Embracing Wanderlust: Finding a Way to Live Your Passions with Rachael Schlimmer

[00:00:00] Eric Brotman: Welcome to Don’t Retire, graduate, the podcast that asks you what you want to be when you grow up so you can graduate into retirement with purpose and passion. I’m your host in valedictorian, Eric Brotman, and today is a unique show for Don’t Retire Graduate. I’m pleased to announce that our guest is Rachel Schlimmer.
Uh, she’s a semi nomadic human. Literally for the last five to six years, she’s
been working most of the year. Traveling eight to 10 months all over the place. And now she’s looking to put down some roots, build some stability, and up her long-term finance game. And she’s willing to share her story, uh, and some vulnerability with us today. So Rachel, thank you so, so much for being on the show. Yeah. Hi Eric. Thanks for
[00:00:43] Rachael Schlimmer: having me.
[00:00:45] Eric Brotman: This is gonna be unique for us, truly because
normally, uh, we’re talking to folks who are either a self-proclaimed personal
finance, uh, experts or money nerds or sometimes authors. And so to have
someone. Um, [00:01:00] who really personal finance is a little bit foreign to, quite frankly. Um, and to have gone through some of the things you’ve gone through over the years. I mean, I, when I, when I met you, I immediately said, this is an interesting story and I’d love you to start, um, with telling us a little bit about yourself and, and how, um, we’ll get into the sort of the, the semi nomadic piece, but, but how you got, uh, to where you are today and, and, and so forth. Tell us where you’re from and, and a little bit about you.
[00:01:26] Rachael Schlimmer: Yeah. Okay. Um, so I grew up in Seattle,
Washington. Um, my dad ended up moving out that way to work for Microsoft. And so, um, I grew up in the Bellevue area and then when I graduated, um, found myself in Seattle proper. I’ve been there, I’d say that’s been my home base for the last five or six years. Um, and first traveled a high school trip. Um, Didn’t know what it was to be overseas and kind of had my brain blown cuz I grew up, um, fairly [00:02:00] insulated. Just my family culture and everything, um, wasn’t exposed to a lot. And so when I had the chance in college to study abroad for a semester, uh, I took it and that ended up being my last college experience. Cause I was graduating the following spring. And I loved it. Uh, and so came back home, worked for a year at a job. I had, uh, had a little bit of a lead on before I graduated. Didn’t love it. Um, really burned out there. I. And so I took off traveling again. Uh, went to Europe this time for about nine to 10 months. Um, got to walk to the community Santiago, which ended up being a whole six week process. Um, wow. Did some working. What are they called? Uh, Like, well work exchanges, that’s, I think the, the technical term. Um, but folks
who needed help over there, kinda like an err b b setup. Um, [00:03:00] anyone who needed help could kind post on this website and people who wanted to help could, uh, get up and stayed with a couple of families over there. Did some, did some farming. Um, did some, some help with, uh, with a stud farm. And came back home, uh, worked for about another year. Um, went and traveled during the pandemic, um, came back, worked for another year, went to travel for a while, came back and worked. Um, so it’s kind of been the off and on, uh, process over the last couple of years of my adult life.
Um, and so I think where I find myself right now is, Kind of as you mentioned, like looking to put down roots in some form or other. Um, and the more that I keep trying to get myself into a full-time gig in a like long-term career, the more I’m like, ugh. But I really do wanna be traveling all the time. So I think my struggle right now is to find how do I build [00:04:00] that long-term stability? Um, whether that’s longevity in a career, um, Financial planning, kind of all of the things that you get when you stay in one place for a long time, but without having to stay in one place for a long time. Um, okay. Just because I still have that curiosity and hunger to see more of the world and, and experience more, so.
