Right now, we’re enjoying our last few days in Vancouver, BC with glorious 72-degree days punctuated by World Cup fever.

Our Annual Expenses

Our “fiscal year” goes from June 1 to May 31. And as fiscal year deadlines are prone to do, we compile our stats and release them on Youtube.

So if you want to know how many beds we slept in, how much money we spent, where we went, what we paid for in insurance, or any other data that might come from people obsessed with spreadsheets and receipts, you’ll need to jump over to our Youtube channel. It’s the only place we publish these stats and money spent, down to the penny. Because data require explanation, and Youtube is the best place for us to do that.

A New Novel, Kindling

Yesterday, my paid subscribers got to vote on the title of my new book. Thanks to their input, it’s now called Kindling.

My new novel will start releasing as a serial here on Substack in just a couple of weeks. Only paid subscribers get to read it. My paid subscribers will also be voting on the cover, too.

It’s not too late to upgrade to a paid subscriber (and thanks to those who have paid already!) As a paid subscriber, you get to vote, have private conversations with me, and get each Chapter of Kindling sent right to your inbox each Tuesday and Thursday. Founding Members get all that plus postcard from me and a private chat.

I’ve recently announced new subscriber levels and benefits. Now is the time to upgrade.

Subscribe now

Vegan lobster roll recipe

Inspired by my trip to The Hague in The Netherlands where I saw the actual piece of art, Girl with a Pearl Earring by Vermeer, I decided to read the book of the same name. Set in the same streets I’d visited this summer, the book paints a gorgeous picture of how life was like in 1644 when the Masters jockeyed for artistic superiority. If you like historic fiction with a touch of artistic reality thrown in, jump into the time warp, Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. I’ve added it to my 150+ book list of travel writing books.

Why Is Steve A Bit Odd?

I closed last month’s newsletter with this picture of Steve, and I received six emails about it. So why is Steve sporting a ridiculous look? Well, it’s all about our Einstein Quest. For reasons that go way beyond 10,000 words, Steve and I look for images, sculptures, figurines, or anything else made with the image of Einstein. We then take pictures and share those snaps with a nomad couple we’ve become friends with. It’s a little quest. A game. And it makes every day just a bit more special. What quests to you undertake?

P.S. You can support us by clicking on the links below and purchasing through them. We get a little kickback, and it costs you nothing extra.

• Need to book a flight, hotel, or cruise? We recommend Booking. (Click and Bookmark it!)

• Need a super carry-on suitcase with great wheels? We recommend Osprey Transporter.
  Read our review!

• Reduce your travel expenses, don’t pay for hotels, and hug a pup! Join Trusted Housesitters. Read our review!

• Looking for medical insurance for your full-time travel? We use Genki and claims have been flawless. And we’ve just changed to Mondial for 2026.

• Want the best shoes for nomad life? We recommend the Hoka Hopara 2. Read our review!

Below, I’ll ask you to vote on a title for the book. The title is not UNTITLED.

Here is the draft of the marketing piece for the book. Vote below.

UNTITLED A Novel — Based on a True Story

When Kelly leaves her Kindle on a bus in Bucharest, she has two problems. The first is practical: 733 irreplaceable notes for the travel memoir she has been writing for five years. The second is something she doesn’t yet understand: she has just set eleven lives in motion.

Through the Nomad Life Facebook group — a community of full-time travelers scattered across the globe — Kelly launches a relay. City by city, stranger by stranger, the device makes its way back to her across Europe. And as it passes through each pair of hands, it carries more than Kelly’s notes. It carries the weight of every life it touches.

There’s Marcus, a retired coach from Fresno who has been composing limericks since his wedding day and has traveled to Ireland specifically to read one to people who will understand. His wife Leenie, who has researched every detail of their nomadic retirement, is quietly terrified it won’t be enough for him and them.

There’s Grazia, a Cuban-American engineer who left Havana at the age of five on an Operation Pedro Pan flight and has spent sixty years searching. And Dave, twenty-seven years sober, riding a Harley through Slovakia looking for the farmhouse in a photograph he found in his dead mother’s bedside drawer.

There’s George, a Mexican-American widower making a Beatles pilgrimage through Liverpool, who knows he is really saying goodbye to the woman he lost and a father he never thanked.

And Ari, a former film production executive and LGTBQI advocate who has spent three years in European archives searching for the great-aunt her family has refused to name for eighty years. Plus there’s RJ, who finds connection with Ari across generations of queer pride.

And there’s Connor — an Irish history teacher who left County Limerick at thirteen and has not been back in forty-five years. And his high school sweetheart Colleen, who needs to return to Ireland to find the family she didn’t know she had.

All of them are heading, without knowing it, toward a pub in Croom, County Limerick. Toward a stage. Toward each other. Toward the things they have been carrying across borders for decades.

UNTITLED is upmarket ensemble fiction for readers who loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and 84, Charing Cross Road — warm, specific, historically grounded, and deeply researched across eight countries.

Readers of this book have described it as: a book club novel with a traveler’s pace, a love letter to full-time travel, a story about the histories we inherit and the distances we put between ourselves and home.

Perfect for: book clubs, fans of ensemble literary fiction, upmarket women’s fiction readers, travelers, anyone who has ever left something behind they couldn’t replace.

Themes: full-time travel and nomadic life, found family, Cuban diaspora and Operation Pedro Pan, Irish history and the Great Hunger, LGBTQ+ history and the Nazi occupation of Jersey, sobriety and recovery, grief and forgiveness, genealogy, music and memory, the Beatles.

Based on a true story.

Thanks for getting this far! Now, let’s vote on the Title of this book/series. Paid subscribers get to vote below.

Subscribe now

Read more

Many times that old item makes it to a charity shop on my own accord. But sometimes, it doesn’t because I was 1) out of time 2) couldn’t find a shop 3) a shop wasn’t available (hours, location, etc) 4) I’m lazy.

I’ve Left Items Behind

I’ve placed the clean item neatly on the hotel bed with a note that says “trash.” My intention is that the maid sees my snorkel, shirt, or shoes, and hopefully takes the item for her own rather than logs it into the hotel’s tracking system as a forgotten item. I’ve done the same with my cabin steward on cruise ships as well.

I’m sure there are many other iterations of this behavior by travelers world wide, such as: when the luggage is overweight and someone leaves a shirt “for the janitor”, when packing for the return home and the souvenirs fit but the old pants don’t, when changing temperatures on a long trip and the puffer jacket “might help out the locals.” Have you done any of these?

An article from writing at in his piece My Dirtiest Travel Habit Has a Name made me question this habit, and I dug deep into Gemini AI to find some data. I also found a partial solution.

The Data Doesn’t Support the Habit

I did a bit of research about Tim’s dirty habit and also my own, and I uncovered data that screams “bad traveler” at me.

1. Although I write a note that says “Trash” most hotels won’t accept that note. What if I was drunk? What if my spouse was taking refenge? What if I call the hotel three days later and said I was joking? Despite the note, the maid must still catalog and put the item into the hotel’s tracking software. (Cornell)

2. Maritime law has strict rules regarding “abandoned” property and crew members, like my dear cabin steward, can’t simply take things off ships. (Carnival Contract, CPB)

3. Chargerback claims that a typical hotel of 200-300 rooms reports over 100 items lost a month, weighing over 2000 pounds (one ton) per year per hotel.

4. A typical cruise ship reports over 500 items “lost/forgotten/abandoned” a week or 40,000 pounds a year. (Lostings)

5. A branded hotel of 200-300 rooms spends upwards of 3000 hours and $60,000 in tracking, storing, managing, laboring of these abandoned items annually. (Vingcard)

So by leaving my “trash”, I’ve unintentionally generated yet more work for an employee who is likely overworked, underpaid, and stressed. Clearly, this is not my intention. My intention is to provide a dress, a jacket, or a pair of shoes that I think she may need or might be able to make a few extra dollars on a sale or trade with a collegue.

Oops.

A Partial Solution

(Let me state that the best solution is to not buy the new thing in the first place.)

The best option is to do like we generally try to do: donate the item to a charity shop. The other option, according to Executive Housekeepers, is to write a note that says, “These blue Nike shoes are a gift to you. If you cannot use them, please give to a collegue or donate to charity.” By writing such a note that specifies the exact item (instead of “trash”), she may actually be able to keep the item and not get fired for pocketing a guest’s personal item. The note acts as a pass the finder can use if she’s asked about how she came upon the item. It should say these four items.

Now that I know what a headache I’m causing, I’ll either make more effort to find the charity shop, or I’ll clearly write a note about my intention. Will you? Thoughts?

Chris

P.S. My new book which comes out in two weeks is based on the true story of me forgetting my Kindle in Bucharest. Thank heavens when I called the hotel, a little boutique inn with no formal tracking systems, and they found it. But it took two calls.

Founding Members get personal time with me.

Paid members get voting rights.

