European Sabbatical – Part 3

I wrapped up by 3rd month in Spain a bit earlier than planned. After being there for 10 weeks I was feeling homesick and knew it was time to go home. I completed the trip with a few days in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, with my best friend from high school. It had gotten incredibly hot in Barcelona with record highs of high 90’s. So, it was great to leave the city and relax on the beach in a nearby island. 

The beach reminded me of Florida beaches, with soft sand and warm water. It was so hot that I would have preferred colder water to be honest. Usually I could find this in the morning though. The water was clear and I often saw a bunch of fish swimming around. 

Additionally, I was able to catch up with my extended cousins that live in France. One of them now lives in Barcelona and her sister came to visit with her children while I was there. It was great catching up with them as it has been several years since I last saw them. I hope to see them again next year. 

In conclusion, I really enjoyed my sabbatical in Europe. I think next year I will do one in France. I will probably go in the late spring to avoid hot weather. I also think 3 months is too long for me to be abroad. I will likely spend 4-6 weeks on my next sabbatical. I would choose France because I have a lot of family and friends that live there. I speak the language, love the food, and would love to explore more of the country. 

As my sabbatical was coming to an end, I had to start thinking about real life (haha). I wanted to work somewhere new, in a new state. Ultimately, I realized I needed to stick close to home (Miami). I had so many upcoming events with friends and family, that I would need to be in Miami at least twice a month for the next 4 months. It didn’t make sense to go somewhere far away, where I would have to fly often. 

During the fall months: I have 2 weddings to attend, my sisters baby shower, my cousin’s baptism, and my college reunion. Not to mention it would be Thanksgiving and Christmas, in addition to my birthday, in which I would want to be home. 

Any guesses on where I decided to work?

European Sabbatical – Part 2

I committed to an Airbnb in Barcelona that is literally right in front of Barcelona’s landmark – La Sagrada Familia. I have views of the church in my living room, or I can go to the terrace upstairs to see it. The picture above is one I took from my apartment. I selected a 2-bedroom apartment so I could accommodate visiting friends. My musts were air conditioning and a washer/dryer. Many buildings in Barcelona do not have air conditioning which is torture during summer months. Especially since Europe ended up getting a heat wave this summer. I love the airbnb I chose! It’s super cute, updated, and great location.

Since I booked the Airbnb last minute and during the peak of “revenge summer travel”, it was quite pricey. An unfurnished long-term lease apartment in Barcelona goes for ~$1000/mo for a 2 bedroom. So I was surprised to find what I was looking for on Airbnb (furnished of course) for a whopping $3600/month. Since I was going to be in and out of Barcelona, I tried to see if it made more sense to book an Airbnb 2 weeks at a time. But it was actually the same price as booking a monthly rental, since hosts often give a discount for booking for 30 days at a time. 

I used my chase sapphire preferred card to book the Airbnb. Fortunately, there was a promotion with this chase card that I could redeem Airbnb purchases with my chase points for 1.25 dollar per point. Thus, I ended up redeeming 270,000 of my chase points for a month at this Airbnb (a value of $3600). By using my points, my out of pocket expense for the Airbnb was ultimately zero. I had accumulated a lot of points and miles over the past few years since I barely traveled abroad since the pandemic. 

I got to know the host of the Airbnb pretty well, and turns out he owned the entire building. I let him know when I was going out of town for a week at a time, and he worked out a deal with me. While I was gone, he moved my things to an upstairs studio, while he rented out my 2- bedroom apartment. In return, he paid me $100/night and technically I had free cleanings in between. This benefited him because a lot of tourists were looking for a 2-bedroom apartment for a family of four, so he was able to earn additional profit while I was gone and leaving my apartment empty. I profited $800 with this, bringing down my overall Airbnb monthly cost to $2,800. 

Now on to the fun part. I met with a friend in Croatia, where we spent a week. It was my favorite country that I visited in Europe this summer. Old town Dubrovnik (where they filmed Game of Thrones) was beautiful! I enjoyed climbing the wall and the fort for spectacular views. 

