Plans of Pacific Coast Bike Route

As posted earlier, I'm planning on biking from Oregon to the Mexico border.  I would have loved to bike the entire coast like many do from Vancouver to San Diego, but I will be in Eugene, OR anyways so will start from there.  I'm on a timeline to reach San Diego by the end of May.

Some of these days may be pushing my limits, but this is just a rough estimate to keep a more realistic approach.  I have the number of the park listed and it turns out all the hiker/biker sites are $5/night.  I know there is a book out there specifically made for people biking the pacific coast but I wanted to save a little money/have fun planning it myself.  This way it offers for a little more adventure too.

The State of Oregon offers a free Map of their coastal bike route.  It can be found at http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/BIKEPED/docs/oregon_coast_bike_route_map.pdf.

I'll continue to post more of my detailed planning and updates on my trip.  I hope this will offer a useful reference or inspiration for others.

Adventures in Thailand

I wrote a previous post that captured some of the insights into why you should go to Thailand and the tactics in which you should follow. That post is titled Traveling to Thailand

 However, in this post, I want to capture some of the moments you can have in Thailand like shown in the figure above. I hope to encourage others to travel the world also.



To arrive in Thailand I took a sleeper train through Malaysia into Hat Yai, Thailand.  I booked this through Seat 61 online for around $20. Shown on the rights is the bed.  It was perfect for about a 6' guy like I am.  Any taller though and you'd have to be pretty scrunched.

Arriving in Hat Yai, I felt like I was in a movie.  Some American on a great adventure across the world.  I'm on the left in this photo trying to search for a place to find a bus to Krabi.  I eventually found the city bus station after asking several people around the city.

Once I arrived in the Ao Nang peninsula of Thailand, I was ready for even more adventure.  Below are some pictures that best capture all that I did.

First some beautiful beaches with some awesome monkeys.

Then, a little climbing and a lot of falling.  Climbing is a passion I've had since high school, so I made sure to really experience these massive cliffs in Thailand.

Lastly, I headed up north into Bangkok before flying back to Doha.  There are all kinds of things to do in Bangkok from the parties to the sightseeing.  Here is a photo of me overlooking Bangkok from a the top of a temple.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and you too get to experience this amazing world.  It is just a huge playground for us.

Southern Africa

In July of this year, I'm planning on going to South Africa and then am going to bus to explore up into central Africa.

The adventures that top the list:

• Surfing in South Africa
• Wildlife/Safari
• Gorilla tour in Rwanda
• Victorian falls
• Mt. Kilimanjaro

I'll post my planning and experiences to help others in the future later.  We really can all travel to the places we desire.  It may just take a change of lifestyle, but it is worth it.

Biking the West Coast of the United States

I'm planning to bike from Oregon down to Mexico via the Pacific Coast next month in May.  I will keep track of all the details and post them here before and after I go.  Please comment/email on any details you want to be included.  I'm super excited for this trip and hope I can inspire a few others to do something similar!!!

How Do I Sign Up for a Roth IRA?

I currently use a Scottrade account.  They offer a low fee for trading, great customer service, and a wide range of funds to choose from.  When I was young and wanted to learn as much about investing as I possibly could, I often went to my grandfather.  He has invested his own money for his entire life, choosing individual stocks along the way.  He taught history for some 40 years with five kids and now he has a very stable and respectable retirement.  I respect him for many reasons and his knowledge is one of them.  Anyways, my grandfather has also used Scottrade for the last few years.  This may mean nothing to you, but Scottrade is one of the better brokerages out there.  I could also recommend Fidelity as I have had experience with them, but Scottrade still has lower fees overall.

To open the account follow the following steps.

1. Go to Scottrade.com

2.  Click “Open A New Account”

3. You will then be prompted to fill out some personal information such as your name and email.

4. Then a screen will appear that lets you select what type of account.  Select Roth IRA.

5. It will then ask how you heard of them for their marketing reasons.

6.  The following pages will be further information about your employment and other personal information.

7.  You will then be given an account number and you can create a password.

8.  A signature page will need to be printed off and mailed to your local branch.  This page can be found in the Forms section of your account.

