What's a "Mini-Retirement"?

And why you NEED to take one

Matt Viera
April 28, 2023

Good morning and Happy Friday!

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.

Thank you for your continued support.

As I was trying to come up with a topic for this week's newsletter, I thought about writing about my upcoming vacation, or as I call it, my "mini-retirement."

And then it hit me, I have yet to write about mini-retirements.

You may be asking yourself, "What's a mini-retirement?"

Well, my friend, let me explain….

I was first introduced to the concept of the mini-retirement while reading The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss.

SIDENOTE: I highly recommend The 4-Hour Workweek. This book started the slow shift of my mindset around the concept of living life on your terms and live the life you actually want to live. The book is a bit dated now, as it was originally published in 2007, but its argument is still sound.

The mini-retirement is what Ferriss calls an "alternative to binge travel." It entails relocating to another place for 1 to 6 months. The more foreign the location, the better.

3 reasons why you need to take a mini-retirement:

It allows you to unplug from your daily routines
It's an opportunity to experience the world at a speed to let it change you
It is not an escape from your life, but an opportunity to reexamine your life

The goal of a mini-retirement is to slow down and "get lost intentionally."

You want to travel and spend time in a place where meetings, emails, and phone calls do not exist.

For me, before reading The 4-Hour Workweek, I'd take the usual vacation of about 7 - 10 days, typically to an area with a beach.

After reading the book, I asked myself, "What can I do instead of taking the usual 7 - 10 days of beach vacation?"

I am fortunate to have plenty of paid time off in my current career.

And I love to travel.

And then it hit me.

Europe!

I lived in Germany for two years in my early 20s. It was one of the best experiences of my life. The last time I was in Europe was when I lived there.

I decided to travel to Europe for my first mini-retirement in 2018.

I have taken 3 mini-retirements since 2018.

Each time I spent at least a month traveling throughout Europe.

My last mini-retirement was in the summer of 2022, when I spent 5 weeks in Spain—1 week in Seville and 4 weeks in Barcelona.

This particular experience shifted my entire mindset and forced me to examine how I want to spend the rest of my life.

The choices it forced me to consider: continue to trade my time for money or do what I can to retire as early as possible.

A by-product of this consideration: I started this newsletter.

I started this newsletter specifically to document my journey, share what I learn along the way, and inspire you to live the life you actually want to live.

Anyway, the next mini-retirement is booked.

~4.5 weeks during the summer, splitting my time between Vienna and Budapest.

I was considering Spain again because who doesn't love Spain?

However, I watched a few YouTube videos about Vienna and Budapest, and, to be honest, the local cuisines are what persuaded me.

I'm excited to try some of the local cuisines of both places.

The best part: I'm traveling for free!

I used credit card reward points to purchase airline tickets. I paid absolutely nothing for the airline tickets to and from Europe. Of course, the key to using reward points is paying your credit card balance in full every month.

And yes, my argument is that this is free as I don't carry a credit card balance, so I incur no interest charges.

Anyway, if there is one thing I can encourage you to seriously consider, I encourage you to take a mini-retirement.

Pick a place you've been interested in traveling to and go.

If you can't go for 6 months or even a month, go for as long as possible.

Find a place to stay the entire time and let your days develop organically.

The first morning after you arrive, have an excellent breakfast, step outside, take a deep breath, pick a direction, and walk.

See where the day takes you.

Interesting finds:

The 4-Hour Workweek, by Tim Ferriss

Why U.S. Vacation Policies Are So Much Worse Than Europe’s

Thanks for reading!

Please feel free to reply to this email with suggestions, questions, or comments.

If you questions about personal finance or mini-retirements, send me an email and ask. I'll discuss the answer in a future issue of this newsletter.