You asked me about my being “location independent?”
Maybe you’re there or almost there, or …wanting to be almost there?

Tomorrow – Tuesday May 18th you have an opportunity: Build your own empire. That’s key to location independence in one year.

Being location independent means freedom. Freedom to earn as you want and then have the time to do what’s most important to you…maybe spend more time with your kids, take long vacations or travel. Or all the above.

I have one source of great information I have to share: Chris Guillebeau. I’ve followed him for a few years now.

It’s Chris who is launching the Empire Building Kit tomorrow.

A bit about Chris (longer story here): he made a name for himself by announcing he intends to visit every country of the world and blogs about it. For that, Chris is well on target. I believe he’s hit over 120 so far. He doesn’t stay long per country, which would be more my style, but if your goal is quantity over time – Chris sets the bar darn high!

But he’s not just a super, uber-traveler. He’s a real guy like you & me.
And he has a great knack at being happily successful & describing how, easily for people like you and me.

Chris shares plenty of know-how. For example “279 days to Overnight Success” and “Brief Guide to World Domination”
Both are free. Grab them to see what he’s capable of delivering.

Last month, Chris revealed the Empire Building Kit.
The EBK is a paid-for product. Three tiers, price balanced with what’s provided. Even at the lowest tier, it’s a huge collection of case studies of successful entrepreneurs, with video interviews, transcripts and actionable info.
Plus, the 365 messages (daily for a year) from Chris to walk through it all bit by bit.

Forty days ago, Empire Building Kit was first released (also for one day only).
I scooped it up (the middle tier).
Normally, I don’t shell out cash for products, “sight-unseen.” But I have bought from Chris, a few times. And every time, I never get buyer’s remorse.
Again, as with everything Chris offers, I’m very satisfied with this EBK. Chris’ daily newsletter has a nice ‘babysitter’ for me, reminding me to act & stay focused, even during these busy times.

Tomorrow, Tuesday the 18th, Chris is opening the Empire Building Kit again for people.
I hope you see it as worthwhile as I do. It’s your key to becoming location independent.

For full disclosure, I partnered with Chris and his site. So while I brag about Chris’ stuff as a satisfied customer, I will also get a commission, too. I do sincerely believe in Chris and his work so I don’t feel ‘dirty’ doing so.

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I am now officially retired from the corporate rat race.
Two months ago, I wrote how I was laid off. As of just Friday, April 30th, I am officially out of work.
How cool is that?

Big Life Changes Explained
A couple days ago, I mentioned big life changes. I even wrote it borderline mysterious: “Even bigger life changes…stay tuned”
Well, time to fess up. Yes, I’m out of work. But the bigger life change is: I’m not looking for work.

I (with my wife’s support) will no longer work for anyone else. I’m freelance. I’m working for myself, on my own terms, according to my own demand. I’m an expat from corporate life.

Did I Make the Right Choice?
You bet your ass.
Last Friday, April 30th, after surrendering the laptop, blackberry and all other stuff that pseudo-defined me as a corporate manager, I walked up to the receptionist. “Take care,” I said as I handed her my access badge.
She said: “Okay, well have a good weekend and a good rest of the life!”
Thanks, I will.
I never want to be in that environment again. And if I did end up doing the cubicle thing again, I know I would be completely miserable. What kept me somewhat content in this past job was working with people whom today I can call friends. Good guys, miserable lifestyle. (And I’m quite certain those guys would agree with me)

My Last Day
I left corporate life around lunch time. That left me several hours of the day to fully absorb the start of a new me, a new life.
I got home, stripped off my shirt, tie and slacks, got into much more comfortable clothes. I figured that wasn’t “transition” enough, so I decided to ceremoniously ditch my black dress shoes for good.
My 4 year old daughter and I walked to our park, across the street from us. On our way to the park, we left my dress shoes near the recyclables containers on the street. That’s where people leave behind old clothes for other folks with more need to pick them up. My dress shoes will no doubt be more enjoyed by anybody other than me.