9.  Lastly, the account needs to be funded.  A minimum of $500 is needed.  It can be sent by check or as a bank transfer. 

Many people know what a Roth IRA is but not at all how to open one.  So, I hope this article has helped.  Please leave a post or email if you have any questions.

Credit Card Rewards! Should I Sign Up?

We often receive in the mail some credit card offer saying if we sign up for it then we’ll get a free round trip ticket or 30,000 miles.  But should you sign up for it?

First of all, if you are an individual who does not pay the balance in full on their credit card at the end of the month, you should not sign up for any of these offers.  Instead, you should search for a credit card with a very low interest rate such as the Chase Slate card.  However, if you do pay off your balance completely, then it would actually be very beneficial to sign up for these cards.

These cards offer some great rewards but if the balance is not paid on the card at the end of the month an annual interest rate at about 20% can be charged.  This is the drawback of the cards.  Also, many of them may have an annual fee.  

Lastly, look at the fine print of the offer.  Many will only offer you the reward after you spend a certain amount of money.  If you’d spend that amount anyways and the card doesn’t have an annual fee, I’d suggest you sign up for the offer and reap the benefits.

As for your credit score, as long as the card line is open for about 6 months or a year and not closed immediately after you receive the reward it should only help your credit score.  Also, from my research it seems as though about 6 credit cards at once should be the number to not exceed to not negatively affect your credit score.  Having this number can actually help your credit as long as you are not using much of the credit limit on each of the cards.

Turn Your Life into a Story

I have realized how I didn’t really love where my life was heading.  It wasn’t bad at all but it really wasn’t something really… special.  I know I should not take any of it for granted as I am surrounded by great people and have a great job, but something from my life was still missing.  I am like most people; I want to somehow make a difference in this world and be a positive influence on others.  But you know what is different?  Some people actually do it.

It hit me the other day how are focus turns our lives into something…boring.  I was walking with one of my friends when a really nice sports car passed us.  My friend said, “Man, all I would like is to have a car like that!”  I agreed the car was pretty nice, but I realized that this is what many people are consumed of.  We work really hard at our job in order to save up for something really nice or just for retirement.  If we are lucky and planned well; then this will happen for us.

But where is the STORY in that?

I want a life that is a story, something exciting and slightly unpredictable.  Not a story where I worked for 10 years at a job I didn’t love to buy a sports car and ride off into the sunset with it.  To live an actual story, we may need to jump out of our comfort zone into a more unpredictable area.

I hope this article can open a few eyes into how some of us are living.  I hope it encourages you to chase a dream of yours.

My Bucket List!!!

1. Travel to at least 150 countries
2. See the northern lights
3. Climb 6 of the 7 summits of the world (7 if I can justify the cost of Mt. Everest)
4. Hike in the Himalayas
5. Learn to surf
6. Learn a new language
7. Have a family
8. Own my own business
9. Have a job that allows for the lifestyle I want
10. Bike the west coast of the United States
11. Learn to sail
12. Take a long sailing trip
13. Travel for a year straight
14. Ice climbing
15. Live in another country for at least 6 months

Traveling in the Middle East

I studied abroad in Doha, Qatar and lived there for four months.  I traveled around this country experiencing everything from the culture, to the sand dunes, to the beautiful beaches.  I also had the opportunity to visit Bahrain, the U.A.E, and Oman. 

In all these places, the people were extremely friendly and will be willing to help you with anything you need.  Also, English is spoken very commonly among the people. 

The cheapest airline I found was Fly Dubai.  A note to mention is that this airline won’t show up in many search engines like Expedia or Travelocity.  Rather, it is necessary to go to their website and book the tickets.

Taxis are also something important to mention.  Everyone will come to you if you look like a foreigner and ask you if you need a taxi.  Also, they will offer an unfair rate at first.  You should always negotiate the prices.  In Doha, the best taxi service is Karwa but always ask the driver to start the meter and you will pay the amount at the end of the service.  Always have cash.

