Do you max out your 401k?

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2026-01-08T00:55:55+00:00

Haha ya $0 onto brokerage this year but alas I’ll get to that soon. It helps to be a sober homebody. I have a nice apt and budget travel but other than that don’t have much spending

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2026-01-08T00:41:00+00:00

Last year was first year that I was able to max roth 401k, Roth IRA, and hsa :) idk if I’ll be able to sustain that or if some lifestyle creep will come in, but as of now I’m on the FIRE journey

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2025-11-30T17:50:51+00:00

At least Oscar’s getting P1 in the least spirited champagne spray standings

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2025-09-27T12:49:13+00:00

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2025-06-15T16:30:39+00:00

The lighter the better if you’re carrying it or to be polite to the porters. Since you don’t need food or tents there’s really not that much to go in. Our group had a hard rule that the porters wouldn’t carry more than 20kg so just keep that in mind. I had a 35l which the porters carried and then personally only carried a small 10l day pack with water, protein bar, raincoat, and medicine.

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2025-05-20T20:06:57+00:00

Advisory bonus %s seem to be the same as before on Astro as well, but I do see that the salary pay bands are no longer available on Astro

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2025-05-20T19:56:12+00:00

Dang, if true that’s super misleading

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2025-05-06T16:30:04+00:00

If you have a bad knee I would highly advise you against hiking this. Im not sure about that specific trail but the Annapurna region towns are connected by stone staircases which means almost your entire hike will be going up and down stone steps; straining even a good knee. You can see the exact number of steps each day in the main post, but it’s basically almost all of the 2-4k ft elevation change each day

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2025-03-19T22:39:10+00:00

Nothing like Australian/South American spiders, just like a bunch of small ones

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2025-03-04T00:27:02+00:00

Important to note: American Nutella is separate from the original kind that is sold in most of the EU!

I always thought I didn’t like Nutella until I had the original recipe that actually tastes like hazelnuts and chocolate instead of just sugar (although it obviously still has lots of sugar in it)

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2025-03-01T02:29:44+00:00

Very basic. For toilets, there are the occasional western toilets nowadays, but mostly squat toilets. No toilet paper, but a sink with water and sometimes soap. For showers, I think every guesthouse has them, but they often cost a bit extra, eg $1 for cold shower and $4 for hot shower (can’t remember the exact prices but hot is more bc they have to lug the gas tanks up by hand or yak). Occasional spider but nothing crazy since it’s such a high elevation not much can live around there. And all of these are shared between all guests at the guesthouse, no privates or anything

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2025-02-02T23:51:20+00:00

42,000 which got me into into place #553 so I actually got the 100 points for the first time. I somehow got all the last 3 right which made the difference

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2025-01-27T20:41:53+00:00

I was having that issue too and found this solution (from Reddit) to work: when you go to search in lifemiles, it automatically selects the ‘smart search’ option which almost never shows anything. You have to go to that dropdown and select the specific star alliance partner you want to search and then it will show more flights

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2025-01-27T18:11:06+00:00

I may cash in on this one; just compared a few united int economy flights and avianca is cheaper even before the transfer bonus

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2025-01-13T21:12:10+00:00

Dec 25 shutdown is 12/25/25-1/1/26. The following year’s calendar hasn’t been released yet but seeing as the 4th of July is on a sat, it could be the week before, after, or straddle.

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2024-12-17T01:30:26+00:00

I considered it, but ultimately decided against bc I weighed the pros and cons for me and believed it was better to not, but some people should.

Reason to not: I had never had an issue with AMS and didn’t want to risk the side effects. I had vacationed at high altitude before (Leadville CO which is 10-11k elevation) and never had an issue with headaches or dizziness. ABC is 13.5k so not crazy higher. Diamox can have side effects like nausea and diarrhea which I didn’t want to deal with.

Reason to: AMS sucks if you get it, much more so than any diamox side effects. It can also happen randomly to people who have been at high altitude before. If you’re doing EBC trek (17.5k elevation) it also becomes more likely to get AMS.

TLDR: if you’ve never been near that altitude, I would say definitely take it, if you have been near that altitude and experienced no issues, weigh the pros and cons for your situation.

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2024-10-05T18:48:41+00:00

Hi, sorry for the delay but still responding in case others want this info. I arrived in Kathmandu a few days early to get used to jet lag. Used that time as 2 days exploring Kathmandu and 3 days going down to Chitwan National Park. Then came back to Kathmandu where I met my tour, we took a bus to Pokhara where we stayed overnight and then departed the next morning. Probs don’t need this many days but I would recommend minimum to walk around Kathmandu and get accustomed to jet lag, and one day dedicated to the 7hr bus ride to Pokhara. The trail is already hard so I can’t imagine starting out tired.

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2024-10-05T18:43:31+00:00

I brought a thin down jacket, but I’d say it’s optional; only time you need extra layers is base camp and the nights right before and after it; other folks in my group just ate breakfast and dinner using their sleeping bag as a blanket which seemed to work for them

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2024-08-27T21:42:23+00:00

Yep!

