The Secret of My Success

In a recent email, a reader of this blog asked me how I became so successful. He read in one of my posts about how I moved to Japan on one week’s notice with no job, no work visa and only $1000 to my name and later became a jet-setting global rock star celebrity. (Okay, I added the ‘jet-setting global rock star celebrity part ‘ for added effect. )

Here is the Secret to my Success

The short answer is … I am not successful. Most people, myself included, tend to glamorize or even exaggerate successes and hide set backs or negative aspects of their lives. Don’t believe everything you read or hear because you are only getting the positive side of the story.

I am not rich. I am not famous. I am not particularly smart or talented either. I am just an ordinary person that is not afraid of hard work. When I arrived in Japan more than 13 years I worked a lot to save money and pay down debt. I worked two English teaching jobs and a bar job.

A couple of years later I started teaching private students in my apartment. A year after that, I took those students and opened up my own English school. My wife and I worked 50 to 60 hour weeks for close to 10 years. For several of those years we lived in the same building as our school. We were able to save 50 to 80 percent of our gross income. Our secret was work lots of hours and don’t spend much money.

After several years of frugality, we started to grow tired of working so many hours and started working less. We hired other employees, bought a new car and house. Spent lots of money on furniture and started traveling several times a year. We were just burnt out from working so many hours for so long and we thought buying all the things we wanted would make us happy. Well it didn’t. The happiest times of my life have always been when I had no money and was working insane hours to build a business or work on a project of my choosing. The struggle to achieve is far more rewarding than the actual achievement. More money and more things are nice when you have nothing, but after a certain point they become a burden.

Get Out When the Getting is Good

As you can probably tell, my wife and I should have sold our school several years ago when sales peaked and our expenses were minimal. If we did sell at that time, we would definitely have had a lot of extra money in the bank. We both knew about 4 years ago that it was time to move on to something else but we kept procrastinating and making excuses.. We told ourselves that we had a great lifestyle with a good income and lots of vacation time. Why change when everything was so comfortable?

Finally, enough was enough and last spring I made a public declaration on this blog that we were going to leave Japan and change our careers within one year. It was that deadline and announcement that gave me the fortitude to actually follow through on the plans. I can honestly say that blogging has changed my life.

Three years ago we were spending about $5000 per month on living expenses, now we can get by anywhere on about $2000 and much less in cheaper countries. We are getting back in shape and starting to eat healthy again. I am running regularly and playing a lot more guitar. We are also just starting to get back to work on our other business projects. We aren’t making much money and we don’t expect to for a while yet, but it is nice to see new projects slowly come to fruition.

The Future is Bright but a little Scary Too

We have our fears and worries as well. We have enough savings to last for many years, but we don’t want to blow all of our cash either. We will need to work again, but we want to do it on projects that we are excited about.

We don’t have fat corporate pensions so we are thinking about our retirement and also worried about what will happen if one or both of us has a major accident or illness. Our biggest fears are not finding rewarding ways to spend the rest of our lives. We want to do interesting things but we are afraid that we are getting too old or we don’t have the right experience. (We are 40 and 41 years  old.)

Overall, we are extremely happy about where we are in our lives but we also have a lot of regrets about all the things we could have and should have done. We can’t change the past so all we can do is make sure that we are putting in 100% effort everyday into everything we find important in life.  I just want to end each day knowing that I lived as much as I could have.

Am I successful?

I don’t have a house in the suburbs with two SUVs parked in the garage. My essential possessions can fit in two bags on an airplane.  I don’t have a prestigious career or major accomplishments behind me. I am not successful by any of the popular metrics of society. However, I am happy. I now know that material possessions will never satisfy me so I don’t want them anymore. My wife and I are both healthy and we were fortunate enough to be born in rich countries with good parents. Everything else has been a fantastic bonus.  I want to be fully alive each and every day and I am doing that now. Life is good. We live in amazing times.

Are you successful? Please share some of your accomplishments in the comments.

We are Leaving Japan!

It has been a few months since I have written about my progress of achieving my one year goal of leaving Japan. I didn’t have much to report so I spared you the boring details, however, now my goal is much, much closer.

Step One – Mission Accomplished!

The biggest challenge my wife and I had in order to begin our new nomadic lives was to sell our business in Japan. We just received the money for the sale of our English school so now the hard work is finished. That was the only major obstacle holding us back and now that it is complete there are only small details and preparation left ahead of us.

We have to stick around and train the new owners and teacher, but we will be free from all obligations a couple of months ahead of schedule. We are leaving!

Japan is a fantastic country, so don’t get me wrong. We definitely plan to return regularly. However, running the same business for a decade was growing tiresome and we are definitely ready for a change.

Step Two – Rent Out Our House

The next step is to decide whether or not to rent out our house or to keep it as a home base. This is still uncertain although we are about 90% leaning towards renting it out. It would be great to have a place to keep our things and have somewhere that is completely ours. At the same time, it is a little foolish paying for a house when we are not going to be here for most of the year.

