We recently took our first Transatlantic Cruise on Holland America's Oosterdam, and below are some pros and cons for taking this option.

This is not a review of our specific cruise ship, but rather to help you evaluate which option is best for you: fly or cruise.

Time to travel

One of the biggest considerations is time: our most important commodity.

If you are working and have limited vacation time, you may not want to spend that time on a floating all-inclusive hotel on the ocean.

If you have five or six weeks of vacation per year, maybe you can take the cruise, enjoy two weeks in Europe, and fly home.

Or better yet, fly to Europe, spend two weeks of frantic sight seeing, and then spend two weeks on a ship going home to rest and be refreshed when you get back to work.

If you are retired, the cruise option is much more attractive. Time is not an obstacle to overcome, and the people on these cruises tend to skew toward the older community, largely due to the freedom available.

And if you are in our very small group, the full-time digital nomads, as long as you have two weeks vacation to spend, it works pretty well.

If you are working, and want to spring for the internet package and try to work on the cruise, just do your homework. Not all cruise internet is created equal, and it may depend on your bandwidth needs if it would be adequate for your work.

I lean toward vacation because that is the best way to get the most from any all-inclusive experience.

Comfort, peace, and disconnecting

This section is not for those who want to work on the ship.

If you leave off the internet package, you will experience something you may not have had in years: digital freedom.

No social media, no email, no texts, no calls. Reconnect with your spouse, read books, enjoy quiet reflection, and do it for two weeks where you can truly rewire your brain to relax.

And no airport to weigh your bags, worry about extra charges, hassle with the whole quick travel experience. You bring your luggage, unpack, store suitcases under your bed, and live without responsibilities for two weeks.

Hungry? There is always food on the Lido deck or special meals in the dinning room at meal times.

Tired? Rest in your room, on the deck in the sun with a book, in the Eagle's nest to play chess, or in an adults only serenity deck to have drinks with your person.

Bored? Go to one of the many scheduled trivia times. Enjoy the many music performances in all different styles. Listen to lectures from experts in interesting fields of study. Go to a comedy event, the evening show, or watch a recent blockbuster movie by the pool.

No shopping, no cooking, no cleaning, no chores. Just relax.

Timezone Change

When you fly and end up with a seven to ten hour time difference, it can be a tough adjustment. Sometimes this might even impact you for two or three days, cutting into your enjoyment of Europe.

Cruise, and you change one hour every few days and never feel any negative effect. When you arrive, you are already on local time.

This one is all upside.

Cost

When I first started looking into this, I was shocked at what I found.

Even on the surface, the cost is about the same to cruise across to Europe as it is to fly. Of course you can spend much more depending on your room selection, package options, and excursions. But we did it for the same price as our flight would have been.

And when we did the full financial analysis, we were actually saving money!

Two weeks of no groceries.

Two weeks of no lodging cost.

Two weeks of no dinning costs.

Two weeks of no entertainment costs.

When I finished my analysis for us, I realized that even if we ended up spending some extra on optional things on the cruise, we still broke even with the flight.

It was a game changer.

Two week vacation plus get to Europe plus spend the same or less as flying plus no jetlag.

It starts to make you wonder, why would I fly?

Stops along the way

We were able to stop in the Ponta Gorda, Funchal, and Ceuta as we neared the European mainland. And this represented two firsts for us. First visit to Portugal in the first two stops, and in Ceuta, our first opportunity to set foot on the African continent, as it is a Spanish territory bordering Morroco in northern Africa.

These are places we likely would never have visited, but we had the opportunity thanks to the cruise stops. These experiences enhanced the overall trip, and created a break from the ship after eight days at sea.

And it was free. We do not spring for excursion packages because we love to walk a city to get to know it, even if just for a few hours. But if excursions fit your preferences and budget, you have options. Or you can stay on the ship and enjoy a quieter time while so many are on shore.

Another perk is getting a few hours of connected internet without an extra charge. At least the way we do it, since we use Airalo esims and had bought 3gb of data for Europe before leaving on the cruise.

Book far ahead or last minute

The last minute bookings I can only base on other people's experience, but I have read you can get some deals.

I can speak to booking early.

We booked our cruise this year several months before the cruise, and we thought we had a pretty good deal for our interior room.

As we were looking, we casually looked at cruises for the following year, more than 12 months in advance.

We were shocked to find a 14 night cruise on the largest class of Princess Cruise ships (our cruise this year was on one of the smallest Holland America ships), and for a partially obstructed balcony room rather than interior, we were going to pay several hundred less than for our interior room this year.

We put a deposit down right away.

The lesson: to get the deals on such low-supply items as a discounted partially obstructed balcony, you must book early.

For those wondering about the cost for next year, it was less than $2,000 for the two of us, all in. Lodging, food, entertainment, and transport to Europe.

It is not for everyone. But as budget minded nomads, we have decided it is for us.

Happy sailing.

Budgeting is not optional, and in fact is essential, to having a successful and long-term nomadic life.

Learn from pre-nomad spending

Before nomad life, maybe you followed a budget, or maybe it was controlled chaos. One thing is sure, it is easier to look back at spending than to predict spending.

Use your past spending to analyze honestly what you spend money on. Categorize it, break it down, and don't sugar-coat it. You need to know the truth.

Ideally, include 12 months of spending so you include all of those annual costs in your evaluation.