Upgrade Today

After a year on Substack, I’ve been listening, writing, listening, and analyzing. We’ve grown together, learned together, and traveled together. And did I mention that I’ve been writing?

I’ve also learned:

1. You like my twice a day notes

2. You don’t find value in paying for my Nomad Life Launch Kit

3. You do find value in buying my books

4. The more personal I get, the more you like it

5. You love my weekly newsletter despite the topic, as long as it’s about Nomad Life/Travel.

A New “Product”: My Serialized Novel

My new novel, which I’m releasing as a Serial here on Substack, will be ready in a couple of weeks. My subscribers will get a sneak peek of the first few Chapters; my hope is you’ll love the story so much you’ll upgrade to a paid subscription. The Novel is not named. In this newsletter, I reference it at UNTITLED. Paid subscribers will get to help name it.

Here’s the pattern:

• On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I’ll release new Chapters

• On Wednesdays, I’ll continue with my weekly newsletter.

• On Friday, we’ll have a chat about the two Chapters.

• Weekdays, I’ll post a note in the morning about Nomad Life, but in the afternoon, I’ll post about the backstory of UNTITLED.

• There are 60+ Chapters.

Subscribe now

The Serial is so good, I’m going to reward my Founding Members and Paid Subscribers with all of the Chapters. They’ll be involved with the book in many ways, including voting on the title and the cover.

As a reminder, you can read the marketing description of UNTITLED in this post I published a few weeks ago.

Subscriber Levels Are Updated

I’ve updated my subscriber levels. As I get ready to release the Chapters, you may see several additional emails with logistical information. Now is the time to upgrade your level to ensure your access to the Serial.

TIER ONE — FOUNDING MEMBER

Price: $150 one-time

Availability: Limited to 75 members. When 75 are sold, this tier closes permanently.

What Founding Members get:

• Your name printed in the Acknowledgements of the published UNTITLED— permanently, in every edition

• A post card sent from me (Chris) after the final publication (you must provide an address.)

• Access to the private Founding Member chat on Substack, where you can correspond directly with the author (Chris) about the real stories behind the fiction (the secret, real-life backstories!)

• An invitation to a private online conversation with the author (Chris) and all Founding Members before UNTITLED publishes later this year in its complete form

• Full access to every Chapter as it publishes — Tuesday and Thursday, every week

• Access to all bonus content: the True Story Notes after each Chapter and the Kindle Tracker map

• Access to the full archive — every Chapter from the beginning, readable at any time

• The ability to leave comments

• Voting rights to name UNTITLED and select UNTITLED’s cover

• First notification of publication date, agent news, and book launch events

• The monthly Kindle Tracker map update

What everyone gets:

Ongoing newsletters about Nomad Life

Free Nomad Life Launch Kit

Free Travel Tracking Spreadsheet

Free Nomad Life Checklist

You are not buying a subscription. You are becoming part of the Novel’s origin story. Founding Members are the interactive readers in the world. Their names will be in every final edition.

Subscribe now

TIER TWO — PAID SUBSCRIBER

Price: $5/month or $50/year (save $10)

What Paid Subscribers get:

• Full access to every Chapter as it publishes — Tuesday and Thursday, every week

• Access to all bonus content: the True Story Notes after each Chapter and the Kindle Tracker map

• Access to the full archive — every Chapter from the beginning, readable at any time

• The ability to leave comments

• Voting rights to name UNTITLED and select UNTITLED’s cover

• First notification of publication date, agent news, and book launch events

• A 200-word preview of every Chapter with a prompt to upgrade to Founding Member (if there is room available)

• The monthly Kindle Tracker map update

What everyone gets:

Ongoing newsletters about Nomad Life

Free Nomad Life Launch Kit

Free Travel Tracking Spreadsheet

Free Nomad Life Checklist

The best way to read UNTITLED before it publishes. Two Chapters a week, in your inbox, every week, until the Kindle finds its way home.

Subscribe now

TIER THREE — FREE SUBSCRIBER

Price: Free

What Free Subscribers get:

• The first eight Chapters free — including the Bucharest opening, the Venice arrival, and the beginning of the Connor backstory

• A 200-word preview of every Chapter with a prompt to upgrade

• The monthly Kindle Tracker map update

What everyone gets:

Ongoing newsletters about Nomad Life

Free Nomad Life Launch Kit

Free Travel Tracking Spreadsheet

Free Nomad Life Checklist

Start reading. The first eight Chapters are free. If you want to know how the relay ends, you’ll want to upgrade.

If you are not interested in UNTITLED, you can unsubscribe from the emails about UNTITLED (click on the Kindling Experience section) yet still be subscribed to EatWalkLearn (this newsletter.)

Subscribe now

Please become a Founding Member. It’s the best way we can go on this journey together.

Thanks,

Chris

One of the fun parts of writing fiction is how I’ve falled in love with my characters. All of these folks are fictional, but they feel very real to me. You’ll meet them in the book, one character at a time. And as they interact and become engaged in the Kindle relay, you’ll see them appear and move across Europe on a map.

Subscribe now

So let’s meet two of the characters.

Meet Kelly. She’s been living out of a carry-on for six years and she just made a very expensive mistake. She’s left behind her Kindle which contains notes, screenshots and quotes that fuel her next book and her social media accounts. Her wing-it attitude annoys her husband Scott, and her ability to find e-tickets in disorganized email folders fascinates even her.

Meet Marcus. He’s been writing limericks since his wedding day. He’s never read one to anyone who didn’t roll her eyes, and he’s headed to Ireland to compete in the International Limerick Contest. His odd are long, so thinks his wife, Leenie.

Here is the character map. You can see the icons associated with each characters, which you’ll see on the map that tracks the Kindle as it makes its way through the relay.

What do you think? Which character do you think you’ll identify with? Which will become your favorite? Are the icons helpful to get to know the characters? Let’s take a poll.

And here’s the map. The Kindle starts in Bucharest. Where will it go next?

Next week, you’ll finally learn how you can read the book, help name it, give input into the cover, and actually have your name in the book. Subscribe so you don’t miss it.

P.S. Starting soon, the Chapters will release on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In addition, I’ll still be sending out my weekly Wednesday email.

P.S.S. There are only 75 Founding Member spots available. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. Grab yours today. Founding Members get private chats with Chris.

Here’s the true story. Before the adventure began.

Something Left Behind

Last summer, Steve and I did a 2-week road trip through Romania which also included a 4-day hike along the Via Transylvanica Trail. If you ask me to list the top three things we’ve done in our almost six years of travel, I’d put the Romanian road trip in the top three. You can read about it here.

But this story today is not about that road trip. It’s about what happened at the end of that road trip. On the last day after we dropped the rental car off, and we stayed the night at a cute little boutique hotel room on Bucharest’s Embassy Row. We had a nice chill night where we recombobulated our gear and carry-ons to their normal travel mode. We had glorious hot showers and a great night of sleep.

The next morning, we calmly took an Uber to the regional bus station where we jumped a bus ride to Bulgaria for a 4-day trip to Sofia to hike the Seven Rila Lakes. Everything pulled off without a hitch. Until we got about halfway between Bucharest and Sofia when I decided I was bored with the Bulgarian countryside and I wanted to read.

I reached into my backpack to pull out my Kindle, and the bloody thing wasn’t there. Steve didn’t have it either. I had left it in the Bucharest hotel.

Now I don’t know about you, but my Kindle ranks high on the list of my favorite items. Of course I could replace my Kindle and redownload my library, but I really wanted that particular Kindle back. Having the hotel mail it to Bulgaria wouldn’t work, and our travel for the next month had us fast traveling through Europe, so there was no way for it to catch up with us.

We would eventually end up in Texas that summer, and I thought perhaps the hotel could ship it to our address in Texas. But with the new tarrifs being put in place and the cost of shipping being exhorbitant, it was a ridiculous price to pay to retrieve it. Like Steve kept reminding me, it’d be easier to just get a new one.

But I was determined.

So, as the true story continues, I posted a note in my Facebook group about having left my Kindle in Bucharest. And thus, I activated a relay across eight countries and three continents to get my Kindle back.

And now, the story turns fictional.

The Story Comes Alive

I spent this past winter in my writing studio turning this Kindle relay story into its fictionalized form.

Here is the marketing description of my new Novel, which I’ll release as a serial here on Substack. The book is yet to be named.

Next week, I’ll share

• how I’ll be distributing the Novel as a serial,

• how you can be involved in its naming and its cover design, and

• how your name can be in the final Novel.

  Here’s the marketing piece.

UNTITLED A Novel — Based on a True Story

When Kelly leaves her Kindle in a hotel in Bucharest, she has two problems. The first is practical: 733 irreplaceable notes for the travel memoir she has been writing for five years. The second is something she doesn’t yet understand: she has just set eleven lives in motion.

Through the Nomad Life Facebook group — a community of full-time travelers scattered across around the world — Kelly launches a relay. City by city, stranger by stranger, the device makes its way back to her across Europe. And as it passes through each pair of hands, it carries more than Kelly’s notes. It carries the weight of every life it touches.

