Ecuador: A Travel Blog

The view from our front door

ECUADOR

I’m continuing my series that catalogs tips I learned during my travels so you can have all the insider information. I’m currently writing this from a terrace at the base of 4 volcanoes – overlooking a lake. I had no expectations before coming to Ecuador, but I can now say that the nature views are absolutely breathtaking. Continue reading “Ecuador: A Travel Blog”

Gnomes

I’m not sure what’s going on in this picture, but I love it.

I don’t know where a lot of the “things” in my life come from. I was walking with my partner to the grocery store earlier and saw an awesome pen in the driveway – the type of pen I’ve been using to practice faux-lligraphy the last few days (my new obsession). My partner saw me reaching for it and exclaimed “don’t pick that up off the ground!!!” To which I responded “why not? That’s how I get a lot of my pens.” He was horrified. Continue reading “Gnomes”

$275,000 Net Worth

This milestone feels weird to me and I’m not sure why. In January of this year I quickly hit $250,000 net worth thanks to a crazy market, which then entered a correction. It’s taken a few months to get back to where I was now. After adding in my latest paychecks and the market being up 3% we have arrived here. Continue reading “$275,000 Net Worth”

Saying No To A Discount Vacation

I keep surprising myself with what I say no to during this journey to early retirement. My friend and former colleague works at a company that offers discounted stays at a Four Seasons in Mexico. It looks beautiful (see above). Their rooms usually start at $400/night and we would get to stay for $75/night so $37.50/person/night. That’s a crazy discount. We would also receive half priced food and drinks…which would probably bring them to regular restaurant prices. Continue reading “Saying No To A Discount Vacation”

Bringing Retirement Into Now: A Visit From Mom

One of the things I’m trying to work on is not putting things off for retirement. If there’s something that I want in retirement – I ask “Is there a way to bring it more into my daily life now?” My main driver for retirement is to spend A LOT MORE time with the people I love. And not just more time, but less distracted, more focused and less tired time. Continue reading “Bringing Retirement Into Now: A Visit From Mom”

Review: EVA Air

I’ll be honest – I was scared for this flight from Seattle to Singapore. It would be my first 13.5 hour flight in economy (I know, princess much?) and it was also basically double the length of my previous longest economy flight: 7 hours. I was worried and thought this flight would convince me to dive even deeper into travel hacking and never ride long-haul economy again. I shouldn’t have worried. This flight on EVA Air was great and solidified my place as an international economy passenger.  
Continue reading “Review: EVA Air”

The Opposite Problem

So I started my weight loss journey over a year ago because I wasn’t able to fit into a lot of my clothing and I refuse to waste money buying the same clothes in a larger size. So I dove into keto and lost 50 lbs. Now I’m being faced with a different problem: A lot of my clothes don’t fit now because they’re too big! Continue reading “The Opposite Problem”

What Do You Want To Do When You Grow Up?

My Mom recently told me a story about myself that I completely don’t remember, but SPOILER ALERT: I’ve always been this way y’all. Apparently my dreams of retirement were not born out of frustration after job hopping once a year and finding more ways that traditional work is incompatible with the life I want to lead. Here’s the proof. This is an interaction between 10 year old me and my uncle: Continue reading “What Do You Want To Do When You Grow Up?”