If you plan to sell everything

There are two budget categories that most directly impact your nomad budget when you plan to sell everything: housing and transportation.

For housing, leave nothing out. Include mortgage/rent property tax, utilities, termite inspection, AC/Heating maintenance/replacement, roof replacement at an annualized rate, appliance replacement, etc. The list should be long.

For each item, ask yourself, “Is this an expense that I would directly have to pay if I was in an AirBnB or Hotel?” If the answer is No, add it to your housing expense total.

For the starter-simple-math, this annualized cost divided by 12 is your monthly AirBnB/Hotel budget. The budget will likely change as you finish a complete nomad budget, but this is back-of-the-napkin visibility into what you may be looking at. It is enough to start checking AirBnB prices for 4 weeks at a time at different times of the year to see how many places fit your housing budget.

Same for the cars. Include car payments, tags, registration, regular maintenance, allowance for occasional maintenance, gas, and any other expenses that apply to your transportation. In a city, that might mean a monthly metro pass, or something similar.

Add it all up, and that is your starter budget for transportation, covering things like flights, trains, and local transport.

If you plan to rent out your house

I am not going to give advice or details on renting out your home/condo, but if you do, just consider that your net profit per month is all you can really budget for in your nomad budget.

Long-term rental? This is a pretty straight forward calculation for rough-math, with a buffer for vacancy rate. Remember that all of those expenses you added up earlier all apply, minus the few things the renter pays directly like utilities.

Renting as AirBnB? I would consider a large emergency fund buffer until you have a couple of years experience with actual profit rates.

Either way, your profit will not be as large as replacing your total expenses by selling, so you may need to find money from other expense categories, or target lower cost housing options based on projected profits.

The goal here is to be realistic. This is not a time for optimism.

Health care and insurance

Depending on your age, health, and activities, this can be a loaded topic.

I cannot address it all, but will throw out a good starting place.

If you have health insurance in your home country and plan to have your regular check-up visits in that country, you may just need travel insurance while abroad.

Safetywing is a good option for simple coverage if you fall ill or have an injury while traveling. It also includes things like emergency evacuation, lost luggage coverage, and travel interruption insurance.

If you don't have any health insurance and plan to spend most of your time abroad, a full health plan like Cigna Global might be what you need.

Consider both what you need when “home” and when abroad to find the right mix of coverage.

Other stuff

The rest of your budget should be suited to your life and preferences. Just like any normal non-nomad budget.

Remember that you are not on vacation, but are simply living in different countries and cities.

That said, if you normally have a vacation budget, continue to have one as a nomad.

We recently spent two day trips in Brussels and Ghent from our 4 week stay in Antwerp, Belgium. The month before, we spent two days and one night in Paris from our home base in Lille, France.

The secret is in the proximity. You spend far less on a Parisian vacation taking the train from Lille than flying in from the US. And day trips cost a train ride and maybe a little more in food and drink than a normal day, but not much.

Final thoughts

I know I did not answer every question, or address every budget concern, but I hope this gives you a way to start looking at your current spending, and take practical steps to see “what if?”

If you have questions about budgeting or other aspects of nomad life, please post a comment.

Remember that planning and dreaming are free.

Until next time, have a good one.

Interesting day trips were less plentiful after living in one place for many years. It was still fun to go see some waterfalls or browse the Space Center, but not even close to life as a nomad.

Nomadic Day-trips are different

Regardless of where we are in the world, including the US, if we are staying in a city that we have not lived in before, it is all new. But that “new home” is also a “new hub.”

From our previous life in the Southeastern United States, we had a set of options less than a day away.

In Europe, you can choose where to go based on this type of convenience.

European Hubs

If you want to combine the cost benefits of slow-travel (lower cost long term accomodations) and the number of cities you can see with fast-travel, pick a hub location.

We are currently spending four weeks in Antwerp, Belgium which is only 1 to 2 hour by train from several cities in Belgium, Netherlands, and even Eastern France.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, which of course is not celebrated in Europe, we decided to take two day-trips, staring with Ghent, Belgium.

Ghent, Belgium

Ghent is a peaceful place with beautiful buildings and calm canals winding through the city. As a university town, it is full of youthful energy and cafés that are reasonably priced. The squares, castle, churches, and cobbled streets are both beautiful and peaceful. Busy but not too crowded. The balance was perfect.

They were setting up for the Christmas Markets, but we're a week too early for their opening. The cost was around $45 for two round-trip any-time train tickets for the 1 hour train ride. We prefer the open-time round trips, so we can hop on any train leaving in the evening when we are ready to go.

Brussles, Belguim

We took one day of rest on Friday, and then went to the capital Brussles on Saturday. We wanted to see the capital, but our date selection was due to the Christmas markets opening Friday, the day before.

The buildings were bigger, the parks vast, and the crowds were insane (at least in some areas, which I will explain).

There are some large government buildings and museums with intricate gardens and sculpted bushes, and just across the wide street, a massive park that was full of overlapping parallel lines of trees and paths, monuments and gazebos, and even a nice outdoor food venue where we had a snack with some coffee.

All of these areas had friends and families enjoying the spaces, but they did not feel crowded, just active and alive.

But as we made our way toward the city center and the main square, the crowd quickly became oppressive. It reminded me of a slightly less severe Trastevarie in Rome at New Year’s day.