At the park, my daughter and I had a long talk about how, from now on, I will be more available.
I’ll be more available for playing, more available for helping her, more available to pick her up for school, and so on.
We’re both pretty happy about this.

No Work DOES NOT Mean No Income
I hope no one believes I’m retired, as in never working again. While that would be nice, it’s just not doable. Daddy and family need income. It’s just not going to come from a place where I need an access badge.

How will I help contribute to the family income? I have already been doing piecemeal work for a publisher for …wow, has it been 10 years already? For 10 years now, I accept editing and authoring work on demand. How is this different from regular work? Well, for starters, I’ve never actually met my publisher face to face. It’s great, rewarding work and I do it when it feels right.

Breadwinner/Homemaker Role Reversal
My wife, on the other hand, has chosen the opposite direction – she’s going from full-time homemaker to full-time employee. After four+ years at home, raising now 2 kids, this makes her happy. I’m guessing a lot of stay-at-home moms can understand.

Between some online work and my wife’s future income, we believe we can maintain our standard of living, but both enjoy a much happier living, too.

Location Independent
Becoming location independent is an up and coming lifestyle and one that I think will catch on more. Hell, technology nowadays practically allows you to work wherever and whenever you want.
If you’re guessing I’ll be writing more about this as time goes on, you’re right.

If you’ve ever wanted to become location independent, let me know. I’d like to know what stirs you. I look forward to helping you in any way I can.

What are my next steps? Well, I should update my LinkedIn page and this site’s “About Me” page for starters.

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For almost anyone, the idea of transferring money can be stressful. If you’re like me, you’re triple-checking it “went through” even if transferring money between accounts of the same bank.

But this article is not about accounts in the same bank, nor about banks in the same country. This is about international money transfers.

I’m talking about doing it across the ocean,

when source and/or destination doesn’t speak English,

and you’re not a financial guru anyway. …yup, stressful.

Well, stress no more.

I’ll do this in a couple parts.
In Part I: we go over some words we’d better understand.
In Part II, we’ll go over some principles about foreign exchange, and do some scenarios.
In Part III, we’ll recap, plus set some expectations about fees.

PART I
Disclaimer #1: I am not a bank nor a financial expert. Seek the helpful advice of a relevant professional, like your bank’s customer representative. I can accept no liability for the disappearance of your life’s savings as a result of your following this blog post.
In short, take me with a grain of salt.

Words To Know

SWIFT
The network of banks. Nearly every bank on the world is a part of the SWIFTnet network. And every bank has what’s called a SWIFT code, or BIC. If you see an 11 character code- that’s the BIC.
By the way, SWIFT stands for “Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.”

BIC
BIC is a code for the bank (It stands for bank identifier code). It’s a unique number for each bank, just like your social security number is unique to you. BIC is also called the SWIFT code. The SWIFT code or BIC is always 8 or 11 characters. A bank’s primary office has 8 characters. If it’s a local branch, the last 3 specify that branch. For example, NatWest in London is NWBKGB2L. Or Kommercni Banka in Prague is KOMBCZPP.
If you need your bank’s BIC code, look on their website or just ask for it.

IBAN
IBAN is a code for 1 bank account (it stands for International Bank Account Number). Caution: it’s an intimidatingly long string of numbers and letters, starting with a code per country, bank & account.
You must ask for your account’s IBAN number, because it denotes YOUR account.

Bank Transfer
This is what we’re on about, right? To transfer money, you need a IBAN and a BIC. That’s it. Oh, and the money to transfer.

Only so many hours in a workday…tune in til next post when we’ll discuss principles of foreign exchange and cover some scenarios.

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To Wait or Not to Wait - that is our question

Every night, the wife and I read a couple bedtime stories to our young kids. One of my daughter’s favorites is Dr Seuss’s Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

We both recommend it highly. If you don’t have it – get it now..

The story speaks to “you,” a young boy. He learns all about life’s potential greatness as well as its dangers and difficulties.