There’s Marcus, a retired coach from Fresno who has been composing limericks since his wedding day and has traveled to Ireland specifically to read one to people who will understand. His wife Leenie, who has researched every detail of their nomadic retirement and is quietly terrified it won’t be enough while seeking her favorite glass of red wine along the way.

There’s Grazia, a Cuban-American engineer who left Havana at five on Operation Pedro Pan and has spent sixty years in motion. And Dave, twenty-seven years sober, riding a Harley through Slovakia looking for the farmhouse in a photograph he found in his dead mother’s bedside drawer.

There’s George, a Mexican-American widower making a Beatles pilgrimage through Liverpool, who knows he is really saying goodbye to the woman he lost and a father he never thanked. And Ari, a former film production executive and LGTBQI advocate who has spent three years in European archives searching for the great-aunt her family has refused to name for eighty years.

And there’s Connor — an Irish history teacher who left County Limerick at thirteen and has not been back in forty-five years. The reasons kept changing. The result never did. And his high school sweetheart Colleen, who needs to return to Ireland to find the family she didn’t know she had.

All of them (and a few others) are heading, without knowing it, toward a pub in Croom, County Limerick, Ireland. Toward a stage. Toward each other. Toward the things they have been carrying across borders for decades.

UNTITLED is an upmarket ensemble fiction for readers who loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and 84, Charing Cross Road—warm, specific, historically grounded, and deeply researched across eight countries.

Readers of this Novel have described it as: a book club novel with a thriller’s pace, a love letter to full-time travel, a story about the histories we inherit and the distances we put between ourselves and home.

Perfect for: book clubs, fans of ensemble literary fiction, upmarket women’s fiction readers, travelers, anyone who has ever left something behind they couldn’t replace.

Themes: full-time travel and nomadic life, found family, Cuban diaspora and Operation Pedro Pan, Irish history and the Great Hunger, LGBTQ+ history and the Nazi occupation of Jersey, sobriety and recovery, grief and forgiveness, genealogy, music and memory, the Beatles.

Based on a true story.

Would you be interested in reading this Novel?

Next week, I’ll share the characters and all the details about how you can be involved in the creation of my next publication.

Chris

You, in data.

So to remind you, I’m 59. Most of you are older than me. Steve is 66.

Interestingly, you’re mostly retired even though some of the retirees are still dabbling in some sort of work.

Most of you are married; but I didn’t ask if you’re happily married. I’m going to assume you are! (We are, for sure.) I am not sure what the difference is between solo, divorced, and widowed in relation to if you’re traveling. I probably should have asked this question differently.

I found these answers the most interesting of the poll. The majority of you are not fully traveling at the moment (66%.) Does that mean you want to travel or you just like reading about the travel life style. I think I need a follow up question here to understand why non-travelers are reading a newsletter about traveling. Please feel free to email me or comment about this.

Now, here’s where a good question’s answers can go a bit haywire. Whereas I know a lot of you like to hike, you don’t necessarily want to read about this. Last week, I assumed this, but asked the question anyway. Meanwhile, the majority of you want information about nomad life; in particular, what it’s like to live a month somewhere, the logistics of nomad life, and day in the life content. In my mind, that’s all the same stuff, but in your mind, maybe it isn’t. So I ask a follow up question.

What do you want to know about living a month in places: the price of things, our daily activities, how we meet other people, transportation options, etc. Please drop me a quick line (or comment) and explain what you’d like here. Thank you!

Subscribe now

This is great news about your wanting of good review information. Glad to do that. On the list, shoes, skorts, shorts, insurance, luggage, backpack. What would you like first?

As for those of you who want some fiction out of me, good news! It’s coming. Watch your newsletter over the next month with announcements of what I’m up to in the writing department. And good news, for those of you not interested in my fiction, you can easily opt out of it but not opt out of my other ramblings.

As for money, this is always a question I think people don’t freely answer. It’s nice to see a few of you supporting substackers and their written word. As I’ve said, I will always produce a free monthly newsletter. And I’m going to be treading into the pay-as-you go space for my next writing project.

Thank you everyone for your feedback. Your interests greatly influence what I do next. I am so grateful to you.

Chris

PS Don’t forget to drop me a line answer my italicized questions above.

As my one year anniversary on Substack approaches, I’m thrilled to have so many followers and subscribers. Thank you so very very much.

Some of you have been reading my newsletter for over 13 years. Many of you are new here. But despite how long you’ve been following me, knowing you better allows me to create better stories that you’re interested in reading. So I thought I’d introduce myself to you, and in return, I’d like to get to know you better.

Let’s play a game.

I’ll share a little about me, and in return, you share a little about you?

I’m 59 and my half birthday is coming in June. I’ll finally be old enough to withdraw from my IRAs!

I know it’s not polite to ask your age, but I did share mine :-)

I retired early from higher education publishing in 2016. I can’t believe I’ve been retired for 10 years.

Are you retired?

Steve, my husband, and I have been married for almost 15 years.

We’ve been nomading for over five years. (On our youtube channel in the next few weeks we’ll be sharing our annual expenses.)

Subscribe now

Are you a nomad/full-time traveler?

I love to read. Give me a good story about travel, walking, or an adventure, and I’m hooked. When it comes to newsletters like this one, I like to read others about travel, vegan food, nomading, destinations and travel storytelling. But I’d love to know why you continue to read this newsletter. I generally write about the logistics and technical aspects of nomad life, day-in-the-life nomad stories, living in locations, and cruising. Although I love hiking and many of you hike (I think), no one seems to be too thrilled when I write about hiking.

I’m always looking for a good pair of shoes, a good pair of pants, and a good carry-on, so I frequently read reviews. I’ve been wearing the same shoes for three years, I recently lost my favorite pair of pants, and I filed a warranty claim on my carry-on (which they replaced 100%).

Finally, I’ve released four non-fiction books about nomad life.

Next week (I think, if I can get it done once I get off this cruise), I’ll be releasing a whole new subscription model that provides more value. I think you’re going to love it. If you are active on Substack and pay for subscriptions to read newsletters, I would love to know how much you spend monthly on reading things on Substack. (By the way, I will always publish a free monthly newsletter).

Thanks. I’ll share what you say in a few days. And don’t be shy. Please feel free to comment with anything you want me to know about you or what you’d like to hear about from me.

Chris

From Continent to Continent

Twice a year, the cruise industry moves its fleet from one market to another. So they might go from the Australia market to Mexico, the Mediterranean to the Caribbean. When the boats move, the cruise lines offer one-way fares. These fares include the transit and of course your room, food, and entertainment for the length of the cruise.

To a Nomad, repositioning cruises are deals that can’t be beat. The price is almost always much less than flying plus the price of hotels and food for the same period. The bad news is that they are dirty and polluting (see my article below.) So as we sort through the carbon footprint issues, we’re on our second cruise of two.

We got on a Carnival cruise in Barcelona and cruised to Cape Canaveral in 13 days. There, we stayed the night with a friend, picked up a car rental, drove to Miami, and boarded an NCL ship from Miami to Seattle via the Panama Canal for 18 days.

The Day Aboard

Yesterday, we enjoyed a day transitting the Canal. We loved it. In between, we’ve had port stops in Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico. On our sea days, Steve and I have both been hammering out words and more words for the novels we’re crafting. We keep laughing about how the New York Times will just have to accept both of our best sellers, and Hollywood needs to start casting. I’m imagining my two friends PJ and Chris Cline to play Steve and me.

We’ll be in the US and Canada for the summer. I’ve posted our schedule before, but here it is again, slightly modified. Now is the time to reach out to us for a visit. We hope to see you this summer.

An incredible story of self-love, adventure, and intrepid spirit by a gal who has nothing to lose and everything to gain, including joining the Peace Corps. Read it here.

Subscribe now

Why is Steve surprised to see Einstein? I’ll tell you next month.

Today my ebook is free on Amazon. Go grab yourself a copy.

What if you could ditch the daily grind and trade your “to-do” list for a “to-see” list? Imagine tracking Monarch butterflies in Mexico, wandering the Scottish Highlands, or tasting your way along the Danube.

It’s not just a daydream. It can be your reality.

✨ What’s New in This Updated Second Edition

This expanded edition includes:

• A fully updated step-by-step launch timeline with current tools and resources

• New budgeting templates and cost-of-living examples

• An updated mail, residency, and tax-domicile walkthrough reflecting recent rules

• Fresh case studies about buying insurance, setting up your phone, and planning your trips

• A Brand new Lessons Learned section over their five years of travel.

• Expanded workbook pages to help you map your own launch plan

Chris and Steve did it. They sold everything, packed just two carry-on bags, and launched a new life of endless adventure. In Two Carry-ons and a Plan, they share their entire playbook—and their charming love story!