[00:04:25] Eric Brotman: All right. Well, I, I have, this is not, this is not an
intervention and it’s Sure as heck not therapy, but I do have some ideas. Why
don’t we, why don’t we play ’em off of each other? Yeah, please. Um, It seems
to me that there are occupations that allow you to also travel constantly. One of them, of course, being travel agency. But, but in a, in a more, uh, fundamental way, there’s also taking a, a job with like a cruise line and spending your life mm-hmm. At different ports. Um, there are certainly, um, there are certainly ways to travel a lot if you, if you take a role
with one [00:05:00] of the airlines and or one of the other, one of the other
transportation companies, If there are things that you can do where you still
have roots, you still have your place, whether it’s an apartment or a condo or
whatever it is, but you can see the world in a whole different way.
Um, have you given thought to, to making your life and your living from travel?
[00:05:24] Rachael Schlimmer: I would say yes, except that I’m not sure. I
have, I’ve definitely had it suggested to me. Um, There is something about, I
mean, this is gonna get more personal than financial. Um, there’s something
about just the way that I have constructed my idea of how you do life and how you support yourself. Um, that just doesn’t include that.
And so somehow it doesn’t feel like a natural. Thing to do. Um, okay. And I
[00:06:00] don’t know if, I think largely that’s, um, it’s too rigid of a sense that I have what I passed be. Um, so that’s been, that’s has been and will continue, I think to be something interesting for me to challenge, um, as I think really specifically about what it is I want to do and, and put together pieces like the suggestion you’ve had. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And lean into, okay, this doesn’t feel normal. This doesn’t feel like anything I’ve seen anyone else do. Mm-hmm. It seems like something I hear about other people doing and I’m not other people, so I don’t get to do that. Um, Does that kind of make sense?
[00:06:35] Eric Brotman: Well, a, a little bit. Although, although I think that’s, yeah. I think that’s very much just in your brain, that’s in your head. Um, right, right. And so, you know, I, I, I think about ways that you can turn your hobbies into, uh, a way to make a living. So, for example, you did a, a, a six week hike, right? Or you’ve done these major. Outdoor excursions. There are companies, travel companies, they’re constantly [00:07:00] looking for folks who will be tour guides a week at a time, whether it’s in the national parks or whether it’s on the, the biking or hiking or um, or cross country adventures or those kinds of things where they’re looking for somebody to, to shepherd a group of, uh, usually. Uh, high paying tourists through some, uh, adventure that maybe they’ve never been on before, where you’re the expert, but you also get to be out and about and see the, see the world and you see it from a bicycle or you see it from a bus window, or you see it from a foot with a walking stick. Like, yeah, why, why not?
Uh, sort of explore ways to, to be outside cuz I, I do think you like to be outside and, and to be active. Um, and also not to be sedentary, I mean, yeah. Look, I think we’ve solved all your problems in about seven minutes. We’ve got there. Love it. Yeah. And I’m, and I’m not, of course I’m not calling them problems, uh, that’s the wrong word. But, but this challenges to find, to find a way to get, to get [00:08:00] employee benefits. To have the right health insurance, to have the right, uh, retirement plan, to have the ability to start to make the kind of money that some of it can be put away, whether that’s 10% or 20% or whatever it is for either a rainy day or for the long term where maybe you can’t do that forever. You know, there, there are, I’m sure some walking tour guides who in their seventies and eighties, but most of them are younger than that, most of them I would think. Um, but so there comes a point where financial freedom, Intersects with personal freedom, and right now you have an enormous amount of personal freedom, but I suspect financial freedom is not something that, that, that’s not a way you would describe your life right now. I would, I would not think. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. No, I would not think work is optional at present. I would think it’s required not facing bills. Okay. Yeah. So, so, so in in terms of, in terms of doing this, how do you, how do you find those things and how do you find something that you love to do? [00:09:00] That gets excited where you get excited to get outta bed every morning and it’s paying the bills and it’s not in a cubicle. I mean, you said you spent a year Yeah. And I’m not gonna ask you where, but you spent a year in Seattle, sort of at the day job and I, I don’t know. I mean, I only lasted a year in corporate America myself. I couldn’t do it. You know, I had an entrepreneurial itch. I wanted to be doing different things and meeting different people and growing something and building a company and, um, I, I couldn’t do corporate America.
