Curry was always such a satisfying ending to a long day of hiking. I carried some noodles in my pack, a box of curry cubes and bought fresh vegetables from the first roadside seller or stall I saw when I got hungry. Filled up my cookpot with some water, poured rubbing alcohol into my alcohol stove and had piping hot japanese curry with mushrooms and spinach and noodles a few minutes later ahhhh it was so good. For 3 months straight I had curry every other day, when I wasn’t chowing down on sushi and sashimi.

Hey there, I’ve been living abroad outside the US(my birth country) for about 15 years. If you guys don’t mind teaching English, you have a guaranteed job on or offline that’ll pay for a comfortable life in most countries. Rent/utilities/wifi/data/groceries can be had for about $500 a month in most countries, up to $800 for a couple, about $1000-$1400 in the housing-crisis countries.

Depending on your comfort level with traveling, it might be easy to start in Central or South America since it’s close, tickets are cheap and the language won’t throw you as much. As US citizens you have visa free or VOA in 180ish countries, so you can fly there as soon as you get the ticket.

South East Asia is also wonderful, and many people live there traveling from one country to the next every 3-6 months. A few countries have cheap digital nomad visas, but I find it much easier to move at the end of my visa time or do a visa run, where you leave the country briefly and then return, like taking a ferry from Thailand to Myanmar and back. Or visiting Cambodia for a week and then flying back.

You have many, many, options as a traveler, you don’t really have to worry about learning a new language although you’ll get along and probably feel more comfortable in new countries if you learn the basics.

Check out the Travel community, the sidebar FAQs, many of the community posts go into a lot more detail and if you have any questions, reach out to me. I’m still living abroad right now and am happy to answer all your questions.

Hey there, I took an ebike around with me while RVing through the states and charged everything with a DIY solar setup.

Panels - charge controller - deep-cycle battery - inverter - power strip(additional outlets), and I had all the free electricity I needed, although I always wanted to add a little wind turbine to the mix.

Size how much power your panels produce, make sure the capacity of the charge controller is higher than that. Then size how much peak power you will be converting into AC through the inverter and make sure the capacity of your inverter is higher than that.

Connect the panels to the charge controller, connect the charge controller to the battery, connect the inverter to the battery and then connect the power strip to the inverter if you need additional outlets.

I suggest used panels from a surplus store, they’re much cheaper, often high-quality since they’re industrial-use removed/replaced by newer panels and still have 90+% efficiency after years.

I went to SanTan solar coincidentally, in Arizona, and their panels are even cheaper today then when I got mine, 250w for $40.

haha, congratulations. is it hot there now? its just starting to warm up in japan, but I’m heading to busan next week.

Ha, it’s an interesting language, and the Duolingo course is actually pretty good, although I’m more interested in the writing system myself.

I lived in China for years and I’m gonna go visit some friends in a couple weeks.

If you’re willing to teach English, living in China is a great way to save money very quickly while enjoying the affordability and convenience mentioned above.

The value of Chinese yuan is directly dictated by the Chinese government, in contrast to the other currencies you mentioned.

A stated raise in value would erode their national manufacturing competitiveness, which is a large percent of Chinese GDP, and hit most people in the country hard, instantly erasing a proportional amount of their savings value, which would threaten Chinese political stability.

1 usd to 6 yuan from 1 usd to 7 yuan means tge 1.5 billion chinese people holding rmb lose almost 10 percent of their purchasing power instantly and directly because of government action.

one of the upsides for the Chinese government is that Chinese people are very dependent on living in China, lending political stability and citizen retention.

This encouraged dependency is effective because it really is incredibly cheap aid convenient to live in china. USD equivalent of $1 meals, $100/month apartments, new 2026 EVs with the highest safety ratings in the world for only $8000, everything delivered to your door the same or the next day for free or nominal shipping costs, cashless society, national affordable healthcare, and many more.

Any declared raise in value of the yuan destabilizes the entire system and citizen dependency that the centralized government appears to be working very hard to establish and maintain.

tldr: Exchange first, bring less cash.

You can bring that much and generally have to declare bringing in any amount of cash over 10,000 euros into the EU.

I’ve been traveling 15 years and find that currency exchange heavily depends on your currency and local facility of exchange, so:

i have no doubt you’ll be able to find a money changer that can exchange rial and dinar, but since they’re not as popular as other dominant currencies at the moment, it is worth checking prices in your area before you go.

If you can find a place that exchanges under 5% nominal exchange rate, there’s a good likelihood that’s a better exchange rate than you’ll find upon arrival in the EU.

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I made that stuff a ton backpacking across Japan, it means one square unless it’s supposed to serve four people.

