Cheers To 6 Years Of A Purple Life!

by A Purple Life, posted in Blogging, Hobbies
This post may contain affiliate links. For more info read my disclosure.

I’m still here! It’s been 6 years since I took this blog public, which is 50% longer than I’ve ever held one job and this is by far my longest running hobby. In that time, I’ve published a post at least every Tuesday. I never thought I would be able to keep up that kind of consistency despite everything life can throw at us. So let’s celebrate!

I’m going to go through the highlights of my year blog-wise, some cool opportunities I’ve had, some I’ve declined and generally, what’s been going on behind the scenes around here. Some of these things I’ve mentioned in my monthly updates, but I find it helpful to put everything in one place, so that’s what I’m doing today 🙂 . I’ve done something similar in past years and those posts are here if you’re interested:

So let’s get into it!

Blog Highlights

Here are some of my favorite things that happened this past year because of the blog.

Meet Ups

This blog went international! In the last year I met up with readers who reached out to me about getting coffee in Canada and Australia, which specifically blew my mind that people on the other side of the world are reading my words. I know the internet exists, but my mind was still blown 🙂 .

Stateside I met up with readers in NYC, Troy NY, Austin TX and Sacramento CA. I also met up with other bloggers in México, Canada, Singapore and New Zealand as well as Sacramento, CA.

It’s been a year filled with meeting new people and hanging out with people I’ve only known online, which has been amazing. It’s been super cool to connect with this community in that way. If you want to chat with me over coffee and notice I’m going to be in your area, feel free to let me know!

Things That Warmed My Heart

So in 2022 I moved to Mérida, México to learn Spanish at a school called La Calle. I wrote about my experiences in the (long) Instagram post below and was shocked to hear from a reader this year that they went to Mérida to attend La Calle at my recommendation and when they did, they met another couple that was studying at this small school at my recommendation. WHAT?! That absolutely BLEW my mind.

I was also included in this awesome article by the lovely Bitches Get Riches:

I love shouting out places with great food, service and atmosphere, so it warms my heart when these (usually smaller establishments) appreciate it. Here were my favorites this year:

A “Like” Button

I found out how to add a “Like” button to my posts at the recommendation of a reader when I was discussing the (understandable) decline in comments around here. I’m going to try my best to not just use the Like button as another metric of outside validation and instead focus on writing because I love it 🙂 .

Tech Issues

So this is technically a lowlight, but I wanted to mention it because it’s been a large part of what I’ve been trying to fix on the site this year. After apparently years of it happening, my Mom casually mentioned that she found it hard to read my posts because the page jumped on her iPhone….WHAT?!

I asked her why she hadn’t mentioned this to me before because that’s a horrible user experience and since I don’t have an iPhone, I had no idea it was happening. I then asked y’all if you had a similar experience and you did. I felt horrible this has been going on and worked to fix it. I even brought in my web dev Partner for his expertise. 

I made a few changes to the site and have heard from y’all that it’s fixed after clearing your browser cache (though I heard from one person who uses an RSS reader that it’s jumping on there, but so far it seems like that might be an issue with the RSS that I can’t affect. I’m still digging though).

Anyway, all that to say: if you see something weird on this site that doesn’t work or that makes your experience not awesome, please let me know! You can contact me by emailing purple [at] apurplelife.com. Thank you so much for being here and thank you again for the feedback!

Press

In the last year I was featured in 6 articles and 1 published book! Check them out here:

A big blog accomplishment this year was that I was included in Jamila Souffrant’s new book Your Journey To Financial Freedom. Seeing myself in a published book continues to make my brain not compute 🙂 .

Podcasts & Interviews

This year I was interviewed for a live Q&A for the Women’s Personal Finance Insiders Group, which was a fun time. I was also asked to be a guest on two podcasts – What Kind Of Money and Money Noticias:

Declined Opportunities

This is a summary of the wild west that is my email inbox. I like to write down the most memorable of these requests to see what each year brings, any trends that emerge and also just to remember the ridiculous stuff that happened since a lot of it is in my Trash folder and out of my mind now.

