After 12 months of backpacking around the world in 2019, here are my learnings and recap
** Read what I wrote in preparation for my 12 month backpacking trip here.**
Intentions for the year
It can get easy (during long term travel) to feel lost or overwhelmed with choices (when you realize you can literally hop on a flight anytime to anywhere). Thus it really, really helped me to set intentions for my year, which boiled down to 3 points:
- Rest and recharge (from 7 years of constantly hustling and pushing myself to my mental limits in my first startup)
- Heal (internal wounds and relationship with myself that I’ve neglected for too long)
- Seek (problems that pain my heart to see that exist around the world, outside of the bubble I’ve been comfortable in, to dedicate next part of my life towards)
I am SO fuck*ing proud of myself for aligning myself with these intentions as it was what I needed, and even more proud of myself for accomplishing these.
1. Rest & Recharge — It really feels like my brain has reprogramed itself, like snapping out of the everyday matrix and seeing things with much more clarity. When friends check in with me, I always respond “at peace.” I am operating with a whole new Operating System now and that allows me to live every day with so much enjoyment.
2. Heal — Self-work this year included: disassociating self-worth/identity with work, working through childhood trauma of worth with women/romantic relationships, shifting perspective of family trauma and surrendering to what is outside my control, suspending logic and inviting magic, feeling peace with my ego that wants to be recognized, feeling more than thinking, and tuning in to my heart instead of my mind all the time.
3. Seek — I definitely did NOT expect this, but I found my next commitment in less than 6 months of the year: raising human consciousness with sacred plant medicine (entheogens) manifested through a human accelerator and life elevation journey (retreat) experience. I have humbly joined 1heart as their full-time Partner & CMO.
Side note: In 2018, I told myselfI will not work for at least a year, and I would be CEO again in my next venture/commitment. This work was too important and bigger than myself that I had to put my ego aside and commit to be in selfless service.
Countries I visited, when I visited, and order I visited them in
Los Angeles, United States (Dec 2018)
San Jose, Costa Rica (Jan 2019)
Mexico City, Mexico (Jan 2019)
Oaxaca, Mexico (Jan 2019)
Mazunte, Mexico (Jan 2019)
Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala (Feb 2019)
Lake Atitlán, Guatemala (Feb 2019)
Flores, Guatemala (Feb 2019)
Uvita, Costa Rica (Feb 2019)
Cusco, Peru (Mar 2019)
Sacred Valley, Peru (Mar 2019)
Machu Picchu, Peru (Mar 2019)
Cali, Colombia (Mar 2019)
Medellín, Colombia (Apr 2019)
Cantón Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica (Apr 2019)
Lisbon, Portugal (Apr 2019)
Lagos, Portugal (May 2019)
Seville, Spain (May 2019)
Málaga, Spain (May 2019)
Valencia, Spain (May 2019)
Barcelona, Spain (May 2019)
Girona, Spain (May 2019)
Lviv, Ukraine (June 2019)
Istanbul, Turkey (July 2019)
Cappadocia, Turkey (July 2019)
Fethiye, Turkey (July 2019)
London, United Kingdom (July 2019)
Nosara, Costa Rica (Aug 2019)
Los Angeles, United States (Aug 2019)
San Francisco, United States (Aug 2019)
Black Rock City, United States (Aug 2019)
Bali, Indonesia (Sept — Nov 2019)
Singapore, Singapore (Oct 2019)
Kyoto, Japan (Dec 2019)
Top 5 Favorite Places Visited (in order of favorites)
- Bali, Indonesia
- Sacred Valley, Peru
- Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
- Cappadocia, Turkey
- Kyoto, Japan
1 second video of every day
In each of these 365 days, I captured a 1 second video that spoke to me. This is what resulted.
Some of my favorite photos captured
Expenses spent per month and year and breakdown
I gave myself $50,000 USD budget for the year to travel on purpose to give myself comfort and full enjoyment of what I wanted to do and experience. This came out to averaging $4,000 USD / month, which I have realized is very doable and very comfortable. For context, I had been close to spending $6,000-$7,000 USD / month for last 3 years in San Francisco, CA, so traveling should (and did) translate to more affordable living than in a USA metropolitan city. What a great deal!
You can cross reference which countries I was in to understand approximate costs of living and worthiness of visiting there on your budget. For what it’s worth, I averaged $20/night in Airbnbs and $10-$15/meal to keep things affordable yet nice.
January — $3,986 USD
February — $2,955 USD
March — $3,959 USD
April — $3,690 USD
May — $3,523 USD
June — $3,058 USD
July — $3,714 USD
August — $4,569 USD
September — $3,635 USD
October — $2,667 USD
November — $3,795 USD
December — $3,071 USD
TOTAL: $42,600 ($7,400 USD under budget)
How I funded this trip
Many ask, so here was one of my approaches. I invested over a chunk of my money from my startup exit in the US stock markets (via a wealth manager) at the end of 2018 year before I left, and achieved ~12% return after 12 months, which passively covered more than my $50,000 budget in 2019 (not counting capital gains tax if/when I sell my portfolio).
This opens up a bigger conversation, which is if it is possible to live this backpacking lifestyle and self-fund it? My answer is a firm ‘YES’ if you dedicate the time and effort to set up the process.
This blog is not dedicated to how to do it, but I will share a quick overview how. Firstly, determine your budget per month you want to live. Secondly, figure out what kinds of remote-first income streams you want to focus on (ie. landing a remote job, investing in assets (like cars and homes) and renting them, stock market investing, owning side hustles, running online consulting/coaching, setting up e-commerce businesses, etc.). Thirdly, prioritize your time to balance out your work vs. play schedule.