Traveling to Thailand

First of all, if you’re traveling to Thailand for the first time, you’re in for something better than you can hope for.  If it’s not your first time then you already know how beautiful the country is.  And if you aren’t planning on going to Thailand yet, I’d say you should rethink that. The post, Adventures in Thailand, includes some picures showing the adventure I had and you also can have.

I studied in Qatar for a semester which gave me a convenient opportunity to travel to Thailand over a 10 day break the school had.  I flew into Kuala Lumpar in Malaysia before taking a train north into Thailand.  I’d advise anyone to do this.  It’s a very affordable method to experience a lot.  The schedule, map, and prices of these tickets can be found online with a google search Seat 61.  If you like to plan ahead then you can buy most of the tickets online for the major cities.  However, some of the tickets it’s best to buy at the actual station because then you can get a better rate.

For my trip, I bought the ticket from KL to Hat Yai, Thailand beforehand.  This was a very comfortable train with a sleeper cabin.  Then, once arriving in Hat Yai, I bought a ticket at the station to Krabi.  There are many travel companies that will offer a bus to the surrounding cities but never accept their offers no matter how good of a deal they proclaim them to be.  The city station is the desired place and will offer the same ride at a third of the price.  The leg to Krabi was a bus and not as comfortable but still a great deal for about $6.  The whole bus ride took almost 5 hours and that meant 5 hours of Thai music videos playing on the television at the front of the bus.

Arriving in Krabi, my goal was to get to the beach near Ao Nang.  This proved tricky than anticipated as again, I was approached by a travel agency saying they could offer me the best deal.  I knew better and asked around (many people speak English but few speak it well).  Eventually I found a guy taking guys in the back of his pickup for about $2 all the way to the Ao Nang area I was seeking.

This coast is the most beautiful place I have seen.  I hope to travel back someday very soon.  And the country is very affordable.  A plate of pad thai costs only 30-40 baht which is only a little more than $1.

Also, I love to climb and this country offers unlimited climbing.  There are many places to seek more information on this.  I would go to http://www.andamanadventures.com for more informaion.

In summary, here are the main tips I would offer if you are thinking about traveling to Thailand:

1.  Go to Thailand!

                This is the most beautiful country I have seen.  If you love beaches, cliffs, wildlife, or the jungle, this place will offer it in abundance.  It is also very affordable and many people speak English which makes it easier to communicate than many foreign countries.

2.  Never book travel through a travel agency in the country

                They will be everywhere and seem very honest when they look you in the eye and tell you that they offer the best or only deal.  But it is certainly not the truth.  One block away the city bus station will probably exist.  This is the place to buy the bus tickets.  And you need to ask around to find the best service at the best price.

3.  Always keep cash on hand

                Many places will only take cash so make sure to keep enough Baht with you at all times.   Also, the US Dollar is highly respected so it is worth keeping if you plan on going to any other countries nearby.

4.  Must see sights and activities

                The southern beaches are some of the best in the world and cannot be passed up.  Bangkok is such a unique city with a lot of life and history.  Chang Mai, in northern Thailand, is a growing city, but in the outskirts there are villages that indigenous people live with such an interesting culture.

                Riding an elephant, feeding a monkey, kayaking in the ocean, and climbing the cliffs, all rank high in the activities department for me. 

Road Trip Experience

When I graduated high school, I was unsure what college I wanted to go to or if I even wanted to go.  Then a crazy idea popped in my head, “What if I went on a road trip for the semester instead of going to school!?”  Once I thought of this, there was no going back.  I know this may seem irresponsible, but I would almost argue the opposite.  It is a great time to take advantage of opportunities like travel because of the little responsibilities we have at that age.

I had already saved up money from working during high school, but this was working at minimally better than minimum wage.  Thus, the road trip had to be completed on a budget.

I started out in Houston, TX driving my beautiful ’97 Jeep Cherokee.  I headed west on I-10 to my first stop being Hueco Tanks.  I’m a huge rock climber so this was an awesome stop for me.  Next I did some backpacking in New Mexico, road biking in Colorado, and met up with some friends that went to BYU in Utah after seeing both Arches and Canyonlands National Park.  I eventually made my way up north to experience the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone.  I then drove west across Idaho and Oregon and ended up in a city called Coos Bay.  There I thought it would be awesome to bike as far south as I could make it along the Oregon and California coast.