I read it again recently and one part keeps popping in my head. The story warns the boy about getting lost in life’s “rat race.” Not taking action, but instead just …waiting.

Dr. Seuss’ words about waiting

The Waiting Place…
…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.

Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a sting of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.

Everyone is just waiting.

Clearly to Dr. Seuss, waiting is not a good thing. (& I agree)

Enter Franz Kafka. As a writer, he’s one of the all-time greats. As a boy born in Prague in a German Jewish family, Kafka struggled with identity. A minority of a minority. He didn’t accept it well. It was tough times for Franz and his writing shows it. His dark writing style was usually about “senseless, disorienting, often menacing complexity.” (sources)

What’s Kafka say about waiting?

Kafka’s words about Waiting

You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

In a Nutshell…
There you have it.
Seuss says: waiting = bad
Kafka says: waiting = good

Why do I mention this? Because it mirrors a tough decision for us these days. I said in a past post, we know our future lies between two cities: New York City, USA and Halifax, Canada.
In one city, we have a chance of a grand opportunity. An exciting chance in an exciting city. But it’s not for certain. Instead we must wait. Out of our control, we wait. Kafka says it’s all fine, …”it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.”
In the other city, we also have uncertainty but the choice is completely in our control. We take that choice and wake up believing whatever we want to believe.

What are your thoughts?

Anyway, this is what’s weighing heavily on our minds today and the past few weeks.

Thanks for reading,
-Jeff

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Termination Contract

My position is no longer going forward as the company has reengineered itself through staff reductions in response to the poor economy. Can you tell I work for a major corporation?

Yes, I am officially laid off, rightsized, downsized, etc. I could go on…but I’m not going to.

What Is Important Is This: We are in transition.
I say “we” because, even though I got laid off, now all the future steps involve my wife and two kids.

What’s Our Plan?
In short, move back to North America. If you ask me “Canada or USA?”, I answer “I don’t know yet.” But we’re 100% positive between 2 places, New York City, NY or Halifax, Canada.
So, the near future holds: planning, packing, partying, pre-flight travel, and our flight home.

Small Goal, Big Benefit: Document It All.
It’s my family affected, but it could have been anyone. So, I have a simple goal – use this to help anyone else take the same action.
Every decision, every step of the way, every action we take, I’ll make available on this site. My hope is all my documenting can help someone else. So, you’ll see

Just to note…
I’m not out of work just yet. I will still spend 8 hours a day here for another 2 months.
So, March and April are mine for action.
For May, I & family will stay in Prague for ourselves and friends.
For June, we plan to travel around Europe (that’s the royal “we”: parents & two kids)

Some may wonder about severance. Come the end of April, I receive 3 more months’ salary. Three months’ salary is a sizable severance by American standards, it’s a legal minimum here in the Czech Republic. I’m not complaining.

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In a prior post, I mentioned how most countries do not require a visa just to visit. But some do. Some examples include Bolivia, India, Russia (& most of the former Soviet Republics), Cambodia, Vietnam. This post will set your expectations about getting a tourist visa for those countries.

Yes, every country has its own visa application form. The form could be available online or you must visit the nearest embassy. Nothing is standard across all forms. And you’d better fill it out as it’s expected.

What Does The Visa Application Ask?
Just “name, rank & serial number” would be nice, but don’t count on it.

Generalizing here, but as a minimum, you will provide:
Name, nationality, birthday, passport number, address (both yours and where you’ll stay) and contact information like phone number/fax/e-mail (both yours and where you’ll stay), why and for how long you expect to stay

You may also be asked your marital status, your occupation and employment history. Some countries even ask you to write a short, personal essay explaining why you want to see their country!

After finishing the form, it is also common to provide:
Bank statement or proof of financial support, a copy of HIV vaccinations, confirmation or invitation from a local hotel or friend (both cases sometimes called your “sponsor” and copies of your hotel confirmation & return flight.
Tack on 1 or 2 passport photos and you’re all set!