This isn’t just inspiration; it’s your step-by-step launch guide to traveling the world full-time. Forget being overwhelmed. This book demystifies the “impossible” parts: how to get your mail, set up a tax-free domicile, and sell all your stuff. Packed with practical timelines, case studies, and a workbook, it’s the ultimate guide to living your best life without breaking the bank. And there’s even a love story thrown in.

About the Series: This book is the key “how-to” guide in the To Travel a Nomad Life series. Start with the 50 Hikes 50 States prequel to see their trial run, use this book to plan your launch, and then read Nomad Life and Wanderlust Wisdom to see what this incredible lifestyle is really like.

Your global adventure is waiting. Get your free ebook right now and start planning your getaway right now!

New Reasons to Become a Paid Subscriber

I’m pleased to announce two new reasons to become a paid subscriber. With your paid subscription, you get the Nomad Life Toolkit for free plus the Nomad Life Checklist (Are You Ready?) for free. Upgrade now!

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As we make our way successfully through our lives, we carry toolbelts of skills and objects to help us navigate the world. Nomad Life is no different. To be successful as a full-time traveler, you’ll need to master these tools. In a series of newsletters, I’ll share a breakdown of these tools, starting with Transportation.

Nomad life is all about movement, everything from getting to the grocery to getting to the next continent. Whereas in your previous life, you may have used cars and planes, in Nomad Life the transportation wheel has many spokes.

Walking As Life

The wheel starts with your ability to walk more than you probably have ever walked. A 10,000 step day in Nomad Life is de rigor. Not just once a week, but every day. You’ll need shoes that support your great step counts and legs that are conditioned to do the movement. The number one piece of advice I give nomads beyond circling a date on the calendar to get your launch going is to get your body moving. If you’re not walking 5000 steps a day, start now.

How do you start in a life that’s super busy? Add walking into the things you’re already doing;

• park further away,

• walk the long way to get your mail,

• walk to do an errand that you normally drive.

Every new steps counts toward grand totals. The more you walk now, the more you’ll enjoy Nomad Life.

Get Your Shoes Right

Regarding shoes, Steve and I each carry three pairs of shoes.

• One pair is for athletics (pick your favorite sport and buy for it (such as hiking, tennis, or running.)

• Our second pair is for general use (read review.) It’s also waterproof for rainy days in town, walking on the beach, or easy hikes across streams.

• Our third pair differs. Mine is an all-around sandal that I use for dress up days on cruises, to wear with dresses, or as a quick shoe to put on to run an errand. Steve, on the other hand, uses his luggage space for a pair of water shoes. He doesn’t like to use his “all around shoe” in the water, even though it is water-friendly.

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The Beauty of a Bus

After your feet, busses/trams/subways become your next most used item to get around. If you’ve never been on a public bus or a subway, start practicing now. What’s this mean?

• Learn how to use Google’s gps/maps software to find schedules and routes.

• Do a practice run to a familiar location where you normally drive.

• Get lost in the system.

• Learn how to pay.

• Understand how to track your ride so you know where to get off the bus.

• And don’t forget to learn about downloading your maps offline so that if you lose connection, you don’t get lost.

If you’ll be in an area for more than a few days, be sure to check for multi-day passes, monthly savings cards, and tap-n-pay options. For the first time you take a bus ride, be sure to have small change with you in case you end up having to pay cash. Don’t assume the bus driver will have change or that your tap-n-pay will work. Be proactive with cash so you don’t get stuck.

Don’t Use Taxi, But Learn How to Hail an Uber

As a safe medium between transit and long-distance busses, you might find yourself needed a cab. If possible, use a car share app to get your ride. If you’ve never used Uber, Lyft, Bolt, Didi, or other similar apps, practice with them before you leave. They all work roughly the same. It’s important to know:

• how to hail a ride,

• pay for it,

• track it, and

• get help.

We avoid taxis. Period. And it goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, if the meter “is broken,” don’t even get into the cab.

The Lovely Train

Once you’ve mastered local transit and Ubers, your next transportation tool is the train or long-distance bus. Never taken Grayhound or Amtrak? Plan a short weekend trip using their routes to create an experience. I will say that international experiences on long-distance busses and trains vary greatly, but learning how to use these tools in the comfort of your own country will ease some confusion in the future. You’ll learn

• how to find your platforms,

• where buses come into large terminals, and

• how to establish comfort onboard.

When taking a multi-hour bus or train, don’t assume there will be toilets and/or snacks. Come prepared. Also, carry some toilet paper with you and a paper towel or two. You may be pleasantly surprised with working toilets and ladies who board the bus at rest stops to sell you local treats. Or not.

You Don’t Know Everything about Flying

In this day, I can’t imagine no one hasn’t flown, but it’s certainly possible. Either book your first flight, or if you’ve flown, try something different.

• If you’re used to one particular airline, try a different one.

• Go to an airport you’ve never been to before

• Try a day navigating an extra large airport

• Measure your luggage and map it to the requirements of your new airline.

• Test out your ability to get around an airport moving everything you own.

Is it too much?

When you purchase your flights (or any tickets for that matter), make sure you use a credit card that has travel insurance attached to it. If your flight cancels or gets interrupted, you can file a claim to be compensated for out-of-pockets costs, including those incurred for lost luggage. A good credit card with these types of benefits can be worth the annual fees (in this case it’s $95 for a Chase Sapphire card.)

Cruises that Cross Continents

For jumping continents, consider taking repositioning cruises. You may have vacationed for a week on a Bahaman cruise, but what about a 15-day cruise across the Atlantic to get to Europe? Look at the annual geography of the cruise industry as a whole. The entire industry moves its fleets twice a year, generally in the spring and fall (April/October.) These one-way cruises often cost less than the prices of a flight plus hotel and food. As Nomads, you’ve got time, why not try a slower way of getting around the world?

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Do You Really Want to Drive?

Finally, let’s talk honestly about renting cards, motorcycles, and hiring drivers. Car rentals internationally can be quite stressful, quite costly, and quite dangerous. We avoid international car rentals as much as we can. On a 6-week trip through Europe, we leased a car which also included insurance. Since our medical insurance doesn’t cover us for motorcycles and scooters, we don’t use them (check yours!). As for private drivers, they can be absolutely worth it. Find them by

• asking an Uber driver if they drive privately (verify insurance),

• using a website like gettransfer.com, or

• asking for recommendations in Facebook groups that cover the area where you’ll be traveling.

If you liked this post, I’ll be glad to break down currencies (cash, points, and rewards.) Would that be something you’d like to read? Let me know.

What’s a Repo Cruise?

Let’s start with some definitions first. A repositioning cruise is a one-way trip on a cruise line, usually in April and October, when the cruise industry moves its entire fleets from one market to the next. So, for example, the ships move from the summer Mediterranean market to the winter Caribbean market or the Mexican market moves to the Alaskan market. Cruise ships follow the good weather just like we do. So when a cruise ship moves, it’s a probably simultaneous when we move continents.

Why Take Repos?

We like repositioning cruises. They’re a fun way to get us from one continent to the other at a much slower place, eliminating the need to fly. We’ve crossed the Atlantic from Europe to the Americas and back at least four times, from the Americas to Australia and back two times, and across the Pacific from Asia to the Americas twice. Each cruise has been at least 15 days, and the longest was 29.

Along the way, we’ve stopped in countries we wouldn’t normally put on our list to see including Cape Verde, American Samoa, and Fiji. We’ve had mostly smooth seas, although one cruise had us bobbing in 30 foot waves. Friends have joined us often, and we’ve made friends several times. We’ve even won the ship’s Boat Building Competition.

Repo Boot Camp

Steve and I have learned how to really take advantage of the ships. Afterall, we’re transiting, not vacationing, when we reposition. Thus, we’ve eaten the salads, passed on the desserts, used the gym daily, easily walked our 12,000 steps, and climbed our 10 flights of stairs daily. We see repositioning cruises as a way to recommit to our health and fitness goals. It’s Repo Boot Camp for us.

How Dirty Is Dirty?

After reading several pieces about how dirty and polluting the cruise industry is despite the world watchdogs’ attempts to make them play clean (source), I looked askew. Were the data points taking into my unique nomad lifestyle, and if I could find a way to look at the pollution data from my Nomad Life point of view, would I come up with different results?

I started by looking at just a vacation scenario of a 7-day Caribbean cruise out of Miami versus the same destinations via flying and hopping from island to island. I don’t think many people who go to the Caribbean via a flight hop from island to island (my gut is that they stay in resorts), but I wanted an apples to apples comparison. I asked Gemini, and these are the results.

The conclusion: A cruise is almost 4 times dirtier than a flight-hotel-taxi scenario.

I then did the exact comparson for a repo from Cape Canaveral to Barcelona with stops in the Bahamas, the Azores, the Canaries, and two spots in Spain. Gemini returned these results.

The conclusion of the repo: it’s 3 times as dirty, but not as dirty as the 7-day vacation. I don’t mention this as a consolution price, just an interesting comparison that emphasizes the positives of slower perpulsed travel. But I concede, it’s not clean in any way.