Also, keeping the house would definitely encourage us to spend more time at home which defeats the purpose of getting rid of our business in the first place. This is definitely not our dream house so we don’t have any special attachments. It makes much more sense to rent it out and earn a little income from it, rather than keeping an expense. Okay, I am 95% certain now that we are going to rent it out.

Step Three – Get Rid of the Car

The next project is selling our car. We have a great vehicle with very low miles but owning a car has made us lazy. It is too easy to drive rather than cycle or walk. I love the convenience of a car, but I really miss cycling everywhere like I used to in my university days. Hopefully, we won’t have a need for a car for a long, long time. I haven’t started to sell it yet, so I am not sure how long it will take.

Step Four – No More Stuff

After that, there are only minor details to take care of. We will have to store, sell or give away all of our stuff. Some things like my guitars and bicycle, I will never part with so they will have to be kept somewhere. The rest are just possessions that can be disposed of. My wife and I have a fairly minimal existence but buying a house has led to a lot of lifestyle inflation. The more space you have the more you try to fill it. I am not looking forward to cleaning out our house.

Step Five – Decide Where to Go

We still haven’t decided about where we are going to go first. Maybe Thailand, that seems to be the headquarters of many of my blogging colleagues. Thailand is a good stop over on the way to Australia, however I am not a big fan of Bangkok; It is just too crowded and polluted. We also plan to visit Canada soon because of a sick relative and to spend some time with my 90 year old grandmother. We will wait until early January to decide.

The Future

We have managed to save up a decent amount of money from running our own business. We are not rich enough to retire but we can survive for many years without an income. That means my wife and I can focus on the projects and businesses that we want to work on.

I am really excited to be able to have the time and money to invest in several projects that were neglected over the last few years. The future looks great! Hopefully, I will get a chance in the near future to meet up with many of you.

Sailing to the Ultimate Lifestyle Design

Buying a boat and sailing the world is perhaps the ultimate nomadic lifestyle. You bring your accommodation and transportation with you around the world. There would be no plane tickets to buy, and no need to search for a decent place to stay. George Horning has purchased a boat and is planning to begin a sailing lifestyle in early 2010. George shares some of his thoughts on his upcoming adventure here.

Why buy a boat and get into sailing?
I have always had a love for the ocean. I love being around it. It brings me a sense of calm and clarity. I moved to Santa Barbara a couple years ago for just this reason at a time in my life when I really needed that. That is what lead to me to consider living on a boat and being around water all the time. Given the cost of living here in Santa Barbara, CA, it is actually about the most affordable way to own a roof over your head. Now I am just taking it a step further with the moving to Tonga. I was offered a great deal on a nice boat, and I jumped on it. I don’t like the direction this country is headed in, so I have no problem trying to make my own destiny somewhere else. I have no background in sailing, other than being out on sailboats and thinking it was awesome, and how lucky some of these people were to get to do this everyday. That is part of the adventure!

You bought a boat without even having all the money lined up, that is a big commitment. What is your thinking on this?
My thinking was, given my current financial situation, and knowing myself and how I deal with money, that this was the best option for me. I am buying the boat from a gentlemen I met via an article he wrote online. I contacted him and have had hundreds of email conversations back and forth. He left California for the South Pacific about 10 years ago, and never looked back. He has encouraged me along the way, and been sort of a mentor to me. Yes, I am concerned about making the payments along the way, but I want this more than anything and I know it will all work out. I read things constantly that continue to fill me with this belief. I have surrounded myself with people who are excited for me and encourage me. I have ended relationships with people who are negative and petty. I have bigger fish to fry. I have always been reactive in my life, now I am being proactive and it feels amazing.

How are you going to earn a living once you start sailing?
This is the question that keeps me up at night. I am trying to do whatever I can to make myself as visible as possible on the Internet, for a number of reasons. I want the exposure. You never know what opportunities might pop up if you put yourself out there. Like this interview. You never know who might read it and what might come my way. I am going out there with enough to live for about a year, maybe more. So I am giving myself time. I also need a break from everything in my life, so I am giving myself time for that as well. I plan on using the boat to do day tours for tourists. Yes, I know this is not a real original idea, but I have researched it extensively, and it can be done. I don’t need much to survive out there as far as money. Basically boat maintenance (which can add up I know), and food and fun. I have had plenty of money in my life, and I have had next to nothing. I think everyone should experience having nothing at some point in their life. It isn’t that bad, and it is liberating in a way. Not much to worry about. Food and shelter. Real basic. I lived in my Jeep Grand Cherokee a couple years ago for 6 months. It didn’t change my mood one bit. And you really get to know yourself and what is important. I know first hand that money is a necessary evil, and nothing more.

