, but for me, having my best friend share this adventure has been the core to making this traveling life not only work, but become some of the happiest times of my life.

Having my best friend as my travel partner has been gold! (Love you Launa!)

9. Keep a routine.

Getting quality sleep, stretching, and exercising every day as well as eating a vegetarian diet are just a few things I have found challenging to maintain on the road. (Although to be fair, I found it challenging to fit these in when I was working full-time, too!). Each location offers challenges to maintaining my daily routine. Travel days and time zone shifts, as well as occasionally getting up early to visit a popular site before the hordes descend upon it, often throw off my sleep and daily routine. Digestive difficulties are my frequent companions as my diet changes from place to place. By traveling slowly, though, I am able to reestablish my routines, work out, and seek out healthier (e.g., vegetarian) food options. This consistency has been key to maintaining my mental and physical well-being.

…And 1 observation: It’s Less Expensive Than Many People Think

When people in the US hear that we travel the world full-time, they often mention how expensive it must be. The US is one of the most expensive places to live and travel to in the world. In my experience, lodging, food, and transportation in the US have been far more expensive than every place we have visited so far including Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Greece, Italy and the UK. It isn’t even close. Even with airfare to different countries added in, we spend on average less each month than when we were living a happy frugal life in a suburb of DC. Most places don’t expect tips and already include taxes in their prices. We don’t travel like “2-week millionaires”—spending an inordinate sum in a short period to maximize limited vacation time. Travel is a lot more expensive when trying to pack in a whole country (or many countries) in just a few days. Transportation costs a lot more (e.g., if there’s no time to wait for a bus, you pay 20 times more for an Uber), as does eating out more (instead of cooking in), paying peak prices for summer and holiday period travel, and higher-cost short-stay accommodations.

In contrast, having more time to travel (and traveling slowly as a result) and flexibility on where I travel (not just to expensive cities like Paris, London, and Tokyo), I have found that I can keep my expenses within just about any budget level. By renting out our house long-term, we only pay for lodging once per night—that makes our budget go further and increases our destination options. By renting places for at least 28 days we have enjoyed monthly discounts of up to 60% on popular accommodation platforms.

I have learned a lot about myself becoming a minimalist and traveling nomadically over the last two years. I found more life satisfaction by shifting from the elusive pursuit of happiness to the achievable pursuit of contentment. I don’t try to skim by the world to reach a high country count or to claim I “saw” something. Instead, I focus on experiencing the places I do visit more deeply—going below the surface as much as I can.

We each have different travel styles and preferences and your priorities will most likely be different than mine. Even so, if you are considering extended travel, I hope you have found something useful in these insights.

These 10 things I’ve learned from my nomadic travels have improved my enjoyment of travel and, I think, kept me from travel burnout. I look forward to the next two years of travel!

In the UK for our two-year travel anniversary.

A Hidden Gem: Ely, UK

I avoid writing about the many places we enjoy as full-time nomads, not because they are not interesting, but because there is already so much being written about popular places to visit. I try to focus my posts on topics that are different from the norm, usually personal finance and minimalism, but today it is a place to visit. The quaint city of Ely in the county of Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom is far enough off the beaten path and such a lovely place worth visiting that I would like to share it with you.

Launa and I were lucky enough to live in Ely for two and a half years in the mid-nineties when we were stationed at nearby US military bases. We fell in love with Ely. We returned this month, over 28 years later, for a relaxing 3-day visit, and we were reminded why this is such a great place.

We took the hour-long train ride from London’s King’s Cross station and stayed on the River Great Ouse at the Riverside Inn. (In the nineties, this was a pub called the Boathouse which served delicious pan-fried lamb chops with mint sauce.) On this visit, we accidentally chose the busiest weekend of the year with both the folk festival and home and garden show going on, but even so, it wasn’t overrun.

If you are like me and look for remarkable sites with a lot of local culture while avoiding major crowds, then Ely is your place. Here are my main reasons why you should consider a 2-3 day visit to Ely as part of your UK holiday.

The Ely Cathedral

I know. You are probably thinking “not another church that looks like all the others.” After innumerable churches and cathedrals visited, I also find myself reluctant to visit a place primarily because of a church. But the Ely Cathedral is not just any church, or any cathedral for that matter. It is a unique gem.

*From the west end with the unique Galilee porch main entry. I’m by a cannon from the Crimean War gifted from Queen Victoria to Ely.*

The Ely Cathedral was built in 1109 AD on the top of the Isle of Ely, the highest point in the East Anglican fens. While it is not the largest, longest, or tallest cathedral in the UK, it ranks high on all measures. But what sets Ely apart is its octagon tower which can be seen for 20 miles on a clear day or night (it is illuminated at night). This engineering marvel was built in the 15th century to replace a fallen Norman tower. The builders removed the old interior supports and transferred weight of the new octagon lantern-shaped tower to the outside supports, creating a much larger interior opening and a gravity-defying, spectacular tower above. The cathedral boasts the largest Lady Chapel in the UK, the third longest nave, and some of the best preserved carved choir stalls in the country. Due to its location at the highest point in the surrounding fen lands and the small city surrounding it, the building can be easily seen from near and far. Be sure to take a guided tour of the main church AND take a tour of the Octagon tower where you go up into the structure and see the eight massive (60+ ft) wooden pillars of the main octagon, and the supporting beams that shift the weight to the outside supports.