I declined some cool things, such as:

  • I was asked to be on a podcast panel, but had to decline because I wasn’t available that day (I’m busy ok 😉 )
  • This year, a lot of people asked me if I offer coaching for a fee. I don’t and told them as much, but I was honored to be asked. That just sounds way too much like a job to me 🙂
  • I was also asked by a fellow blogger if I wanted to host a writing retreat, which sounds like a fun thing to attend, but lots of work to set up. And I’m allergic to work these days so I declined 🙂 .
  • Joining a media company that reps black creators, which is something possibly interesting that I haven’t heard of before, but not something I’m looking for at this time
  • A company that wanted me to be a host on a streaming service to talk about movies
  • A company that wanted to help me create a finance education course

I also declined some not so cool things, including:

  • I was offered as much money as I made from this blog in 2022 ($4K) to promote what seems to be an Amazon reselling business – nope
  • Someone offered to pay me $1,000 to join their influencer platform (that’s suspicious)
  • Working with a company that wanted to turn my blog posts into YouTube videos for me with stock photos, which also sounds suspicious
  • Partnering with a company that helps people purchase lottery tickets online to which I say “fuck no!”:
  • A perfume MLM – also a fuck no:
  • I was asked to participate in what looks like a group of family vloggers wanting to promote brands (which I apparently am?) – Absolutely not:

Companies also tried to tempt me with products:

  • A company wanted to send me a subscription box of Japanese snacks. I found this interesting since I’m going there soon, but I’m not down with the subscription box model personally and prefer to use that money to buy non-surprise items that I love
  • A sunglasses company tried to incentivize me into joining their affiliate program by offering to send me their $300 sunglasses. I don’t know what part of my love of frugality made them think sunglasses with an unnecessary 3x markup was in my realm of interest
  • A wine company that wanted to send me free bottles of their wine – that’s never happened before

And events:

  • I was also asked to go to several Chicago influencer events. I don’t know why they thought I lived in Chicago or go to such events
  • An events company that wanted to pay for a round of drinks for me and 2 friends if I go to a specific event (I guess free drinks lost their appeal once I hit 1.5x my retirement amount 😉 )

And strange financial products:

  • A virtual money coach company (I guess AI is already infiltrating the personal finance space?) and a new money management app
  • A matchmaking service for financial advisors (that matches them with clients – not each other 🙂 )
  • A crypto wallet company
  • Several companies wanted me to join a platform where I answer questions for a fee. Is this a new trend? I’ve been getting contacted every month by several companies with this model. I’m gonna continue answering questions for free online so I’m good 🙂

And several people immediately proved that they hadn’t read my blog at all before emailing me:

  • People from a honeymoon travel writers company reached out, which I found funny since I’m never getting married
  • I was asked to be an affiliate for a housing investment course…something I know nothing about. No thx
  • A company that lets people rent their empty storage spaces to other people. This is kind of hilarious to me since I live out of a 40L backpack and have never used a storage space
  • A wealth management company, which goes against my whole “learn everything so you understand what’s up and DIY it” approach
  • A company targeting Stay-at-Home Moms Going Through Divorce, which I found humorous since I am literally none of those things
  • A company offered me $500 to add a link to my site advertising their life insurance for parents…I don’t think I need to point out why that’s strange 🙂 (Hint: No, I’m Never Having Kids.)

All Posts

Here are all the posts I wrote in the last year organized by topic. I was a bit all over the place, but that’s my favorite place to be 🙂 .

Early Retirement

Finances

Monthly Recaps

Nomad Living

Slow Travel Reviews

Travel Reviews

Flight Reviews

Medical Tourism

Reviews

Hobbies

Blog

Guest Posts

Annual Posts

Reflections

Looking at the above, I’m seeing a lot more travel focused posts and even less having to do with you know…finance 🙂 aka the original purpose of this blog. Money really isn’t on my mind anymore and it looks like that’s reflected in the posts I’ve been writing and I’m fine with that. This blog is more about my life now that I have all the money I need instead of keeping a laser focus on accumulating that money.

This year I also realized that all these specific posts about an airport or airline experience and exploring new cities are very helpful – for me specifically 🙂 . I write them because I enjoy them and love to hear if they’ve helped someone else, but this year I found myself looking at MY OWN posts to remember how I applied for a New Zealand visa or used the Montréal subway before doing so again. I found it hilarious that I was using my own site and the words I wrote as a resource, but that’s what it’s there for and I can’t remember every tiny detail of my life – that’s why I write it down 🙂 . So those words perfectly served their purpose.