How much money do you think you will need to buy the boat and cover living expenses until your business gets going?
I sort of don’t want to say how much I am buying the boat for, but if you look them up online (J boat, J33), I am paying far less than what they go for. Living expenses will be covered with savings until I get something going with day tours on the boat or who knows what else. I am not worried about that right now. Getting out of here is the focus. The rest will work itself out. You have to believe this in order for it to happen. My girlfriend is coming with me as well, and she will have some money too. Like I said, at least enough to last a year.

Do you think living expenses on a boat are more or less than more typical traveling?
Well, after the boat is paid for, I won’t have much to deal with other than eating and making sure the boat doesn’t sink. “Typical” traveling is different for everyone. I can live super cheap and be fine. I can realistically live for $10/day out there. The boat has solar panels for power, so no bill there. I won’t have a phone (I hope), so no bill there either. No docking/slip fees out there. And obviously, no money paid out every night for a place to sleep. So I am thinking this will be pretty cheap, all things considered. I am not trying to go there and do nothing. I am far too young for that. I am just not trying to make a million dollars a year at the cost of my freedom and time. I am looking for a lifestyle balance. I think this term is overused these days, but that is what I am doing. I wanted warm, near water (preferably warm water), and a calm pace to life. And preferably as few people as possible. Tonga definitely fits that description.

What are your biggest fears right now?
My biggest fears? Well, being out in the middle of nowhere with no money and a broken boat is right up there. But seriously, I don’t really have too many fears right now. My current work situation is not the most stable, so my biggest fear is not having work and still owing on the boat. I won’t have it paid off until December 2009 at the pace I am on. The biggest worry I had was saying “yes” to buying the boat. Honestly, once I got over that initial “what the hell am I doing” feeling, it has been nothing but exciting every day. I can’t wait to get out there, and if I had the money today, I would be gone tomorrow.

Do you have any backup plans in case things don’t work out as planned?
Nope. A backup plan leaves room for failure. What is the worst that could happen? I have a hell of a story to tell, and I have to come back and get a job. It really doesn’t leave me in too different of a situation than I am already in. And at least with the boat, I will always have a roof over my head. And by the time I pay for it and make the few repairs it needs, it will be worth more than I paid for it. I am looking at it as a “can’t lose” situation. I am not really giving anything up to follow my dream.

George’s Next Life Blog
Follow George Horning on Twitter

Update
Here is a link for a similar boat for sale for $29,500.

Buy a Boat and Learn to Sail; 5 Lessons for the Perfect Lifestyle from TravelersNotebook.com

Many of us are calculating how much money we need to retire. With accommodations often taking up about one third of our budgets, this is a good place to start. Owning your own property can help to hedge against rising costs and exchange rate risks. If you choose wisely, your new home may also prove to be a good investment rather than just an accommodation expense.

My previous articles, Retire on $500 per Month and Rent for Less than $10 per Day rely on stable low priced rental properties around the world. With more people traveling and living abroad, I feel that it is inevitable that rents will increase around the world. While purchasing property in a foreign country has its risks, it can greatly decrease your monthly living expenses. For example, my mortgage in Japan, is close to what I was paying for one room in a shared apartment when I first arrived more than 12 years ago.

Matadorlife.com had an article, “What Can $150K Buy in Real Estate Around the World,” while that was helpful, I wanted to see what could be bought for much less. I chose the arbitrary figure of $50,000. Anyone can afford $50,000 after a couple of years of hard work and sacrifice so I felt that it was a good amount. Even in Canada, I know of many houses that are much less than this price in my grandmother’s home town of Kamsack, Saskatchewan. There are limited stores and winters are harsh, but there is a beautiful lake only 7 km away. If you can put up with shoveling snow all winter, the summers are amazing.

Here are some properties around the world for less than $50,000.

Imus Cavite, Philippines
105 square meters. House. 2-bedroom, 2-bath layout plus a study or den (2 floors),  conveniently located near churches, schools, hospitals and shopping malls. With Carport and balcony.
2,099,000PHP (US$44,466)

Bangkok, Thailand
52 square meters. Condominium. 1 bedroom, 1 bath and 1 balcony, near major hospitals, schools, universities, and airports. Five minute walk to a full size golf driving range with a spa and health center.
1,720,000 BHT (US$50,455) (The cheaper units sold out during the time I have been researching this article.)

Elhovo, Yambol, Bulgaria
570 square meters. House. Located in a peaceful village, large rooms, two-storey house, toilet and bathroom in a separate building outside beside the house, with garage and a garden.
26,600 EUR (US$34,652)

Piedras Blancas, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Ecological Tree Homes. This beautiful farm is located on the base of an almost 6,000-foot primary rainforest mountain on the South Pacific Coast of Costa Rica and is bordered on the North by Río Piedras Blancas and Río Bellavista to the South.
US$ 49,500

Ujsor, Bodony, Hungary
94 square meters. House. Beautiful mountain view, two bedrooms, fireplace and central gas heating, established with vegetable garden, fruit trees and flowers, Only 30 minute drive to Gyongyos and 40 minutes to Eger. Close to all the services of Eger and Gyongyos, yet in a quiet and private area with clean air. (John’s note: Eger is a great small wine city in Hungary. I would love to live there for part of the year!)
29,000EUR  (US$39,556)

Texas, USA
2 bedrooms and 1 bath with a nice kitchen and a single garage, a well and is fenced on 3 sides. Really nice and well maintained
US$45,000

Dixie Hills, Atlanta GA, USA
Great location, close to downtown & airport, accessible to Marta and Train station. Kitchen with tile floors and counter tops. 3 bedrooms, hardwood floors, huge living room and laundry area. Cable ready. Ready to move in.