Like it was, it was misery for me. So how do we do this? Yeah. And what, what, what is stopping you, other than you, from finding this opportunity? How do we do this? Because I, I want the gig. I want to find this with you because I think it’s gonna be an incredibly empowering moment for you. Yeah.
[00:09:48] Rachael Schlimmer: I mean, this is something I’ve thought a lot
about Of course. Um, and I think there’s always been this sense that I have [00:10:00] to build a skillset I don’t already have to be, to have something to offer outside of the service industry, which is essentially kind of where I’ve worked. Mm-hmm. Um, And you know, again, this might just be in my head. It probably is. Oh, there’s no question about it. But I have not been able, thank you.
[00:10:22] Eric Brotman: Thank you. No, seriously, there’s no question about it smart enough to know that at least. Yeah. I mean, the, the, you’re, you’re your own biggest enemy instead of your own biggest cheerleader. And Yeah. You know, at the end of the day, the only way to build a skillset is to do it. You have to roll your sleeves up and you have to do it, and you have to fall on your face a few times. Yeah. And I don’t know about you. Yeah. But I’ve fallen on my face a few times and it’s always made me better. You dust yourself off. Mm-hmm. And you move on and there’s grit and there’s resiliency. Mm-hmm. And there’s determination. Mm-hmm. I mean, I, I don’t know. You know, you, you said you’re, you’re. Your life was not one growing up. At [00:11:00] least your life was not one of great adventures and being out and traveling a lot and, and, and those kinds of things, like you hadn’t had that opportunity. It was a little bit close to the vest, presumably.
Mm-hmm. Which means that you are, to this day, you are. Um, the apple
doesn’t fall that far from the tree as a, as a, uh, an idiomatic expression for a
reason. It’s cliche as hell, but it’s true. And that is that. You, you sort of are who you were as you were growing up, and the only way to bust through that. The only way to Metamorphise is to take that first step and take some risk. And you’ve taken risk in different ways. Like I’ve never had the, yeah, the nerve to take off for 10 months and just go someplace. In fact, I have not been to Europe. This is true. I have not been to Europe since 1986. That’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. I’ve seen the West. Sorry. Yeah, you’re right. It’s, I’ve seen, I’ve seen almost all 50 states, so in fairness, it’s not that I don’t travel, it’s not that I don’t get out. It’s like, yeah, nice, nice. My travel’s been very domestic and you know mmhmm. The occasional island here or there, and [00:12:00] I love Canada, but I, I literally have not been to Europe. In an obscene amount of time. It’s silly. Um, and some of it’s just because I wanted to see this country and I have, and now,
um, now I think it’s time for new challenges for that.
But in your case, this is a, this is a case of you don’t need, what skills do you
need? You need to put one foot in front of the other, you need to be a people
person, which you are, because we wouldn’t be having this conversation if you
weren’t affable and friendly and so forth. Like, what? That was not gonna
happen.
No. So, so you clearly have that, how do we turn that into a, a profitable, um,
thriving financial life to go with your wanderlust? Which I think is, there’s
nothing wrong with wanderlust. I have some myself. Yeah.
[00:12:52] Narrator: Yeah.
[00:12:55] Eric Brotman: So this is, this is it. Yeah. And you know what’s
gonna [00:13:00] be fun? What’s gonna be fun is, um, in six months or a year
when we have our next conversation, um, you’re going to be doing one of these
things.
I’m a hundred percent con convinced that one of these things is going to happen
because you’re going to try it and you’re gonna go for it. And that’s what this is
about, the financial piece. I can give you financial tips, personal financial tips
out, out the wazo, but at the end of the day, none of them will matter very much
until you have cash flow that’s reliable.
And until you have, uh, an income that’s, that’s reasonably reliable. It doesn’t
have to be a salary, but it has to be predictable on some level. Yeah. And you
have to make more than you spend and all the cliche stuff. And then there’s
ways to do this.
[00:13:43] Rachael Schlimmer: Yeah. Well, and I think what’s been most
challenging for me is not holding a job, not necessarily budgeting.
