Hi! I'm Sandeep. I was 26 and married for a 1 1/2 years already. Then one day she never came home from work. That was a really tough time. There was a lot of crying.
In hindsight, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It forced me to deeply reflect on my life. I hit rock bottom and decided that I was going to improve who I was and take the opportunity to create a new me. I had nothing to lose anymore. I began going to Crossfit daily, reading everything I could about healthy eating, watching countless videos about meditation and Buddhism so I could calm my mind, and reading about women (or said in another way, how to be a real man). It was an amazing journey. After all that, you couldn't even recognize the old me. I was a brand new person. I was feeling amazing. I thought I was at the peak of it all.
...then I read the 4 hour workweek and it changed my life forever. In the book, the author stresses 3 forms of independence:
1. Location independence (work from anywhere)
2. Time independence (work whenever you want)
3. Financial independence (be your own boss)
Having all 3 of those is the ultimate trifecta. Complete freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want. I realized that due to the online business I started when I was 13, I already had all 3. With no girlfriend or wife tying me down to the same location anymore, and with the huge motivation of the book, I decided to book a trip for 2 months to Costa Rica. I didn't know anything about it and I didn't do any research. A few years before, someone had mentioned that I had to go there and their eyes lit up when they said it. They said there was so much adventure there. I was sold right then. Adventure was what I wanted. I called the airline and got a round trip ticket with a one month stop over in Panama so that I could see both places for the price of one ticket.
Costa Rica was amazing. I feel in love with surfing, made friends with the locals, and learned some Spanish. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I stayed in Costa Rica for 6 months and never went to Panama. Actually, I didn't go back home after that. I felt free. I felt like I had been trapped in my house working on my business my whole life. I saw my first sunset in Tamarindo, Costa Rica at 27. Like really sat down in nature and just watched the sun set into the water for 2 hours. I had been working so much. I felt like it was the first time I really appreciated and felt connected with nature. Watching the sunsets, walking around in flip flops and swimming trunks, drinking coconuts, smoking weed with locals on the beach swinging in a hammock, floating around in the water surrounded by palm trees waiting for the next wave. Why would I go back to New Jersey, USA?
Tamarindo, Costa Rica
My local Costa Rican friend Andreas' surfing dog.
That's one cool dog!
Me learning how to surf!
Local Costa Rican friends.
Over the next 2 1/2 years, I lived for 6 months each in Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Morocco, Spain, and now Indonesia. I learned Spanish and Portuguese by speaking to the locals and using Pimsleur (amazing program). There's too much to say, I wouldn't know where to begin. But if you want to hear it, let me know and I can write some stuff up.
I know what you're thinking... I could never do that, it's way too expensive. I thought the same thing for a long time. I save a lot more money living in other countries than when I was living in the US. In the countries I went to, you could easily live for under $1k to $1.5K per month. Local restaurant food typically costs me around $3 to $5 for a massive meal and drink that would cost $15+ in the US. There's lots of things that can be done to work remotely:
- Slowly convince your boss to allow you to work remotely. (There's some tips about how to do that effectively in the book.)
- Teach English
- Teach Yoga
- Working as a server or bartender in a restaurant (They want English-speaking people.)
- Internet Marketing (very easy to learn and very high in demand - my best friend is traveling this way)
- Contributing to steemit! :)
- Starting a website or online business of some kind
- Selling things on ebay, etsy, amazon, etc.
- etc etc. The list goes on. It's not easy. It takes a real strong desire to make it happen. Really, it's just about starting to prioritize freedom in your daily decisions and slowly heading down that path.
Thanks for listening. I hope you enjoyed it!