That said, the buildings in the square are amazing, ornate, and on every side! The tree was huge, and colored lights were actively changing on all of the buildings surrounding us.

And on the hour, there was a light show with music that was projected on all of the surrounding buildings, and it was spectacular.

And it was just $20 for two round trip train tickets for a 1 hour train ride.

What did we learn?

We learned that Ghent is a place we love, and would consider for a long-term stay in the future. It checks the same boxes that Antwerp checks, and we love Antwerp.

And we might visit Brussles again to see more of the city, but we do not plan on a long-stay there. Much of the charm we felt in the smaller cities gets lost in the dense crowds and scope of the large, capital city. I still can recommend a visit.

Recently in Lille, France we spent a one night stay in Paris, because we can't afford a long-term stay in Paris, but we want to see it.

Conclusion

If you are considering nomadic life, and looking at options like slow-travel versus fast-travel, I propose a healthy salad of the two together.

Day-trips are the inexpensive secret to fight long-stay boredom, and expand on seeing more of every region than just your “home city.” If you have a favorite European hub, feel free to share in the comments.

Until next time, happy travels!

It's been a crazy 3 years. We had clear vision with lots of reflection going into the nomad life, but if you are considering it, just know that it is not a solution to problems, you bring your problems with you. If you are not happy, you will not be suddenly happy somewhere else. But if you are content, you bring that with you.

Travel has helped me see the truth in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 'All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.’

And in the midst of our crazy life, I have found this phrase from Ferris Bueller go from fond memories of my youth to profound truth:

'Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.'

What was our goal?

There are many AR and VR models on the market, so let me start with what we were NOT testing.

We were not looking for a fully emersive virtual environment where you can wave your hand to interact with virtual displays like in Minority Report.

We were not concerned with a screen that covered our whole vision, and only showed the outside world through front-mounted cameras.

We WERE looking for a three panel virtual display to replace three physical screens to perform productivity type work.

And we didn't want to break the bank.

What equipment did we test?

There are several options in the lower cost range. We considered the Virute Pro, Rokid Max, and Xreal Air 2 Pro, all of which live in a similar price bracket.

Ultimately we tried the Xreal Air 2 Pro and an add-on device, the Xreal Beam, which I will comment on later.

What's in the box?

I know, now you're picturing Brad Pitt, but let's move on.

The glasses are light weight, not much heavier than typical sunglasses. From the front, at a distance, they could even be mistaken for sunglasses.

However when worn, the nose pads cause the glasses to rest out from the face enough to signal these are not normal glasses. That said, they “blend in” far better than any other VR gear that you will find on the market.

There are three nose pads to choose from, a nice case, cleaning cloth, prescription glasses insert, and a USB-C cable to connect your AR glasses, we'll, to almost anything. Phone, laptop, or gaming system.

What about productivity?

Using Windows, we want two or three floating screens for productivity, allowing multiple screens of information to be available while reducing the weight and bulk of what we travel with.

With Xreal, you get software that runs on Android, iOS, or Windows, but the Windows software is still in beta, and we are Windows users.

Unfortunately, the beta software very much felt like it was in beta, and we never got it to run without crashing almost immediately.

So for our use case, it was a strike.

But what were the positives?

Let me talk about the Beam device for a second. It is a small, lightweight Android device that you plug the glasses into, and allows for a few pieces of functionality, but only one that I will mention.

The beam let's you place the screen at a fixed height, distance and size from your face. And once you set it, if you look away, and look back, the screen is still in the same position.

This is key functionality for productivity, and works really well for a single large screen. So if you are looking for a large private screen to work from, this might do the trick.

And you plug your phone, laptop, or gaming system into the Beam, so the other system does not have any work to process your floating screen. To your device it is just a monitor.

And what if you have a Samsung Galaxy?

This is where it gets really exciting. Samsung phones have DEX mode, which allows you to plug your phone into a monitor and the display will show a full-screen Chrome OS desktop screen.

Attach a Bluetooth keyboard and the phone turns into a track pad mouse, and you can utilize full productivity apps the same as if on a chromebook.

Add the AR glasses, phone, and foldable keyboard, and you have the most compact productivity solution on the market with a huge virtual screen!

While I love this, and would use it for things like writing this newsletter, it does not solve for our core need.

And is it fun?

Oh yeah, 100% fun.

We enjoyed watching some Netflix on a huge screen, gaming from the laptop on huge screens (It Takes Two), and casual browsing on a large screen.

Our search will continue when we're back in the States. We think the Viture Pro software might be solid enough to work for us, but that is for another day.

For now, if you want a fun gaming or entertainment screen on the go, Xreal Air 2 Pro is a good one.

For productivity, not yet, but maybe one day.

Until next time, have a good one.

That happens when you raise a family in one house over 20+ years.

What is Minimalism?

As a buzz word, minimalism can mean different things to different people.

Maybe it means getting rid of junk that collected in the garage so you can park there.

Or reducing the quantity of certain categories of items, like fewer clothes or shoes or cars.

It could relate to empty nesters downsizing from a house to a condo, because they just don't need that much space anymore.

For us, minimalism means reducing our stuff down to what we can travel with. That was not overnight.

Phase 1

First, we put our house on the market. Nothing motivates you to downsize as much as the desire to be ready for an offer, especially when you don't have a new home.

We threw away tons of files and miscellaneous stuff that was not worth selling or donating as a first step toward downsizing.