Left: The octagon tower from the outside. The lady chapel is on the left. Right: Inside below the octagon tower (my camera didn’t do it justice!).

Other Worthwhile Tourist Sites

Oliver Cromwell’s Family Home: After enjoying the cathedral, visit the Oliver Cromwell House nearby where the controversial Lord Protector once lived. The kitchen dates to 1205 and the home has been restored to look as it did during Cromwell’s life. It provides a history of the civil war and Cromwell’s time leading the commonwealth.

*Family home of Oliver Cromwell acquired in the 1630’s (St. Mary’s Church on the left)*

Ely Museum: A perfectly sized museum in the old city jail that details the history of the fens and Ely. I enjoyed learning about how the fens were drained using Dutch engineering, much as they did in the Netherlands.

Stained Glass Museum: Located inside the Ely Cathedral, this worthwhile museum displays an array of historical and contemporary stained glass from around the UK and a few pieces beyond. I was amazed to find a Kahinde Wiley piece on display (I had recently admired his work at the Virginia Museum of Art in Richmond, VA and at the Seattle Art Museum).

Left: Peasant figure (c. 1340-1349) from the Ely Lady Chapel. It is rare to have a peasant in stained glass, but likely why it survived the destruction of religious iconography during the Reformation. Right Image: Kehinde Wiley’s “Saint Adelaide” (2014). Wiley designed the work and had it made by the Skloart glass studio in the Czech Republic.

Local Culture

Ely’s culture scene hits above its weight class. It boasts a thrice weekly market, several fairs and events during the year, and runs the local Ely cinema in the historical Maltings building on the river front (where we took in a movie with a pint in hand). The high street is pedestrian-only during market days and the city has numerous restaurants and pubs to enjoy a delicious bite. I recommend the Almonry Restaurant and Tea Room located in a 13th century undercroft with a lovely terrace.

The city center is connected to the waterfront by a park corridor with a walking path from the Porta gate along the cathedral walls, through Cherry Hill Park and Jubilee Gardens. The Ely riverside boasts several restaurants and pubs—we enjoyed a pint (or two) at the Cutter Inn. Enjoy a stroll along the waterfront admiring the narrowboats, swans, and geese. We walked the public pathways along the river to see some of the lush marshes along the canal that is home to numerous bird species. Take a 30-minute tour along the canal in a narrowboat to see the beauty of the willow trees and marsh edges from the water.

From top left to bottom right: 1. Narrowboat at Ely waterfront 2. River front at dusk 3. Ely’s namesake the river eel 4. Walking a public footpath at sunset 5. The Cutter Inn along the river 6. Morris dancers during folk festival 7. View from our window at the Riverside Inn 8. The cathedral is ever present around town 9. Waterside walk 10. View from path between the High Street and the river front

The people of Ely are very kind and open. Everywhere we went we were engaged in great conversations—this was probably the best part of our visit. We enjoyed so many great encounters at the local pub, the cinema, on our nature walk, and around the cathedral.

I’m not an experienced travel writer, but I hope I have sparked your interest in visiting Ely. Even if you want to split your time between Cambridge and Ely, I recommend staying in Ely and taking the 15-minute train into Cambridge for a day trip (Kings College Chapel is worth a visit). In my travels, I have found that famous sites are far less amazing when they are overrun with visitors, while the lesser, but still amazing, sites can be phenomenal when you have them to yourself. Ely has yet to be discovered by the wider world—now is a great time to see it before it makes a popular “best places to visit” list and it is no longer a hidden gem. Cheers!

*The train station was just a quarter mile to our inn on the river front*

Tips for Hiking the Lycian Way Inn-to-Inn

Launa and I just completed hiking 243 miles (per her Fitbit) over 26 days along the Lycian Way (Likya Yolu in Turkish). Four of those days were “adventure” days where we visited ancient ruins and other sites. This is on top of hiking 100 miles from Bologna to Florence along the Via Degli Dei the week before.

As you might guess, we love inn-to-inn hikes and our adventure hiking the Lycian way (roughly from Fethiye to Antalya Turkiye) has been the pinnacle so far! The trail is challenging—we estimate ascending ~55,000 feet of elevation and descending about the same. The trail was often rocky with loose scree making the footing challenging. The views of the Mediterranean and the mountains were breathtaking and the scenery varied along the route. We hiked the route without camping gear limiting our options for accommodations but also limiting the weight in our packs.

Lycian rock tombs from 5th century BC — the ancient ruins were amazing!

Here are my tips for hiking this trail inn-to-inn:

Hike from west to east and in April and early May.

We started from Fethiye, Turkiye on April 11 and we would not want it any hotter (or much colder). Waiting until late May or beyond will be much hotter and water will become more difficult to come by AND the resort towns will have more tourists, increasing prices and limiting lodging availability. There were reports of snow in the higher elevations from the eastern (Antalya) side a week before we started, but by the time we got to the highest point, the temperature was perfect for hiking (~55F). Plus, the plethora of spring wild flowers and humming honey bees were icing on the cake.

