Give the Gift of Experience, or Cash
Last week, I published our approach to unique and affordable wedding planning. Unexpectedly, readers seemed very interested in the Chinese hong-bao tradition – giving cash in a red envelope. Hong-Bao…
Four-Part International Wedding Under $8k USD
Today marks one year since Xav and I concluded our around-the-world wedding celebrations. Recently, I’ve heard and read various reports on the ever-growing wedding cost, and the trend of newlyweds going…
Float Spa: Weightless Body and Restless Mind
A friend recently gifted us certificates to a float spa here in St. Louis, at Float STL. I adore the gift of an experience, and float spa has been on…
From Nomad Living to Ho Chi Minh City
We can read all about an experience, but until we’ve lived it ourselves, it’s just a story. Nomad Envy I have wanted to travel full-time for years. I read blogs…
Redefine What It Means to Work
My parents grew up in Taiwan in the 1950s, the country was poor, and stories of their childhood without shoes or other basic necessities juxtaposed with my fortunate upbringing. In…
My Version of Financial Freedom
When I decided to get serious with this blog, I got back on Twitter, and tapped into the personal finance community. Boy, what a world. The conversations are equal parts…
Why I Don’t Budget
Budgeting, does this word make you cringe when you hear it? I definitely cringe. I get an image of envelopes labelled “grocery”, “gas”, “fun fund”, etc., and comes with them…
What I Learned One Year After Corporate Grind
As we grow older, the phrase, “time flies” is uttered often. For me, however, this past year did not fly by; the year progressed seemingly slowly in the best possible…
Minimalism Journey
8 months ago, Xav and I got serious about becoming more minimalistic in our lives. We were very far from it. Every drawer and shelf of our 110 squared-foot apartment…
1000 Days to Freedom
I’ve been chasing the dream of living a location independent life since my days in the Peace Corps. I’ve wanted the freedom to live and work in parts of the…
Road to Positive Net Worth
During fall of 2012, just months after I finished a very expensive graduate degree, I took the plunge and moved to Shanghai, with nothing but negative $120k of net worth. It didn’t matter that I was coming without a job, the goal was to be rid of that massive student debt. My plan was to pay it off by my 30th birthday. Along the way, I’ve changed my strategy a bit. This month, just before turning 30, my net worth is positive for the first time since my 18th birthday, when I started college…