Phase 2

We went through the rest, which was most of our stuff, and picked the stuff we wanted to keep, but could not travel with. Things like some files, boxes of pictures, home movies, musical instruments, and a couple of pieces of furniture.

We got a small storage unit to place these things in, and moved our “keep for later” stuff.

Phase 3

The next part was getting rid of everything else, and there was a ton of furniture, electronics, clothes, and tools among other things.

We hired an estate sale company to manage everything from pricing to running the sale to clearing out what does not sell for Good Will. They took a percentage of the take, and it was money well spent.

Phase 4

We moved to temporary, furnished housing next, and waited for the house to sell. We chose the Landing service, which allowed for open ended dates on our rental.

It was a hot market, so it only took about a month or so to close on the sale of our house.

Phase 5

Next we planned the first phase of our travel, while also finalizing our clothes and luggage from our short term housing.

Doing this while still near our storage unit meant we could decide on final things to take or leave, and pick if storage or donation was the right choice for each item.

Phase 6

As our first travel date approached, which was for Italy, we prepared for the sale of both our cars. We saved this for the last couple of weeks before travel.

Once the cars were sold, we got a rental car for just the last few days.

Phase 7

We packed all of our remaining stuff, closed out our temporary housing, and got on a plane to Italy with almost everything we own.

2 large suitcases.

2 carry-on bags

2 backpacks.

2 years later…

We are now going for another downsizing, currently a work in progress.

The hope is that by the time we leave the UK, we will be down to this:

1 large carry-on (goes underneath on planes)

2 carry-ons

2 backpacks.

Summary

After 2 years of travel, we have discovered that less is better. There is great freedom in minimalism.

And for the train travel and bus travel, fewer bags just makes it all easier.

Walking from a bus station to your accommodations rather than catching a cab saves money, but the more you have, the harder it is to walk.

Bottom line, nomadic living and minimalism go hand in hand. I hope this has been helpful.

Until next time, have a good one!

When we lived in the South, we could do day trips to many surrounding cities, to enjoy events like concert or festivals, and to just wander through a different place to stir things up.

My wife and I have always enjoyed a good day trip, but as full-time nomads, we discovered it can go to a whole new level.

First, some assumptions that are important for context.

1. We are slow traveler nomads, staying between 4 to 8 weeks in each location.

2. We are not retired, which means we work 40 hours per week.

With that out of the way, we started our nomad travels two years ago, unsure what “the best approach” really meant for us.

After a day trip to Chester, a 40 minute train ride from our current base in Liverpool, it solidifies a strategy that we enjoy.

Find a central city that is within 1 to 2 hours of other interesting places.

Stay longer than 4 weeks, more toward the 7 or 8 week level.

After enjoying the local sights for a few weekends, spend a few Saturdays on day trips to nearby cities to enjoy a broader pallet of the area.

Simple. Not revolutionary.

But I think for me it was found in experiences rather than logic.

When we were in Palermo, Italy, we enjoyed a wonderful day trip to Cefalu.

When in Bucharest, Hungary, we spent a long weekend in Brasov while still retaining our primary lodging.

When in Izmir/Guzelbache, we spent a weekend at Ephesus in Selcuk, seeing some amazing sights from Biblical history.

This life is not for everyone, but if you are considering slow-travel, consider that there is usually a monthly discount on AirBnB if you stay 4 weeks, and two monthly discounts for 8 weeks.

That can help pay for some good day trips.

Until next time, happy travels.

And we love Liverpool!

Summer Weather

Since we launched our nomad life in October 2022, we knew that weather would play a role in where we go in the summer. In the southern USA, we experienced high heat and humidity every year, and hoped to break that trend.

The UK is one of the coolest spots in Europe, without being cold, during the summer.

In the last 30ish days, we have enjoyed highs between 62 - 76 F° and lows around 54 F°. This explains why most apartments in Liverpool do not have air conditioning.

And on that note, we are accustomed to having it cool at night, which means we have to leave some windows open most of the time to keep it cool.

Home of The Beatles

As the birthplace of The Beatles, it is no surprise that the city has a musical theme and vibe.

The standard items like the Fab Four cafe, the Beatles statue, the Eleanor Rigby statue, and the Beatles museum are spread around the docks and into the city.

And a walk down Bold Street on a Saturday night is full of live music coming from indoor and outdoor venues.

Something I did not expect are free-play pianos, outside, dotted around the shopping district.

I saw a piano the first day, and after a few days, realized there are at least four in a one mile radius.

Budget Friendly?

The UK is not where we will save money each year.

Housing is among the most expensive locations we have been to. Rome at Christmas and New Year is actually the only place that has compared to the housing expenses here.

Eating out in Liverpool is comparable to the USA, so expensive. In Albania, we grew comfortable with coffee out on most days, and eating out several times per week. We were not blowing our budget, it just cost less. We cannot do that in Liverpool.

On the flip side, groceries are pretty reasonable here in Liverpool, so we are able to eat well for a low cost. We just have to temper that urge to go out to eat, and limit it to maybe once a week.

English? Everywhere?

It is a great pleasure to see new places, explore a city, and order food seamlessly using English everywhere.

Until you have traveled through many countries and cities where English is either not spoken or rarely spoken, it is hard to explain how much of a breather this is for a period of time.

No struggling with Google Translate and gesturing. Just easy communication, everywhere, all the time.