Why so personal? They want to ensure you not only intend to visit, but you intend to leave, too.

Click for bigger picture

Paying for Permission to Visit
Well, of course we have to pay. And of course, payments are always “non-refundable and subject to change without notice.” {shrug}
Now, you may be thinking about the poor desk clerk who has to handle all this. You’re paying for his time, right? No, actually in modern countries, visa processing is outsourced. Those 3rd party services are the most expensive portion of your fees.

On top of that, expect to pay for consular fees and postage to send it back to you, typically performed by some private courier like FedEx or DHL.
How much you ask? Could be anything from $15 (Australia) to $130+ (Bolivia, Chile, Brazil). Typical is $30-$50. Is it fair? Well, unlike the price, that answer is negotiable.

Recall that visas and their respective fees are typically reciprocity for the same requirement placed on their citizens. Visas are commonly required because it’s tit-for-tat for them. That helps explain why a country has different visa fees for different visitors.

Take the USA for example. Their site clearly has the attitude “Well, they do to us, so we do it to them” (“however, when a foreign government imposes such fees on U.S. citizens for certain types of visas, the United States will impose a “reciprocal” fee to nationals of that country…“)

What Does It Matter Why I Am Going?
If you’re entering a foreign country and you need permission to enter that foreign country, then it’s reasonable to expect them to be curious why you are entering that foreign country. Yes?

If you are visiting their zoo and miniature toy museum, then you’re a tourist. Prepare for the easiest visa process.
If you are going to sell or for negotiations, then you are on a business trip. Expect questions such as “Are you bringing any goods? Will they stay?”
If anything else, e.g. work, study, adoption, immigration, then you can expect much more paperwork.

Mark your answers wisely.

Click for bigger picture

How Long Does it Take?!?
Time to approve a tourist visas differs. (no surprise, right?)
First, the fastest… to visit Australia, we Americans do need a visa. And Americans need just 30 seconds.
Wow, the necessary tourist visa takes 30 seconds to approve! That is, if you use their Electronic Travel Authority (ETA). For Americans who typically demand fast gratification, that’s a welcome visa process!

Unfortunately, the vast majority of countries take far longer.

I made pictures of my tourist visas to India and Russia. India took about 2 weeks and Russia took 1 week.
Keep in mind, here in Prague, I live only a 5 minute walk away from the Russian embassy, so I knew of the morning lines. I was prepared for waiting a couple hours per visit. I was prepared for the the paperwork that reminded me of the Soviet Union. But after all was filed properly, I got it after 1 week.

A sharp contrast from my buddy, Bill, who after 3 weeks, still didn’t get his visa & passport mailed to him. I felt bad, but I left for Moscow without him.

My tribute video to Bill.

How to shorten the time?
Call into the embassy and check the visa’s approval status. These people are human. They surf the web, too. They forget things. Call after 3 or 4 days to check its status. Call again if its been 2 weeks.
If you don’t live near the embassy, factor in the time for the courier to deliver your passport back.
And, as my friend Bill above can testify to, do not depend on their “expedited service!”

Anything else?
Speaking of time, be sure your passport is good for long enough after the visa should expire.
I’ll use Chile as the example again. Your passport must be good for minimum 90 days after expected departure, else no visa granted.
Most countries have a US embassy which offers “expedited passport services” if you get in a jam while visiting. But think about that … do you really want to surrender your passport and fate to government processing while you’re traveling?
Also – be sure to have two blank pages left in your passport. A very standard request, but often overlooked if a tourist travels enough.
I can’t stress enough to do your own homework for a specific country. Prime example is Russia. They have special demands on sponsorship and things like migration cards that make even a well-seasoned traveler cringe.

I want to repeat two big points I said in the beginning:

• This post talks about the short-term visa. Another post to come for extended stay or long-term visa (like to work or stay over 90 days).
• It’s very important to do your own homework.

As Americans, you can feel (somewhat) secure that your own Department of State has the latest info. Check this site to get the latest on your specific destination.