You don’t need to book rooms far in advance.

We are planners and we didn’t want to risk not having a room available. But starting in April before the main tourist season along the coast, every lodge had plenty of space. In fact, we were the only lodgers at a few of our lodgings. We discovered that what looked like limited options online was due to some places being closed until late March and early April. My wife still thinks having all the lodging planned out was a good thing, but if I were hiking it again, I would instead make reservations a day or two in advance and give ourselves more flexibility. If language is a barrier, we could ask our lodging host to reserve rooms on our behalf. (Note, you can use Booking.com for lodging in Turkiye—but only from outside the country. Once in Turkiye, Booking.com won’t work.

This was a simple inn but the hosts were so kind and generous

Take the alternative route through Sidyma.

The Sidyma ruins were our first Lycian tombs we visited along the trail. While they are not the most famous, they were fun to see. And stay at Fatma’s Sidyma Homes! This was our best cultural interaction and best dinner (and second best breakfast) along the trail. While the rooms are small with a shared bathroom, Fatma is a fabulous host and her place has a wonderful view of the valley and snow-capped mountains in the distance. There is also a good chance that Kate Clow, the founder of the trail will join you for breakfast as she lives nearby and is good friends with Fatma. We gained a new appreciation for the trail talking with Kate.

With Kate Clow, Lycian Way founder, and Fatma, owner of Sidyma Homes

Carry a stone in your pocket.

Aggressive dogs are a concern along the trail, more so in towns where they are guarding their property. The dogs guarding goats were wary of us, but the shepherds did a good job of controlling them. We gave all the dogs a wide berth. The handful of dogs who attempted to leave their property and come at us were quickly deterred when they saw us bend over and pick up a stone and act like we were going to throw it. This action stopped 98% of the dogs in their tracks (we even had a couple lay down or turn sideways to us). I needed to toss a couple warning throws to get the attention of the other 2% but I never had to actually throw a stone at a dog. The reason I recommend carrying a stone vs just picking one up on the spot, is when you are in towns on paved roads, stones might be hard to come by when you need one the most. Odds are you will end your hike with the same stone you started with, as I did.

My stone — a helpful companion for 243 miles

Bring hiking poles.

There are many benefits from hiking with hiking poles, but in particular to the Lycian Way I found them invaluable when coming down steep slippery sections, helping me push up steep inclines, and fending off some prickly bushes that would poke through my lightweight pants. They may have also deterred a few dogs and would be my defense if a dog did ignore my stone-throwing gesture.

Buy beers at the market.

I enjoyed a nice barley pop at the end of each day when I could. Most places (but not all) would sell me a beer at a premium (200 TL = ~$5.25), but with a little foresight, I would scope out the local markets and buy a beer to enjoy that evening from $1.50 to $2.50 apiece. We would also pick up lunch supplies as we enjoyed eating a picnic lunch on the trail–usually peanuts, crackers, and an orange.

Enjoying the view with a beer from the nearby market after a day of hiking

Build in time for chai (Turkish tea).

Enjoying the generous hospitality of the Turkish people was one of the best parts of our hike. There are many locals along the trail who have set up small stands to sell fruit, juice, chai, snacks, and food like gozleme (delicious Turkish pancakes). I enjoyed days when I built in some extra time in the day to allow me to stop in and enjoy some chai and gozleme. Likewise, I was sad on days when we had to skip the stop and keep hiking to get to our inn before it got too late.

We slowed down and enjoyed Turkish Chai provided by our host after a day of hiking

Careful which ATM you use.

Most ATMs in the towns along the trail charge an exorbitant 10% fee–yikes! Try to locate a bank machine that only charges the standard couple of dollars for withdrawals. There were several places along the way that only took cash (most would take Euros or dollars), so having some cash on you is essential.

Skip the taxis and ride the dolmus (or hitchhike).

As in so many locations, Taxis are way overpriced in Turkiye. But no worries, the local buses and minibuses (dolmus) are easy to ride. Just flag one down (they will often honk to see if you are interested) and ask the driver if they are going the way you are (if it is not clear from the sign in the front window). If they are not, they will explain when and where to catch the one you need. They are inexpensive and fun experiences (and often quite efficient). We decided to skip from Demre to Karaoz because lodging was hard to find on this stretch, so we hopped on a bus in Demre to Kumluca and then grabbed a dolmus to Karaoz and was dropped off in front of our accommodations. A dolmus is a fun part of the adventure. We didn’t hitchhike, but several fellow hikers shared their success in doing so and how friendly the locals were.

Canyon above Kabak — one of my favorite days of hiking

Go now before it becomes too popular.

As with so many great places to visit, they can become popular and overrun driving up prices and often causing places to adapt local culture to tourist preferences. Turkiye appears to be one of those places that is rapidly developing. If you are interested in hiking the Lycian Way before it becomes too commercialized, I recommend you hike it sooner rather than later.

There are a couple of challenging sections which makes this a fabulous hike (I’m in Goynuk Canyon here)

I hope these tips help you enjoy a great hike along the Lycian Way!

Here is a clip of our hiking theme song on our last day of hiking — a riff on the chorus of Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop.” We cracked ourselves up making up different lyrics to many songs, but this one seemed to stick. (Note, this does include a cuss word.)