The People

In the last month, we have felt so welcome from strangers on the street to baristas to waiters to the stocker in the grocery store. Everyone is so friendly!

Honestly, I feel this is among the most friendly cities that we have been to, which is saying something.

Some other cities where the people are exceptionally nice are Palermo, Skopje, Selçuk, and Tirana, but honestly we have had mostly good experiences with people in every city.

So when I call out Liverpool, it has some healthy competition.

Summers in the UK?

The cost of housing and dining out are the only downsides we have experienced in the UK so far.

Based on the weather, the places, the people, and the cost of groceries, I think this could become a frequent summer destination indeed.

Until next time, have a good one.

Slow-travel defined

For two years now, my wife and I have been looking at the map, picking where we wanted to go next, and booking plans. Working full time means we may have more criteria than most. But what do we mean by slow-travel?

Our definition of slow-travel is staying in a single city for between 4 and 6 weeks before moving.

Slow-travel benefits

As you can imagine, an important benefit of slow-travel is lower cost of living. AirBnB has a monthly discount benefit that many hosts adopt, benefiting those who choose a long-term stay with healthy discounts on the most expensive part of travel: rent.

But cost is not the only beneift.

Staying for 4 to 6 weeks gives you time to really know the area, have a favorite cafe and restaraunt, and be on a first name basis with some people. You visit some nice parks and neighborhoods that have nothing to do with the “top 5 things you must see in city XYZ.”

Slow-travel distance

We also prefer travel to cities that are in close proximity to our current city, either in the same country or adjacent countries. Trains and busses between nearby cities means a much lower on-going cost for travel.

Eventually, we will need to change regions, either because of Schengen restrictions, or individual country tourist visa time restrictions. But if we can limit flights to once every few months, imagine what that does to the annual travel budget.

To compare to our pre-nomad life, we probably spent between $500-$600 per month on transportation, between insurance for two cars, gas, and regular maintenance. That is more than we spend now as nomads.

Slow-travel planning

As we look at our plans, we have several factors to take into account.

Where does my employer allow me to work? What weather do we prefer? Do we want four seasons each year? What is the cost of living in a country overall, and in a given city? Are there interesting sights on our bucket list? Does it seem like a place we might want to live?

And why that last question? Because you never know what the future holds. We want to see the world, but in a crazy world, we don't know where we will retire.

For us, we prefer mild to cold weather all year, which has been a challenge to figure out. When we had 90-100 f degree temperatures in Serbia, we were struggling.

Then my new employer had some country restrictions, which led us to move to the UK.

It helped us find one of our Summer destinations.

Liverpool has enjoyed highs between 65-75°f in July and now into August. Perfect!

Intercontinental plans

We want to visit family and friends at least once per year if at all possible. For us that means a trip to the USA.

Timing will change from year to year, but we are formulating a framework. Nothing is in stone, just brainstorming.

USA for the first couple of months of the year.

Spring in Europe, Mexico, Central America, or South America.

Summer in either the UK, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Canada, or other cooler climate countries.

Fall in Europe, Mexico, Central America, or South America.

Christmas and New Year in a city that has amazing or interesting decorations or celebrations.

Rinse, lather, repeat.

At least that's our current approach. For the uninitiated, I hope slow-travel has more meaning now.

Until next time, have a good one.

Because we prefer flying to a region and then traveling by train or bus between cities one month at a time, we have favored mainland Europe to give us more options for our next stop.

But we finally made it to the UK.

Manchester to Liverpool

We flew into Manchester where a train station is part of the airport. Finding the train station was easy, and we waited at the platform.

English as the primary language was very refreshing. We are accustomed to constantly using Google Translate on signs and menus, and to communicate with vendors.

In the Manchester Airport and train station, we easily followed the signs, ordered the train tickets at the ticket booth, and found the platform.

And as bonus, we could actually overhear other people's conversations. You do not realize what a big deal this is until you hear unknown languages around you all of the time continuously.

Liverpool

The Liverpool train station was a short cab ride from our place, and the taxi driver gave us a history on the area.

We learned of the importance of this port city during WW2, but mostly had fun talking to the animated driver.

After checking in to our place, we headed out to see what Saturday night is like, and it was pure energy.

We loved the vibe, the music up and down the streets, and the crowds of people everywhere.

We had asked about a good fish and chips place, so we had a late dinner at Johnny English.

And yes, the fish and chips were tasty, plus we had an outside table where we could continue watching the crowds.

The streets were pretty clean, the lighting for night life was stylish, and the people we encountered were all very friendly and helpful.

First impressions?

We are going to enjoy Liverpool quite a bit.

Until next time, have a good one.

As we geared up to fly out of Belgrade, Serbia, we had an uneventful taxi ride, smooth security and passport control at the airport, and found our gate with plenty of time for some food before our 1pm departure.

As we waited at the gate, the first mention of that dreaded travel word was uttered: Delay.

Travel delays

This ultimately led to a more than 90 minute delay for the first leg of our two-leg flight.

Destination Munich.

We landed, gathered latest gate information before dashing, and arrived at the gate 15 minutes after that flight's also delayed departure. But not delayed enough for us.

Then to customer service where we were told we had to take a tram to a different customer service desk.

Thirty minutes later, we walk up to the service area entrance where we see dozens of people waiting.

The gentleman takes our ticket and gives us a number in the queue.