So where does that leave us as we look to our future travel? While I’d like to say that I’m completely focused on my carbon footprint, I am not. Yet I do eat vegan/vegetarian, buy recycled clothing, walk/bike/transit instead of own a car, move slowly, carry a refillable bottle and reusable spork, travel light, and of course, turn lights off when I’m not using them, I could always do better.

Retired vs Nomad Life Retired

I decided to look at my current life style versus what it could have looked like if we’d retired in Denver as typical retirees who travel globally for vacation and visit friends/family throughout the year. Frankly, it’s hard to imagine exactly what that life would look like since we’re not doing it, so I made a few assumptions. There’s a slight win for the Nomad Life, but I think assumptions could be configured to make the comparisons come out equal. I also allowed for only one car, but I could imagine having two, easily.

By looking at these two different lifestyle and factoring in the dirty truth of the repo cruises, I’m still living a “cleaner” life (or least it’s not dirtier) than a traditional life of a home-owning couple. So what’s all of this mean?

It makes me think, at least, about how I could do better. I can tell you I’m not about to jump into a sailboat and go carbon-free. And after investigating options to buy down my carbon footprint, I’ve concluded the same that did in her article.

Monitor. Comment. Watch closely.

A special thank you to for inspiring this article.

After an intentional month apart, Steve and I are back together again. For almost a year, we’d planned to take separate vacations during the month March 2026. While “vacation” might be a bit of a stretch for what we did, we most certainly didn’t see each other and barely talked to each other for the month.

While Steve went to Barcelona and I went to Jersey on the Channel Islands, we both basically did the same thing: we housesat, hiked, and wrote. We’ll be sharing all the details on our youtube channel, including tips for how to travel as a solo female and as a solo male. So please be sure to catch us there.

What I Learned

But for me, I had a few take-aways as a solo female traveler in Europe without my hubby. While I’ve traveled many times alone, having a complete month of my own time highlighted a few things about me and our relationship.

1. We usually go to bed at the same time, and I’ll read for about 30 minutes. In the morning, he gets up before me, and I’ll lay in bed and read the news and socials.

   
   That didn’t change during my solo month.

   
   Takeaway 1: I’m getting sleep on my own terms and getting enough of it. I did sleep better though because it was uninterrupted.
   

2. I didn’t eat well. When I’m with my husband, I generally have a nutrient-packed smoothie in the morning, a salad for lunch, and a light dinner. It’s usually vegan when we cook and vegetarian while out.

   
   During my month of Married Solo, I ate lots of eggs, cheese, fruit, and oatmeal. I didn’t make one smoothie. I basically didn’t cook. I simply wasn’t interested.

   Takeaway 2: While we both share the cooking and cleaning up, I was completely uninterested in cooking. Did I need a break, or did I like the freedom of my own choices? I think it was the freedom.

   
   

3. Even though we both give each other a lot of space and really don’t put many demands on each other, I found I was far more productive and focused in my writing than ever. It was a blessing to just get up everyday, feed a cat, and then write and hike on my own schedule.
   

   This sounds like I couldn’t do this when I’m with him. That’s not true. But what is true, I simply don’t. Was I bored? Was I filling time? No. I truly enjoyed it.
   
   Takeaway 3: I want to protect my time better when we’re together so I can achieve my personal writing goals.
   

4. I went to Jersey on the Channel Islands where I hiked, housesat, and wrote the entire first draft of my novel (see below.)
   

   Takeaway 4: We like to do the same things. No surprise there.
   

   
   

5. On travel days, I completely failed.

   1. I left things in my flat

   2. I got on the wrong train

   3. I almost forgot my backpack
      

   Granted, I did get to where I was going safely, but there certainly were hiccups along the way.
   

   Takeaway: I’m easily distracted on travel day and certainly benefit from having another set of eyes.

While these takeaways aren’t earth-shattering, as we’ve come together again, we’re very cognizant of what each of us needs. I think that’s super healthy, and I can’t wait to do the experiment again.

Salt & Vinegar Potatoes

Where to From Here?

As this newsletter goes out, we’ve just started the first of two back-to-back cruises to get us from Barcelona to Seattle by way of a ship change in Cape Canaveral and via the Panama Canal.

Then we’re off to the races with our annual zip through the States. If you’ll be in any of these locations while we’re there, please reach out to us. We’d love to grab a cuppa with you.

April 10: Carnival Glory to Port Canaveral
April 25: Norweigen Joy to Seattle
May 13-19: San Diego (North County)
May 19-24: Kauai
May 24-Jun 22: Vancouver BC
Jun 22-Jul 10: Portland, ME
Jul 11-Jul 17: Maritimes roadtrip
Jul 17-21: Portland Maine
Jul 21-Jul 26: Cazenovia, NY
Jul 28-Aug 4: Queen Mary 2 NYC to Southampton
Aug 4-Sep1: Hiking Cornwall
Sep 2-Sept 9: Crucemundo Rhine cruise
Sept 9-19: Berlin and Salzburg
Sept 19-21 Munich Oktoberfest
Sept 21-27 Marrakesh for String Cheese Incident
Sept 27-Oct 15: Thessolaniki and Athens
Oct 15-Dec 31: Poros, Greece

News from Walking Platform Press, an Imprint of EatWalkLearn

We’ve been busy publishing. We’ve got two new products out and new editions of all of our Nomad Life books. Be sure to catch all of them by following the links and grabbing your copies today.

Getting Ready to Launch?

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Are You REALLY Ready?

Get the Nomad Life Checklist

Trying to Figure Out the Nuts n Bolts of Launching?

Get Two Carry-Ons and a Plan

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How Many Ways Are There to Nomad?

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The Nomad Life Launch Kit and Readiness Checklist

The Life a Nomad Life Series

The Month’s Nomad Travel Tip

What Am I Reading?

Kate Evans knocks another one out of the park in this super fun love story of a retiring woman who survives an affair, a rendevouz, a career, and her life. It’s a fabulous and fun story with lots of character and imagination. Don’t miss this terrific read, Amazing!, from one of my favorite authors.

I counted them.

Walking along the coastline of Jersey in the Channel Islands, two things kept my attention more than the 1-mile deep tide and wide berth of the flat sandy beach. Dogs and benches.

This is a country where its residents hold deep collective memory of its coast line. It was here the Nazis occupied during almost the entire length of the Second World War. Memorials to those who resisted, those who were murdered, those who fled, and those who died fleeing (usually by drowning) plus the soldiers who liberated them saturate not only the public spaces in statutes and plaques, but within the stories that locals still tell.

The residents eye the coastline out of habit, a behavior passed to them by their grandparents who haven’t forgotten. Historic castles, now tourist destinations, stand easily regarrisoned just in case the stepping stone to Normandy needs use.

This constant state of remembrance appears in the benches that dot the viewpoints, paths, and resting spots at every available location along the hiking trail circumnavigating the island.

In loving memory to…

We will never forget…

Her smile told us everything…

We miss you…

He sat here to think…

A Day in the Life

I spent the month of March on Jersey. My days started with three hours of writing my new novel, then I’d take the bus to a spot on the coast, and walk back to the island’s heartbeat, St Helier, named after the island’s hermit from 550 AD.

Everyday, a perfect 50 degree temperture invited me out to sunny skies usually parted with clouds. Puffins stayed elusive, but evidence of ground hogs on the trails kept my eyes searching. Bright yellow daffodils in large, medium, and small trimmed the path, danced hello.

Easily accessed stairs and ramps lowered me down to the hard-backed sand, perfect for miles and miles of walking. Tides exposed pools filled with vrai, the seaweed harvested by locals, and limpets whose homes remained after visits from seagulls.

A quick dip into the 50-degree water at the outstanding Havre des Pas swim club where senior men, tanned and trim in their bikinis and caps, stayed young, had me exiting the seawater quicker than my entry. But I was proud I did it.

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With so much space to roam on the beach, owners and dogs did romp. Remarkably, if there was one person with one dog, there was one person with many. It seemed the local tale was if one dog was good, five must be better. Packs followed solo owners all up and down the beach, chasing tennis balls aplenty. Spaniels, mostly of the Cocker and Springer varieties, ran and ran. Is there nothing happier than a dog running on the beach?

I clocked at least 100 miles of hiking while on the island. Although I didn’t do the complete 22-mile circular in one go, I knocked it out in sections via a well-networked bus system that ran on time and was chauffered by the nicest drivers. When not on the shoreline, I made my way through fields of Jersey cows, Jersey Royals, and Jersey apples. All three produced the fattiest, creamiest, and sweetest of their kind.

A friend’s heritage pass opened up the historical stories of fleeing kings, enslaved Russians, and tunneled Nazis. Ancient Celts hid their coins, and arriving Queens recalled Liberation Day. Nowhere did history go untold anywhere on the island.

