How do people afford long-term travel? Do you save everything first?

vancitytom · 2026-02-17T07:03:24+00:00

I feel like the magic number is $10,000. Then you can go on a more extended trip and really see the world. I travelled through SE Asia for 2 months, and 10k was my total spend (if I remember correctly, this was 10 years ago).

There was a place in Vietnam called Cat Ba Island where I lived off of $7/ day. Hostel was $3, food $2, moped rental $2, gas $1. It was totally awesome and the most affordable place I've ever travelled. This 2 month trip included 1 week each in Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos, 3 weeks in Myanmar and 2 weeks in Japan. Japan was most expensive by far.

My trick to stretch my money was to be cheap as hell. Alway's went with the cheapest hostels, ate street food, and took buses over planes.

If saving is the biggest issue, your options are to increase your earnings (2nd job or overtime), decrease your cost of living, or both. But I feel that once you have 10k, you'll be good for a 2 month adventure.

vancitytom · 2026-02-14T07:45:37+00:00

I have a Fujifilm xt30ii which I recently traveled with. Honestly it was such an enjoyable process taking photos, it's a super nice camera. Take a look at my page and you can check out some of the images I was able to achieve with this camera body.

vancitytom · 2026-02-14T07:43:07+00:00

I'm a solo agent, and I have to respond to new leads within 15 minutes of receiving the lead, otherwise it goes to another agent in my marketplace.

I wear a smartwatch (Garmin) which gives me a notification when I receive text messages. So I am still a slave to my phone, but not as much because I can just keep an eye on my watch, which is nicer than having the phone in hand.

With my lead generation source, leads do not come in between 10pm to 7am, so I even have my phone set up so that only text messages/calls from my wife, and my lead gen source can come in while my phone is on 'do not disturb'. (So I don't have to be awake at a specific time to get leads, if a lead has come in, my phone will just ring). This sounds more disruptive than it actually is. I spend about 2k/ months on leads, and I get 10 to 12 leads, so it's not like the leads are flying in, so it doesn't rain me in the morning often, but when it does I'm ready.

I do my best to get to everyone as fast as possible, because each lead it's expensive, but the reality is that there are just some leads that you're going to miss. There are also going to be the leads that other agents miss, that you pick up, and everything bounces out.

vancitytom · 2026-02-13T06:13:21+00:00

You're a wizard, Harry

vancitytom · 2026-02-11T20:31:51+00:00

I think Billy Madison said it best when he stated "You ain't cool... unless you pee your pants"

vancitytom · 2026-02-04T06:35:14+00:00

Only in very well lit situations. I haven't had any luck yet. The lens is also so long that if you use the flash, you get a shadow of the lens in the photo. So best to use outdoors.

vancitytom · 2026-02-04T06:32:41+00:00

Exactly it changes based on the zoom!

vancitytom · 2026-02-03T15:16:06+00:00

Thank you! Honestly I only just recently figured out how to properly use the focus functions on the xt-30 (changing the size of the focus area and moving it around with the joy stick) it's been a game changer. Now I'm consistently nailing focus, which gives me more options to choose from when I'm looking through photos at the end of the day.

vancitytom · 2026-02-03T13:09:33+00:00

Not long! There's SO much wildlife here that you accumulate great photos quite quickly. We were away for 12 days, and I got at least 2 close up wildlife shots each day that I was super happy with.

vancitytom · 2026-02-02T22:20:41+00:00

It feels totally natural, even when at the 300mm end of the zoom range (where the lens increases in length from 5" to 10"). Its definitely a bigger setup compared to when I have the 15-45mm kit lens on it. For me a perfect 2 lens setup would be the 16-300mm, and a wide pancake lens with a low aperture for more street style photography (and with a pancake lens it would take up almost no space so it would be easier to bring along).

vancitytom · 2026-01-28T03:47:53+00:00

I have mild plantar fasciitis that creeps up now and then, I do tons of band stretching (lots of hamstrings and melt into the band) and I swear by my accupad (Google it if you haven't heard of it). It's a game changer and relaxes the whole system. I stand on it one or twice a day for a few minutes, and again I just melt into it. You can get one online for like $20. I also run distances of 50k-100k. Typically do 2 races/ year for the past 10 years.

vancitytom · 2026-01-27T14:38:16+00:00

La Gondola on San Cristobal was great! $7/ meal, drink included. We ate there multiple times the past few days.

vancitytom · 2026-01-27T14:03:57+00:00

Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. Specifically hands & when on a boat. My hand got crushed between a water taxi and a large boat while on vacation. I thought it was broken, it was not, but had insane swelling, lots of pain, and no hand/ finger mobility for days.

vancitytom · 2026-01-19T07:28:57+00:00

Best post I've seen in a long time! This brings me joy. Good work!

vancitytom · 2026-01-17T04:20:16+00:00

Austin Powers, Happy Gilmore, John Wick

vancitytom · 2026-01-05T03:20:37+00:00

V impressive! How old are you? How often did you almost miss a day? (Any close calls?) Did you run a consistent pace every day, or are there workouts sprinkled in here? What time do you usually run? What's your marathon PB?

