Bonnie Truax | Retired at 43 to Travel the World | Episode #31

The Nomad on FIRE Podcast | Bonnie Truax | Owner of 43 Blue Doors | Episode #31 Shownotes

Guest Bio

Bonnie and her husband Trinity reached FIRE in 2016, sold all of their possessions, and now live the slow travel lifestyle exploring amazing places all over the world! Bonnie blogs at 43BlueDoors where she teaches others how to do the same. Bonnie and I talk about what led her and Trinity to leave their corporate jobs, life on the road, their experiences throughout South America, living in a bus in Australia and so much more! 

Links Mentioned

• 43BlueDoors
• The 4-Hour Workweek
• Remote Year, work, and travel program for digital nomads mentioned in the episode. If you want more information on Remote Year, I wrote a Remote Year Review
• Life in a Bus
• Life in a bus Youtube video

Show Notes

• Bonnie shares her background 01:02
• How did they structure their savings and investments?  04:56
• What was Bonnie and Trinity’s idea of retirement like and their transition into the remote lifestyle? 07:58
• Bonnie and Trinity's travel journey and the benefits of slow-travel 10:54
• What types of accommodations have they had? 13:40
• How have their travel explorations in South America been? 16:40
• Where were they when COVID-19 hit? 19:10
• Bonnie talks about living in a bus 21:50
• Slow travel lifestyle rapid-fire questions 26:00
  • Cell phone- Bonnie relied on Wifi throughout Latin America and is using a pre-paid plan in Australia
    • I highly recommend Google FI for US digital nomads.
  • Meals- Trinity is an excellent cook, so they mostly cook meals at home
  • Tips for finding community
  • What does a typical day look like?
• Budget and expense tracking 35:45
• What is something that she has learned about herself living this travel lifestyle? 37:37
• What advice would she give someone pursuing this lifestyle? 40:40
• Bonnie talks about 43BlueDoors 42:00
• What is a new recent positive habit or routine that has had a great impact on her life? 44:45
• Connect with Bonnie 45:57 
  • 43bluedoors.com 
  • facebook.com/43BlueDoors
  • instagram.com/43bluedoors
  • twitter.com/43bluedoors

Significant quotes

•  “Money doesn’t mean as much as a lot of people think it does because we were just fine without it.” 01:17 
• “We have been traveling. We retired in 2016 and we sold everything at that point because we knew we wanted to travel. We did backpacking for the first couple of years” 04:09 

Connect with Eric and Nomad on FIRE!