Ask Me Anything

Happy hump day! I’ve never done something like this, so let’s just jump right in:

Skip to questions about FIRE

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Taking the leap

What is the catalyst that made you want to go for it now? 

Honestly, I think COVID played a huge role in everything. Prior to COVID, I was planning on taking a full year off of my job at some point because I started my last job without a break. Around that time, I think I heard about FIRE for the first time and thought that was interesting and something to work toward.

When COVID hit and I lost more money in a single day than I ever had–then that happened 3-5 more times–I put the idea of FIRE on the back burner (because I was way further from my goal than I started). Then the Fed or the economy or magic happened and the market roared back to life. Because we had already given up our apartment to save money, a few steps toward FIRE had already been taken. 

In addition to being “homeless” and the market roaring back, we had effectively been able to continue working full-time with basically zero expenses. This confluence of events was the catalyst that made me go for it when I did.

Why did you pick Mexico and will you stay there forever? 

I picked Mexico as a base for a handful of reasons:

1. It was (at the time of planning) and is open to Americans
2. We needed to be within Pacific time zone +/-3 hours 
3. It’s relatively inexpensive, warm, and accessible with relatively good infrastructure (both technology and travel)

I love Mexico and can see it becoming more of a “permanent” home base (more on that later), but I definitely don’t see it as forever now or in the near future. We might come back in the early part of 2022, but after that, I think we will be looking at other countries/regions. 

How did you convince your [fiancée], or did she want the same thing already? 

Great Q! I actually had to ask her, so I’m learning from my own AMA. She/we didn’t necessarily want to leave/move out of SF, but we gave up our lease during COVID to save money (and since we weren’t living there). At the time, it was more “let’s play it by ear” than “we’re leaving SF for good”, so the “decision” definitely came more incrementally than all of a sudden. 

After that, when we got sort of tired of not having our own space, we (read: I) started doing research into Airbnbs different places. This was the time that Mexico came up as a viable option.

Read more: Paradise in Mexico: Cost of Living in Puerto Vallarta (the intro gives a lot of color to what was going on at the time). 

During Mexico/now, we’ve sort of toyed with different ideas as to what we plan to do next year and going forward. Yunji feels like we’re continuing to live in the moment and that we’re not really committed to a single plan, so therein lies how I might have convinced her–by not convincing her. 

Share a moment when you followed your heart.

My gut reaction is to say quitting the conventional 9-5/corporate life, but that feels more like following my DNA than my heart if that makes any sense at all. I think actually starting my YouTube channel and putting myself out there is a better answer to this question and following my heart. 

When I was six, I definitely wanted to be Michael Jordan–that didn’t work out. Between high school and college, I think I wanted to do something in music–that, too, never happened. Since life after college, I’ve known I wanted to travel (and eat) more than anything. If you asked me what my dream was a year or two ago, I think I would’ve said having a Netflix show about travel/food. Kicking off this YouTube channel definitely is not that, but it feels like a step in the right direction.

FIRE

Top three easy sources of passive income? 

I feel like this is a loaded question, but I’m going to do my best! 

1. Dividend stocks/income: I don’t think it gets easier or more passive than this. Most companies with dividend yields have a long history of not only paying dividends but increasing them, too. 
2. Capital gains/stocks/ETF: just as passive but a little less easy (as gains aren’t guaranteed). However, owning an ETF like SPY/VOO over the long term is about as close to a guarantee as it gets. 
3. I feel like the expected answer here is something like rental income. I’m personally not into real estate at all, so I’m going to pass on that. I’m not sure how easy this is or how passive it might seem, but I think a good source of “passive” income is creating some form of digital content. There’s a lot of upfront work, but once things are set up, you can definitely make passive income from advertising/affiliate marketing. 

Do you have any expected “ragrets” about leaving a conventional life? 

I don’t have any regrets (or ragrets) about leaving a conventional life. I’d say the most difficult part of leaving said life is being apart from friends. During the initial COVID lockdown, this was more manageable as everyone was more or less separated from their friends. As the world has reopened and we have continued traveling, it’d been challenging being away from our friends. 

What was your biggest hesitation on committing to FIRE? 

There was definitely a fear of “is this really going to work?”. You can run as many numbers as you want or read as many blogs as you can telling you that you’re “safe”, but until you go for it you really don’t know. Another hesitation I initially had was “if this doesn’t work out, what am I going to do?”. I even originally said I was taking time off versus “retiring” to hedge a bit. At this point, I can fairly confidently say I’m not going back to corporate, 9-5 work. I can’t predict the future, but if/when there’s a massive correction/recession/depression, I will figure something out. It likely will not be getting a job in the field I was in or returning to employee life, but you never know. 

What was something pleasantly unexpected from FIRE? 

This! This blog and my YouTube channel. My original motivation for FIRE was twofold: 1) no more work/meetings; 2) travel, travel, travel. As it got closer to FIRE time, I started freaking out about what I was going to do each day. I wrote down as many 30-60 minute activities I could think of that were either fun or beneficial, and I even drafted a few schedules.

Ultimately, the free time led to the creation of intristang TV (YouTube) and intristang.com. I probably should have started writing about food and vacations we took long ago, and I definitely should have been filming meals we had and trips we took long ago. It’s been a pleasant surprise finding something to do with my time that I actually–and have always–enjoyed.  