The beaches were also gorgeous! The water was so clear you could see fish swimming underneath you. We rented a boat and explored nearby islands and caves. We went snorkeling and I saw starfish which was neat. I have to add that most of the beaches do not have sand, just rocks. This was a bit of an adjustment for a Florida girl. It was interesting to me that the Europeans felt comfortable lying on a rock after getting out of the water versus us Americans needed lounge chairs. I cut my foot on a rock in the water, so in the future I would bring some water shoes with me. 

We also did a day trip to Montenegro since it is only 2 hours away by car. It’s a cute mountainous country with small cities on the coast. It was very cheap in comparison to Croatia. Yet, I found the people in both places to be incredibly nice. 

We returned to Barcelona to meet up with other friends. I showed them around and we appreciated the diverse eating options in Barcelona. In Croatia, our only options had been Italian or Seafood haha. 

Meanwhile, jobs back home were already asking me if I decided what my plan would be when I returned. I told them I would let them know in mid-August. I was still on vacation mode and not even thinking about the idea of working at that time.

The Top Business Credit Card

https:/https://www.referyourchasecard.com/21o/K0YOKERBZ7

I have several top Business credit cards, but if I had to choose one, I would choose the Chase Ink Unlimited Card. It comes with a 75k Chase points sign up bonus after spending $7500 in the first 3 months. It also comes with 0% APR for the first 12 months. This is nice if you need to carry business related expenses over a month, and the balance won’t show up on your credit report since it’s a business card.

You can earn 1.5 points per $1 spent on all purchases ongoing. And it comes with no annual fee, meaning I can hold this card forever. Unfortunately, it does come with a foreign transaction fee. So it wouldn’t be ideal to travel abroad with.

And in order to transfer the points to airlines and hotels, you would need to also hold another chase credit card with an annual fee such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserved, or the Chase Ink Preferred Business card. If not, the points would only be worth $750 cash value, versus as points they can easily be worth double that.

I love have chasing points because I use them often to fly on American Airlines (through the British Airways partner), and to transfer to Hyatt hotels at a great rate. Most recently, I cashed out some of my Chase points to stay in an Airbnb for a month in Europe. Chase had a promotion that depending on which cards you have, you can pay yourself back for Airbnb purchases at 1.25-1.5 points per $1.

If you are interested in this card, please click on the link on the top to apply for it and support this site!

European Sabbatical – Part 1

I have just completed my first month living in Europe. I spent half the time living in Barcelona. I went exploring, relaxing, and met up with relatives and friends. I had been to Barcelona before but there is so much to do here that I still had a lot on my to visit. So far, the highlights have been going through Gaudi’s work at Casa Mila and of course seeing La Sagrada Familia from all parts of the city. I have enjoyed walking everywhere and access to public transportation. I walk at least 10 miles every day. The people have been friendly and sangria tasty. It’s been hot, so I did go to the beach here. The water was clear and refreshing. However, it doesn’t compare to the Florida beaches 😉

The second part of the month I spent traveling to Eastern Europe with one of my best friends from home. We started in Budapest which I instantly loved. There is so much to do there, plenty of history, and the people are so nice. My favorite part was going to the Fisherman’s Bastion with beautiful views of the city. I also loved the Szechenyi Thermal Baths. They have over 20 different public baths and pools of all different temperatures. 

We then took the train to Vienna. I really enjoyed the train experience. It was smooth, quick, and cheap. From all of the Eastern European countries we visited, Vienna probably had the best food. I liked the Wiener Schnitzel, which is breaded veal with a layer of cranberry sauce on top. Even the apple strudel was delicious, and I am normally not a fan of apple desserts. My favorite part was going to the Belvedere Museum to see the Klimt paintings and of course there was a surprise painting of Napoleon 😉

Next, we went to Prague. We heard a lot of good things about Prague. I now understand why. It’s a beautiful medieval town. There isn’t much to do there but is a nice place to walk around. Afterwards, we went to Krakow, Poland. The people there are a bit colder than the previous countries. I can’t blame them considering all they have gone through between World War II and being invaded by the Soviet Union soon after. 