Which brings me to the benches, where a population remains committed to its memories and the futherance of their loved ones into the future.

49, 50, 51.

I checked the official websites for the official counts of things. I almost felt like this was a journey into understanding how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.

On Jersey Island, there are over 800 benches plus an additional 160 memorial benches. The local prisoner population upkeeps a refurbishment program. A contractor keeps a 4-year rolling contract to maintain them. (source)

Said the director of technical services for the Infrasture Department, “We get frequent, probably weekly requests, to put memorial benches on public land. It is quite a difficult situation as we have to try to balance the wishes of a bereaved relative with having a sensible approach.” (source)

With a number in my head, I set about comparing it to the dog count. Would there be more labradors, cockapoos and terriers than benches?

Yes.

Despite the abundance of benches overlooking St Brelade's Bay, dogs reign at almost ten times the amount at 11,000. Granted, they aren’t all on the beach at one time. But if they were, they’d certainly fit in the coastal expanse that arrives twice a day.

Where to Stay, Eat, Cuppa, Play on Jersey Island

If you go to Jersey, stay here, eat here, coffee here, don’t miss here.

You’ll be greeted by Jade the Grenade, who will make sure your every need is honored, locals will engage your need for a slice, your coffee will come as a luscious pink beetroot topped with flower petals, and your inner hippie-cum-community leader vibe will thrive in a fairy garden filled with free clothes.

If you’re navigating the Schengen Shuffle and need a wonderful respite for your 90-day escapade, Jersey’s got a bench waiting for you. And a pup to play fetch with.

But within the framework of these round-abouts, I always share my dream with my friends. And I use “wave my magic wand” terminology. But as wrote in her wonderful piece I mention below, I thought it was time for me to share my dream to a larger audience beyond my cohort of problem-solving friends.

I’ll get to my dream in just a second. Let’s look at some statistics first.

4.39 Million 17-year Olds in the USA

There are 4.39 millions 17-years olds in the USA. Roughly half of them have passports. I asked AI to look at two data points globally. Some caveats expressed noted that Europeans don’t need passports to go to other EU countries within Schengen, thus their need to have a passport to “go abroad” isn’t needed unless they leave Europe’s Schengen zone.

I thought it’d be interesting to look at the jump in passport ownership between 17 and 18 year olds. The reason for the jump is also interesting. (The sources for these numbers came from a combo of Wikipedia and Embassy data.)

Let’s return to the USA 17-year olds. Of those who have a passport, only about half of them actually have used it for travel (source.)

So of the 4 million 17-year olds, half of them have passports, and of those, half of them actually use them, and of those, half of them are on family vacations, or 10%.

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The Benefits of Travel

Since you are a reader of this newsletter, you are probably a traveler, or you at least value the benefits of travel. After all, travel’s benefits include:

1. Cognitive & Brain Development

2. Emotional Intelligence & Mental Health

3. Career & Life Skills

4. Adaptability & Self-Reliance

5. Cultural Awareness & Stereotype Reduction

While this list is not exhaustive, it’s the famous Mark Twain quote that summarizes the benefit beautifully, written here in full from The Innocents Abroad, 1869.

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."

Why US Citizens Don’t Travel

While I can’t come up with stats on why 17 years olds, in particular, don’t travel, I can come up with stats for why USA citizens don’t travel (source.)

I don’t think any of these statistics are necessarily shocking. Thus, let’s get to my dream.

My Dream

My dream is to give every 17 years old in the USA $5000 to travel and getting rid of the #1 reason people don’t travel, money (96% of them are USA citizens (source: USA Census).)

Here are the rules of that $5000.

1. They must use it for travel

2. They must travel further than they’ve ever traveled before.

   1. If that’s the next county, fine.

   2. If that’s the next state, fine.

   3. If that’s the next country, fine.

   4. If that’s the next continent, fine.

   5. If that’s the next planet, fine.

3. They must do it before they turn 18.

4. They can take whomever they want with them, or go alone.

5. If they don’t have a passport, one will be provided.

6. They must use the entire $5000.

7. Or if they chose not to accept their one-time gift, it’s forfeited. The forfeited money goes toward invites of other 17-years olds in the world to visit the USA.

Costs of My Dream

The annual cost of this dream is $22 billion. That’s a lot of money.

Let’s look at other things that costs $22 billion

• 22 days of bombing Iran

• The annual state budget of Louisiana

• The FAA’s annual budget

• The stopping of 22 windmill farms off the east coast

• The value of 10% of America’s food waste annually

• The Fed’s annual affordable housing budget.

The Outcomes of Teen-age Travel

Thus, does the cost of the dream return value to the 17-year olds who take advantage of it? Or in more business-focused terms, what’s the return on investment?

I admit, I put AI to the task on this one because I wanted to give data to my gut instinct that getting people to travel earlier in their lives would be beneficial to all of us. But let’s look at what AI returned on the ROI after just one year of the program.

Based on longitudinal studies of student travel and 2026 economic data, here is the projected ROI.

1. Individual ROI: The “Earnings Premium”

The most direct ROI comes from the long-term impact on the students’ careers. Research from the WYSE Travel Confederation and various study abroad outcomes shows that “educational travel” in youth is a major predictor of future success.

• Starting Salary Boost: Students who engage in significant travel during their teens earn roughly 12% more annually than their peers who don’t.

• Lifetime Gain: For an average American worker, that 12% premium translates to an extra $567,500 in career earnings.

• The ROI Math: For a one-time $5,000 investment, a $567k return is a 11,250% individual ROI.

2. Academic ROI: Retention and Graduation

Travel acts as a “high-impact practice” that keeps students engaged in their education.

• College Completion: 17-year-olds who travel are 15% to 19% more likely to graduate from college within four years.

• GPA Impact: International travel is linked to a 100% greater improvement in GPA post-trip compared to students who stayed home.

• The “Drop-Out” Offset: Preventing just a small percentage of high school or college dropouts saves the government billions in lost productivity and social services over the long term.

3. Macro-Economic ROI: The “Stimulus Effect”

While the money is intended for the teens, it immediately enters the global and domestic economy.

• Direct Spending: $20.65 billion injected into airlines, hotels, and local businesses creates a massive “multiplier effect.” Every $1 spent on travel typically generates $2.50 in total economic output.

• Job Support: This level of spending would support approximately 175,000 to 200,000 jobs in the travel and hospitality sectors.

5. The “Intangible” ROI (Social Capital)

Mark Twain’s “fatal blow to prejudice” is hard to put a price tag on, but in 2026, social scientists track “Global Competency.”

• Conflict Reduction: High-travel populations show higher levels of tolerance and lower susceptibility to radicalization or extreme nationalism.

• Skill Acquisition: 96% of young travelers report increased self-confidence, and 80% report a better ability to adapt to diverse work environments—the #1 skill requested by U.S. employers in 2026.

The Verdict: If you look at it strictly as a “Taxpayer Investment,” the government would break even on the $22 billion within about 12–15 years through the increased tax revenue from higher-earning citizens. After that, it becomes pure profit for the national treasury.

Let’s extrapolate the one year costs of a one-year program out to an annual cost, and here’s what AI returns.

1. The “Snowball” Effect on National Productivity

In the one-time scenario, you get a single “bump.” In the annual scenario, you are adding roughly 4 million highly-skilled, travel-exposed workers to the economy every single year.

• By Year 10: You have 40 million workers in the prime of their careers who possess higher “Global Competency” scores.

• Economic Output: Based on the 12% earnings premium, the cumulative addition to the U.S. GDP would move from billions into the trillions within two decades.

2. Tax Revenue vs. Program Cost

An annual $22 billion program is expensive, but it eventually pays for itself through “tax recapture.”

• The Break-Even Point: Since each traveler eventually pays roughly $140k more in lifetime taxes (due to higher earnings), the government “recoups” the $5,000 investment many times over.

• The Surplus: By the time the first “Grant Class” hits age 35, their increased tax contributions would likely cover the cost of the current year’s 17-year-olds, making the program fiscally self-sustaining in the long run.

3. Industry Stability (The Travel Sector)

For the travel industry, an annual $22 billion injection is a “guaranteed floor.”

• Infrastructure: Airlines and hotels could build long-term capacity knowing that 4 million “new customers” are entering the market every June.

• Lowering Costs: This massive, predictable demand would likely allow for “bulk-buy” government rates on flights and hostels, potentially lowering the cost per student from $5,000 to $3,500, saving the treasury billions.

Now, I am not an economist, I am not a data analyst, and I am certainly not an AI specialist. I am just someone with a dream.

If you find value in this dream, please let me now. Would you support it? Would you write a business plan for it? Or, if anything else, would you answer the poll?

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We plan about six months ahead, blocking off our travel usually around when repositioning cruises move in April and October. Instead of flying, we make sure we’re on a cruise going from the northern hemisphere to the southern or across the Atlantic or Pacific.

Conceptually, our calendar looks like this:

April-May: Cruising

May-October: 72 degree’ing

October-November: Cruising

Nobember to April: 72 degree’ing.