After searching for a place to safely store my Jeep, I found a laundry mat to be the most affordable while at least being kind of safe.  I paid the guy thirty dollars to store my jeep behind his store in a grass lot for up to a month.  Then I headed down the beautiful coast into California.  One day, I ended up losing my map and couldn’t find the campsite I planned on staying at before it got dark.  I remember biking in the dark hoping any minute the next curve would have a road sign pointing to my campsite.  It never showed.  I wrapped myself in my tent to keep warm while sleeping under an overpass.  I remember thinking how dirty I felt and couldn’t even get my contacts clean so had to wear glasses for the morning bike ride.  The bike led me to Eureka, California where I decided to call it quits.  To celebrate, I spent $7 on a Chinese Buffet which was hard to do considering most of my meals only cost a few cents but usually consisted of only peanut butter.

I took a bus back up with my bike to find my jeep still safe in the laundry mat’s grass clearing.  That bike ride was one of the best highlights of the trip mainly because I wasn’t really even a biker. 

I then soon traveled down through California with a few stops at Yosemite and Joshua Tree before I arrived back at my house in Houston. It's a trip I will always be grateful I took.

During this time, I also came across a wonderful book by Donald Miller, Through Painted Deserts.  I would recommend this to everyone as I can certainly just about all of it.

How to Handle Student Loans

This is becoming a big issue and one that is rather personal to me, so I really want to help with it.  Below is some advice on student loans.

1. Type of Loans

·         Subsidized Federal Loans - These are the best type as the government will pay your interest while you are in school.

·         Unsubsidized Federal Loans- This is the next best loan type.  The interest grows while you are in school but at a rather low fixed rate.  It depends what year they are taken out at for the interest rate but they are usually always below 6.8% and can be as low as 3.4%.

·         Parent Plus Loans- This is more for the parents and is still a government loan which means a lower fixed interest rate.

·         Private Loans- This should be the last place to take a loan as they have higher interest rates than the government loans and interest will always accrue.

Each semester the government will limit the amount of federal loans you are capable of receiving based on your family’s income and the year of school you are in.  In my family, we agreed to our parents paying for two years of school and we were to pay the rest.  In this situation, when it was our turn to pay, the federal loans wouldn’t quite cover the whole semester.  So what we did was take federal loans when our parents were to pay, and then later use this money in order to fully pay for school for a semester.  Anyway it is possible to only have federal loans should be done.

2. Amount to accept

If you are forced to get student loans, take the minimum amount possible.  Try to work for your living expenses instead of settling for the loan to cover everything.

3.  Paying them off

This can be a long and difficult process.  I’ll have another article discussing this in more detail.  I would always recommend paying off the debt as soon as possible.  However, if you have a loan under about 5% fixed rate then using some of the money for retirement savings could be a better value.

College on a Budget

I recently graduated college, and for many of the semesters I lived crazy cheap.  I know this isn’t for everyone, but for the people that are interested in ways to save money and not be forced to take out tens of thousands of dollars in student loans then this is for you.

I have a list of the biggest expenses that you will face in college and how to deal with them in the best manner.

1.  Rent

Many of us don’t have the more wealthy parents that can afford to buy a small house for us while we are in college, so this isn’t much of an option.  The dorms are an option and are very convenient but they aren’t the cheapest of choices.  Also, the places right outside of campus are usually rather pricey.  It’s best to rent from a place a few miles away that is a little run down but still very safe.  These places can still only be about 5 miles away but just not right outside of the campus limits. 

Also, if you want to share a room with someone then this makes the rent even cheaper.  I lived a semester where we turned a two bedroom apartment into a three bedroom after making the living room a separate room.  It was separated by curtains hanging from the ceiling. 

A balance of how conveniently located you want to be, how nice of a place, and how important your privacy is should all be taken into account.