We did a day trip to Auschwitz which was definitely eye opening. It was really sad and I felt weird being there. It was interesting to see the size of the camps – way bigger than I could have imagined. They still have tons of the prisoners hair there. Apparently, the Nazi’s kept it to sell to textile companies to make clothes. I didn’t take a picture because it’s gross. They still had thousands of people’s shoes, glasses, and suitcases. 

The Nazi’s decided to put the main concentration camp in Poland, because at that time they had the most amount of Jewish people (3 million). Nowadays, there is only 7,000 Jewish people in Poland which is mind boggling. Keep in mind, it wasn’t only Jewish people that were sent to these camps. Many erudites, politicians, and sympathetic Catholics were also sent to these camps.

I ended my travels in Lisbon, Portugal, meeting up with high school friends that live in Europe. I was very curious about Portugal since they have a lot of American expats. Now I know why many Americans choose to move there. The weather is great – low 70’s/high 60’s. It reminds me of California (meanwhile the rest of Europe has been really hot). It is very diverse – more so than most of Europe. We saw plenty of black people, Hispanics, Asians, etc. It is cheap for a western European country. For instance, a 15-minute taxi was only $5. Lisbon reminded me of San Francisco, with its abundance of hills, being on the coast, and trolley system. I hope to someday return to explore the coastal cities of Portugal. 

Now I am back in Barcelona to take a 2-week hiatus before my next travel adventures. Traveling can be exhausting so I am glad to take a break before my next visitors arrive. I’ll be sure to catch up on sleep and some alone time. 

My first week being here, I oddly missed work. Now that I have been here for almost 6 weeks, I no longer miss work. I think the longer you are away from it, the harder it is to go back to it. 

My First Mini Retirement

A mini retirement is when you take a sabbatical from work ranging from a month to a year. Instead of waiting to retire completely, you can do this when you have enough money saved up to take time off work. The benefit of mini retirements is that you can take a break from work while you or your kids are still young and able to do a variety of activities. Instead of waiting until you are 60 to retire, you can go ahead and take multiple mini retirements during the years leading up to full retirement age.

I decided I wanted to take a mini retirement in 2022 since last year. I have always wanted to live abroad temporarily and decided on Spain. I like Spain because it’s pretty affordable for a European country, the food is good, and the people are friendly. I also have the opportunity to practice my Spanish and learn more. Additionally, it’s pretty easy and cheap to travel to other European countries from there. I specifically chose Barcelona because it has more of a younger crowd. 

Originally, I wanted to spend 3-6 months in Europe. However, you can only be in most of Europe for up to 90 days on a tourist visa. I looked into getting a residential visa but it’s complicated because I would need to pay income taxes and real estate taxes to Spain (based on my income and properties in the USA), which is not ideal. Thus, I decided to just do a 3-month mini retirement there. 

I was planning on going when I finished in Bradenton, Florida from March-May. However, I ended up extending in Bradenton, so my mini retirement was postponed to June-August. Even though my job kept asking for me to stay longer, I told them I couldn’t postpone my trip to Europe anymore. The main reason (you would know this if you have been a reader of my blog for a long time) is that I hate the cold. So, the best time to go to Europe is during the summer. In fact, I am happy I extended my stay in Bradenton, because Europe during March would have been too cold for me. 

I decided to book my first two weeks in a hotel to test the waters. If I love it then I will go ahead a book an Airbnb for my stay. I just don’t want to overly commit in case I get homesick or want to move somewhere else. And most Airbnb’s are non-refundable. I am going by myself but I know a few people that live in Barcelona. Then I have several groups of friends and family that will meet up with me in other European countries throughout the summer to travel to together. 

The purpose of this mini retirement is to test the retirement waters. To see if I am content without work. I will still be preoccupied doing my favorite things which are traveling, spending time with family and friends, going for walks, and reading. I am just curious to see if I will miss work. I have over a dozen job offers for when I return to the USA after this mini retirement. I don’t want to commit to anything yet. Who knows, maybe I will want to stay in Europe forever. Or maybe I will want additional time off to spend at home in Miami, afterwards. 