It’s not perfect, but the structure guides us in our decision making. Repositioning cruises work really well when going from Europe to the Americas or from North America to Japan or even when going from Europe to Southeast Asia via the Suez Canal, But then the Suez Canal closed in 2022 and getting to the East from the West via cruising is not practical or possibly even an option.

Our current itinerary in 2026 leaves us in Greece in December with a wish to go to India in January.

But as Brent and Michael predicted acurately and I’ve been saying for two years, 2027’s travel is a going to be messy because of Trump’s War and anything else his mess might manufacture in the next six months.

Brent and Michael Are Going Places

U.S. Foreign Policy is Becoming a Huge Problem For Travelers — Especially Americans

A little over a year ago — three weeks into the second administration of Donald Trump — we asked a simple question…

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3 months ago · 385 likes · 149 comments · Michael Jensen

I can hear the naysayers of our lifestyle saying, “Don’t you wish you still had your place in the USA?”

Should We Just Go Home?

So let’s answer that question.

Heck no. The tension in the US between its own citizens is far scarier to me than the fear of uncertainty in global travel. I may get a negative comment from a local resident in Spain (I haven’t), but I don’t fear getting shot in the local Lidl in Atlanta.

What I do fear is how the globe’s contraction right now. Our freedom to roam is getting smaller, and our ability to blend in is getting starker. We see evidence of scarcity on the news, yet we hear from other nomads who are in those places that the news is overblowing the story. The contradiction makes decision-making difficult.

Which brings me back to India.

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We’d like to fly to Indonesia, do some snorkeling, skip over to Sri Lanka to hike the Pekoe Trail, and then meander through southern India’s Backwaters and Kerala. Ideally, we’d end up back in Greece in April then head to New York for our son’s graduation. On the to and fro, we’d stop over in the middle east in Oman, Qatar or Dubai to break up the travel.

You Can’t Get There From Here

There are two problems with the above agenda; 1) the safety of it and 2) the privilege of it.

Let’s talk about the safety first. Of course, safety can never be assumed, but there are times when travel is more safe than others. We check the goverment websites, whether airlines maintain flights, and confirm with insurance. The insurance agents track these risks, and when things become untenable, they cancel their coverage in those locations. Thus, travel becomes even riskier for those who decide to not follow their insurance provider’s guidance (let alone their country’s.) We follow rules.

Afterall, we like a little adventure, but not too much.

So we’ll keep our eyes on the safety aspect of our itinerary and make changes to it based on warnings and alerts from those entities who track these things. Right now, our best flight options from London to Bali include 32 hours of travel and a travel advisory on top of it. Things will certainly change. January is 8 months away, but the plan for it is imminent.

Routes and Their Challenges

At first blush, taking a look at the routing from Heathrow to Bali draws up awful flights and layovers.

Because these itineraries are whack-a-doodle (or we could fly a non-stop 13 hour flight from London to Signapore), we’d rather take 2, 7-hour flights, stopping in the middle east along the way. But with travel alerts as they are, staying in one of the layover cities isn’t safe at the moment.

The Privilege of This Discussion

The other problem with our itinerry is the shear privilege of it. Our intention while traveling is to keep the privilege aspect of it as minimal as it can be, doing our best to not take advantage when our race offers a step up. I remember telling friends when we launched that the last thing I wanted was to be perceived as “rich white American.”

Well, here we are.

I do my best to counteract my privilege everywhere we go:

• I buy local currency

• I attempt local language

• I support local business

• I wear appropriate clothing

• I honor elders

• I eat the local food.

Afterall, these are the reasons we travel; not to support large American conglomerates who turn ancient sites into well-situatated hotel rooms.

Yet even though these actions help pay down my privilege, just the fact that I can take the trip and write the story is the privilege I can’t escape. Yet I think what’s important to point out is that I am living a Nomad Life, not a life of perpetual vacation with a home awaiting my return.

By definition of my chosen lifestyle, I must take planes, stay in hotels, and eat at restaraunts. These, certainly, are my choices, and I do my best to make my selections as locally-focused as I can. In other words, I am doing as much as I can to limit my impact on the world while also trying to do good. And I could always to better; an annual goal.

Should We Go to India?

Thus, should we go to India? If it’s safe, yes. And while we’re there, we’ll continue to live our Nomad Life by

1. Limiting our carbon footprint via walking, public transit, light luggage and vegan eating

2. Staying local, buying local, and using local currency

3. Offering community through language exchange, writing respectfully, and photographing with permission.

Because I have privilege, I choose to make less-privileged choices, and that alone, is a paradox in itself. I’ll keep doing better. What tips might you have?

I heard this at least 33 times when I shared with that we were headed out to Nomad Life. Selling everything. Buying one-way tickets. No return plans.

I’d scratch my head. Brave?

I’m not brave.

Really.

I was just tired of thinking I had to live a life that Americana sold me.

Part 1: Work hard. Save money. Retire.

Part 2: Then play golf. Have family dinners. See grandkids. Watch NFL on Sundays.

Trust me. There’s nothing wrong with that life, and if it’s one you’re enjoying and love, good on you. It fits you.

It didn’t fit me.

Yes, I bought into the Work Hard, Save Money, Retire Game. I won at it, too. Retiring at 49. But when retirement unexpectedly arrived even earlier than I thought it would, I halted the brakes on the expectations and screeched to a different direction.

I knew what I wasn’t going to do. Sit and get old by moving to Florida, God’s waiting room.

Golf Scores Lower Than My Age

The thought of endless rounds of golf where I attempted to keep my golf score lower than my age, grinning through 3 year-old birthday parties with precocious best friends of princesses, and being asked to bring my “famous” macaroni and cheese to dinner parties just didn’t sit squarely in my repertoire of happy living.

It seemed like a fast way to kick a bucket list of adventure into a kicked bucket.

Maybe this to-be-expected lifestyle of living will be interesting to me when I’m older, after all, I’ll live to 100 at least, but it’s not a life I could possibly fathom earlier than 85.

Early Retirement Starts Early

I remember the first time I thought about retirement. Granted, I didn’t know at the time what my retirement would be, but my 23-year old friend in my new-hire cohort clarified it for me in 1989. She couldn’t wait until she was 60 to get an RV and go see all the National Parks.

Our retirements were decades away. I remember exactly what I said to her, “You’re going to wait 37 years to enjoy your life?”

Little did I understand at the time, but this was my first whack at the American Retirement Dream. RV Living when I retired never crossed my mind, ever. That day I started 1) a 401k, 2) vesting, 3) matching, 4) saving, and 5) spending less.

Rebellion Against the Machine

Despite starting my retirement fund early, I still didn’t know what I would do when I retired. I knew what I didn’t want to do.

I wasn’t brave. I was rebellious.

And through that rebellion, I took on the challenge of life-long responsiblities that fall into the would/should/could categories.

1. I figured out a way to find my insurance and my healthcare more affordably in global destinations rather than rely on overpriced care in the US.

2. I embraced the way my family raised me; apart from each other, independent of family proximities, yet still close emotionally.

3. I learned to travel. Not package vacations, but real travel. I delved into language learning, understanding that a few words in any language go a long way.

4. I embraced how to show up with intention rather than through tradition. I arranged family visits around what worked for them, which never included the holidays where their other family obligations crept in.

5. I created experiences with friends rather than gifts for management and eventual disposal. Hiking, concerts, shows instead of toaster covers, wine glasses, and candles.

6. I slowly created a life with short strings which easily allow me to untie upon exit.

So when it came to my version of the American (Retirement) Dream, I could cast aside the options sold to us; patio homes on lake shores, oversized trucks designed as RVs, and time-share rentals in over-touristed destinations. Instead, I could leave the trappings of the Dream and travel the world I craved.

My life systems of family connection, heirloom rejection, and responsible intention gave me freedom to roam.

The Family Pressure on the American Retirement Dream

I questioned the traditions of the family connections. Was there a way to stay connected with family members without having to be in the same room or do Sunday dinner each week? I created boundaries that removed toxic family members. I scrubbed conversations to get to needs and added in the wants. I taught family how to use communication tools to keep relationships going.

Heirlooms got used and distributed rather than stored and saved. We asked family if they wanted any items, and if they didn’t, we disposed of them. We intentionally shared stories behind heirlooms so family members could continue the stories if they wanted them. We didn’t hoard items with the intention to surprise family members later with gifts they may not even want. Or, we asked what they did want, and simply gave the items to them.

We had realistic conversations about responsibilities. We honed in on who was really responsible to take care of whom? And did all parties want to participate in that caregiving? We discussed alternatives and happiness. Joy, not responsiblity, lead the discussion. We found that the elder care we thought we’d have to take on in the future was not the wish of the people who’d need the care.