I also recommend you subscribe to my wife’s virtual postcards at LaunaAtLarge@Substack.com to follow along with our travel adventures.

Self-Insurance: The Second Important Job For My Emergency Fund

Having an emergency fund is foundational to healthy finances and our pursuit of financial independence. From an unexpected car repair to the loss of a job, the primary job of an emergency fund is to help you weather unexpected financial challenges that could derail your financial progress. Depending on your situation, you may have anywhere from $1,000 upward to 6 months worth of expenses in a readily accessible account standing watch over your financial castle while you sleep a little more soundly. As important as that is, I want to talk here about the important side-hustle I have assigned my monetary firemen as they wait in the station training and polishing the emergency fund fire truck: self-insurance.

By strategically managing my insurance deductibles and not purchasing the myriad of minor insurance products on the market, I have been able to save a lot of money, and hopefully you can too.

In a nutshell, self-insurance is a financial strategy where you set aside money to pay for losses instead of buying insurance. It’s also known as self-funding. You save money instead of paying premiums to an insurance company. You pay for losses out of your own pocket instead of filing a claim.

To be clear, traditional insurance is an important financial tool to mitigate risks from rare, but costly, catastrophic events such as a house fire, a lawsuit from a car crash, death, or other major liabilities. Insurance can also be helpful when more common events might be devastating to your finances. When I was younger (and poorer), a new car tire was a major expense in my budget, whereas today I can afford to replace a car that is totaled. So as my emergency fund strengthened, my ability to self-insure also increased.

Insurance companies are businesses and make money from the premiums we pay – a lot of money when nothing happens, and a little less when they need to pay significant claims. They take advantage of our salience bias – a cognitive bias that predisposes us to focus on what is the most prominent, visible, or emotionally striking events in our environment. Insurance companies monetize our fears. They also play on our desire to conform (e.g., “9,384 people have insured this trip”). Almost everyone has a memorable story of when they did use their warranty or travel insurance or when it might have been useful (like the one time I spilled water on my 8-month old $1,000 laptop), but while memorable, these stories represent a small minority of our total experience with insurable products.

Like investing in the stock market, self-insurance requires risk tolerance and time. While an insurance company spreads risk across many participants, self-insurers spread risk across all types of insurance products and over time. Instead of looking at each situation individually (e.g., should I pay $30 to cover this $1000 airfare?), we look at all of our family’s self-insurance opportunities over time. For example, paying to replace a phone dropped in the water once in 15 years is more than offset by not paying for phone replacement insurance (at $100+ per phone per year) for a family’s four’s phones for that same period. The total of all the premiums for unused insurance for every flight, hotel, electronics items, etc., would far exceed the combined total of the replacement costs I actually incurred from self-insurance.

I buy insurance for catastrophic liability to include home (high deductible), car (high deductible), umbrella, and term life (never “whole” or “permanent” life!). But my wife and I skipped survivor insurance for my pension and there are other areas, listed below, in which my self-insurance strategies have saved me tens of thousands of dollars (not including compounded returns from investing the money instead) over the past three decades.

Auto collision and comprehensive

I drive well. My wife drives well. In our 79 years of combined driving history we have had only 3 at-fault claims (one involving another vehicle). The last one was 11 years ago. My two kids are both safe drivers. They have had zero at-fault claims in their 12 combined years of driving–the highest risk time for young drivers. Our vanity is not insulted if we have superficial scratches on the vehicle (whether caused by us or someone else) – if the car still works and is safe, we ignore it. If you or a member of your family are not good drivers, then you may wish to take a more conservative (i.e., expensive) approach to your car insurance.

Strategy: I have always kept a high deductible for my family’s situation. Starting with $500 when I was young, I quickly pushed it to $1000, and then to $2500 over the last 11 years. For our cars older than 6 years, we dropped collision and comprehensive altogether even with teenagers driving as we saw they were capable, smart drivers and we could afford self-insurance. I never buy extended warranties (or undercoating) for cars.

Savings from low auto insurance premiums helped pay for our son’s college

Product warranties and extended warranties

For numerous purchases such as TVs, computers, printers, blenders, appliances, phones, etc. etc., stores (online or brick-and-mortar) often ask me if I wish to purchase an extended warranty. I never do. I also never buy coverage for repairs or replacement caused by human error. I couldn’t afford them when I was poor and I could afford to self-insure when I wasn’t. Turning down hundreds of warranty offers over the last 30 years easily saved me $10K or more (excluding investment returns). While spending the $1,000 to replace my water-damaged laptop was a bummer, it was a bargain when compared to my self-insurance savings!

Strategy: Many products come with manufacturer warranties (if they don’t I am wary, and I’ll look for a better product). In addition, I make purchases using a credit card that provides one year of extended coverage (and I get travel points), though I have never needed to make a claim. I protect my purchases, too, with physical forms of insurance–for example, I buy quality phone cases and screen covers and connect my home electronics to surge protectors.

Travel Insurance

I have found travel insurance to be the least useful insurance product for the cost. I purchased Amtrak tickets recently. With the company, I could pay $24 per ticket for non-refundable (my fault not Amtrak’s) or $26 per ticket for fully refundable and changeable tickets. While $2 doesn’t seem like much, that same rate of insurance for a $1,000 airline ticket would be $83! Then, I was offered to purchase trip insurance for $4.50 – even for the fully refundable tickets!

