• One week in Ayia Napa
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    A Week in Ayia Napa, Cyprus

    Cyprus is an incredibly beautiful island, and we discovered more of the beauty of the island by spending a week in Ayia Napa. In our opinion, Ayia Napa is one of Europe’s best-kept secrets. While you may not have heard of it, Ayia Napa is a beautiful resort destination in Cyprus. It’s also a top beach destination in Europe, but little known to ‘outsiders’. With beautiful beaches, a booming nightlife, plenty of accommodations, gorgeous landscapes, and tons of history, it’s not hard to see why! With all these beautiful places to visit, it can be hard to pick the best spots to spend time and, of course, take pictures. The…

  • How having deaf parents prepared me for life
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    How Having Deaf Parents Prepared Me for Life

    There are times when I mention in casual conversation that both my parents are deaf. This always generates mixed responses. People are curious, as I guess anyone would be when they encounter someone with this different perspective. They run the gambit on crazy questions though. From: ‘How do you know how to talk?’ to: ‘Can they drive?’ The worst reaction though is: ‘I’m sorry’. No offense, but 1. you’re an asshole & 2. I’m not sorry at all. Frankly, I’m sorry that you would even have the perspective that this is a bad thing. Having deaf parents had a huge impact on my life and my upbringing. Today, I’m going…

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    Guide to Dubrovnik Croatia

    Croatia has been one of our favorite countries. It holds so many memories and is usually a country we find ourselves looking to go back and visit. We’ve vacationed like ballers there, and also like paupers. Both times we had a blast! Because both ends of the financial spectrum there were so great, we decided to go through a baller’s guide to Dubrovnik, and a budget guide to Dubrovnik. We are covering where to stay in Dubrovnik, where to eat in Dubrovnik, and what to do in Dubrovnik. You get the benefit of checking out what poor people do there, as well as rich people. Pick and choose your itinerary…

  • Early Retirement September
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    September Update – First Month of Early Retirement

    We’ve both officially passed the first month of early retirement, and we haven’t gone broke yet! That’s a win in our book. It’s been a month full of traveling, to FinCon in Washington D.C. and immediately afterward overseas to Cyprus. The month has been a rapid transition from hustle and bustle in the states to slower island life in the Mediterranean. This article is the first of what I hope will be many monthly updates in our ‘retirement’. We will cover spending, & income, and let those two categories tell the story of our month. Income “Work” The last of our paychecks trickled in from back when we were peasants…

  • Importance of Health
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    The Importance of Health

    It should come as no surprise to you that health is among our top priorities and motivators. From seeing the affects of stress and working for most of your life to discovering the many health issues that runs in our family. We have come to realize, even more so in the past few months, that our health is nothing to take for granted. It’s something we need to be proactive about now while we are still fairly young and before it’s too late. We wanted to go over some of the key aspects of the importance of health and why it is so important to us. The Importance of Health…

  • converting long term rental into airbnb
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    Should I Convert a Long Term Rental Into AirBnb?

    Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past half-decade, AirBnb is one of the first companies that comes to mind when you are thinking of staying overnight in just about any location. There are currently over 6 million AirBnb listings. These accommodations vary wildly from a 14 bedroom mansion with a lazy river to a damn air-mattress in the back of someone’s car. The question is, should you capitalize on this popularity as a landlord? Should you seek out properties for AirBnb? Or, even easier, do you convert a long term rental property into an AirBnb? Convert a Rental Into an AirBnb As real estate investors, we’ve debated dipping our…

  • The Pitfalls of Reward Travel
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    The Drawbacks of Reward Travel

    Have you ever travelled using rewards? There are so many possibilities when it comes to booking with rewards miles, especially when money is no longer the worry. For the past 4 years, James and I have been funding our air travel expenses using rewards. We haven’t had any issues when it comes to booking flights…until our last trip. This was our first real encounter with the drawbacks of reward travel. The Drawbacks of Reward Travel We usually sing the praises for reward travel. There is nothing like getting onto a plane to your destination, and realizing that you didn’t spend a single dime on the trip. There is a multitude…

  • Cheap and Healthy Airport Tips
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    5 Cheap and Healthy Airport Tips

    5 Cheap and Healthy Airport Tips Airline travel, you either hate it, or hate it. I don’t know of anyone that really loves it. Shuffling through security where they scrutinize everything from your toothbrush to your shoe choice. Starving and forced to pay exorbitant prices for meager meals of deli meat with plastic cheese. Everyone seems pissed off except the one woman with “Newlyweds” emblazoned across her t-shirt, and the guy trying not to be seen in his matching shirt. With all the shitty parts, we felt it would be beneficial to cover 5 healthy airport tips that are cheap and easy to make airports and flying suck less for…

  • Learning to Adapt
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    Learning to Adapt

    Do you fear change? Do you purposely avoid it because you are afraid of the unknown? I’m talking the kind of person who gets easily frustrated when things don’t go the way you think they are ‘supposed to’. I used to be the kind of person who feared change. If something didn’t go the exact way I planned, I would freak out and over-react, resulting in a ruined attitude and mood. Essentially, I never learned to adapt to the many learning experiences that life throws my way. Learning to Adapt Ever since I met James, I have learned to adapt to change, in the best way possible. That’s because he…

  • The Trap of Work
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    Trapped at Work

    I’ve been ‘retired’ all of one week, and I already feel like I’ve been shocked awake with a cold bucket of water. Wim Hof amirite? I guess it makes sense. Even though I had a cushy job where I was only in an office a few hours a week, it was the responsibility of being a manager that took its toll. Putting out fires, answering questions, generating useless weekly reports, staying on top of my emails, and never letting my phone be more than a few feet away. I was trapped by work. However, now I have time to stop and think, to be truly present, to be detached from…