I Kicked the American Retirement Dream to the Curb

I’m not brave. I simply wanted a life, which includes my retirement, built around my dreams of being a global citizen as a full-time traveling nomad. It’s different than most people’s dreams. After all, I’ve written that America isn’t worth it anymore. This includes the American Retirement Dream, too.

What are you dreaming you could do? Why can’t you do it? How could you change one of your systems so that you could reach your dream?

No bravery required.

Just a little bit of rebellion.

See you next week.

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We’ve Split Up

Traveling together for 5 years full-time, we’ve been together 365/24/7. Although we love each other dearly, it was time for a break. While Steve and I have both solo traveled many times, and we’ve certainly been apart often during our married life, we haven’t intentionally parted for an entire month. We were ready.

For the month of March, we’re split up. We’ve each got a budget ($2500), our own timeline (meet up in Amsterdam on April 1), and our responsibilities (we’ll each do two solo vidoes for our youtube channel.) Other than that, though, we’re on our own.

So what are we up to? Steve’s off to Spain to practice some Spanish, take care of a Giant Schnauzer, and perhaps walk some of the Camino. His first two weeks are solid, but the last two he’s playing it by ear.

Me (Chris)? Well, the first thing I’ve learned is that Jersey on the Channel Islands is NOT in the UK. How did I discover this? When my global plan on my esim for my phone didn’t work. One hour with tech support had us scratching our heads. Then I googled, “Is Jersey part of the UK?”

“No, Jersey is not part of the United Kingdom. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, similar to Guernsey and the Isle of Man, and is not represented in the UK Parliament. While not part of the UK, Jersey is part of the British Islands and relies on the UK for defense and international representation.” (ref)

Let me tell ya. I was thrilled! Why? Because I got to fill in another country in my Countries Been app and true up my total countries visited to 89!

I’ve been spending my days writing my latest book (it’s fiction!!!!), walking, cooking, and soaking up the unexpected gorgeously sunny days exploring the 2-mile wide tide zone. It’s a tide pool lover’s dream escape. I can’t get enough.

Getting Ready to Launch?

For those of you in the pre-launch phase of your Nomad Life, you’ll be so happy to hear I’ve released my Nomad Life Launch Kit. It’s chuck full of timelines and check lists to get you through your ToDos for launching into full-time travel. When should you sell your car? Get rid of your heirlooms? Digitize your photos? I’ve organized all of these ToDo’s by chunks, starting with 2 years out before launch all the way to the day you leave. It even includes a 1-year itinerary in perfect weather.

Get your copy today.

Need More Help than a Checklist?

But if you need more help, need a bit of motivation, have doubts, or just don’t know where to start, you’ll want to grab the new second edition of Two Carry-Ons and a Plan. Considered “the bible” of all Nomad Life Launch stuff, this #1 best-seller is now available in print, audio, and ebook. It’s everything you need to know to start your Nomad Life with a little love story thrown in. Get your copy today.

Jersey Bean Crock Recipe

What I’m Reading

My friend who I was going to visit in Newcastle, UK, recommended this book before I arrived. During our visit, we’d be going to her book club at the local library. Eager to read a memoir and also meet a book club, I jumped in. Little did I know when I looked at the title, I ended up loving the story.

Book Review: What happens when you read through old family journals and find a person who has never been mentioned within the family? You head back to the old country to find him. In this fascinating treasure hunt, Belim returns to Ukraine and confronts its history as played out in her family’s politics and secrets. I adored this book and loved how her relationships across generations tell stories all of us have heard within our families. A must read for people curious about Ukraine/Russian history. Get your copy here.

What are you up to this month? Share your questions, and we might include them in our next newsletter or youtube episode!

P.S. We’ll be doing several youtube episodes about this married, solo life we’re both having. Be sure to catch them at here.

Or so you said in my poll last week when I asked which family member keeps you from leaving for full-time travel.

I hear you. I get it. Family is hard. Having the chance to travel abroad and return to family is a privledge. Some simply cannot do it. Or they won’t do it.

Instead, they dream.

They dream because they must have a wish to look forward to to overcome the life they feel they can’t improve. Dreams make tolerating life possible.

There’s nothing wrong with dreaming. In fact, I encourage it. Afterall, dreams provide hope. Especially for those who find their lives need to be escaped.

But there’s a giant step between Dreamers and Doers.

Dreamers don’t become disappointed.

Dreamers don’t spend money.

Dreamers don’t leave family members.

But Doers, on the other hand, do.

Doers start with a dream. They wish, conjole, fantasize and draw. Their auras glow. Doers turn dreams into plans. They find a way to make their dream come true and can turn a dreamed life into real life.

Not one nomad didn’t dream her current Nomad Lifestyle. The dream may have started in the first road trip with her family in the backseat of the family sedan on the annual two-week vacation. Or perhaps it started as a whisper turned to a roar once the kids went off to college. Maybe it was last week after reading an invigorating substack.

And obstacles stumbled into those dreamy paths—employers who wouldn’t allow digital nomads, ex-spouses who refused co-parenting options, adult children we’ve helicoptered perhaps a bit too long.

But somehow, these Doers kept the dream alive and turned it into action. They researched the efficiencies of Nomad Life and pitched it to their bosses, they hired mediators to rework the co-parenting schedules, they had heart-to-hearts with adult children about thriving and failing.

They stayed true to their Nomad Life dreams and figured out how to make them work. They refused to let family, money, or logistics keep them from finding the Nomad Life where they could thrive.

The Gap

So let’s say you’re here: in that gasping spot between Dreamer and Doer, where you’re dreaming about your Nomad Life. You want flexibility, adventure, freedom. You want one week in a Paris cafe, the next in Greek olive grove, and the third on a Thai island.

But life’s obstacles keep banging on like hail on a tin roof. You just have to do one thing.

One simple thing.

Circle a date on the calendar.

Pick an anniversary. A favorite holiday. Two years from now. Three weeks. Don’t know a date? Flip the pages of a calender, scroll through the screen, ask ChatGPT. It doesn’t matter which date you pick. Just pick one.

Circle it big. Circle it in Red. Put hearts all over it. Or airplanes. Or an Eiffel Tower.

And I promise you. I PROMISE you. The cosmos of the world will feel you do it. They’ll organize and magically, MAGICALLY, things will start falling into place. The obstacles will resolve. Baby steps start walking toward your Nomad Life. It will NOT happen how you think. But it WILL happen.

Yet there’s just one caveat to this one step.

You MUST be willing to move from DREAMER to DOER.

Which are you?

Blogs, youtube channels, and articles were also scarce. Substack barely existed.

Since then, a plethora of content about Nomad Life floods feeds. This post wades through the choices and offers up the the three best pieces of content by platform for people considering or living a Nomad Life.

Nomad Life Books

Two Carry-ons and a Plan tops the charts (literally) in providing a road map for people (particulary over 50) who want to launch their Nomad Life. Now out in a second edition. (yup, it’s a self-plug.)

Call It Wonder helps people navigate the wandering feelings they can’t quite organize.

American Dirt reminds us of the privledge of choosing Nomad Life as a lifestyle.

By they way, I maintain a list of over 150 travel writing books I love. See it here.

Nomad Life Youtube Channels

WattsTraveling’s Valerie has enthusiasm jumping off the screen as she shares locations around the world you might not be thinking about.

Taste Life with Us’s travel couple of Kathi and Tim giggle their way through their struggles as full-time travelers.

Finding Gina Marie’s travel couple of Judy and Kevin share life on the road, mistakes, and costs of full-time travel.

EatWalkLearn’s travel couple of Chris and Steve share weekly behind-the-scene travel tips of Nomad Life. (also another self-plug).

Nomad Life Blogs

Ott’s World is for solo female travels wanting biking and hiking experiences around the world, but it’s also good for great travel tips from off-the-beaten tracks.

How Bill Rolls gives up funny mishaps and great suggestions for how to spend time as Nomads, including round ups of great full-time travelers’ content.

Sauntering Steev (notice spelling) is a true-life story of a recovering gambler who tries to navigate the world as a solo traveler, but not well. He’s only human, after all.

I’ll throw EatWalkLearn in here for those who want to research over 250 places to go.

Nomad Life Substacks

I’ll tread lightly here because there are so many great writers on Substack who talk about Nomad Life, including , , , , , , , , , , , , and .

But I’ll limit this to my top three whom need love or that I love, or both.

Brent and Michael Are Going Places: a fun look into living one month at a time in places with a bit of occasional political rantings thrown in. I also follow many people they recommend.

Practical Globetrotters: somehow these two always manage to research the exact issue I’m thinking about and publish it right before I have a chance to research it, saving me loads of time.

Conscientious Emigrant: a look into the ethical side of Nomad Life and why we need to tread much more lightly.

While I’ve only listed a few in each category, I’ve tried my best to help the Nomad Curious and current Nomads find a way forward through the encylopedic amount of Nomad Life content out there. These authors all walk the talk.

What would you add?

See you next week.

Chris

P.S. I just release my brand new Nomad Life Launch Kit. Grab it here.