The School of Travels

In my interview today, I talk with Illeana Salvo, a new nomadic traveler with an incredible story of how she turned her love of languages at an early age into the chance to travel internationally, live in Japan, and then eventually become location independent through helping one of her online language students with a new project. From dealing with taxes when you’re not really based in one country to how to handle the feeling that you’re missing out on climbing the corporate ladder by being nomadic, Illeana and I discuss a number of issues that can come up for new digital nomads. I hope you enjoy Illeana’s story and find it useful for questions you may have about leading this nomadic lifestyle.

Hello listeners and welcome back to the School of Travels podcast! Today we are going to travel from America to Europe to Asia to the Middle East and all the way back to Europe with my two special guests Josh and Kalie, a couple from The United States. I first became familiar with Josh and Kalie when I came across their channel on their YouTube channel Expats Everywhere while preparing for my move to Portugal in 2020. Josh and Kalie were only a couple of months ahead of me in the get your residency in Portugal game, but they were also doing it with a young child and a dog. I wanted to bring Josh and Kalie on to share their story of traveling right after university, living in four different countries, deciding to become parents, and then continuing to travel and maintain their love of travel right along with their young daughter in tow. As you will learn, their daughter, despite only being two years old, has definitely inherited her parents’ love for travel. So what’s it like when you’ve been traveling for a while and then you add a child into the mix? Let’s get into my interview with Josh and Kalie and find out.

I introduced Akina Shu to you back in Episode 73 and she is back for Part 2 today to talk about being a digitial nomad in Japan. Akina Shu spent a year traveling around Japan working from different locations and we will talk about how she found accommodation, how coliving services typically work in Japan, and some of Akina’s favorite places to work around the country. Have you ever dreamed of working remotely from Japan? Well, let’s learn about how to do it right now. 

Today, Naman Mehrotra is going to share with us his experience growing up in 7 different countries and attending 11 schools across Asia, Africa, and Europe before eventually moving to the US.

Naman and I discuss his personal experiences with moving around so much as a child, what it is like changing schools so often and also his current position at Safety Wing helping develop new products and strategies for travel insurance around the world. Naman has had quite a unique upbringing with so much travel at an early age, but I personally believe his experience may be one that becomes more common as more jobs become location independent - so knowing how to navigate so much change whether it’s for yourself or your family is valuable advice before you get on the road.

Do you know what a co-living is? Have you ever stayed in one? I spent years living in sharehouses when I worked full-time in Tokyo, but as a location independent traveler I’ve never actually stayed in a coliving, so I was very interested to learn more about them – and better yet – discover what it’s like to design and build one from scratch with my guest Kate Shifman.

Kate is a fellow American citizen residing in Portugal, although she is way ahead of the trend and has almost reached the 5-yr residency mark, which here in Portugal means that she can soon apply for her Portuguese citizenship.

In our discussion today, Kate and I talk about why she chose the surf town of Ericeira on Portugal’s beautiful West coast to build her very first co-living space. We also discuss how she is implementing sustainability into all of her design and construction choices and the future events and collaboration with businesses in Ericeira she plans for her new space.

This week, we are going on a grand adventure to the high mountains of Nepal. In 2015, I was fortunate enough to go trekking in Nepal to Everest Base Camp with Hari Bohara of Himalayan Trekking Alliance as my guide, and I am happy to say that I have finally been able to get him on the show this week to talk about what it’s like to prepare for a long multi-day trek in Nepal. We will talk about how Hari became a guide, what you need to get ready to set off on your trek, what it’s like to land at one of the world’s most dangerous airports, and the day-to-day life of hiking at high altitude on your way to Everest Base Camp. Are you ready for an adventure? Then, tune in and let’s go to Nepal with Hari.   

Today, I would like to introduce you to one of the rarest creatures you will find on the digital nomad scene—a Japanese digital nomad. Akina Shu is originally from Yokohama, Japan, and she has made it part of her mission to introduce the concept of digital nomadism to Japanese companies. Having an interest in learning English since university, Akina has also started her own podcast, Nomad University, which we have put a link to on theschooloftravels.com. Akina and I will discuss Japanese work culture and also what made her finally do that most unusual of things in a country obsessed with work: quit her job, leave the office, and get on the road. Within the first 3 months of her journey, Akina had already visited 5 continents. How did she do it? Let’s get into her story right now to find out…     

Hello listeners and welcome back to the School of Travels podcast!

Today, I am bringing you my 3rd interview related to cryptocurrency because I’ve got to be honest, I feel like it’s becoming more important than ever, despite the entire industry being in a huge downturn at the moment. Now, you may ask yourself, what does cryptocurrency have to do with travel? Well, cryptocurrency is a form of money and we all need money to travel - and my guest in this week’s episode, Anja Schuetz, is going to explain to you how we can use earn cryptocurrency to earn passive income and even as a way to find your next job.

If we have more money, we can have more freedom, travel, and well-being in general, so let’s get right into Anja’s story and hear the important message about the future of money and investing that she has to share. 

Hello listeners! Welcome back for another edition of the School of Travel podcast! Back in Episode 62, I shared my story of getting residency in Portugal during the pandemic and, this week, I thought you would enjoy another story of how to get residency in Mexico - a place much more familiar to those of you listening from Latin America and the United States.   

My guest this week, Kris de Leon, has quite a story to share with you as he started dreaming of travel very early on growing up on the tiny island of Guam with his efforts to follow his dreams ultimately taking him around the world, not only becoming proficient in Japanese and working the Japanese corporate life but also landing an international transfer to London which allowed him to travel to new places almost every weekend. 

Kris now considers himself a “hybrid nomad” and you will need to follow along with his story to find out just what he means by that and if it may be a future option for you. Finally, we discuss why Kris ultimately fell in love with Mexico City and how he ultimately ended up getting his residency in Mexico (and how you can too). Let’s dive into Kris’s story now.

Hello listeners – welcome back to The School of Travels podcast coming to you for the second and final episode from El Salvador! My guests this week took the Bitcoin experiment in El Salvador to the next level and decided to travel around the country for 45 days only using Bitcoin. This meant that they could only stay in hotels and eat in restaurants that accepted their bitcoin, even the gas for their rental car had to be paid for in bitcoin—all in a country that had only made Bitcoin its legal tender less than four months before they entered the country. 

Riccardo Frega and Laura Nori, otherwise known in this podcast as Rikki and Laura, both come from Italy and met during the pandemic on the popular Clubhouse app, bonding over their shared love of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. When Laura suggested that Rikky take his show on the road to El Salvador to really see what it was like for the first country in the world to use Bitcoin as legal tender, they both had their tickets to El Salvador within a week. 

Two months later, they are still here and spreading the message of how Bitcoin can change the economic lives of even those who have never had a bank account before. What is it like to only spend Bitcoin for 45 days and no longer have any access to cash or credit cards? How is El Salvador doing with the adoption of Bitcoin? We are about to find out…..