Another trend I’ve been seeing is that I’m getting wordier and wordier in retirement. I keep thinking I don’t have a lot to say and then suddenly I’m 4,000 words into a post about headphones of all things. I think I just need to accept that I’m wordier now and plan around it, especially when I’m traveling more quickly.

I’ve already instituted a goal of working on the blog daily just so I’m always in the habit, even if it’s a quick 10 minutes on my phone while I’m waiting in a line or a solid hour banging something out on my computer. Making sure I’m always in the habit of thinking about what I want to say has helped it be easier to get out wordy posts even while traveling quickly. I’m hoping this continues to help me as I go on my Eurotrip this fall. We shall see 🙂 .

Conclusion

So that’s the last year of the blog in a nutshell – 6 years WOOHOO! I can barely believe it, but I’m excited to see what happens next. I suspect I’ll continue wondering if this is indeed a finance blog while talking more about travel and food…and then continue writing whatever I want 😉 . Thank you for being here!

Do you have any blog questions for me? If so, drop them in the comments below!

29 thoughts on “Cheers To 6 Years Of A Purple Life!”

  2. Your blog is a good example of how finance affects our wider life choices 🙂 finance+ should be a genre of blogs, it’s what most FIRE blogs seem to actually be.

    Happy blogiversary! Look at all the good your blog has done in the world!

    Reply

    1. Thank you! I like this finance+ idea 🙂 . It does often surprise me what yeeting a few words onto the internet has done – life is wild.

      Reply

  3. Congrats on 6 years! Thanks for posting throughout. Think I discovered you in 2021 and you got me through a really terrible 2022. I truly appreciate the consistency in you posting. At this point, it’s great to see the natural evolution of your blog. I can’t speak for other readers but if you’re interested in posting about travel more so than finance, that’s fine with me because its what your passionate writing about which I can pick up on reading. Anyway! Keep up the great work

    Reply

    1. Thank you Ken! I’m sorry you had a terrible 2022 and I’m happy to hear I could help make it a little better. And no worries – I’m going to keep writing about what interests me, no matter the topic. And looking back at the last year finance hasn’t been on my mind that much and I suspect that will continue to be on the case. Thank you for reading!

      Reply

  4. I just retired and am getting ready to head to Panama for 9 months. I have found your various travel posts super, super (super) helpful, so thank you so much for these!

    When I was filling out medical forms, I found myself scouring your posts again so I could find that reference to “PillInTrip”, for example, so I could reassure the Fulbright folks my meds would be available in my host country.

    Kudos on 6 years!

    Reply

    1. CONGRATULATIONS!!! That’s so exciting. Have fun in Panama! I’m so happy to hear my posts have been helpful 🙂 . And thank you.

      Reply

  5. I’m sure I’ve said this before, but I like the travel posts better!

    Like you, I find that money isn’t very interesting since I retired. Once you have enough of it, it fades into the background and stops mattering. But I’ve gotten ideas to put on my bucket list from your travel writeups – and even the places I have no plans to go to, I can enjoy vicariously through you. 🙂

    Reply

    1. Good to know! I’ll keep the travel posts coming then since I enjoy them too 🙂 . And yeah that is a ridiculous truth about money. I still find it funny since so much of my past was focused on it, but you’re right – when you have enough it stops mattering.

      Reply

  6. I love that you turned down so many cool and not-so-cool opportunities. It’s great to see examples of what sticking to your core values look like. Congrats on 6 years of your blog and cheers to living your best retired life!

    Reply

    1. Thank you 🙂 ! I find it interesting to look back on and also make sure I’m spending my time and energy on the things that matter most to me.

      Reply

  7. Hi Purple,
    Congrats! I don’t remember how I found your blog, but I’m glad I did! Thanks for sharing your journey with us.

    Just curious…what are your long term plans? Travel until you’re in your sixties, buy a home eventually, etc.

