10 Recommendations For Your First Transformative Mini-Retirement

Good morning!

I hope this finds you well.

Welcome to another edition of The Matt Viera Newsletter.

The newsletter with the goal to inspire you to live the life you actually want to live.

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This past weekend, I was off-grid, out in the woods, spending time in nature.

I arrived early last Friday, and it took me about 10 minutes to set up camp.

Once I was all set up, I went inside the camper, sat down, and watched the wind blowing through the trees.

I did that for about 2 hours.

It was so quiet, peaceful, and serene that I felt I had no choice but to sit there and appreciate the stillness.

I did that a few times throughout the weekend.

It was such the opposite of the overstimulation I often experience in New York City that I was in awe.

It felt like a new experience.

As if I had never spent any time in nature.

I share that with you to encourage you to step outside the confines of your typical day-to-day existence and experience the power of sitting still in a natural environment.

Away from your typical, daily existence.

The experience is meditative and transformative.

And, now that summer is quickly approaching, there is another transformative experience I'd like to share with you.

That experience is the mini-retirement: spending a month (or more) in your dream destination doing anything you want.

The summer months are when I typically go on a mini-retirement.

But, as I mentioned in last week's article, I have something big coming up that may prevent me from taking my annual mini-retirement (I'm hoping the pieces are in place sometime this week so I can share the "big something" with you soon).

And, as I may not be able to experience a mini-retirement this summer, my hope is that you can try to experience one yourself.

I typically travel to Europe because European cities are ideal destinations for a mini-retirement.

They do not come close to the chaos of New York City.

And there's something about letting your days develop organically in a European city without the worries, stress, or responsibility that come within the confines of your typical day-to-day existence (unless you live in Europe).

I’ve been on 4 (month-long+) mini-retirements since 2018 and they’ve all been in European cities.

Of all the European cities I traveled to, here are 10 recommendations for your first mini-retirement:

Vienna, Austria

Vienna is a chill city, even in the summer.

It never felt crowded, chaotic, or rushed (like it does in New York City).

Vienna is walkable, public transportation is easy to navigate, and there's a restaurant for every palate.

Berlin, Germany

Time Out magazine recently named Berlin one of the world's best cities and the best city in Europe (beating out London, Rome, and Porto).

Enough said.

Barcelona, Spain

If there is one city I'd love to live in for the rest of my life, it would be Barcelona.

I spent a month in Barcelona in 2022, and it was a great experience.

Barcelona has beaches, diverse restaurants, and places to explore off the beaten path.

Budapest, Hungary

I'll be honest: I didn't know what to make of Budapest when I first arrived.

After a week, I felt completely at home.

Budapest has a lot to offer (outside the touristy center).

My favorite experience was wine tasting in the Faust Wine Cellar in Buda Castle.

Prague, Czech Republic

Prague is one of Lonely Planet's Top 10 world cities to travel to for 2024.

How can you not love a city where beer is cheaper than water?

Paris, France

Paris receives ~40 million tourists per year.

While not my first choice because Paris is one of the world's most visited cities, it is an incredible city to wander, explore, and get lost in.

Paris was the first city in which I spent my first mini-retirement.

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon is a very cool, relaxed city.

The last time I was in Lisbon, I only spent a week there.

I should've spent a month there.

Madrid, Spain

Madrid is an easy city to spend a month in because of its central location in Spain.

You can easily take day trips from Madrid to explore different cities and regions of Spain every few days.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

There's so much to explore within and outside of Amsterdam.

The next time I visit, I'd either stay in a houseboat for a few weeks or somewhere outside its city center for a more relaxed visit.

Glasgow & Edinburgh, Scotland

Scotland is too beautiful to spend a month in just one city.

My suggestion:

• Spend ~10 days in Glasgow.

• Spend ~10 days driving the North Coast 500 (with a few nights in Lossiemouth)

• Spend ~ 10 days in Edinburgh

I'm the first to admit that I'm missing out on many excellent travel (and mini-retirement) experiences by limiting myself to European cities.

But, in terms of ease of travel, affordability, and culture, European cities make ideal destinations to:

Slow down. Explore. Get lost in.

I hope these 10 recommendations encourage you to get out and explore the world this summer.

The world is a beautiful place worth exploring.

And life is entirely too short.

What caught my attention:

“Why not take the usual 20–30-year retirement and redistribute it throughout life instead of saving it all for the end?”

"One cannot be free from the stresses of a speed- and size-obsessed culture until you are free from the materialistic addictions, time-famine mind-set, and comparative impulses that created it in the first place."

—Tim Ferriss

You can find the collection of financial tools & resources that helped me grow from a 6-figure debt to a 6-figure net worth by clicking here.

Thanks for reading!

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