Dominican Republic
Apartment. Nice kitchen with space for a dining area, a full bathroom with access from the kitchen and the bed-sitting room. Large balcony where you can see the Atlantic ocean. Close to the beach and close to town.
US$46,000

Altinkum Aydin Province Turkey
120 square meters. Apartment. The apartments are being built on an already well established road in the popular Hunters Valley area of Altinkum. Positioned just off the main road with all amenities close by, the location is ideal especially as the beach is only a 5 minute walk away. These thoughtfully designed and well built apartments will have a communal swimming pool and garden, and off-street parking facilities. The development is due for completion in May 2010.
GBP £34,500 (US$49,640)

Gorna Oryahovitsa Veliko Tarnovo Province Bulgaria
180 square meters. House. Two storey fully renovated house on the shore of the Yantra river – a natural border of the property. The property is situated in a village 22km away from the ancient historical town of Veliko Tarnovo, 10km away from Gorna Oriahovitza and the airport. One hour drive from Russe, the Danube River and Romania. One hour and a half from the Romanian capital Bucharest and the airport there.
€30,000 (US$42,463)

Sicily Gibilaro, Italy
75 square meters. Three storey townhouse, staircase is in marble, in good condition. Roof is in wood with an attic which can be converted into a terrazza with a panoramic view, semi restructured and is ready to move into straightaway. With spectacular views around the valley of the river Platani, many shops, pizzerias, restaurants and an air ambulance service. 30 mins away from the beach (Seccagrande/Eraclea Minoa/San Giorgio). Access to the main towns of Agrigento, Sciacca, Palermo. 40 minute drive away from the spectacular Sicani Mountains and its picnic area.
€22,000 (US$29,943)

To Buy or Not to Buy
Buying a house in a foreign country can seem incredibly risky and arduous, but it is not hard to find examples of expats who have been successful. I managed to buy a house in Japan. It can be frustrating when the buying process is so different than what you’d expect in your home country, but it is completely feasible. Some countries are riskier and more difficult than others. Do your homework and find a reputable real estate agent to assist you through the process. Your inexpensive retirement home may turn out to be the best investment you have made.

I love to travel, but I can’t live out of a backpack for 12 months of the year. The ideal situation would be to have two or three properties around the world and rotate between them with a little traveling in between. It would be great to connect with like minded couples and share properties, but I know that it is hard to trust strangers with your personal things. However, if you are interested in some type of regular home share agreement please let me know. Also, I am on the look out for an inexpensive place in a interesting country, so if you have any advice please leave it in the comments.

Please give your advice, suggestions or comments below!
My wife and I have a one year plan to move to a new country and find new careers, if you are interested in hearing more about our progress, please subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter.

10 Months to Leave Japan

Two months have now passed since my wife and I committed to our one year plan of leaving Japan and living in a new country. We are still ten months away from making this latest major lifestyle change but our excitement for future opportunities seems to grow day by day.

Progress Report
Not much has materially changed in the last month, except for my way of thinking. I have changed countries once, and know how liberating and amazing the experience can be, so it is not like this is entirely new to me. But it is difficult, in the same way it is difficult for others making drastic changes in their lives. Uncertainty is damn scary. And the older you get, the harder it gets because risks have much greater consequences.

It is hard to give up a good income, and leave your own house and material possessions. When you are just out of university, you have nothing to lose so it is easy to backpack around the world and put off your career ambitions for a year or two. But what happens when you start getting the lifestyle you wanted? What do you do after you have the money to travel, can buy anything you want and do anything you want, but are still unfilled? There is far more to life than the things you own and the things you can buy.

This past month has helped me realize that there is little reason to have unnecessary attachment to my “things.” We can always buy a new leather sofa, espresso machine, computer monitor or anything else my wife and I may want. I would love to get rid of my car just because I know it makes it too easy to not cycle or walk as evidenced by my physical deterioration.  I still want my guitars, but the rest of my possessions are just replaceable things.  I believe I have grown somewhat in this respect.

House in Japan
We would love to keep our house in Japan, just so that we can have a place where we can return to regularly. I have said it before, but it is worth saying again, Japan offers the best quality of food and is the safest country in the world. No other country in the world compares to the quality of fresh, seasonal food Japan has to offer. If you want to live longer, take up a traditional Japanese lifestyle.