Sure hope this was helpful to somebody. Let me know

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Hi all,

I haven’t fallen off the map. Not yet anyway.
I know I am woefully behind on posts. It kills me, really it does.

Tomorrow I am jumping back in with both feet. I will deliver the next article in the “Visa Process” series.

There’s some big news coming from me soon. This Friday, I’ll be posting an update to this post.

-Jeff

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Rather than dive into filling out forms, let’s be sure we’re all starting on the same page.
Read the below Q&A. Once you know & understand them, you’re ahead of most.

What’s a Visa?

Not the credit card. Here, we’re talking about permission to visit a country. Consider it like your personal “green light” to go.

When I traveled around Europe, I got lots of stamps in my passport – are they visas?

No. A passport stamp just acknowledges you’re “in” or “out.” You get those when crossing a border. A visa is something you must apply for ahead of time.

How do I tell if I need a visa?

Two things determine if you need a visa: your citizenship and where you’re going.
If you intend to stay a while, that might affect things, too, but more on that later.
US citizens can check on this page to see if your destination country wants you to get a visa first.

If I’m American, do I need a visa to visit ABC country?

For most countries, no. US citizens need visas for only about 20% of the world’s countries. Bottom line reason why you need a visa is reciprocity. It’s a tit-for-tat thing. If the US requires a visa for that country’s citizens, then often that country will enforce the same on Americans. What breaks the “visa mini-cold-war” is a strong desire between countries to be friends. Example: To visit Mongolia, Americans don’t need a visa, but citizens from all European and most Asian countries do. Interesting, huh?
Combine those two facts and you’ll see Americans travel very freely. In fact, only folks from Denmark and Germany travel more freely than Americans:
(see graph)

Does it matter why I’m going to that country?

Yes, sort of. When filling out the visa application, it matters whether you’re a tourist or someone visiting on business. However, in general, the requirements -and more importantly- the wait for your visa to get approved is the same.
A business person visiting a country is very different from someone needing a work visa.

Do I pay for it? How much?

Yes, visas cost. My rough experience and sample research says this: you’re going to pay between $20 and $100 for the permission to fly to that country.
Sure, it’s not much when compared to the flight or accommodations, but paying for permission to come over (plus the added paperwork) isn’t exactly welcoming either.

How long does it take to get a visa?

Stay tuned for the next part: Visa Process – Timelines

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This is a Big Topic: the visa process.

By the way, when expats talk about visas, we ain’t talking credit cards!

Whenever I hear the question How do I get a visa?, I cringe. I cringe because I know it’s the most common question to ask and the most difficult one to answer.

Some people may stop at “Well, it just depends on the country.” Instead I will write a series of posts, hopefully answering some of the first and tougher questions about the visa process.

Any questions on your mind? Ask them in the comments here or in the forum.

I got my ears open. Stay tuned…

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“I want to be an expat” – a dream of over 700 million people.

A survey, which took 3 years to complete, was finally released. The survey asked “Would you like to start a new life abroad?”.
Across 130 countries, 16% of the people answered “Yes.”

What countries were most popular?
Mostly developed western countries, plus Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Where does everyone want to go?
If everyone had their wish, the United States would swell by 165 million people (growing it by 50%)
Canada would bring in 45 million people (a whopping 150% boost!)
France, Thailand and Britain each would grow also by another 40+ million people.

What’s the biggest motivator for all these people?
Jobs. For many folks, the big deciding factor whether to stay or go was employment. Do you want to work abroad?
Last year, HSBC released a report about expats which reported that half of surveyed expats are in their residence country and plan to stay because of a better contract than they could get back home. Another tidbit: more than half had lived outside their home country for longer than 5 years.

Both the HSBC report and the very recent Gallup survey show a growing trend: people are seeking to become expats.

credit: Source article

“I want to be an expat” said by 700 million people. That’s a lot of people. It’s a big dream. Start now, while you’re ahead of the pack.

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