Life in immigration

Posted: 12/10/17 | October 12th, 2017 We have such a large community and I love sharing everyone’s story. I think highlighting a variety of perspectives and experiences helps inspire so many of us! This month we’re featuring Donella and her husband. After her husband had a health scare a few years ago, they decided to stop waiting, finally sell their stuff, and head on the road. As more and more adults consider a “nomadic” retirement (especially here in the U.S. where it wasn’t always so common), I wanted to interview them and have them share their advice. Nomadic Matt: Hi Donella! Thanks for doing this. Tell everyone about yourself! Donella: We have been raising children and grandkids for the past 30 years in South Florida. Now at 58 years of age, and with my husband retiring at 65, we decided to sell our home and take off to see the world. I was a divorced single mother of two when I first met my husband, who was working in the construction of the hospita...

Posted: 5/14/18 | May 14th, 2018 Last year, I gave away a trip around the world. After going through thousands of entries, in the end, Heather was the winner. She has had some amazing adventures already, and now and it’s time to catch up with her and find out about her trip, how the budgeting is going (is she doing $50 a day?), and some more lessons learned as she makes her way across South America. Nomadic Matt: Hi again! First, let’s catch up! What have you been up to since your last update? Heather: Since our last update, I spent two months in Peru and now I am in Chile. I really loved Peru. When I first left for this trip, I didn’t think I would even go to Peru, because I wasn’t sure I could do Machu Picchu, and it didn’t seem right to go to Peru and not see it. After a few weeks, I met a few travelers who told me how I could do Machu Picchu on a budget, and so I ended up spending two months in the country! (There are a ton of pictures from my time in Peru on my Instagram and more ...

Posted: 15/12/16 | December 15th, 2016 Many moons ago, a friend emailed me and said “Hey, my buddy is starting a website. Can you give him some advice?” I hate those emails, but as a favor to my friend, I said yes. That guy, Nathan Thornburgh, turned out to be really cool, and we became good friends. But this article isn’t about Nathan; it’s about his partner, Matt Goulding. Together they started one of my favorite travel websites, Roads and Kingdoms. It’s one of the few websites I read regularly. Last year, they partnered with Anthony Bourdain (they introduced me to him at an event last year and I babbled incoherently for a bit — it was highly embarrassing), and as part of their partnership, they created a book, Rice, Noodle, Fish, about Japan. Now they have a new book called Grape, Olive, Pig about food in Spain. In a long-overdue interview, I sat down and talked to Matt about the intersection between food and travel, and where to find the best food in Spain. Nomadic Matt: How did yo...

Updated: 12/03/19 | December 3rd, 2019 In our last reader story, I highlighted the story of Vikram and Ishwinder, an Indian couple who navigated a complex visa system in order to travel the world. Indians face a lot of restrictions on where they can visit and, for most countries in the world, an extensive visa process. So do Filipinos. It took a Filipino friend in Bangkok four years to obtain an EU Schengen visa, despite having a good job, a fiancé, and lots of roots. So today, I talk to DJ. He’s a Filipino who has been living and traveling around Europe for years. He shares his experience getting approved for visas, travel tips, and advice for others from developing countries about realizing your travel dreams. Nomadic Matt: Tell everyone about yourself. DJ: Hello beautiful dreamers! I’m DJ Yabis. I am 29 years old, and I grew up in the Philippines. I was born and raised in Cagayan and I moved to Manila when I was 17 to study industrial engineering at the University of the Philip...

Posted: 4/18/2013 | April 18th, 2013 Readjusting to life back home can be a challenge. I remember my first time coming home: I had major culture shock. I remember the supermarkets just feeling so big. And the stores. And the meal portions. (We have such big meals here in the States!) Plus, most of my friends couldn’t relate to my feeling of unease. It was a challenge going from always being on the move to suddenly doing the opposite. (Clearly, I didn’t cope. My solution was to keep traveling!) In previous reader stories, we’ve talked a lot about people leaving to travel the world. Today we are going to talk about coming home and readjusting to life after life on the road. Nomadic Matt: Hey Erin! Tell everyone about yourself! Erin: Hey everyone! My name is Erin and I’m 45 and I grew up throughout the Pacific Rim: California, Washington, Hawaii, and New Zealand. I’m a former banking executive that decided I’d prefer to spend my time working with nonprofit organizations a...

Posted: 4/11/16 | April 11th, 2016 Today, I want to share the story of Will, a.k.a The Broke Backpacker. Like the budget traveler Tomislov who travels on a shoestring, Will travels the world on an extreme budget of $20 USD a day. After ten years of travel, I like a little more comfort because of my insomnia, but I love reading stories like Will’s because it is always a good reminder that when you’re creative, you can save money without sacrificing adventure and fun on the road. Nomadic Matt: Tell us about yourself!  Will: I’m Will, a 26-year-old amateur adventurer and freelance journalist. I like to get muddy, naked, and painted. I first started backpacking when I was eighteen and was instantly hooked by all the inspiring people I met whilst hitching, camping, and Couchsurfing around Europe. Since then, I have lived in India for a year, worked in bars in Vietnam, herded goats in the Holy Land and conquered the highest navigable pass in the world armed with a poorly drawn map...

Updated: 11/13/19 | November 13th, 2019 In December 2009, I saw the tweet that changed my life. It was from Matt Gross, who was then the Frugal Traveler for The New York Times. He tweeted asking if there were any travel bloggers who were earning any money from their blog. I tweeted back the Internet equivalent of “Teacher, pick me, pick me, pick me!” And pick me for an interview he did. I remember eating lunch when I got his call and holding up my Kiwi Experience group while he interviewed me on blogging, press trips, and travel (I was backpacking in New Zealand at the time). A few weeks later my interview went live on the New York Times website and within a few hours, crashed my server (First World blogger problems, right?). That was my first big break. Everything changed after that day, and that interview led to some amazing opportunities that never seemed to have stopped. Since that interview, Matt and I have become good friends. We both live in NYC and frequently see each other (he...

Posted: 01/27/2020 | January 27th, 2020 In 2010, I decided to spend the summer in NYC. I was two years into blogging and was making enough where I could afford a few months here. Still new to the industry, NYC was where all the legends of writing lived and I wanted to start making connections with my peers. It was that summer I met Jason Cochran, a guidebook writer from Frommers, editor, and the man I would consider my mentor. Though we never had any formal mentor/mentee relationship, Jason’s writing philosophy, advice, and feedback, especially on my first book, How to Travel the World on $50 a Day, has been instrumental in shaping me as a writer. Much of his philosophy has become mine and I don’t think I would have grown to where I am without him. Last year, he finally published the book he’d been working on about tourism in America, called Here Lies America. (We featured it on our best books of 2019 list). Today, we’re going to go behind the scenes of the book ...

Posted: 5/1/17 | June 1st, 2017 Ever wanted to travel the world with your family? Not sure how to do it on a budget? Not sure what to do about their education? Well, even though I don’t have children, I’m always curious about how families manage to do these things. Maybe one day I’ll have kids and this will become important! So, today, I’m sitting down with Amanda, a community member and writer of funny parenting and travel stories from Idaho. In this interview, Amanda explains how she takes months off to travel with her kids, does it on a budget, and how she continues their education from the road! Tell us about yourself! My name is Amanda (but I write as AK Turner). I’m a 40-year-old mother of two from Maryland now based in Idaho. I write full-time, my husband owns a real estate brokerage, and we spend about four months of every year living in other countries. Before writing full-time, I spent a solid decade in starving-artist mode. I waited tables and cleaned ...