Is there something you miss about working/regular life?

This won’t surprise many people, but probably the free food. I definitely enjoyed the SF/tech work perks like free food, beer, happy hours, etc. Besides that, I do miss just hanging out with coworkers around the office or going out for a walk or to grab a coffee or beer. I now rely heavily on my group messages and Slack to fill that void. 

Are there any similarities with what you’re doing now and your old job? 

With this blog and my YouTube, I’m still selling something: myself. Instead of convincing people to buy software or data, I’m trying to convince people to give me their time/attention. It looks like I won’t get out of sales after all.

The differences are more interesting in my opinion. With sales, you are always working toward closing out a great quarter or solid fiscal year. Once the quarter or year is over, you are back to square one and “what have you done for me lately?”. With creating digital content, it’s the exact opposite. There is no end of quarter or fiscal year, and every post I write or video I create builds on itself. 

When I think of sales, I think of someone picking fruit out of a tree. When I think of building out digital content, I think more of someone planting a ton of seeds and watering said seeds. I feel like this metaphor is starting to fall apart, but this rationale of content being additive and compounding has been what has kept me going when I write a post or publish a video that hardly gets any views. 

The Future

Where do you expect to be in five years? 

Portugal–maybe. The closest thing I have to a five year plan is that one of my top priorities is getting an EU passport. I will be writing more on options for getting an EU passport as well as why this is such a priority for me. In addition to that, my other priority is growing our family.

In addition to priorities, one of my responsibilities across the next five years is to get us a home base. As much as I like changing Airbnbs–and cities–every month or so, I have been told this is not tenable by my partner. Over the next few years, I am tasked with getting us a home base. Whether that means buying a home/condo (ouch) somewhere or signing a 12-month lease (also ouch) is TBD. I’m getting a headache thinking about having to (pay to) furnish a place right now. Meanwhile, someone else is chomping at the bit! 

As far as ideas for home bases, we have come up with the following places: Mexico City, Portugal (Greater Lisbon, Greater Porto, or the Algarve), Greater Seoul, Bangkok (least likely due to visa options), and/or most recently Puebla or Malaysia (Greater KL, Penang, or Langkawi). 

Do you plan on having kids? If so, what would that mean for your plans? 

Yes! Having kids is definitely a priority for us–and one of the (several) reasons getting EU citizenship is so important. As far as what that means for our plans, at a minimum it means probably larger Airbnbs. It also fast tracks the plan/need for the aforementioned home base. We need to have a deeper discussion around education, but I am open to home school or something alternative to being in the same classroom ~9 months of the year. Where we live/choose our home base to be will be heavily influenced on where we think our kids will have the best quality of life. 

Food & Favorites

Favorite restaurant in the world? 

This might sound weird especially since I’m in Mexico, but I think my favorite restaurant in the world is Maximo Bistrot. I have only been twice, but something about the place just bangs. I was meant to go for my birthday in June, but something came up. I’ll report back once I eat there again to see if Maximo retains its title. 

My favorite restaurant in the US is (or was until all the controversy) Junebaby. At this point, I’ll probably be more surprised if they reopen than if they don’t.  

Lastly, the food/restaurant I will rep till the day I die is In-N-Out. This will also be one of the first things I eat once I’m back stateside. Double-double: mustard fried patty, grilled onions, add chilies. Cheeseburger: mustard fried patty, whole grilled onion, add chilis, extra tomatoes. Fries to share. Ice water (with lemon!). 

Go-to ingredient in your cooking? 

This took me a second, but I want to go with something funky I’ve been doing. A few weeks ago, I thought about replacing mayo with yogurt. I did this and Yunji didn’t notice. A few nights ago, we made shrimp tacos and this time we added yogurt to make it creamy, and it really worked. Last night, we used yogurt in place of sour cream on our chorizo and egg tacos. This has become my go-to ingredient–super resourceful and healthy! 

Favorite thing to cook at home?

My current favorite thing to cook at home/my go-to would probably be tostadas or chorizo & egg tacos. With tostadas, I like making beans (refried) and rice with maybe ground meat and then covering with pico de gallo or something fresh. For chorizo & egg tacos, I like to fry up the chorizo until it’s almost burnt, then scramble the eggs in and take it off the heat before the eggs are fully cooked. Then warm up some flour tortillas on the stove and add the mixture. I also like to break a tostada in half and add to one of my tacos to give a cheesy gordita crunch vibe. 

If I’m home or somewhere with a well-stocked kitchen, I really enjoy making Serious Eats’ riff on Halal Guys. I follow the recipe except for the white sauce, I use half as much mayo and replace with–you guessed it–more yogurt. 

My favorite thing Yunji makes at home: pan-fried chicken thigh sandwich with lettuce, yogurt, and Mexico Lindo’s Red Habanero Hot Sauce.

Fav movie? 

Favorite movie: Lost in Translation 

Close runner-up: The Cabin in the Woods

Previous favorite movie: Love Actually

I hope you enjoyed reading (some of) this. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments. Depending on how this post “performs”, I might take a stab at doing another one of these later. 

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