There is a small chance that we can share our house with another couple who will take over our English school. Otherwise, we will still have to decide between renting out our house or keeping it vacant for a majority of the year while we are in other countries. Renting the house out will be good for our bank balance but it will be difficult to return to Japan for extended periods because we will not have a place to stay. Keeping the house here will mean that we will be spending more time in Japan and will have to restate my claims that we will be “living in a new country.” I made a commitment that I am advertising to the world and I don’t want to break it.

Sell Our Business or Not?
This really is the most important decision we have to make and the most difficult. We can hire a teacher and manager to run our English school in Japan, but the remaining profits will be marginal and it will still require administrative work and entail risk and liabilities of trying to run a real world business remotely. The difficult part is that it is a school for children. It is not really a business and I don’t want to look at education just in the profit or loss sense. Keeping it self-running will allow us to return to Japan with minimal expenses and even work and earn a decent salary while here. On the other hand, it would be great to free ourselves completely from the obligations of running a school so that we can focus on future opportunities. We have a teacher and manager seriously interested in working for us, so this decision has to be made soon. We are still completely undecided on this issue.

Future Income
In the last month I have connected with many people who have been able to make long-term travel work. Perpetual travel is no longer a dream, it is a real possibility made all the more probable by the number of people I found doing it. I know we can survive from a variety of means that I will make clearer in future posts. People like Nomad4Ever, HoboTraveler, and TheProfessionalHobo are proof that perpetual travel is possible if you keep your costs low enough.

Don’t Make Money Blogging
While it is obviously not impossible to make money blogging, I am quite certain that I do not want to pursue that route. The time, effort and traffic required to start making just a pittance are not worth the investment in my mind. WorkingNomad said he only made $550 over a 4 year period. I have to agree with Chris Guillebeau when he says, “Adsense ads suck.” Anything easy to do is easy to copy and there is no sustainable business model in something that is easy to copy. I am going to focus my efforts on businesses that are harder to start, and therefore more defensible.

There are people making money blogging and writing ebooks, so I don’t want to discourage anyone.  NomadicMatt says he makes more than $3000 per month from his travel websites and NerdyNomad says she was making more than $1000 per month back in 2007. Of course, there is the world famous Chris Guillebeau who estimates that he will make $48,50o in 2009. You can make money if you are willing to put in the work. However, my recommendation would be to focus your efforts on something that you truly have some advantage in.

How to Become an Overnight Success
I am now starting to see the results of what all respectable internet marketers have been saying all along; the key to success is still good old-fashioned hard work. I still have a lot more to learn and do, but it is encouraging to see steady increases in traffic. Here is some advice you have surely heard before:

1. Post comments on many other blogs.
2. Write guest articles for other blogs.
3. Post on your own blog several times per week.
4. Write high quality and well researched posts.
5. Connect with people on social media sites.
6. Promote and support your readers and they will reciprocate.
7. Twitter is amazing! I know, it may seem like a waste of time at first but it really is a great way to connect with people.

Ten more months to reset our lives. I am no longer afraid of giving up my current income and way of life, my wife is a little hesitant but she is up to the challenge. We are excited to have the opportunity to do bigger and more challenging things. The absolute worse situation is that we lose our life savings and have to get jobs or start a more traditional business to earn enough to live again. At least we will have several years of doing the things we want, where we want. Even total failure will be worth the experiences we will have over the next few years.

Previous Posts – One Year Plan: Month 0 |   Month 1

Please give your advice, suggestions or comments below!
My wife and I have a one year plan to move to a new country and find new careers, if you are interested in hearing more about our progress, please subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter.

Christian Skoda in Boracay

Christian Skoda spent 14 years of his life working for a large corporation. About six years ago, he decided to get out of the rat race and begin a new life as a perpetual traveler. Christian has lived in Singapore, Thailand, Bali, India and most recently, the Philippines. He shares some of his experiences in this interview.

Please tell us about your current life now. Where do you live?
I’m currently in the process of moving to the island of Negros, in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. Before I lived 6 months in Goa/India, 2 years in Bali/Indonesia and 8 months in and around Phuket in Thailand. Before that I was working for 3 years in Singapore, which I enjoyed very much, as it gave me the opportunity to explore the surrounding countries during extended weekend trips. Asia is simply a region of plenty, I just can’t get enough of it!

How do you earn an income?
From my previous activities, I have several passive income streams, like rent, dividends and interest. My motto is to generate income in hard currency countries and spend in lower-cost-of-living countries. Therefore – Asia is the right place for me to live. I simply love it here, the people, the climate, the food – and, of course – the lower costs of living compared to Europe, Australia or the US. I also try to make some money blogging, although that is so far not more than some pocket money. I also don’t want to stress that too much, as to not scare away my readers with too many ads and affiliate schemes. So all in all, writing a website is more to keep my brain juices flowing and not drying up.