Most situations for travel delays like weather are covered by the airline or hotel. I have been on many flights that were delayed or cancelled and every time the airline has put me on another flight. On a trip to Hawaii, our whole family was delayed a full day and the airline paid for hotel, transportation, and food vouchers and we flew out the next day. Travel insurance wouldn’t have covered any lost wages from the delay. If a hotel can’t accommodate me, then I have always received my money back. Airlines are required to reimburse for lost luggage and in many situations for significant flight delays.

So, what if I can’t make the flight or get to the hotel? People often think travel insurance covers absolutely every risk you may encounter while traveling. It doesn’t. With all of the fine print and legal clauses, It is unusual to qualify for a travel insurance claim. For example, if I had a very specific risk, such as sudden need for cancer treatments, most travel insurance policies won’t cover the situation if it is a pre-existing medical condition. I had one friend who claimed on travel insurance during the COVID-19 pandemic. After an arduous claim process, the airline did reimburse her for the $580 discount ticket she purchased, but it didn’t pay for the $1,200 last minute replacement ticket she needed.

Strategy: I rarely purchase travel insurance. I mostly book accommodations with free cancellation (i.e. they often don’t charge extra to cancel). I use my travel credit card that provides travel insurance coverage to include rental car insurance coverage (I never buy rental car insurance coverage and I fill up before returning the car). I get 3x travel points and the same or better travel insurance coverage. In most cases where a travel change is out of my control (and often when it is), the airline, hotel, or other company will accommodate my change request. I have saved tens of thousands on cost avoidance from not buying travel insurance products!

Celebrating our smart travel insurance decisions

Home Insurance

Similar to my auto insurance, I carry a high deductible on the two houses I own (currently 1% of the house replacement value). I self-insure for minor damage (e.g., small roof repair) avoiding adding to my claim history (and increased insurance premiums). If I do have a major repair that well exceeds my deductible, then insurance will be there to cover it (as it should). Since owning houses since 2004 (two since 2008), I have saved approximately $300 per house per year and I have only paid one $2,500 deductible in that time and one $1,200 claimable roof repair out of pocket. That is a savings of over $11K (excluding investment returns).

Renters Insurance

I only purchase renter’s insurance when a landlord or umbrella insurance policy requires it, and then I purchase only the minimum required liability coverage. I self-insure for the rest.

Self-Insurance Is Cost Avoidance

While my large workforce of fire-fighting emergency fund dollars are invested in a low risk investment ready to handle my unforeseen emergency expenses, they are also doing great work saving me a ton of money through self-insurance. This cost avoidance has helped me achieve financial independence and early retirement. How is your insurance strategy helping you reach your goals?

Our Adventures Visiting Schools Around The World

My wife Launa has a new guest blog series at Reading Rockets about how children from different countries are taught to read. As we travel around the world, she and I are having a great time visiting local schools and talking to teachers about how children in their country learn to read. To be clear, I am just a sidekick along for the ride and taking advantage of this unique cultural exchange experience. We visit neighborhoods away from the tourist stream, see classrooms, and have deep conversations about education with teachers. When we started our full-time traveling life, Launa embarked on a book project about how children learn to read in other countries. This blog series is a snapshot each month of what she has discovered in different countries. Her first post was on Bulgaria, and her second was on Greece.

Reading Rockets website logo for Launa’s guest blog series

Even if you may not be into the details of how children learn to read, I think you will enjoy the insight in the day-to-day lives of the locals in the different places through the universal lens of education. A new post about a new country (Morocco is third) will be published each month. I hope you will follow-along the adventure.

Learn more about Launa and find links to her Learning to Read Around The World blog posts here.

Many thanks to Launa’s friend Rachael Worthington Walker for having Launa on her blog “Book Life” as a guest blogger. Rachael is a longtime champion of kids, books, and kids reading books!

Why You Should Quit Your Dream Job

I frequently hear on Financial Independence and Retire Early (FIRE) podcasts and read in FIRE blogs that the RE (Retire Early) part of the FIRE acronym should be dropped. They can’t imagine not working, they say, and besides, they enjoy working.

I know what they mean. I had my dream job, and I worked it even after I achieved full financial independence with the ability to retire early (aka FIRE). I had quit my career of 29 years in retail and hospitality management, and then I found the perfect job that I loved doing—educating military service members on personal finance. Despite my dream job having everything I wanted, I quit it just one year later.

And, if you’ve reached full financial independence, I think you should quit your dream job, too.

What? Quit you say? Then it couldn’t have been your actual dream job, right? Wrong.

This was my dream job! It had it all: an important mission educating military service members on personal finance, a kind and supportive boss, great co-workers, practically unlimited resources, lots of autonomy, great pay and benefits, no supervisor responsibilities, and the ability to telework as much or as little as I wanted.

Logo for the office of my dream job (I linked it to the FINRED website)

It was the perfect job for me! So why did I quit?

In a nutshell, we have finite lives. As much as I valued this job, it wasn’t the number one thing I wanted to do AND it was physically and mentally keeping me from doing the things that I valued more.

