Career

With both our youngest daughter and my nephew graduating high school this year, the subject of taking a gap year did come up for discussion. Both kids are going straight to college, but both did express interest in Costa Rica if they had opted to do a gap year. My nephew is interested in marine biology and spent a few weeks in Spain studying Spanish, so Costa Rica would be [...]

My friend who took almost six months off for a travel sabbatical recently landed a job. He got this offer after two to three months of job searching, and it is at a comparable level to where he left off. Clearly his time away didn’t detract from his career. That said, there is no guarantee that if you take extended time away from your career you can pick up right [...]

If you want to live a more spontaneous, FIRE lifestyle even while you still have a job, then you need to negotiate for more flexibility at work. Companies will give workers more flexibility, especially when the worker fulfills a critical need. If you’re indispensable, you’re more likely to get what you ask for. Indispensability is a key trait to develop if you want flexibility at work – so you can [...]

I recently caught up with a friend who left his job in the spring and has been traveling for almost six months, including to Tamarindo, Costa Rica for surfing camp! His expertise is in eCommerce, so his skills and experience would match perfectly with a digital nomad career that blends travel and work. Yet, he elected a travel sabbatical – all play, no work. A travel sabbatical isn’t something just [...]

Our oldest daughter converted a temporary job to a full-time offer, so we have one of two children officially launched! This first job is a traditional office job with a biweekly paycheck, benefits package and retirement account. However, it also comes with a 9-5 schedule and limited vacation time that needs to be requested in advance. Already, our daughter had to give up free show tickets that a friend offered [...]

Costa Rica FIRE got a mention recently on VICE.com, as I shared tips for digital nomads – i.e., gainfully employed people who choose to do their work remotely so they can travel at the same time. Apparently, there are 5 million digital nomads in the US, and Scott and I hope to join them as soon as next year, when we are empty-nesters! The VICE piece was focused more on [...]

I’ve written before about the perks of the FIRE lifestyle, such as getting to do weekend activities in the middle of the week, beating the crowds and perhaps scoring some bargains. However, you don’t need to wait till you’re financial independent and untethered from a traditional job to live the FIRE lifestyle. If you negotiate for more flexibility at work, you can stay at your job while enjoying the autonomy [...]

This year was both my 25-year college reunion and my oldest daughter’s own college graduation. She’s starting her career, as I celebrate 25 years into mine. When I landed my first job 25 years ago, Costa Rica wasn’t even on my radar. Now, as Scott and I have Costa Rica top of mind for our second acts, I wonder if I could have skipped my first career altogether and established [...]

How my husband and I picked Costa Rica for our post-corporate life is a question we get a lot. There are very practical reasons that I have already explained in past blog posts, including why Costa Rica is a good real estate investment, why Costa Rica is good for our gig-based new retirement, and why we love coming to Costa Rica. Costa Rica also builds on key elements we had [...]