What do you like and don’t like about your life now?
I love that I am completely free to do, what I want to do. I can wake up at noon, go to bed every day in the early hours without any regrets and spend my days without justifying my activities to anybody. Usually, it’s a pleasure to live in foreign countries and dive into new cultures, try out new food, chat with friendly people and explore the natural wonders of our beautiful planet. I was never less bored than during the last couple of years.

Do you have any regrets about your life now?
Yep, I regret not having worked in foreign countries earlier. I had several opportunities before to work for my employer in other countries, thus earning a good salary with the safety net of a long-term employer and having the opportunity to explore new cultures and regions at the same time. As maybe plenty of other people, I too was afraid of change. I thought that the risk is too high or that I wouldn’t cope and would have to come back defeated. All those fears are completely unfounded, as everyone anywhere is cooking his/her tea with the same water. If you are young, skilled and hungry – you can make it and outperform your peers almost everywhere – not only in New York, as the old tune goes. You are in a much better position to adapt, you will always do your best, compared with people stuck for much longer in the same place and you will most likely succeed!

How much savings would an average person need to be able to move abroad and live like you do?
That really depends on your choice of lifestyle, your savings/investments and if you work or not. I found for myself that I’m even more happy, the less material possessions I own. Wherever I roam, I try to reduce my belongings, which currently fit in a larger travel bag and a small backpack. Who needs a house, a car, too many electronic gadgets, expensive toys, suits and ties anyway? Happiness comes from the inside, not what you patch on yourself from the outside. If you can give up on all those ties to the material world, you can live very basic and frugal, yet very fulfilled. My budget is something around US$800 per month, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less. I gave up calculating, as it was fairly stable over the last couple of years. I admit, that this lifestyle  probably isn’t for everybody, but that’s simply the way it is.

What were you doing before you became a JetSetCitizen?
I was working for 14 years in sales and customer-related functions for a large European outsourcing company. While that basically gave me a nice title and salary, as well as a chance to travel and see the world; it also put a strain on my personal life, health and especially relationships. When I try to remember the most remarkable moments of this time of my past working life, it is like somebody pressed a fast forward button. Everything is some sort of blur, with only a few positive spikes standing out. This thankfully changed completely after I quit working, so I’m 100% convinced that I did the right thing in the end.

Why weren’t you happy before? What was missing from your life?
It’s not that I was completely unhappy. Like other people every day, I was just completely driven by my job and work life. This might be okay for a while, but it burns you out easily also. And aren’t those not the best years, when we are the youngest and fittest – wasted somehow for some corporation instead of your own self-development?

Being on the road for 4 days a week, I used to wake up in a hotel bed in some city somewhere in Germany. At a point in time, I had to first check my calendar to remember which town I was in. That was somehow an epiphany to me. Also two bosses of mine died of heart attacks, one in his mid 40′s, the other in his early 50s; both having a similar job as mine. Counting the years, it was clear to me, that I had to do something to not end up like them, hehe!

What sacrifices and risks did you make in order to get to where you are today?
Sacrifices? What do you mean? To not having a steady 9-5 job, a big house, a guzzling SUV car, a 2+2 family? I see it the other way around. Living the corporate life before, I sacrificed too many things for far too long. My right to happiness, self-fulfillment and walking our earth as long and wherever I want to. Who is happy with 3-5 weeks holiday a year anyway? Who is sacrificing? I’m happier and healthier now than at any point in my working life before, so the times of sacrifices are definitely over.

What advice would you offer for others pursuing similar career objectives?
If I could start all over again, I would try to plan way earlier – to save money, maximising my income while still working, reducing/downsizing my expenses and working a job which would give me the chance to explore the world and earn money at the same time. Multinational companies offer the best opportunities here in my view. They have foreign subsidiaries and sometimes expat packages to ‘ease’ your pain, when living in a foreign country. Even with a local deal you will probably be way happier than rotting over many years in a cubicle in your home country. If you have the chance, try as many different countries as possible before taking the plunge of moving (semi-)permanently.

Nomad4Ever Web Site
Follow Christian Skoda on Twitter

More Interviews
Interview with Marie Teather – Came to Japan to teach English and became the Editor of an expat magazine. Now traveling Europe.
Interview with CartoonSmart Founder, Justin Dyke- Sells great video tutorials for Flash and other web related topics. Moved to Virgin Islands and returned to the U.S.
Lifestyle Design Interview: Richard Graham- English teacher turned global nomad. Sells self-made CDs and promotes them around the world
JetSetCitizen Interview 1: Trevor Stefiuk- Musician in Australia- Musician who moved to Australia, went back to school and started a new career doing what he loves.

There is no better way to pursue your lifestyle design goals than by cutting your expenses and moving to a new country. Here are nine properties around the world that are under $300 a month.