How many miles flown (environmental impact)
I don’t know exactly how many miles I flew in 2019, but I am very aware of my environmental impact flying this much. I am currently considering imposing a personal environmental tax similar to what this article shares.
Some “flight-shamers” would say that a better approach is to simply stay home. I disagree. I believe international travel is a powerful way to better understand and contribute to the world in which we live. Travel is not only a great form of recreation but also an important opportunity to broaden our perspectives by experiencing different cultures. Americans who travel gain empathy for the other 96% of humanity.
New skills learned
Ecstatic DJing
Balinese Massage
Plant Medicine Integration
Traditional Shamanic Dieting
Vipassana Meditation
Heart-based Leadership
Salsa Dancing
Contact Improv
Acro Yoga
Startup Angel Investing
Shamanic Drum, Shruti Box, Koshi Bells, Kalimba Instruments
A few learnings/reflections
- Humble the shi* out of yourself — the world can teach you so much if you allow it to.
- “The world is so small” is just a metaphor.
- Leave parts of schedule open to flow and surrender to where the universe is guiding.
- Budget everything to maximize value in your travels.
- Easiest way to make friends around the world is to live in a hostel, attend to group tours, and/or put yourself in ‘difficult’ situation and ask for support.
- World traveling is a privilege. 90% of locals I spoke with never traveled outside of their hometown, let alone their home country.
- If you see something you absolutely love, buy it. You most likely won’t be going back for a while, and if it wasn’t right for you, gift it.
- Collect and carry gifts to surprise people you connect with so they will always remember time together.
- Balance the desire to take photos and breathing in the present moment.
- Withdrawing cash from international bank ATMs will always give you best exchange rates (best to have a no withdrawal fee card)
- Some countries require you to buy a flight out, and if you’re like me who likes to flow, you can use Expedia to buy an outgoing flight and cancel/receive full refund within 24 hours.
More to share when they come to me
Favorite memories
- PERU > COLOMBIA > COSTA RICA: Sitting with Ayahuasca in Sacred Valley, then Kambo, then San Pedro in Cusco, and then hiking to Machu Picchu for 5 days straight, and then sitting in silence for 10 days in Vipassana meditation in Colombia, and then flying to Costa Rica to co-host a 1heart plant medicine retreat.
- BALI: Living with my romantic partner and hosting 15 1heart tribe members for their first time in Bali.
- BELGIUM: Experiencing a traditional 10 day shamanic dieta, which involved 5 plant medicine ceremonies, only eating rice, oatmeal, and potatoes for 10 days, and no talking/touching with others.
Questions from Friends & Answers from Me
- How to disconnect from social media and return to your essential nature? Delete Instagram and Facebook apps from phone and only using mobile browser version (which is a shitty version). Turn your phone to black and white version so your brain/eyes do not get stimulated. And whenever you notice desire to check social media, use that energy to check-in with the first close loved one or friend that comes to mind via call or text.
- Knowing what you know now (with the spiritual insights), how would you live and work differently? Alignment > Hustle. Heal yourself to heal the world. Choose love over fear. Prioritize service for people and planet.
- Who and what have been your most memorable moments and insights? Answers above.
- How has your year away affected your relationships with the people back “home?” There is no doubt that my year away has affected the consistency I had with certain friends back at “home.” But I counter this by committing time each week to have phone calls to catch up with friends who reach out and commit time to reaching out to people that pop into my mind (I take those as signs to check in).
- How can you make the most of travels… How do you drop in with people wherever you are, and make the experiences transformational? First describe who you are. Once you do, figure out where more of YOU are hanging out. For me, it was finding the artists, going to vegan cafes, and going to experiences/events that I was genuinely curious about (via Airbnb Experiences, FB events, and flyers in cafes). To fully drop in and make the experiences transformational, express and invite vulnerability in all conversations starting with yourself+ don’t over plan your schedule to allow spontaneous plans to manifest.
- What life/lifestyle changes will you carry forward as a direct result of your travels? Disciplined budget per month. No more than 50 pieces of clothing to stay minimal. Experiences > Things, always. Be humble and stay curious to keep learning — forever student. Listen and tune into the heart and body for signs and signals for decision making.
- Do you ever feel the need to set roots? Have a home base? Yes the feeling is creeping up, but not solidified yet. To me, I feel alive with new environments that are always teaching me something. I do notice myself now preferring slower paced travel, and creating a humble lifestyle when I land in a new city/country vs. trying to do all the touristy activities. If I had to choose a home base now, it would Bali, Costa Rica, or Peru.
- How do you advise budgeting the trips so others can do it too? I was able to comfortably backpack for 1 year with $4,000 USD / month, and some of those months were accounting for both my partner and I. I have met people who are able to do so with half of that, so $2,000 USD / month depending on how much you fly to other countries and your accommodation lifestyle (I budget for $20/night accommodations). My advise is pick a $ number you can comfortably afford for 1 year of no work and all travel, and STICK TO IT NO MATTER WHAT throughout the year (so you don’t have to worry).
What’s next?
It feels like I have fully transitioned into a new lifestyle that keeps me feeling alive, living my best life, and elevating my growth everyday. Thus, I have set the intention for 2020 to extend my world travels for another year and explore wherever/whatever makes me feel ALIVE. This translates to the work I commit to for 1heart, the countries I still have curiosity to learn from and live in for longer periods of time, and skills I want to continually master.
And for those asking/wondering, I have no desire to be back in the States for the next year and feeling into a new home in Bali and/or Costa Rica. So let’s meet up somewhere around the world!
If you have any questions on how to gift yourself a year of backpacking travels too, feel free to leave a comment below, or find me on the socials (though I’ll be checking that less and less frequently).
