Weekly Mix #217 - How to get wealthy without working too hard

Getting Wealthy, Money, Depression & Finding Friends Online

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Happy Monday!

I finished my trip to Victoria and Vancouver last week. I had a great time, and I could have spent a lot longer exploring and eating my way around both places.

It felt good to travel again.

I used to travel a lot for work, which taught me a lot about traveling well. I still have things to improve, but here are a few things I try to adhere to:

I no longer feel bad not seeing everything: I used to feel like I had to fit in everything possible. To see all the touristy spots, visit all the restaurants, do all the hikes.

But that makes for long, tiring days. And particularly on trips like this one, it isn't my goal.

My goal on this trip was to spend time with friends. We went out to eat and mixed in some activities, but I was happy just to hang out.

Even if I'm traveling by myself, I now only try to fit in what I really, really want to do. I don't feel obligated.

I travel light: Unless I'm staying in one spot the entire time, or need to bring specific gear, I try to travel as light as possible.

This trip I traveled with only a "personal item"—a restriction of my plane ticket, but one I chose to embrace rather than spending the small extra amount for a carry-on.

It makes everything easier: walking place to place instead of having to take an Uber, choosing what you wear, getting out of the airport. And it's a good reminder about how little you need.

I come back early: I used to book return flights at the latest possible date and time. I wanted to maximize my time elsewhere. I don't do that anymore.

Now, if I want to spend more time somewhere, I'll just try and make the trip longer. But I always try to return on a Friday, or at worst Saturday.

Coming back on a Sunday sets me up to be tired and cranky for the week.

The extra day or two gives me a chance to get caught up on everything, rest and relax, and get prepared by doing things like writing this newsletter!

Hope you have a great week.

Graham

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Links

📚 The Sovereign Individual - James Davidson & William Rees-Mogg - Supposedly a must-read for those interested in crypto, the blockchain, and how the information age will shape our future. I'm following up Snow Crash with this in an attempt to better get my head around all of it.

📖 The Nothingness of Money - More to That - "Wisdom is the co-existence of contradictory truths, and money is the clearest example of this. We must internalize its importance while also recognizing its pointlessness. We must operate within the story of money while also understanding that it’s a fairy tale."

📖 How I Got My Brain Back - Brie Wolfson - Superorganizers - A story of depression and how a high-performer like Brie managed to get hers under control. Great piece.

📖 How I got wealthy without working too hard - Amaca - This piece lays out how to get wealthy while being a software developer, but the principles can be applied to lots of other jobs too.

📖 The 1/10/100/1000 rule of finding friends online - Lesley - This article was a good summary of my experience making friends online too. In short, you'll meet and interact with a lot of people who won't end up long-term friends, but you have to do that to find the good ones. Kinda like real life, but at scale.

📖 If You Have Writer's Block, Maybe You Should Stop Lying - Sasha Chapin - I appreciated this piece, since I think most of us suffer from some sort of apprehension about writing online. I think it might be more related to imposter syndrome than insincerity, but the point still holds.

🎧 My Other Gravel Bike is a Gravel Bike - Zachary Piña - This playlist (from a pro cyclist) is a classic rock-oriented playlist that's good for a workout—like a bike ride—or perking you up on a Monday

​10 Tweets

​A good question to find startup ideas​

​Why Bitcoin surges and crashes so much​

​Some better ways to assess learning​

​10 things learned over time​

​How to write newsletter ads that convert​

Photo of the Week

The highlight of all my transits between places was the float plane trip from Victoria to Vancouver. Thankfully had a sunny day!

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