Cebu City, Philippines
US$106  per month  (5,500PHP)

Jomtien Beach, Pattaya City, Thailand
US$263 per month (9,000BHT)

Goicoechea, Guadalupe, Costa Rica
US$300 per month

Sihanoukville, Victory Beach, Cambodia
US$250 (including utilities, TV)

Dehivala, Sri Lanka
US$212 per month (25,000LKR)

Krakow, Poland
US$264 per month

Hanoi, Vietnam
US$300

Missouri, USA
US$300

Antigua, Guatemala
US$240 (with internet)

Advice
When looking for an apartment or house rental in any country, you will most certainly find better and cheaper accommodations if you start your search when you arrive. Most internet searches bring up vacation rentals which are considerably more expensive than other apartments and are often priced by the day or week. Also, owners savvy enough to professionally market their properties online will generally ask for more money. When you arrive in the country, check local publications aimed at foreigners and if you are going to be renting for an extended time,  try real estate agents.

Foreigners are often taken advantage of so knock on some doors and comparison shop before you decide. Make sure you make explicitly clear what is included and what is not. You don’t want to be surprised with extra bills for TV, utilities or internet.

Remember that if your entry visa expires and you have to leave the country, you are not always guaranteed re-entry. If you are leaving the country, it probably is a good idea to stop renting and bring your valuables with you.

Finding the right place to stay can seem overwhelming but it really isn’t that difficult. Most landlords will be very helpful and trustworthy. Ultimately, your accommodations play a very small role in the quality of experience you have in a new country. Your apartment is just a place to sleep, get something safe and in a good location but save your money and invest in new experiences.

Please Post this to Twitter!

My wife and I have a one year plan to change our careers and move to a new country.
If you are interested in hearing more about our progress, please subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter.

Retire Cheap in Places like Bali

Lifestyle design is all about changing the way we live so that we can fulfill our passions and experience life now. We should all be striving for early retirement from lousy jobs. My wife and I have a one year plan to quit our jobs and move to a new country. We are not retiring from work, we still want to continue working on interesting projects and possible doing some longer term volunteering, but we do want to retire from our current career of owning an English school in Japan.

Too many people still believe that retirement is for the 65 and older crowd who have worked and saved their whole lives and still have trouble making ends meet. How much money do you really need to retire? What if you could retire now, for as little as $500 per month? Of course, that means cutting back on most luxuries and living a relatively simple life but it does seem possible in lower income countries like The Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, and Indonesia.

If you could live on $500 per month ($6,000 per year) and you made 6% annually from safe investments, you would only need to have $100,000 saved to retire. ($100,000 X 6 % = $6,000 per year) Alternatively, if you could make $500 per month from passive income like rental income from your house, or some internet business, then you could effectively retire now.

Ken Baylis on EscapeArtist.com, wrote two comprehensive posts (Retiring on $500 per month Part 1, Part 2) on living costs in several Asian countries. Here is the Breakdown.

Approximate expenses for apartment living on the cheap in Cambodia.

Rent: $90
Electric: $15
Water: $10
Cable: $35
Groceries: $130
Transport: $30
Miscellaneous  – Visa Insurance etc. $75
Total monthly expenses – $310

Approximate expenses for apartment living on the cheap in the Philippines.

Rent: P7,500
Electric: P1,300
Water: P120
Cable: P850
Groceries: P5,000
Taxis: P3,000
Miscellaneous  Visa, Insurance etc. P2,500
Total monthly expenses P20,270 – $431

(Here is another post with a $500 budget for The Philippines.)

From my experiences in Bali and Thailand, I know that living within these means is quite possible. Guest houses and inexpensive, but nice accommodations can definitely be found for less than $10 per night, particularly in off seasons. Long term stays generally get a bit of a discount but expect prices to substantially increase in the peak season starting at about Christmas.

The sample living costs that Ken Baylis offers are missing some other considerable expenses. Airfare is the biggest cost. If you plan on traveling extensively like my wife and I plan to do, then travel costs will greatly inflate your budget. This can be offset by traveling to local countries by bus or other cheap transportation, but for most jet set citizens, expect to add another $3000 to $5000 per person per year for air travel. That will increase your monthly budget by $300 or $400 per month.

Medical Care
Another key concern, for the older of us anyway, is health care. We all need to have decent access to medical care should we need it. Many credit cards offer coverage for vacations but there may be some difficulties getting reimbursed if you are a perpetual traveler. It is probably advisable to have some sort of international health care which can cost anywhere from $20 to $100 or more per month depending on the type of coverage. Global Insurance offers rates of $169 per year while World Nomads comes in at the higher end of the scale at $961 per year. Do your research and find an insurance provider with the coverage you need and also make sure it is a company that will pay out if the time comes.

The good news is that many countries like Thailand, Costa Rica, Hungary, and India have great, inexpensive medical care with English speaking doctors and dentists. Even if you need major procedures, you are probably better off then trying to go through the cash strapped medical system in your own country. Just make sure you have a substantial chunk of money readily available in case something serious happens.

