Re: Trailblazer's Journal
Posted: Sun May 25, 2025 1:22 am
Quite a bit of travel last 18 months, roughly sticking to my game plan of 50% time in US and 50% international locations. I've visited every continent except Antarctica since Jan. 2024 plus finished visiting all 50 states.
Off the top of my head, I visited Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea, China (Beijing + Hong Kong), Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Guatamala, Costa Rica, Panama, Spain, France, Italy, Morocco, Cape Verde, Bosnia, Greece, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji.
My single favorite location was Iguazu Falls (especially the Brazil side). Sorry Niagara it's no contest. Norway was beautiful but Scandinavia is so expensive any future travel there will probably be limited. I want to revisit almost everywhere in Asia.
I keep exploring Mexico more and more. Mexico City holds its own against any global city and the rest of the country is affordable and a perfect mix of cultures (different enough from the US but still has a western/N.American element). Also for Americans it is so much easier/cheaper/quicker to get to and tourist/visa time limits are pretty generous. I also love Brazil, but it is so much more work to get there vs. Mexico, especially when wanting to keep plans flexible.
When traveling, I always try to identify one thing a day to do - e.g., nature trail, museum, famous site. Also try to have a scavenger hunt going. e.g., I have a friend who collects a specific type of antique toy so while in Japan visited tons of random used toy stores and thrift shops for several weeks to try and find one. I couldn't care less about the physical object, but leads to lots of random serendipity - exploring random neighborhoods, interacting with daily life etc.)
Took a few long repositioning cruises (transatlantic, transpacific and panama canal) that were "relatively" budget friendly especially when eliminating the need for a plane ticket and daily food purchase. If finances ever allowed, I could absolutely live mostly full-time on a cruise ship.
No hard and fast travel expense rules, but I generally spend at least week or two in any given city and stay in budget hotel or weekly Airbnb. Never anything fancy or expensive but try to always get a good central location and always have at least a private room.
I don't track expenses too closely but put everything on my credit card (paid off monthly) and try not to let it ever go above 5K for a month - usually it's less. So far net worth has held up (and actually increased since Jan. 2024). My financial "backup plan" is that expenses could be cut significantly (frankly almost eliminated if needed) by staying put in the US for an extended period and/or hunkering down in a low cost location.
Pretty active each day with trading (almost exclusively day trade scalping or short-term swing trades). Mostly just trade SPY, GDX and a few other tickers. Mostly avoid options - just going long or short with the same brokerage funds over and over LOL. Goal #1 is not to lose and goal #2 is to make a few hundred bucks per transaction.
Tons of reading. Trying more and more to just reread books I like. I forget who said it but "you get much more out of reading a good book twice than two different books once." I still read new stuff but have found that the bar is getting higher and higher for finishing a new book.
Staying put in the U.S. for the next few months, then want to do a big Asia trip. Would also like to take an intensive language Spanish class this winter. I definitely have a sense now of the types of places I like best. As with reading books, I want to focus more and more on diving deeper in select places while always checking out somewhere new. Still need to visit Antarctica but that is expensive . . .
Off the top of my head, I visited Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea, China (Beijing + Hong Kong), Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Guatamala, Costa Rica, Panama, Spain, France, Italy, Morocco, Cape Verde, Bosnia, Greece, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji.
My single favorite location was Iguazu Falls (especially the Brazil side). Sorry Niagara it's no contest. Norway was beautiful but Scandinavia is so expensive any future travel there will probably be limited. I want to revisit almost everywhere in Asia.
I keep exploring Mexico more and more. Mexico City holds its own against any global city and the rest of the country is affordable and a perfect mix of cultures (different enough from the US but still has a western/N.American element). Also for Americans it is so much easier/cheaper/quicker to get to and tourist/visa time limits are pretty generous. I also love Brazil, but it is so much more work to get there vs. Mexico, especially when wanting to keep plans flexible.
When traveling, I always try to identify one thing a day to do - e.g., nature trail, museum, famous site. Also try to have a scavenger hunt going. e.g., I have a friend who collects a specific type of antique toy so while in Japan visited tons of random used toy stores and thrift shops for several weeks to try and find one. I couldn't care less about the physical object, but leads to lots of random serendipity - exploring random neighborhoods, interacting with daily life etc.)
Took a few long repositioning cruises (transatlantic, transpacific and panama canal) that were "relatively" budget friendly especially when eliminating the need for a plane ticket and daily food purchase. If finances ever allowed, I could absolutely live mostly full-time on a cruise ship.
No hard and fast travel expense rules, but I generally spend at least week or two in any given city and stay in budget hotel or weekly Airbnb. Never anything fancy or expensive but try to always get a good central location and always have at least a private room.
I don't track expenses too closely but put everything on my credit card (paid off monthly) and try not to let it ever go above 5K for a month - usually it's less. So far net worth has held up (and actually increased since Jan. 2024). My financial "backup plan" is that expenses could be cut significantly (frankly almost eliminated if needed) by staying put in the US for an extended period and/or hunkering down in a low cost location.
Pretty active each day with trading (almost exclusively day trade scalping or short-term swing trades). Mostly just trade SPY, GDX and a few other tickers. Mostly avoid options - just going long or short with the same brokerage funds over and over LOL. Goal #1 is not to lose and goal #2 is to make a few hundred bucks per transaction.
Tons of reading. Trying more and more to just reread books I like. I forget who said it but "you get much more out of reading a good book twice than two different books once." I still read new stuff but have found that the bar is getting higher and higher for finishing a new book.
Staying put in the U.S. for the next few months, then want to do a big Asia trip. Would also like to take an intensive language Spanish class this winter. I definitely have a sense now of the types of places I like best. As with reading books, I want to focus more and more on diving deeper in select places while always checking out somewhere new. Still need to visit Antarctica but that is expensive . . .