    Reply

    1. Hi! Thank you for being here 🙂 . My answer is likely unsatisfying: I don’t have long term plans and I’m really happy about that. I can just do things I enjoy until I don’t anymore – like travel until it’s not fun anymore. I have no interest in owning a home personally so that’s probably not in the cards, but overall I have no idea what I’ll be doing in another 6 years and that’s exciting to me. I’ll just follow my interests and see where they take me 🙂 .

      Reply

  8. Congrats on 6 years and thanks fornall the valuable content here! I’d love to cross path with you as well some days given that I am getting closer and closer to my retirement number and this triggers lots of questions. I’m off npw to read your post on what retirees do all day to prepare for that.
    Cheers!

    Reply

    1. Thank you! Congratulations on getting close to your retirement number!!! If you have specific questions feel free to drop them in a comment or email me if you’d prefer.

      Reply

  9. Congratulations Purple! I have been reading your blog for years. Your posts have given me inspiration, countless pick-me-ups on tough days, and hope that one day I would also be able to reach fire. And I made it. I’m giving my notice at work next week. Thank you for continuing to post and share your story. It has meant so much to me over the years.

    Reply

    1. OH WOW – thank you so much for telling me that and CONGRATULATIONS!!! That’s amazing. Good luck giving your notice and have a wonderful retirement! I’m ecstatic to hear I had a small part in helping make that happen.

      Reply

  10. Congrats! I don’t remember how long I’ve been reading your blog–quite a while. At some point I went back and read enough of the original posts to fill in the back story. I think your current mix of topics is perfect, and it’s great that you are doing it because you enjoy it and it is useful to YOU.

    The reference to the storage unit and backpack got me curious about a travel logistics thing. Does everything you own fit in that one 40L pack, or do you have a bigger suitcase of options that you leave with your partner when you are off on a trip with your mom. And does your partner stay with family on those trips where you aren’t together? Do you keep a small stash of stuff (summer/winter gear, etc) with family members you visit regularly?

    Reply

    1. Thanks you! Yes – everything I own is in the 40L backpack and a personal item that contains a small purse and a foldable hiking backpack. I don’t own other bags. I do leave some winter gear with my partner’s parents place since we visit them for Christmas, but that’s about it. My partner stays with his family when I travel without him or he travels on his own to see friends.

      Reply

  11. Happy 6-year anniversary! And thank you for continuing to blog regularly, even after having reached FIRE (so many other blogs, not just, but also in the FIRE realm, have stopped blogging, so it is wonderful to read your posts every week).
    I also enjoy your mix of topics, even if all your travel posts give me a severe wanderlust at a time when travel sadly isn’t in the cards much. But I know I’ll check back here if I ever travel to any of the areas you’ve been to (and I already bookmarked going to Montréal because of your posts, because that is a place that wasn’t really on my radar).

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much! I’m happy to hear my consistency is appreciated haha. I’m sorry about the wanderlust, but I hope you do check out Montréal if it’s in the cards. I love it here and it’s surprisingly inexpensive IMHO with the currency exchange.

      Reply

  12. Congrats! I think I discovered you and your site through Twitter and it opened up the whole world of FIRE to me. And even though your posts aren’t as finance-focused now, I still enjoy reading each new post!

    Reply

    1. Thank you! It’s super cool to hear you found me through Twitter since I’ve gone dark over there haha and I’m so happy to hear I helped introduce you to FIRE! Awesome to know you’re still enjoying the posts despite the lack of finance. Thank you for reading.

      Reply

  14. I like that you turned down all these offers of “work” basically because you don’t really need any additional money. That is the spitting image of financial independence and somewhat rare in the niche that you write in.

    I’m guessing that you probably would not have even bothered with affiliate links if you were thinking about setting those up today vs. a few years ago when you spend the time on it.

    Reply

    1. That’s an interesting thought experiment and I suspect you’re right since I was so against monetizing this blog at all for years. I have affiliate links and ads on here with the goal of this blog paying for its own costs so if I need to cut expenses for some reason this is not something that would be on the chopping block.

      Reply

  15. Hi Purple!

    Thank-you for continuing to write. I love your style of storytelling even when it’s not about something I’d naturally be interested in.

    I retired early at about the same time as you did (Autumn 2019) so I sort of consider you my retirement buddy! I enjoy reading about your travels while I stay at home and do things like gardening and hanging out with my cat.

    Reply

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