Traveling Costs for Real People
Another key factor is luxury. It is hard to always save and scrimp. Cheap locations off the beaten path are great for a month or two, but most of us need to go to a big city and indulge in a nice dinner, a bottle of wine, purchase a new camera or clothes, etc. Of course, most of us need decent computers with reliable internet access. It is likely that you will want to take lessons, go sight-seeing, learn a craft or study a language, etc. Everything costs money.

$500 is definitely possible, but unless you are a real hermit, your expenses will be more. Talking to people in Asia, Central America and South America some numbers I commonly hear are $1000 to get by, $2000 to live comfortably and $4000 to live like a king.

Accommodations
$100 per month accommodation is certainly possible in many countries around the world, but it might be at the lower end for the preferences of some travelers. A more comfortable range would be from $300 to $700. For $700 you can often find a beautiful house, sometimes with a swimming pool, in lower income countries. Here are a couple of examples;

Serviced apartments in Changmai, Thailand for about $300 per month
Condos in Cebu, Philippines many in gated communities, sometimes with swimming pools for $300+

Food
Food can be found very cheaply in many countries, even if eating out. However, $5 per day as Ken Baylis suggests might be a little too low for my tastes. Even in an inexpensive tourist oriented restaurant, eating out with some drinks can cost you more than $15 for one meal. Of course, it is not necessary to do this every day but many of the more expensive and trendier restaurants and bars are great places to connect with other foreigners.

Most of us will have a difficult time eating local food all the time. We all get cravings for various cheeses, breads, meats, or sauces. One trip to an international food store can often blow your budget for months. Based on my tastes and preferences I would say a more comfortable food budget would be closer to $500 to per month for eating out and groceries.

Internet
It is becoming increasingly common to find wi-fi Internet access even in more remote tourist enclaves. You may be able to scavenge free access if you are lucky, but for those of us building internet businesses, reliable and fast Internet connections are necessary. Don’t expect much in poorer countries. You will likely pay full western rates for a quarter of the speed if you are lucky. Expect to pay  $50 to $80 for Internet access if you can get it.  For those of us who will live more nomadic lives, buying your own long-term Internet connection is not an option. However, expect to pay similar amounts visiting internet cafes if your guest house or accommodations don’t have Internet included.

Real Costs of Retiring for Jet Set Citizens
Rent: $300 to $700
Utilities: $80
Internet: $60
Groceries: $200
Eating / Drinking Out: $300
Airfare (on a monthly basis) $300
Health Insurance: $80
Visas, translators, legal: $50
Total monthly expenses – $1370 – $1770

If traveling with another person or family members some of these costs can be shared, like rent, utilities, and internet connections. Other expenses will be per person. My wife and I expect a budget of about $2000 per month. This might be as little as $1000 in countries like Thailand but will shoot up to $3000 when we go to Europe or return to Japan.

Costs of Retiring For Two
Rent: $300 to $700
Utilities: $80
Internet: $60
Groceries: $300
Eating / Drinking Out: $400
Airfare (on a monthly basis) $600
Health Insurance: $160
Visas, translators, legal: $50
Total monthly expenses – $1950 – $2350

For $2000 per month you could have a very comfortable life in a tropical country with great food and a fantastic lifestyle. $1000 per month is very doable for those willing to sacrifice material comforts and give up western ideas of consumption. $500 is the low end of the scale. Possible for shorter term travel, but unless you are capable of living a very ascetic lifestyle, it is not practical for indefinite travel. Don’t get me wrong, I strongly encourage everyone to greatly reduce their environmental footprint on the world by living simpler lives. Living on $500 is still possible but it requires a disconnection from the rest of the world. It certainly would be hard to blog about it on $500 per month.

Live for Free
Another option is volunteer programs. There are a wide variety of volunteer opportunities around the world that cover all your living expenses so it is possible to live on next to nothing and do meaningful work to enrich the lives of disadvantaged people. Volunteer for a year or two and let your savings earn you a safe return on investment. You will then have more savings to begin your early retirement. Who knows, you may even find that volunteering brings you the spiritual satisfaction that you were looking for in life.

Here are a couple of links to get you started;

Volunteer Abroad
Projects Abroad

Do You Really Want to Retire?
Of course, the point is not to retire at all.  Lifestyle design is about liberating yourself from work you hate so that you can focus on your passion and really contribute something of value to the world. Your passion may be expressed through art, volunteering or starting a business. Go ahead and retire from your soul-sucking, dead-end job but you will go crazy living in a tropical paradise for the rest of your life. Retire now so that you can begin your life’s work.

Update
The Cheapest Places to Live in the World. $500 per month?- OpenTravel.com

Remember to Subscribe to My RSS feed
My wife and I have a one year plan to change our careers and move to a new country.
If you are interested in hearing more about our progress and reading interviews with real people making huge lifestyle design decisions, please subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter.