There’s something I came up with years ago. Sometimes I would be spending too much time in Bangkok and I’ve always loved the beaches. So when I just wanted to ‘get away’ I would call it ‘”Time to ‘change my latitude'” and I’d fly to Phuket or Samui.
There’s just something about perfect weather, palm trees and beach surf. It helps to melt pressures away.
Even if you still have a job, I would seriously consider taking at least one official vacation each year to a real, tropical or exotic location. Why would you WAIT until you’re older and ‘retired’ to then enjoy life? That’s ridiculous.
So anyways, I refer to ‘getting away’ to a tropical location as ‘changing my latitude.’ It might have been influenced by a Corona commercial or Jimmy Buffett.
Dealing with stress? Change your environment and just get to a warm, tropical beach to ‘unwind’. (Now of course you can still change your State in the comfort of your own home but being on a warm, beach is something especiale).
There is definitely something to the ‘Parrothead’ mentality of Jimmy Buffett fans or the ‘Beach Boys’. I’ve always found a liking to ‘boozy sunsets’ and ‘Kokomo’.
Why limit yourself? Some people really do just end up ‘living’ in tropical areas like Tom Cruise did in ‘Cocktail’ being in Jamaica. Or Philippines or Costa Rica. It’s so hard for some people to get outside of their own ‘box’. It’s even cheaper to live abroad in many locations if you just minimize your expenses.
It’s even something that you can save up for. I have a friend who is a surf instructor and jungle tour operator in Jaco, Costa Rica. Before he was living in the cold, dreary winters of London. Now, he’s adopted the surf culture lifestyle.
He may do it for a few years of his life and then maybe move somewhere else.
In this age, especially with internet access globally, why NOT consider living abroad or doing extended vacations? I’m glad that Tim Ferriss helped to make this idea more popular. The reality is that it doesn’t take much when you just ‘think outside the box’. It was only $250 for my round trip tickets to Costa Rica when I stayed/lived there for 6 weeks early 2010.
It was COLD winter in Central Wisconsin but I decided to ride it out by living on the coast of the Caribbean in Rodadero, Colombia in October-December and back for Christmas with my family. And then to Costa Rica, only a 4 minute walk to the Pacific Ocean. All for less than it would cost to live in the States. That was a part of my living abroad-for-a-year stint on 4 consecutive Continents.
If you don’t have a mortgage and you have income or at least money saved up enough, why not consider doing something crazy and just ‘living’ abroad for a while. Even if it’s only for a few weeks. What I do is find a short-term apartment rental.
It’s cheaper than a hotel and you feel much more like a local.
It’s great to see a lot more people are doing this. I’ve personally inspired about a dozen people to go to Thailand so far (and maybe far more indirectly) because I just rave about it. Everyone seems to rave about Thailand.
Of course I’m still single and I purposely ‘rent’. I also have my own business but there are still ways you can get away more. I have a friend and business associate in San Antonio who is married with 2 kids and every 3 months they will take another family vacation (usually with the kids).
They’ve been to Europe, Asia and other places. They just plan it and fit in their schedule to ‘change their latitude’ and see more of the world.
When you start valuing EXPERIENCES over material goods, you start realizing that even if you don’t become a hardcore non-conformist, hippie or vagabond, you can STILL see different parts of the world and fit it into your own schedule.
Why not be in more conducive environments to your health and creativity?
Instead of buying more material things, maybe start saving for another trip and do it on a budget. Almost all of my travels are business expenses anyways.
It’s ALWAYS sunny somewhere in the world. What if you just went beach chasing around the world and had year round summer? There’s plenty of adventure just waiting out there.