146.

We look at the board.

They are on 100.

More than four hours later, we are helped, get food vouchers, taxi vouchers, and a hotel voucher for the night.

It is after 9:00 PM.

We eat at the airport McDonalds, the only place left open at this hour that will take the voucher.

The taxi takes us to our hotel, we check in, and I start to review Google Maps to see if we are near anything interesting in Muich to see the next day before our 4 PM flight out.

We were not in Munich, but the small town of Erding outside of Munich.

Erding, Germany

The next morning, we had a very nice hot breakfast at our hotel, Hotel Henry. The food and service were wonderful, and the hotel very unique and interesting.

We were in the Bombay room, and the floor and room were well suited to the name.

After breakfast, we wandered into old town, around a 10 minutes walk.

We instantly loved it.

Quaint, colorful, inviting, and friendly are all words that quickly come to mind for our few hours there.

The beautiful church, smiling faces, and overall vibe of the town made us wish we had longer.

In the end, we made our next flight and on to our final destination 24 hours late.

And our delay led to an amazing town in Germany that we might have never seen otherwise.

In a downpour, look for the rainbow.

Until next time, have a good one.

As I start a new position a week from now, it is a good time to reflect.

What did I do right?

Relentlessly researched.

Studied countless job boards and services.

Explored a couple of the premium contract service platforms and launched my services.

Poured over my resume and worked with others to improve it

Trained in various areas.

Applied for jobs with incrementally improving cover letters and custom resume summary sections

And I persisted in some mix of these activities when I became weary.

I was organized and confident.

What did I do wrong?

As time carried forward, I allowed my confidence to wane. It is human, but I knew it was also unfounded.

Nothing had changed in my experience, my personality, or my ability to work with people. Yet I allowed time to erode some of that confidence in what I offer.

Confidence in what you possess is almost as important as the giftings themselves.

A change in travel patterns.

We also have many new country restrictions that come with the new job, which is causing us to completely remake our travel template.

Change is the only constant, and adaptability the greatest skill.

Here are the big restrictions impacting us.

1. All of the non-schengen countries in the Baltics including Turkey are in the do-not-travel list. The standard schengen-shuffle will not work.

2. Several EU/Schengen countries including Portugal and Croatia are also restricted, limiting our European options overall.

3. California is the only state in the USA that I cannot work from, making visits to Rachel's family restricted for me to just vacation time, and it means Rachel's longer visits require that we have separate plans for a bit.

Response? Let's get creative!

We can go to the UK, Ireland, Morocco, Georgia, and possibly others for time outside the schengen area while remaining in the region.

We can mix in some visits to Mexico and other parts of the Americas after visits to the USA, which we planned to do eventually anyway.

We can work within the rules to make new paths forward.

The biggest challenge is of course cost.

Most of the countries we have been restricted from are the ones that allowed us to balance lower costs with higher costs in other countries.

It will take much more planning, much more effort, and much more determination to make it sustainable.

But if it was easy, everyone would do it.

Thank you to those who encourage and pray for us. We appreciate you and feel your strength under our arms, and will use that extra strength to press on to a new phase of our life and travels.

Until next time, have a good one.

Patience can lead to a lasting marriage, to a pearl, to a transformation from crude matter to a diamond.

Resist patience, and you may find yourself robbed of better days, new opportunities, and contentment in the moment.

As full-time nomads, we often need patience. To pause as a booking is being approved. To verify a change in plans for travel. To wait during delays in transit. To incorporate external factors into our plans, often requiring delay when we want to book.

And as one pursuing work, there are new aspects of patience key to enjoying each moment.

I completed the first delivery of a small contract job, and likely will be starting on some additions for a second project. This after 5 months of patience.

I completed a second interview for a promising full-time job, after 5 months of patience.

But was I patient? Am I patient?

I was patient for some of that time. I worried from time to time. I felt a cloud occasionally that was non-descript and cast a shadow, but was hard to see.

Patience is something we all need, often in more abundance than we have. To persist through an illness, a difficult situation, or just navigate that ever-present component of every plan or strategy: waiting.

I am thankful for life's challenges, and for a healthy balance of industry and waiting.

When the teacher is patient, even a slow student like me will learn eventually.

So I wish you all patience as I continue learning patience.

After that tea has steeped, it will taste all the better.

Until next time, drink deep.

On Saturday, we decided to go to one of the major sights in Novi Sad: the Petrovaradin Fortress.

LINKS FOR THE WEEK

Walking Tour Video - North Waterfront in Vlore, Albania
YouTube Shorts - Latest Shorts and all the rest
Or catch up through Pinterest

The Fortress

We have seen it looming from across the Danube, but this was our first time crossing the water, which we did over the Varadin Bridge.

We found colorful facades and cobblestone streets below the fortress in the small old town area. The clock tower rose from the hill above through one of the side streets.

Then we saw ascending stairs and promptly skipped past them. I knew a meandering cobblestone road curved to the top, so we found it for a gentler climb.

We arrived through a small tunnel and found a small town on the hill in the fortress walls. The Clock Tower stood tall as a point of reference, and from it flowed views to the Danube River, the bridge, and the city on the other side.

A string of dining and drink venues stretched from the Clock Tower down at least half of the fortress wall facing the Danube, some on an upper level and more on the lower level.