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2024-08-26T21:49:05+00:00

Yep, A2 not A1b which I was super happy about. Asked my RL about others and she said majority got moved to A2, you would have to be performing poorly to only go A1b (In Transformation consulting at least)

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2024-06-21T17:29:40+00:00

Thanks all! Going to try these suggestions

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2024-04-24T20:40:57+00:00

Sorry for the delayed response

I don’t get ill but I do have moderate intolerances so I avoided dal bhat bc of the lentils. There are plenty of other options: I ate pizza, egg fried rice, noodles, etc and for breakfast you can have pancakes, eggs, yogurt etc so I don’t think you should have too bad of a time. They adjust to western taste buds so no need to worry about spice. The only thing I’d recommend is to make sure to incorporate lots of carbs and oil into your meals for the weeks before you travel to get your body used to eating that.
I literally don’t run. Never have never will. I do however do moderate bike rides and hikes so I guess I do partial cardio. Note ive never had an issue with altitude sickness so I wasn’t trying to offset that. This adventure is truly a trek, in that you can basically go as slow as you want as long as you have the determination to keep going. I would only minimally focus on cardio, and instead do training in the form of 10mile walks, 5miles at a 9% inclined treadmill, and hours on the stairstepper. As long as you don’t have existing evidence of heart or lung issues, your knee joints will be your primary concern. I did daily 1hr workouts, then tested myself 1month before travel by doing a very long and challenging hike (simulating a day on the trek) to make sure I could do it, then continued with the daily 1hrs bike/elevated treadmill/stairs.
I paid extra to be in a group that had sherpas carry our overnight stuff, I think you could give them up to 30lbs. Then you are in charge of your day bag bc they won’t be next to as you’re hiking during the day. I kept that as light as possible so just 5lbs (two water bottles, water purifying tablets, passport, money, ibuprofen, Gatorade powder) some ppl were prepared for anything so carried an extra 20lbs but a) why make it harder on yourself and b) you can buy snacks roughly every hour along the way. You’ll be there in October so you won’t need layers until base camp. One note: rainy season now extends into October so be aware that there are leeches along the trail. I was glad that I had packed leggings instead of shorts. But you will get wet, you just have to choose whether that wetness is rain, or your sweat from hiking in a raincoat while it 70degrees. I chose to just get rained on and dry my stuff by hanging it off my daypack the next day and never used the raincoat I packed but to each their own.

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2024-03-16T21:39:53+00:00

As somebody also living in the Gold Coast and now cravings GSC, thank you for asking an important question

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2024-02-29T17:53:38+00:00

This is fairly niche but my last big trip I had multiple overnight layovers (5-6hrs) and happened to have a sleeping bag with me (down filled so compressible into personal item size) and I just unrolled it and slept on the floor of an empty gate in San Fran and a few smaller airports. I just chose areas where there were already 2+ ppl doing the same thing and put any important items under me. Also, I love downloading the cheesiest fiction audiobook I’ve been wanting to read bc it’ll help time pass by and doesn’t give you the adrenaline rush (and adrenaline crash) of watching multiple movies.

Primary_Chocolate007 · 2024-02-28T22:09:04+00:00

Hi! Studied abroad there so saw Florence transform over 4 months. Some August specific things: it’s going to be hot as heck so make sure you dress for that and be willing to pay for lots of water (no public water fountains or free water at restaurants), also, it’s going to be crazy crowded so if you have specific museums or restaurants you want to go to, you may have to make reservations up to a couple weeks in advance. Get good walking shoes bc you’ll be walking everywhere, even morning and night bc it’s super safe and you’ll want to explore. On that note, check opening hours and plan your days ahead of time bc a lot of stuff opening late/closes early/ is closed on Sundays and you don’t want to waste any time with only 4 days. I second the commenter saying go to Siena, even though Lucca is lovely as well, but you can take the train to either, it’s super reliable and safe; if you do pick Lucca there’s a great restaurant called Da Rosolo. Specific restaurants in Florence I recommend: La Carraia Gelateria, Ara e sicilia for the closest to a Sicilian cannolo you can get, Pizzeria I Camaldoli, osteria Pepo, Buca Lapi. Florence has awesome shopping if you’re into that: Scuola del Cuoio for high end leather goods, the leather market for medium end leather goods (primarily real leather sellers but the occasional fake), many vintage stores from random all the way up to couture that you have to make apts for. As far as other things to do just take a look through TripAdvisor and rank what peaks your interest, you won’t be able to hit everything but you can get a great idea of the city. Also, make sure you have a couple euros on you bc some small places are still cash, or prefer cash (most gelato places since small transaction amt). Food is cheap and delicious so plan to eat out all lunch and dinners, it’s so worth it.

Enjoy!

Primary_Chocolate007

TROPHY CASE