My top five things I wanted to do were: travel, improve my health (stretch, walk, and hike more in particular), spend more quality time with friends and family, follow my curiosity (to include learning a language), and read more books. It turned out that the sixth thing I wanted to do was help people improve their personal finances—my dream job.

What We Tell Ourselves About How It Is Going To Be

When I applied for the job, I made a bargain with myself that I would only work the required 40 hours a week. I committed to not work any extra hours or sit endlessly at a desk—a way of life that had plagued me throughout my working life.

I promised myself that I would use my free time to do those top five things I wanted to do. Since I had limited time off (4 weeks per year), I planned to jet-set off with my wife on the weekends to visit family and see new places.

To work on my health, I bought a new standing desk, new ergonomic chair, headset, and a variety of other office items to make my home office as comfortable as possible (I had a dedicated room upstairs with two nice windows). After work, I planned to walk every day and do my daily stretching and body-weight exercises. Also I would read more, study my Spanish, and spend more time with family and friends. It was going to be great!

Since I didn’t need the money (I was fully FIRE), I committed to spending the extra $125K+ a year after taxes on travel and things that would make life easier, such as housekeeping, lawn care, and eating out, so I could maximize my time off.

So how did I do that year in my dream job, achieving the things that I wanted most in life? The reality was a lot different than what I planned.

Even My Dream Job Didn’t Fit Neatly into Working Hours

I often worked extra hours despite my promise not to. At first, my justification to myself was that I needed to get up to speed on the new job. But after a couple of months, that justification morphed into a desire to accomplish a lot (and I did!).

I’ve known for some that when I make a commitment to others, I place that higher than commitments I make to myself. This year of work after I reached FIRE reaffirmed that understanding. Work severely limited my ability to engage in my higher priorities. I didn’t need more money—I needed time.

Traveling to Asia and having the time to visit the minor temple sights in Cambodia wouldn’t happen if I was working full time

Lots of Travel, But Little Decompression

I took many weekend trips that year. We often left on Friday nights and returned Sunday evenings (or Monday evening if it was a holiday). The fun weekend destinations included New Orleans (once with my wife and once for an NFL game with a friend), Phoenix (to see relatives), Miami (Formula One Grand Prix with a friend), Puerto Rico (for my birthday), rural Virginia (for CampFI Mid-Atlantic), Charleston (for our anniversary), and Thomas, West Virginia (for great bluegrass music).

I also took longer trips: 4 days in Minneapolis for a family reunion, 8 days in Newfoundland with my son, 10 days hiking Hadrian’s Wall in England, and about 10 days hosting our two adult kids over Christmas, though I worked several of those days.

While all of this travel may sound great, I found it to be tiring. There was no downtime between work and travel. On those weekends when I wasn’t traveling, I was researching and booking my airline, hotel, transportation, and excursions. Travel planning takes time.

Because I only had a couple days at each location, I found myself scurrying around when I got there, trying to maximize the visit (the way most Americans go on vacation). I was also traveling when everyone else did (weekends and holidays) and fighting crowds and paying a lot more as a result.

My time off was limited by my work, and although I had a generous 4 weeks of paid time off each year plus every federal holiday, it wasn’t nearly enough. My higher priority to travel and follow my curiosity was being hampered by my dream job.

Did My Health Improve?

No. My sleep was hit or miss as it was often interrupted when I had an important upcoming meeting or project due—I couldn’t turn my mind off easily. Having a job that I cared a lot about was difficult to turn off when I closed my laptop.

Even with the new high-end standing desk, I sat for most of the day. I did get out for a walk most evenings before dinner, but I had difficulty fitting in my stretching and body-weight exercises as work started early. I was no longer biking with my friends on the weekends—it just didn’t fit.

Hiked 10,000 foot peak in Vietnam. Not working enables lots of hiking, walking and biking in my days.

Did I Find More Quality Time With My Family and Friends?

No. While I did make some trips to visit family, they were limited by my time off (which was split between seeing new places and seeing family) and similar to my sightseeing, it was harried and less quality. I was seeing my family and friends about the same as I did before I reached FIRE—not enough.

What About My Priorities of More Reading and Learning a Language?

Because I was so engrossed in the important work of my job, I was mentally exhausted at the end of most days. My best creativity and concentration were focused on better reaching military service members with quality personal financial information. After work I didn’t have the mental energy to read the books I wanted to, or focus on improving my Spanish—I found I needed to spend much of my free time mentally decompressing from work.

Relaxing and reading on my porch in Luang Prabang, Laos.

Since Quitting My Dream Job

After quitting my dream job, my wife and I fully embraced minimalism and it changed who I am. We sold or gave away 98% of our belongings, turned our house into a long-term rental, and became full-time nomadic travelers with a backpack and a carry-on each. That change has been deeply valuable to us, and it took time—time I simply didn’t have when I was working my dream job.

But here is where I really saw the effects of quitting. This comparison chart shows my time (counted in quality days) spent with friends, family and traveling during my year of working my dream job vs. my first year after quitting my dream job.

