Beyond a Journey
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Lifestyle

Funding your adventures

7 min read
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South East Asia
author
Eastern Europe

Some people will tell you that the best way is to get a job and save money.

Others, that you should be the create your own job, and be your own boss.

And of course, there are those who will tell you that you should just live in a country where the cost of living is low.

But the truth is, that none of these options are the best.

Because its really up to you.

The phrase “it’s not richer the one who has more but who needs less” is a sentiment that aligns with the core principles of several philosophical and spiritual traditions, rather than being attributed to a single individual called “Dod Budha.”

Specifically, this idea is strongly present in:

  • Buddhism: The teachings of the Buddha emphasize non-attachment to material possessions and the reduction of desires as a path to liberation from suffering. The concept of “craving” (tanha) as the root of suffering directly relates to the idea that needing less leads to greater contentment.
  • Stoicism: Ancient Stoic philosophers like Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius promoted the idea of focusing on virtue and inner well-being over material wealth. They advocated for distinguishing between true needs and superficial wants, believing that true richness comes from being content with what one has and not being enslaved by external possessions.

Because you can’t take any belongings with you in the very end of the story

Funding Adventures 101

Get someone to pay for your adventures.

Kidding.

Be the owner of your own path, whatever you choose it to be.

A Better Job

Be aware of the rat race and lifestyle inflation.

Real Estate

You will hear many positions about real estate.

  • That it never goes down
  • That its a waste of money to pay rent
  • That it is too risky and the bank will take your house

So… what to do?

You have few concepts to have a look to:

  1. The 5% rule to decide renting vs buying: https://youtu.be/Uwl3-jBNEd4
  2. Understanding French Amortization

Concepts for real estate:

  • French Amortization: Explains how monthly loan payments are structured, with an emphasis on how interest payments decrease and principal repayments increase over time. It also discusses how early principal repayment can save on total interest paid.
  • Net Asset Value (NAV): Discusses how a mortgage impacts net assets, clarifying that future interest payments are typically not included in standard NAV calculations, which focus on current equity.
  • Dividend Growth vs. Rent Growth: Compares the growth of dividends from stocks (using NYSE:O and MCD as examples) with rental income growth from properties. It emphasizes that rental income is earned on the full property value, even with a loan, potentially leading to a higher Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) than Return on Investment (ROI).
  • Cash Flow and Risks: Illustrates cash flow dynamics when buying and renting with a loan, showing how initial months might require additional personal funds before positive free cash flow (FCF) is achieved. It also outlines significant risks such as inconsistent rental income, property damages, occupancy rates, and fluctuating interest rates, referencing the 2008 financial crisis as a cautionary example.
  • Real Estate Data and Modeling: Mentions sources for real estate data (Inside Airbnb, Idealista) and suggests two simple ways to model property and rental price variations: constant growth or a combination of upward trend with sinusoidal fluctuations to represent market cycles.
  • Key Concepts: Re-emphasizes the importance of understanding Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) and the “Rule of 72” for estimating investment doubling time.
  • Inflation: Stresses the critical importance of considering inflation when evaluating nominal growth figures in real estate, demonstrating how seemingly high nominal returns can be significantly lower in real terms after accounting for inflation.
  • TIN vs. TAE: Explains the difference between Nominal Interest Rate (TIN) and Annual Equivalent Rate (TAE) in the context of loans, highlighting TAE as the more accurate measure of a loan’s total cost.

Stocks

Some people do fundamental analysis, others do technical analysis, others do both.

In general, you can think that time is your best ally in the stock market.

Index Funds

If you have heard about ETF, index funds are kind of similar.

They replicate the performance of a specific index, like S&P 500 or MSCI World.

If you buy one of them, you will get the performance of the index, minus the fees.

And inside the index, you will find the stocks of the companies that make up the index.

Most people buying index fund are following the DCA (Dollar Cost Averaging) strategy.

DCA is a strategy where you buy a fixed amount of a stock or index fund at regular intervals, regardless of the stock’s price.

Others, do DCA and save some additional amount to buy stocks when they are cheaper.

There is an interesting passive investing community at: https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/

Dividend Strategies

There are some interesting stories, like the one of Dave Van Knapp: https://dividendsandincome.com/about-us/

Its a very interesting strategy, but it requires a lot of patience.

Yet you can see the 8th world marvel in action, the compounding effect, as in this Dave’s post

Crypto

Probably not the best option for most people, but it can be interesting to learn about it.

Some people are hodlers, others are traders.

There are also miners, but that is a whole other story.

There has been also 101 scams, like Terra or Celsius network.

In general, you should run away from centralized crypto black boxes.

But don’t be afraid, DeFi is still there and code is law.

You can have a look to:

To go deeper, see:

A Business

Some people will tell you that you are loosing your time (money) by investing in companies already stablished.

Wht they mean, is that if you can create a business, you can make more money than investing in companies already stablished.

With the premise that for every 1$ you place into the business, you could get 3$ in return.

That would be 2$ net profit, if you are good enough, making it a 200% return on investment, instead of a ~7% return on investment.

You should have a proper:

  1. Business Plan
  2. Business Model
  3. Marketing Plan: Probably using social media or paid ads

You can imagine that there are many stories and type of businesses: from bloggers, to podcasts, others will sell ebooks…

Websites

You can monetize your website in many ways:

  1. Ads
  2. Affiliate Marketing
  3. Ecommerce

Find a niche: Many people will tell you that you should focus on one of them.

Dont pretend to solve all problems, at the same time.

Youtube Channels

If you have a youtube channel, you can monetize it in many ways:

  1. Ads
  2. Affiliate Marketing
  3. Ecommerce

A good example?

I like a lot https://www.cyclingabout.com/

Some people are doing ~20k per month, with a YT channel.

Concepts

DCA Factor

FIRE

You might read about the F.I.R.E movement, which is a movement that advocates for financial independence and early retirement.

There are many tools to calculate your DCA factor, like this one.

Use Monte Carlo simulation to test portfolio growth and survival against specified financial goals both during career and retirement