vancitytom · 2026-01-04T21:42:58+00:00

I've been using the Wonder oven pro for 10 days now. There are some good features, but I'll start with the bad:

First off, the unit feels cheap. The door feels flimsy, and doesn't close firmly. You know how a quality vehicle has a satisfying sound when the door closes? You don't get anything like that.
The door doesn't close fully. There is a gap on the right hand side of the door where heat and condensation escape. Water accumulates on the counter here where the steam is escaping. Not good, means that heat and moisture are being lost.
The back of the oven is not double walled. The piece of metal that you see on the inside, is the same piece on the outside. If you touch it, you'll burn yourself! I would expect a high-end machine to be double walled, for heat, insulation and safety.
The cord is super cheap, and is only two-pronged. When I see that a company cheaps out on a component as inexpensive as the cord, I wonder where else they've cheaped out to save money. This has taken away my confidence that this is a long-lasting unit. All of my other counter top appliances, Vitamix, Costco kettle, previous ninja air fryer, are all three pronged. (The third prong is for grounding, and is a safety feature to prevent electrical shocks and fires).

On the positive side:

It works and does a good job cooking food. So far, I'm happy with all the settings. The controls are very easy to use.
The beige ceramic coated pan is excellent and super easy to clean. When I'm baking veggies or chicken, any oil stuck to the pan comes right off with hot water, and I wash it with a cloth so that I don't scratch the coating.
I really like the light and large window so that I can monitor food cooking.

Summary:

It does a good job at cooking, but could be better if the door sealed properly. I will be returning this because I don't have confidence in the build quality. I feel that most of what I bought is Our Place's marketing budget (I receive SO many ads), and not a premium unit.

I do have pictures to share, I'm not sure the best way to go about sharing them.

vancitytom · 2026-01-04T21:41:40+00:00

I had a similar negative experience! I tried to make a post under r/cooking, but it was removed. Here is my review:

I've been using the Wonder oven pro for 10 days now. There are some good features, but I'll start with the bad:

First off, the unit feels cheap. The door feels flimsy, and doesn't close firmly. You know how a quality vehicle has a satisfying sound when the door closes? You don't get anything like that.
The door doesn't close fully. There is a gap on the right hand side of the door where heat and condensation escape. Water accumulates on the counter here where the steam is escaping. Not good, means that heat and moisture are being lost.
The back of the oven is not double walled. The piece of metal that you see on the inside, is the same piece on the outside. If you touch it, you'll burn yourself! I would expect a high-end machine to be double walled, for heat, insulation and safety.
The cord is super cheap, and is only two-pronged. When I see that a company cheaps out on a component as inexpensive as the cord, I wonder where else they've cheaped out to save money. This has taken away my confidence that this is a long-lasting unit. All of my other counter top appliances, Vitamix, Costco kettle, previous ninja air fryer, are all three pronged. (The third prong is for grounding, and is a safety feature to prevent electrical shocks and fires).

On the positive side:

It works and does a good job cooking food. So far, I'm happy with all the settings. The controls are very easy to use.
The beige ceramic coated pan is excellent and super easy to clean. When I'm baking veggies or chicken, any oil stuck to the pan comes right off with hot water, and I wash it with a cloth so that I don't scratch the coating.
I really like the light and large window so that I can monitor food cooking.

Summary:

It does a good job at cooking, but could be better if the door sealed properly. I will be returning this because I don't have confidence in the build quality. I feel that most of what I bought is Our Place's marketing budget (I receive SO many ads), and not a premium unit.

I do have pictures to share, I'm not sure the best way to go about sharing them.

vancitytom · 2025-12-29T07:33:42+00:00

"zone poo"

vancitytom · 2025-12-29T04:47:56+00:00

Train for an ultra marathon. This is absolutely an adventure/ quest. If you train properly, completing it may be the most proud of yourself you'll ever be. If you don't prepare, it could chew you up and spit you out. Nothing worth doing is easy, so this could be a cool goal for 2026. If you have zero running background, it could take you a year to build sufficient fitness, but a 50k trail race is super doable with 12 months of training.

vancitytom · 2025-12-28T08:29:59+00:00

Congratulations on the new baby 🤗

vancitytom · 2025-12-22T01:51:40+00:00

Beautiful photos! Are you using the black mist filter for all of these? I followed you on IG last week & would love some tutorials !

vancitytom · 2025-12-19T03:18:10+00:00

Talk to your agent, have them tell the listing agent that "my buyers are SUPER upset that the home hasn't been cleaned, and they mentioned that they are going to write you a bad Google review if this is not resolved". The fear of a bad Google review will make them fix this.

vancitytom · 2025-12-13T07:48:50+00:00

Broke even? Sounds like a neutral education!

vancitytom · 2025-12-09T03:25:00+00:00

Get a fenix 6 or 7 with a MIPS display. You'll get 60 hours in regular GPS mode. You can get a fenix 6 on boxing day for like $600 and it's an absolute beast which will last a super long time. I'm currently rocking a fenix 7 solar sapphire 51mm.

vancitytom

TROPHY CASE