	Friends	Family	Travel	Total
Year During Dream Job	13	45	23	81
Year After Dream Job	43	130	178	351

Quality Days Spent on Three of my Top Five Priorities.
Note: some days overlapped with family or friends on vacation, so I chose what the primary purpose was for each day listed to avoid double counting. It doesn’t add up to 365 because there were about 14 quiet days that didn’t neatly fall into any category, so I left them out of this tally.

By letting go of my sixth priority (my dream job) I have been able to fully achieve my top five.

I traveled more than in my previous 13 years combined.
I read more books than any year, to include college.
I spent more time on my health than I had in decades.
I spent 3.5 months practicing my Spanish to include in-person classes and daily app learning (my Spanish had been neglected for years prior).
I spent 3x more quality time with family and many friends.

I have found contentment in my daily life and I couldn’t be happier.

Is It Time to Quit Your Dream Job?

Even if you have your dream job, that isn’t necessarily reason enough to keep working after achieving FIRE. I recommend that after some soul searching you ask yourself: “Is this job truly my top priority in my life and with my time?” If it isn’t, then ask yourself “Does this job hamper my higher priorities in any way?”

If your answer is yes, and your dream job prevents you from fully doing any of your higher priorities, it is time to quit.

My FI Story and Why FI Needs the RE

I was recently interviewed on the EverydayFI podcast where I shared my FI story, how I fully embraced minimalism, became a full-time nomad, and some philosophy on the FI movement and choosing contentment over happiness. Cheers!

Link to episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/everydayfi/id1747124575

To learn more about my story check out my About page and my Taking the Leap post about my decision to retire early.

Home Exchanging: A Great Way to See the World

Since 2013, we have exchanged our Arlington, VA home 10 times (excluding several planned exchanges foiled by the pandemic). We exchanged with families in Paris, Barcelona, Montreal, and Iceland, to name a few. With the world opening back up, this is a good time to share what is great about a home exchange experience.

What is a Home Exchange?

A home exchange is an (informal) agreement between two families to exchange their homes free of charge. While there is no money exchanged, the online platforms charge an annual membership fee. These platforms facilitate exchanges between members. We joined HomeExchange.com, which is one of the larger platforms, but there are several other choices (e.g., Love Home Swap, People Like Us, Home Link, etc.).

There are four primary types of exchanges:

Simultaneous – exchange your home with another family during the same dates
Non-simultaneous – exchange your home with another family at different times (commonly used by people with second homes or other places to stay)
Hospitality exchange – host a family while you are still home, to be reciprocated at another time
Points exchange – stay in a family’s home (often their second home, or while they are elsewhere) “spending” points generated through the platform

A home exchange can also include an exchange of cars, lawn care, and pet care. When exchanging cars with the Prague family, we each agreed to pay the other’s insurance deductible if we had an accident. Neither of us had an accident and it was great having access to a free car for the two-week period.

While exchanging with an Irish family, we mowed each other’s lawns. We’ve fed fish and watered plants, too. We haven’t cared for dogs or cats, but that’s possible if you wish–you and your exchanging family are free to set the terms you’d like.

What You Can Save in Money

Here is a quick rundown of our exchanges and a rough estimate of our savings for buying similar lodging, food in restaurants, and extras. Note, getting an AirBnB with a kitchen would similarly save on vacation food costs. You can adjust your numbers based on what you expect to save.

Estimates of savings from home exchange over traditional hotels

Another way to increase value is to build up exchange points through your online home exchange platform. Under HomeExchange.com (the site we use), we earn exchange points for letting families stay in our home while we are away visiting family or taking some other vacation. We also earn points hosting families in our ground floor unit while we are home upstairs.

These points add up quickly and can fund additional travel when you are unable (or prefer not) to do a simultaneous exchange. You can see we have used our points for two exchanges, and we have enough saved up for a third trip.

The True Value of Home Exchanging

While saving approximately $26K for these 9 trips is fantastic and great for our budget (we also started using credit card travel rewards points in 2016 to offset our airline costs), we found the most valuable part of home exchanging is being better immersed in local culture and farther away from the tourist traps.

Our homes were located in neighborhoods, not hotel zones. We frequently met with the exchange families or their relatives and friends during our stays and shared many meals with them. We received local advice on the best restaurants, tips for getting around and what to do and see. One of our best experiences was touring Prague with a well-known Czech glass artist to include a visit to his glass studio in a communist era building.

At Czech glass artist Jiří Šuhájek’s studio in Prague (Jiří is wearing the hat)

In Lismore, Ireland, we enjoyed Irish music performed by a local family in a tiny pub. It was a Thursday night and wasn’t intended for tourists–just local people sharing beloved old Irish tunes together. Our kids were invited to try out the traditional instruments, and an older gentleman at the bar broke out in a moving song. He sang and danced right from the heart, and we, far from the beaten tourist path, were there to see it.

Enjoying a meal with our exchange family (we are on the right — I think my son ate the plate too :-0)

The nature of home exchanging encourages slower travel, because we want to take advantage of our free lodging. By limiting our city/country hopping, we delve deeper into the local area, getting to know neighbors and local shop employees during our stay. We don’t see as many cities that way, but what we see we see really well, and those deeper memories have lasting power.

