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Motoko and I have made it to Hungary. Hungary is my father’s home country and I still have a lot of family here. I first visited when I was 5 years old and have returned many times. It really is astonishing how rapidly the country has developed in my lifetime.

Hungary in the Good Old Days

Some thirty plus years ago, Hungary was still in control of the communist U.S.S.R. This meant severe restrictions on everything we take for granted. It was impossible to travel to western countries because passports were only valid for communist block countries.

My father escaped in the 1956 revolution. Even though his escape wasn’t politically motivated, deserters were still viewed as traitors for a long time. It was 18 years before he was able to return to visit his family.

In order to buy a car, you had to pay a sizeable downpayment and apply for a number which indicated your order in the queue. The list of numbers was published in the Sunday newspaper so that everyone could track how long it would take to get a car. My uncle had to wait…

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Greetings from my favourite Canadian city, Montreal. This is our second time in the cultural capital of Canada but our first experience couchsurfing.  CouchSurfing has been fantastic so far, not only as a free place to stay and an introduction to an unknown city, but as the quintessential social media site. It’s very essence is about connecting people in real life.

What is CouchSurfing?

For those of you who don’t know, CouchSurfing.org is a network where travellers can connect and find a place to stay  with a local person in cities around the world. There is no cost for the website or for the couch (bed, room or floor) but it is expected that you are going for the social exchange and not just a free place to sleep.

This is how my wife explained it to her mother, “We are going to stay at a stranger’s house. We found the person on the Internet.” (Very rough English translation. )

Prior to our visit, I must admit we had some apprehensions…

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Making the decision to move to another country is difficult and scary. It is even harder if you have a family to support and educate. Brandon Pearce, his wife and two daughters made that choice and moved to Costa Rica at the start of the year and are loving their new life outside of the US. Brandon is also proving that the idea of the low hour work week (he works 5 hours per week) is definitely possible if you put in the effort. Brandon offers some great details into his business and his lifestyle in Costa Rica in this interview.

Please tell us a little about your background.

I just turned 30 years old, and was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. As a child, I fell in love with both music and computers. I learned to play the piano and sing – a passion probably inherited from my parents who are both musicians – and when I was 12, I began teaching myself to program in QBasic. I always dreamed that one day I would either be a music teacher like my dad, or have my own…

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It has been just over one month since my wife and I left Japan. We spent three weeks of that time in a small town in central Canada with my grandmother and have now returned to my home city of Calgary.

The first week or so was spent just relaxing after all the stress and work we had finishing up our old lifestyle. We gave up everything; our house, car, business, furniture, personal belongings, daily routine, everything. It was a lot of work but it is also incredibly liberating. There is a freedom that I have rarely experienced. It really feels fantastic to not want to buy things. We can’t take much with us on our travels so there is no need to even think about furniture, electronics or any other accouterments of modern life. We are finished with consumerism (for a little while anyway).

It has only been a month but we are already starting to make some important realizations.

I don’t want to be a traveller.

We will always live abroad and we hope to continually move to different locations but we have to do it slowly.…

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Volunteering can be a fantastic way to see the world and make a real difference in local communities at the same time. From teaching English in Thailand to helping disaster victims in Haiti, there are countless ways to contribute. The trouble is finding the right cause to support and a reputable organization to help you get started.

Decade long traveler, Kirsty Henderson of NerdyNomad.com has written an inexpensive guide that is bound to save you dozens of hours of online searching and screening of numerous volunteering opportunities around the world. The ebook, “The Underground Guide to International Volunteering” is only $14 and Kirsty is donating half of the proceeds to Hands On Disaster Response.

Even if you are not in a position to volunteer abroad now, investing in this ebook will provide you a great headstart on your future plans and you will be supporting a great cause.

Kirsty’s comprehensive ebook covers:

• Is volunteering right for you?
• Types of volunteering.
• Choosing a volunteering experience.
• Paying to volunteer.
• Free and Cheap Volunteering.
• Interviews with volunteers.
• What to expect when

…

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Taking a year off after university is a great way to see the world and delay the inevitable corporate grind for a little longer; unless you learn to make traveling a way of life. Seeing the world changes people fundamentally and makes you question all your earlier ambitions and goals. Johnny Ward’s one year travel adventure has turned into four years and counting with no end in sight. Johnny has discovered that he can contribute more to the world by working directly with communities in need than his previous plan of a career in finance.

Please tell us a little about your background.

Well, Im 26 and I’m from Northern Ireland – I lived there all the way through until I finished high school. At 18 I moved to England to study, I went to university there for four years there and graduated with a BSc (Hons) International Economics. All the way through from around 15 years old until about 6 months into traveling all I wanted from life was to be an investment banker in London, drive a Ferrari and wear Hug Boss suits (very fickle I know!). Thankfully, I’ve seen the light and now I…

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Alex and Mina of Sending Postcards gave up secure jobs, sold their house and got rid of their possessions to travel the world. My wife and I also went through that exact same process so I can attest that it was one of the most stressful times of our lives. Alex and Mina make it look easy in comparison. They share some of their experiences in this interview.

Please tell us a little about your background.

We have enjoyed reading the JetSetCitizen over the past year and are excited that we have been asked to be interviewed.

Our story begins in Canada, on the icy cold prairies. We were both born and raised in the city of Winnipeg. I’m 27 years young and Mina just celebrated her 26th birthday during our stay in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

We met in 2004 while we were both studying at the University of Manitoba. I started work as a software developer/programmer analyst shortly after graduating. Mina had several business endeavours, as well as a part time job, while she was completing her degree. Her business background…

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Despite all the popular blog posts about using air miles or frequent flyer miles for free flights, it seems many travelers still haven’t signed up for an air mile rewards program. It is not hard to cash in miles for free flights even if you travel infrequently. Here are some of the lessons I have learned with various air mile programs.

Why Use an Air Miles program?

I suspect that the reason people do not sign up for an air miles program is that they feel it is too difficult to build up enough miles to earn a free flight. It is probably easier than you think to earn flights and it is free to sign up for the various air mile programs so there really is nothing to lose. After your first trip overseas you will likely get bitten by the travel bug and fly much more frequently then you now imagine. Remember that you can still sign up after your trip for a short time. It might not be too late if you act fast.

One return flight from Japan to Canada earns…

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It has been just over ten months since I publicly declared my intention to leave Japan and give up my secure business. I didn’t have any clear plans or ideas on how I would accomplish the goal, but putting it out in the open for everyone to see definitely helped. My wife and I are now less than four weeks away from leaving.

We are going to start our travels by returning to Canada to spend time with family and then go to Europe for about six months. We have our tickets booked and are starting to clean out our house and pack. There is still a lot to do but it is mostly just shutting down our life here in Japan.

No More Stuff

It is amazing how liberating it is to shed material possessions. We have accumulated so many unnecessary things over the last decade.  We have a house full of stuff we saved because ‘someday we might need it again.’ Well, all of those things are being sold, given away or thrown away. Since committing to our plan to leave Japan we haven’t bought any non-essential possessions. We…

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