The great thing about be a traveling nurse practitioner is I do not need to ask permission from my employer to take this sabbatical. I just simply told everyone I was unavailable for the summer. Also, no one seems to care that I will spend 3 months without work. Like I mentioned above, I still have many job options for when I return. I decided not to do the telehealth work while I am in Spain after all. As I noted in my previous post, the rates have significantly declined and are not worth it to me. 

Anyways, I am excited for my mini retirement! This post will likely go live while I am already in Europe so wish me luck!

Investing in Real Estate

Growing up, I always knew investing in real estate was a good idea. My parents invested in real estate and instilled in us that it was a path to wealth. My siblings and I enjoyed going with my parents to look at houses when we were young. My older sister enjoyed real estate so much that she obtained her real estate license even after she became a pharmacist. 

The year after I started working as a traveling nurse practitioner, there was an opportunity to purchase our first property. A family friend was liquidating assets in preparation of a terminal illness and offered to sell us their house for $25k less than it was worth. I ended up purchasing the house with my older sister. Her realtor background came in handy and made the transaction seamless. She was even able to use her commission as part of the closing costs. 

We got the mortgage only under my sister, so that it would be easier for me to get a loan on a future property. We are both on the deed of the house which is what matters most. We invested some money to fix up the property, nothing major – such as paint, hurricane impact windows, and landscaping. Then we have rented it for a monthly profit, which increases each year. It has been a great investment for the past 6 years.

Two and half years later my sister and I bought our second property. I applied for the mortgage loan under my name as a personal loan since we planned on living in it for at least a year. As a locum tenens provider, qualifying for the loan was a bit difficult because at that time I had a mixture of 1099 work and W2 income. The lender only wanted to use my W2 income because they said 1099 income is unreliable.  

I also qualify for a lot of tax deductions being a traveler, but this ended up bringing down my adjusted gross income to a number the lender was not comfortable with. Qualifying for the loan ended up being more challenging than I expected. Fortunately, I had an amazing loan officer that fought for me. She told them my job is in high demand and my income is almost guaranteed. In the end, I ended up being approved for the loan.

During covid, I refinanced the mortgage to a lower rate and decreased the term from 30 years to 20 years to save almost $100k in interest. 

Two years later, my sister got married and moved out to purchase a house with her husband. We ended up renting the current house easily. 

As everyone is aware of, the real estate market took off since the pandemic. I originally wasn’t planning on buying another property. Yet, since the interest rates were so low, it made sense to buy now even though the cost of real estate was high. I also had 2 years of consistent W2 income since I didn’t travel abroad much during the pandemic. I thought I’d better take advantage of this. 

I wanted to buy a personal home for myself, since I planned on cutting back on how much locum tenens work I do in the near future. Cutting down on how much I work would also affect me qualifying for a mortgage loan in the future, so I figured I should get something while I can. 

I had been scanning the market for the entire 2021. There were over 20 people making offers on the same houses with $20k+ over asking or just buying it all cash. This wasn’t a type of market I was comfortable competing in. I did make an offer on a Miami beach condo one time but was outbid by $35k. I took a break, and during the week of Christmas I decided to start my search again. I had learned that the best time to find a deal is around the holidays when less people are looking. 

This strategy worked out for me because I was able to buy my 3rd property! I looked at it the day before Christmas eve and made a $5k above asking offer which was accepted (despite having multiple offers). It is in a newer area of Miami where there has literally been no inventory, so I definitely lucked out. In fact, my sisters broker asked her how I snapped up the property because he has been trying to get his client a house in that area since 2020. She told him I offered $5k over asking and he said “that’s it?!” It was definitely God looking out for me.

I ended up renting it out the first year since I left Miami to work in Bradenton, Florida and plan on spending 3 months abroad. Rent in Miami has increased by 40%, so even though the house was more expensive than I wanted, the profit each month renting it is higher than I expected. In fact, the profit it double than I was planning. 

Real estate is a great investment. The value of my first two properties have almost doubled from the purchase price. It produces “passive income” that can help cover expenses or serve as a future retirement buffer. It helps having my sister as my partner because she helps me manage the properties. 

When I officially move back to Miami, I have several houses to choose from to move into. Or I may decide just to rent something on the beach, since my rental income can help cover most of the cost of my rent.