After walking a bit, we enjoyed a drink on the lower level, watching small branches and the occasional boat drift by.

As we continued around the sizable footprint of the fortress walls, we enjoyed the walk and the weather. The sprawling continuation of the grounds stretched far beyond the edge of these primary walls.

We eventually descended back to the old town and approached the Belgrade Gate. The Gate has two tunnels for vehicles and two tunnels for pedestrians. One of the pedestrian tunnels had an interesting interlocking of bars which I assume have a structural use but am not sure.

Down one side street, we found our most serene setting for the day in the grounds of the Serbian Orthodox Church of St. Paul the Apostle. From the front and entry to the garden area with a waterfall to the inside of the church, this place was very special.

We walked a while on the other side of the Gate, away from the fortress, and felt the quieter, slower pace around us. Finally landing at a small restaurant more than 20 minutes from the fortress, we shared a pizza. As we sipped our after-meal cappuccinos, we reflected on our day.

The cost of the fortress? $0.

The cost of all food and drinks for the day? $25.

Proof that a full day of getting exercise, enjoying historic settings, and taking in views can be very affordable.

Until next time, have a good one.

Why? Because nothing was working. I had to do something that might produce some income, even if it was small and would take a long time to get our first dollar (which is definitely true for blogging and social media).

And then I hear the distant roll of thunder, and the rain starts.

LINKS FOR THE WEEK

Easy mobile data worldwide: Airalo and eSIM - Blog | YouTube | Podcast
Walking Tour Video - South Waterfront in Vlore, Albania
YouTube Shorts - Latest Shorts and all the rest
Or catch up through Pinterest

First Contract Job

After a week or so following up on a contract bid for a small project, on Tuesday I got the offer and started doing the work.

The main goal of the first contract job is just to get a completed project on my profile and get my first review (this one is on Freelancer), because no one wants to hire someone without any reviews on a platform.

And I have been enjoying the work, building an Inventory management system for a small business.

Obviously, paying gigs come first. But it takes a lot of time that I would have been writing, editing, videoing, etc.

First Job Interview

After actively applying for a range of positions since February, I had my first interview.

You heard that right, first interview after more than 90 applications.

After I pick my ego up off the floor, I will say that the interview went very well, and I think the work and the culture sounds like a good fit for me.

However, I am fully prepared for the “you are where?” question when the topic of where I will be working remotely FROM comes up.

One day at a time.

Time, that pesky limited commodity

So now that I have the blog/video/podcast/newsletter cycle in full swing, I picked up a contract that took 30 hours of my last week (still probably 20 to go), and I had an interview that took most of a day (when you include researching the company, researching my interviewer, and all the other normal prep).

What does that mean for the content?

Not sure yet. Maybe less frequent content. Maybe channels are scaled back some.

And maybe it is variable.

All I can say for sure it that it will likely change some.

Novi Sad, Serbia

We are fully settled in at our AirBnB, our stores, our coffee shop, and some of the cool places we will go back to.

It is getting hot, and that is our least favorite temperature. The weather is nice, and we love the place, but we do prefer not to sweat when just going for a walk. Eventually we may seek out cost-effective mountain communities with cooler, clean air to wait out the summers.

For now, we are thankful for our decisions. Thankful for embracing the fully nomadic life in 2022. Thankful for the freedom to enjoy beautiful new places even while we are seeking new income sources. And thankful we can do it all for less than the cost of our previous life in Alabama.

Thank you to those who support our journey by reading and watching and liking and making comments.

We appreciate you all more than you know.

Until next time, have a good one.

All links mentioned in the Podcast, along with all the details discussed, can be found in our blog post here:

Easy mobile data worldwide: Airalo and eSIM (hugandrackle.com Blog)

You can explore the options on the Airalo site here.

We are a married couple, Hugh and Rachel, who have been full-time traveling nomads since 2022. If you are interested in our adventures, you can find all the ways to follow along on our website:

hugandrackle.com

Music from #Uppbeat
https://uppbeat.io/t/barry-dallas/superfly-get-happy
License code: NQP3OJXI2ZYCYOJY

To hear more, visit hugandrackle.substack.com

It might look chaotic if you have been following our recent media journey. Throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks.

And frankly, there is an element of just “trying everything” to our strategy.

However, selecting the content to produce is not random.

LINKS FOR THE WEEK

Phone number freedom with Google Voice. - Blog | YouTube | Podcast
Walking Tour Video - Descending to the Albanian Riviera in Vlore
YouTube Shorts - Latest Shorts and all the rest
Or catch up through Pinterest

Sarandë to Corfu to Novi Sad.

Before we get into media talk, let’s talk location.

As mentioned in the last newsletter, we were in Corfu, Greece for part of last weekend, and it was wonderful!

But too short.

If you follow us on Facebook, you may have seen the pictures and videos from our whirlwind 1 1/2 days on the island.

The crystal waters, ancient structures, grand churches, and beautiful old town were everything we hoped they would be.

If you have the opportunity to go, we can easily recommend Corfu. If you like European cruises, Corfu is a stop in many cases, so do your research.

And now…

We are in Novi Sad, Serbia! This picture is from the edge of Old Town.

It was our first time entering Serbia, and it took quite a travel day to reach our AirBnB in Novi Sad.