What Exchangers are looking For

While home exchanges are available almost everywhere on the globe, there are more in some regions. Home exchanging is very popular in European countries, so we receive many offers from Europe. We also find that South American and British Commonwealth nations (such as Australia and Canada) are well represented, as well as European and Commonwealth expats living in other countries.

Exchangers are often looking for exchanges in NYC, other major U.S. cities with public transportation, beaches (e.g., CA and FL), swimming pools, or locations near other interesting U.S. touristy areas (e.g., major National Parks). That being said, there can be interest in out-of-the-way U.S. destinations, especially if the exchanging family has already been to the U.S. on a previous trip.

Being near DC, we find that many exchangers have either already visited NYC and want to see some place new, or they want to connect a trip to NYC with a long stay in DC.

Tips for Successful Home Exchanging

Getting started:

Shop around for the home exchange online platform(s) that best fit your needs. While we use HomeExchange.com, there are others you may prefer.
Create a great profile for your family and your house. You may not be in Manhattan, but many locations in the U.S. offer something cool and interesting. Be sure to explain how close you are to great sites or what amenities your home features. A well-written home profile will increase your exchange opportunities
Take great, well-lit photos. Lead with a cover photo of the outside of your home looking its very best. Follow that with the best features of your house, such as a great deck, pool, view, or balcony. If you lead with a picture of a bedroom, even if it’s really nice, viewers will assume there is little appealing about the outside of the home. After outside shots, follow up with sparklingly clean and tidy interior photos.
Listing more beds will help, as larger families are looking for more space.
Personalize it. If you welcome kids, point out the toys or other kid-friendly features of your home. Our huge tub of Legos was a big hit for a visiting 3-year-old!

Use photos that capture the best features of your house (view from our deck)

Tips for getting an exchange:

Send out lots of exchange queries. When we want to go to a particular location, we send out 40-50 requests. The platform populates your last response, so you can send out a volume of requests with relative ease.
Be flexible. We were trying hard to get an exchange in Montreal when we received an offer to go to Prague. So, we went to Prague. The next year we were trying to go to Budapest when we received a great offer in Montreal. So, we went to Montreal. If many places seem appealing, you’ll land in an appealing place.
Expect similar exchanges to your home. We are in a close suburb to DC, so we tend to get offers from families who live in similar proximity to their city centers. Our couple of downtown exchanges took a lot of queries (and rejections) before we landed them.
If you get an offer from a desired Asian location, take it. There are far fewer opportunities to exchange in Asia. We had just locked in our Barcelona trip when we received a great offer from Hanoi, Vietnam. “Missed it by that much!”
When you get an offer you are interested in, set-up a Zoom or Facetime call to “meet” the other family. You can see quickly that they are who they say they are and their home is what they posted. You can line up the details and discuss expectations. For example, we usually mutually agree to leave sheets and towels in the laundry room, and each family will wash their own when they return home. This makes the last day of both our vacations a little smoother. If there will be a car exchange or fish to feed, this is a good time to talk it over.
Keep lines of communications open. We share a guide to our house and our local area with lots of tips for great things to do and places to eat. We have helped our exchange families buy concert tickets, reserve hard-to-get museum and historical site tickets, and provided them DC Metro system cards. Families have left us gourmet treats from their area, maps, and small souvenirs. It’s part of the fun of home exchange to extend warm hospitality to each other.

No, They Won’t Steal (or Break) Your Stuff

When we share our stories of home exchanging we often hear, “But aren’t you worried about them taking (or breaking) your stuff?” In short, no. We have had wonderful experiences with every exchange. No broken or missing items. Our house is always left clean and tidy. Even so, we do take a few minor precautions to make the exchange go smoothly:

Facetime call in advance with the other family to build a good relationship (see tip above). Be open and honest about any questions you have. Follow up with emails. The family will quickly turn from strangers into friends.
Put away valuables or breakables like laptops or car keys (if not exchanging cars).
Let your neighbors know what’s going on. We usually have a neighbor with a spare house key meet the exchange family (if we had to depart before their arrival). Our wonderful neighbors have enjoyed hosting the visiting family with an American-style BBQ.
Using our Kwikset locks, I easily reset the house locks to a separate set of keys just in case one is lost during the exchange. I then set the locks back when I get home. While no keys have been lost yet, it’s good to know it wouldn’t be a problem.

Even if you did arrive home and found something unimaginable, say, your sofa had a large red wine stain and your dishes were broken, it would still cost far less to replace or repair than what we saved on our vacation. Anything worse than that would be covered by our home insurance, minus the deductible. It would take a lot of theft and damage to offset the $26K (and counting) we’ve saved so far. Since we buy durable and functional things and our money is invested in stocks and not collectibles, it’s easy for us to relax, knowing our original Van Gogh won’t be ruined. And I believe that even if we did have a Van Gogh, it would be fine. We’ve found the people interested in this style of travel to be thoughtful, careful, and generous. It’s going to be a great exchange.

Conclusion

Home exchanges are a great way to travel, both for saving money and getting a more in-depth experience away from touristy paths. It is based on trust and hospitality. I hope you will find the same joy exchanging your home as we have.

Please leave a comment if you are going to give it a try, or you have a great home exchange story to share. I’d love to hear about it!