2. Tuition

Everyone should look at how much they pay per hour and the breakdown of the fees associated.  Some schools, such as state schools in the state of Texas, offer a flat tuition rate if you take between 12 and 17 hours a semester.  The tuition rate is based off of 15 hours.  So if you are taking 12 or 17 hours then you will still be paying the amount if you were paying for 15.  But if you take 11 or 18 hours then you will pay for the respected amount of hours.  Therefore, it is best to take 17 hours each semester.  And the final semester take less than 12 or to even graduate early.

I have seen so many of my friends take just 12 hours each semester because they feel like more is too much and if they take less it looks like they are lazy.  I know some people need to be enrolled in at least 12 hours for scholarships or other cases.  Only then is it a good idea to take only 12 hours.

3. Food and Drinks

First, the meal plans most colleges offer are not a great deal at all.  The meal plans are what makes living on campus so expensive.  The meals usually average around $6 a meal.  If living on-campus, then there is not much of an option against this but that may be the reason to live off-campus where the food bill can be $50 a week easily compared to almost $100.

But when living off-campus it can be difficult to have self-control.  It’s very easy to just eat out most meals with your friends and buy a ton of drinks when going out.  But this adds up severely week after week.  Below is a list of some cheap meals to make.

• Peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches
• Cereal
• Yogurt
• Spaghetti or lasagna (make enough for all week)
• The all-famous Ramen noodles

4. Books

NEVER buy them from the school book store!!!  So many students do this because they either waited too long or don’t want to go through the hassle of finding their books online.  The best way to get a good deal on books is either though eBay, Amazon, Craigslist, Valorebooks, or Abebooks.  It may take some time to find your book but if it is done properly you can spend only $100 or $200 a semester instead of $500 at the bookstore.  That savings of $400 can be 8 weeks of groceries at $50 a week.

5. Travel

I always wanted to go somewhere on the weekends just to get away from the work and everything else for a bit.  But if you do this then it is best to go with someone else to split the gas costs.

If you have any other great tips to save money please comment below.

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Financial Tips for the Young

I saw my Dad work so hard at a career he didn't always enjoy when I was growing up. He'd be forced to work six to seven days a week with long hours. When he came home he'd often be so tired he'd fall asleep on the couch while watching television. I saw many of my friends fathers in the same position as mine though not always as extreme.  While there is a lot of respect in what these men do, seeing all this instilled a motivation in me to be able to become financially free at an early age to be able to do what I really want to do without anything holding me back. I know this is something a lot of people can relate to so I'd like to share the steps I've researched.

1.  Employee 401k
First, take advantage of a matching employee 401k plan. This is essentially like an annual bonus so should be taken advantage of.  It also has the benefit of not being taxed until you remove the money from the account.

2.  Roth IRA
This is great for the young investor. In 2013, the IRS allows for an annual contribution of $5,500. The benefit of a Roth IRA is though you have already paid taxes on the money placed in the IRA, it grows tax-free!  This is huge considering how much $5,500 can turn into after 40 years.  I use a Scottrade account for this as it has always had great customer service, extremely low fees, and an account minimum of $500 to get started.

3.  8 month savings
This is a common theme among financial advisors. They all want you to have eight months worth of savings stored up in case you lose your job. I am pretty conservative with my money so I'm a big fan of this. What I like to do for my savings is have a separate bank account where I won't touch this money. I use an ING account for this as there are no fees involved and a respectable interest rate.

4.  Max out the 401k
After the previous three steps are completed and there is still money left that you are able to save, I'd advise that the 401k should be maxed out. The IRS allows for an annual contribution of $17,500 in 2013 (this does not include the employer's contribution).  This allows you to continue to continue to save for retirement in a tax efficient manner.

5.  Individual investment account
For the cases in which there is still money left after maxing out both the IRA and the 401k and you have 8 months worth of savings, you should then open up an individual investment account. This money can be withdrawn at anytime without any penalties after selling your investment. Therefore, it is similar to a savings account but has more risk yet more potential yield too. I'll write another article soon in how to manage a personal investment account.

These steps will set us on the right path to not be forced to work at a job we don't enjoy when we're old and tired. I have a current job that I really do enjoy but don't want to be forced to do it when I'm older if I'd like to try something new. I plan to have the freedom to do anything I'd like and travel around the world and I want to share this knowledge with you.