I usually used 1 to 2 squares each meal for myself, feel free to add a first cube, mix it in, then add more until you get to your desired consistency.

If it’s just you and a single meal, all 8 pieces is probably going to be too much.

Thank you. I’ve never heard of these guys, but will be posting them in the travel community now.

I’m watching the first episode in Japan, it’s a lot of fun.

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It isn’t dumb to feel overwhelmed, though many people regret the things they didn’t do.

The “overwhelming” part of travel is usually of our own making, while the valuable part of traveling is simply living in a new world.

Don’t plan any activities, don’t rent a car. Watch movies, sleep all day in your comfortable apartment and then visit the markets or cafes when you’re hungry.

Just by being somewhere new, you’ll be learning and living; I tell everybody who asks me about traveling that travel should be slow and easy and as comfortable as you want, especially in the beginning.

Vietnam is a solid pick: the people are incredibly kind and you get to eat pho every day.

If you’re already thinking about the excitement of a new country, China or Taiwan is the way to go. If you go to Japan again, you’ll be wondering about the new country you didn’t choose half the time.

China’s mountains are amazing , their cities are fun, the food is still my favorite after 30 countries, the transportation across the entire country is very convenient and cheap, you can buy the newest electronics at rock-bottom prices, the celebrations and community activities are fun, my Chinese friends are the only people I’ve met traveling who I still stay in regular contact with, the street food the foooood.

I have four episodes dedicated to my favorite chinese foods, you should go to China and get the food.

It’s going to feel a lot different(and louder) than Japan since there’s still basically zero non-Chinese people living in China, so everyone will be confused about your presence and there won’t be much English, but if you plan your stays ahead and check the transportation(I can help you with that if you like, I lived in China for over 6 years), you’ll be good to go.

you’ll have to use alternative apps, Didi is their rideshare app, for example, but it has an English version that’s easy to sign up for and works just as easy as uber/grab/whatever you’re familiar with and of course it’s china so everything including taxis will be dirt cheap.

I also love Taiwan, and if you want a more relaxed new adventure, that’s a great place, it’s a much quieter and more organized version of China and they still use the traditional characters, which is cool to see. Taiwan is definitely worth visiting as well, but it will feel a lot like Japan and you probably won’t be surprised and confused every twenty minutes like you will be in China.

Oh, and the island sea-goddess pilgrimage in Taiwan will begin mid April, looks like the 17th this year, so there will be a lot of fairs and things going on leading up to and during that time. They walk around the island visiting different temples to honor Mazu, the resident sea goddess.

Ooh, and Taiwan has amaaaazing vegetarian buddhist food, that should be mentioned.

Okay! Reach out if you like, have fun!

Thanks, I’m flattered! Feel free to do so at the next opportunity, I’ll be there ready to not shut up about travel, haha.

heyo, I’ve been traveling for ~15 years now, been to ~30 countries so far and it continues to be extremely rewarding and fuuuun.

I’ve had travel partners now and then, though I prefer solo traveling for the absolute wide-open “guess I’ll go walk toward that mountain in the distance for 4 hours” and “guess I’ll try 8 gelato flavors today” type of freedom that is very difficult to attain traveling with others.

I’m traveling solo in Matsuyama, Japan right now. Today I decided on a whim to take a train to Imabari, hung out at a temple, found my favorite yuzu ponzu sauce at a grocery store, spent a couple hours at a public bath, practiced some Japanese, stopped at a random yakitori restaurant on the way back, talked in terrible Japanese with the staff who were very kind and gave me a free shirt I’m wearing now! Pictures of the amazing food here.

I love solo traveling so much I keep doing it and talking about it, nothing else really compares for me. it’s certainly worth looking into and If you have any specific questions or concerns, I and the travel community are here as resources for anyone interested, so feel free to reach out. Apartments, healthcare, jobs, transportation, budgeting, whatever, I’m happy to talk.

Ha, beep boop, acknowledged. Thanks

Not sure how much longer people are going to think I’m crazy for living abroad.

I like to talk and travel

If you’ve gone several days without eating or drinking, it sounds like you needed to spend that money.

I’m happy you did spend that money and ate and drank; it sounds like the right decision.

Sorry, my internet apparently died at the least opportune moment and I just saw my last reply didn’t go through. I think I said roughly:

OMAD works for my body: saves time, guts don’t go nuts. I do OMAD because it makes things easier for me: it’s healthy for me and my life circumstances.

Eating doesn’t sound wrong if you’re putting your family in jeopardy by fasting. Eating sounds like the right way to go.

Truth can be damaging, your truth and self-harm don’t have to be exclusive.

I’m glad we’re talking. Talking about it more could help; perspective and expression is often helpful.