Wherever you go, there you are...🙃

Issue 7: 10 min read

🙋🏽‍♀️Dani’s Doings: Life realizations 😖 + How much we spent in February as a couple living in Malaga, Spain

💸 Money Matters: Countries that have officially entered a recession, companies playing in our faces, and more.

✈️ Travel Tings: New digital nomad visas & locations, airline closures, and more.

🫶🏽 Community Corner: My top 3 recommendations on things you can get to elevate your next international trip! 🧳

🚨🚨 But first…Breaking news! New website + branding, who dis?! 🚨🚨

I’m excited to share that the new website for my business, Liberty Leave, is officially live! You can check it out here.

It includes background on what the heck a “Liberty Leave” actually is, the Liberty Legends (recommendations for my fave products and services), a list of all my press/media features, details on how you can work with me, and much more.

Recent life realizations in my 30s (that younger Dani would never have fully understood 😅):

1) Wherever you go, there you are. People often think that moving to a new country means all of your problems will be solved and life will suddenly be perfect. This isn’t necessarily the case. While I am absolutely grateful that I’ve escaped the Canadian winter that give me seasonal depression, there are still things I struggle with in Spain that I struggled with in Canada. This includes building a solid routine that includes consistent exercise/cooking/cleaning/being social, getting into a productive work groove, experiencing the occasional waves of anxiety and insecurity, etc.. To truly fix a problem, you have to address the root cause.

2) Entrepreneurship isn’t as glamorous as people often make it seem. While having freedom to focus on things that bring you joy is an obvious plus, there are definitely lows, too. This includes late payments from clients, getting ghosted from clients, endless business pitches, and inconsistent income (some months may be $0 months, some may be $5000+ months). Entrepreneurship isn’t all butterflies and rainbows, and I think folks should be mentally prepared to go on a rollercoaster if this is the life they choose to pursue.

3) We need to live life with urgency. We don’t have to do retirement “traditionally”. It’s common in North America to retire in your 60s. Many people work so hard for their lives and delay the process of checking off bucket list items until this time period. The thing is, tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.

I’ll never forget when I met this couple in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2019 and the man was asking me what I was doing their alone. I told him I was on my first “Liberty Leave”, exploring Asia for 6 months solo because it was a lifelong dream of mine and I wanted to do it as soon as I was able to. He applauded me, then started tearing up because he said his dad always wanted to take a similar trip and was waiting until he retired to take it. He finally saved up the money to do it, retired, and passed away shortly after. He never got to take the trip. That’s always stuck with me because it’s an excellent reminder to live life with urgency (when we can). We’re not required to live life by the traditional guidelines society has set for us.

How much we spent in February 2024 as a couple living in Malaga, Spain 🇪🇸

Can I be honest with you, friend? I dread rounding up our expenses each month lol 😬. 1) It’s a tedious process, 2) it’s an unpleasant reminder that we can be quite expensive, and 3) it feels like I’m opening myself up to judgement from those who feel like we spend too much money. However, it’s an important exercise for us to stay on top of our spending so we can make the necessary adjustments! If you don’t already track your spending, I’d recommend that you do so, too, to get a better look at your cashflow.

Total Spent: €5,416/$7975 CAD/$5873 USD (down from last month’s €6,010 total, which you can view here).

It’s an improvement (especially in the food categories)! Ideally, I’d like to get it down to €4500/mo (which we would have if we weren’t going to Belgium for our anniversary).

I make all of my purchases here in Spain on my Wise card. It helps me save so much money on currency conversion fees, and is super convenient! Get your Wise card here.

• Japan and the U.K. are officially in recessions. They’re two of the world’s largest economies. I wonder where is next… Source.

• Kellogg’s CEO (a millionaire) has suggested that poor families should consider eating cereal for dinner. Talk about insensitive and out of touch! Read the story here.

• Loud budgeting is trending! It’s a concept that encourages people to be loud about their money goals and not be forced to say yes to things that make them financially uncomfortable. Read more about it here.

• Bitcoin is up ⤴️! It’s at the highest level it has been at since November 2021. Details here. It’s still very volatile though, so proceed with caution.

• Earlier this week, Wendy’s (the fast food restaurant) announced that it was going introduce the concept or “surge pricing” aka dynamic pricing that changes with demand. The public did not take well to this at all. Wendy’s was then forced to clarify that it was never their plan to raise prices when customers are visiting them the most. Rather, digital menuboards would change throughout the day and offer timely discounts to customers. Read more about their “clarification” here.

• Spain is planning to ban short-haul flights for destinations you can reach in under 2.5 hours by train. It’s in an effort to reduce carbon emissions. Read about it here. France also passed a similar law last year.

  • Meanwhile… artist like Taylor Swift are under fire for the amount of pollution from their private jets (~10 times more pollutants per passenger compared to commercial planes). Source.

• Japan is planning to launch a Digital Nomad visa by the end of this month! It’ll allow visitors from 49 countries and territories to stay in the country and work online for 6 months. Details here.

• Lynx Air (a Canadian discount airline) has officially shut down. It’s the 8th budget Canadian budget airline that’s ceased operations since 2000. Meanwhile… Air Canada and WestJet dominate more than 3 quarters of the Canadian market 😓. Source.

• A recent study revealed that Tuzla (a city in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovnia) is the least expensive European city to live in as a remote worker. The monthly average rent is about $224. Read more here.

• Did you know that cruise ships has morgues?! It’s something I never thought of (I’ve never been on a cruise before) but apparently, larger ships can hold up to 10 bodies in it. Source. This conversation became popular on the internet recently because this TikTok shared that apparently if cruises give away free ice cream, it’s potentially because they need to make more room in the freezer 😳.

• Can y’all PLEASE stop paying your cell phone carriers $12+ per day to use your phone while you travel abroad 😓!? Get an e-SIM! You download it directly to your phone (not a physical SIM you insert into your phone) and you get data to use on your travels. It’s so easy and convenient! Get yours here and use my referral code DANICA4990 for $3 off.

• Wise is a multi-currency account that allows you to buy foreign currency at its current rate (using your home currency like CAD or USD) directly in the app. You can pay for things in the country you’re visiting in their currency instead of being forced to pay expensive conversion fees to your debit/credit card company. They’ll also mail you a physical spending card of you can tap your phone to pay for things. Sign up using my referral link here.

• I recently made a video on how to pack your bags like a pro when you travel. The real secret is having an excellent personal item that fits your most prized possessions. This (the SMALL size/fits 14 inch laptop size) is my personal that I’ve used for years. I recommend it to all of my friends!

_{This email may include affiliate links where I earn a small commission (and you pay nothing!), which helps me to continue to grow and produce content like this newsletter. Thanks for your support!}

🙋🏽‍♀️ Psssst: Did you know that the Liberty Letter💌 is part of the Liberty Leave brand? Visit the website to learn more! | Wanna work together? Reach out here.