We were up at 5 AM on Sunday, lugged our bags down the many steps (I cannot convey the effort spent) to the taxi curb, took a taxi to the Corfu airport, flew into Belgrade (by way of Athens layover), took a bus from the Nikola Tesla Airport to the Belgrade Train station, took the Express train to Novi Sad, and our AirBnB host took us from the train station to our near-by home for six weeks.

We do not have a home base, which means we have four seasons of clothes with us all year long. So, all of that travel occurred with two large suitcases, two carry-ons, and two backpacks.

It was a day of “practice what you preach” regarding attitude and laughing when we could have easily given in to frustration.

Most of the “new city ramp-up” activities are done.

• Find the closest supermarkets and small markets to know what to get where.

• Find the closest park that I vibe with, to frequent for morning walks.

• Sample eating out for a price check (it had been months since we visited a Mexican restaurant, and we found a good one!) It was not inexpensive, but we still have five weeks to peruse the options.

• Find a good local haunt for our go-to coffee shop (with seating on a nice tree-covered deck, no tourists in sight).

• Make a first walk through part of Old Town.

The Reels will start flowing as we explore this interesting city so you can follow along.

Back to the madness? The method? A little of both?

How am I picking which Blog / Nomad Notes YouTube / Nomad Notes Podcast topics are first, second, and so on?

I started with a hierarchy of ideas.

Currently, I have eleven topics documented that I am working on, three of which are now live.

In considering each Blog Title, I thought about the other blog entries that might be related.

Is that other blog a sub-set of the current blog entry? Is it a layer above?

If a blog entry appears to be a foundational piece that could serve as a useful link from other blog entries, it should be published earlier.

Thus, ETIAS and Schengen Area were the first topics, as they are frequently relevant to travel discussions. And Google Voice is foundational to our phone and mobile data strategy.

And all future posts can link back to the foundational posts, and so on.

Is it perfect? Probably not.

Will we jump around some? Probably, if nothing else to keep it interesting for us.

Reminder: We’re not seeking perfection. We don’t have that much time.

We pursue “good enough” for our current stage of learning, media savvy, and communication skills.

Here’s to better skills next week.

Until then, have a good one.

All links mentioned in the Podcast, along with all the details discussed, can be found in our blog post here:

Google Voice: Phone numbers for nomads. (hugandrackle.com)

We are a married couple, Hugh and Rachel, who have been full-time traveling nomads since 2022. If you are interested in our adventures, you can find all the ways to follow along on our website:

hugandrackle.com

Music from #Uppbeat
https://uppbeat.io/t/barry-dallas/superfly-get-happy
License code: NQP3OJXI2ZYCYOJY

To hear more, visit hugandrackle.substack.com

This weekend, we break that rule.

LINKS FOR THE WEEK

Europe’s Schengen Area Explained. - Blog | YouTube | Podcast
Walking Tour Video - The Durres Beach Promenade
YouTube Shorts - Latest Shorts and all the rest
Or catch up through Pinterest

Corfu and the airport.

Originally, we wanted to stay for four weeks in Corfu after Sarandë, following our usual pattern. As we researched the Airbnb costs and extra costs for food, we decided this was not the right time for an extended stay.

But we always planned to fly out of Corfu to our next destination.

Why? Because the only airport in Albania is in the capital of Tirana, which is at the opposite end of the country from where we are.

Corfu is just an hour-long ferry ride away, and we can catch a flight from there to most places by way of Athens.

But… Corfu!

We want to visit Greece, but specifically (since we have been staring at it for a month across the water) Corfu. It’s right there.

So, we split the difference. We left our Airbnb in Sarandë one day early, Friday morning.

We have an Airbnb in Corfu for Friday and Saturday night.

Sunday morning, maybe as this newsletter is published, we are flying from Corfu to Belgrade, Serbia where we will take the express train to Novi Sad for our next long stay.

But don’t you lose some Airbnb money?

It would appear on the surface that we are losing money by leaving a day early and arriving in Novi Sad a day late. And sure, that seems logical.

However, when you include getting a monthly discount for booking 28 days, and a weekly discount for the fifth week, we are saving more than if we booked 34 days instead of 35 days.

The longer you travel like this, the more your thinking changes about how to plan and book.

Based on the previous example, that means if we plan to be in a place for 25 days, it is probably best to book for 28 days even if we leave 3 days early. It is a simple matter of trying it both ways in Airbnb and checking the final total including tax and fees.

No guessing. Just check the numbers.

The weekend will be a blur.

Rachel and I have enjoyed Albania, and after 5+ months, we can easily recommend a visit.

Since Corfu Friday/Saturday is “complete tourist mode,” I am writing this before the weekend, so hopefully what we posted on the socials from Corfu provided a peek.

Next newsletter, we will have started our six-week stay in Novi Sad, Serbia! We look forward to having that long to settle in, get things done, and explore a new city in a new country!

And I might talk about residency possibilities. We are considering all options.

Until next time, have a good one!

All links mentioned in the Podcast, along with all the details discussed, can be found in our blog post here:
What is the Schengen area? - (hugandrackle.com)

If you prefer this content in video format, you can follow here:

We are a married couple, Hugh and Rachel, who have been full-time traveling nomads since 2022. If you are interested in our adventures, you can find all the ways to follow along on our website:

https://hugandrackle.com/

Music from #Uppbeat
https://uppbeat.io/t/barry-dallas/superfly-get-happy
License code: NQP3OJXI2ZYCYOJY