Um, I wouldn’t be able to travel even as, uh, frugally as I do if I didn’t know
how to set some money aside and live under what I earn. [00:14:00] Mm-hmm.
But I think I just have not found. The way to earn that money that is sustainable
for me as a person. It’s doing things that I can do for a year and then I’m like,
sobered out.
I have to run off, you know? Um, so that feels like the challenge I’m facing right
now. And, you know, I’m working two, two jobs at the moment. Uh, for a while
it was too, like more than part-time, and now I’m just down to two actually parttime. So I’m, I’m not. Uh, not really burning the, the candle at both ends here.
Um, but like that was an experiment, was like, okay, do two jobs, make this
work for me. And I was like, no, I really don’t. Not in this way, not these jobs.
Mm-hmm. Um, so yeah, I appreciate your question about, um, sort of what
specific skills am I looking for? What specific skills do I want or feel like I need
to make this, whatever this next thing is.
Kind of come, [00:15:00] come about. Um, and I don’t know that I have a
specific answer for that. I think that’s something really good for me to go, go off
and think about. Um, the specificity that I do have about, uh, what comes next is
more, oh, this is the shape of the job, as opposed to, oh, this is the actual thing
I’d be doing.
Does that make sense when I say it that way?
[00:15:22] Eric Brotman: Um, A little bit. A little bit. Mm-hmm. I, I, yeah, I, I
think you’re, I, I think first of all, if you can sell, you’ll never starve. And all of
us are salespeople in one way or another, even if we don’t want to think of it.
Whether you’re behind a bar or at a, we’re at a restaurant, whether you’re at a,
um, whether you’re at a, uh, any type of business, whether it’s an accounting
firm or a personal contracting or a law firm or whatever it is, any kind of job,
we’re always selling our services one way or the other.
We’re selling advice or we’re selling a product, or we’re selling a service. We
[00:16:00] we’re asking someone else. To buy into what we do or what we
provide. And that’s true in every line of work. And in order to be good at that,
typically you have to be passionate about what it is that you are selling. You
have to believe in what it is.
And if that means for you getting people who have maybe never traveled before
or never had that adventure to do it. You’re gonna see people just, their, their,
their heads are gonna explode from enthusiasm because, my God, we just had
this unbelievable experience that does not require a skillset for you, that
requires a personality.
And you have that, you have the ability to do that. Mm-hmm. People will,
people will follow you. They’ll like you, they’ll, they’ll listen to you and they’ll
enjoy getting to know you. Whether it’s, again, whether it’s on a bike or a kayak,
or a canoe or on foot. Mm-hmm. So, um, I, I just, I just think at the end of the
day, working a couple of jobs is fine.
Um, and in fact there’s a, we had a, a guest on the show, [00:17:00] um, a
couple of weeks ago, um, named Barbara Sloan, who was amazing, who wrote a
book called Tipped. And it’s about how folks in the different service industries,
all kinds of different service industries, um, how they handle financial decisions
and how they take care of themselves.
And, and so I, I will recommend that book to you. Um, and I’m happy to make a
connection because she spent, um, the vast majority of her life in those kinds of
positions and situations, uh, and now is running a company in Manhattan. So,
and loves it. And so you, you just, I think some of it is showing up, some of it’s
being there, some of it’s meeting people, which again, you can do or we
wouldn’t be here, so Yeah, so I mean, you’re, I think you’re, I think you’re
kicking your own tail.
Stop it. Why are you doing that? Seriously, why are you doing that? Let’s stop
immediately. All right. So, so, so here’s, here’s the point in the show where I’m
going to, [00:18:00] I’m gonna, this is not therapy, but what we’re gonna do is
we’re gonna sit and ideate on what your perfect situation’s going to be, and
you’re going to, will it into existence.
All right? I, it’s not a sayon, okay? It’s, this is, this is not, it’s not, it’s not
religious, it’s not biblical. It’s not a seance. But let’s will something to be.
Because if you, if you look at your personality and you look at your skillset and
you look what, more importantly you like to do, you like to travel.
Do not get a day job. You will hate it. It doesn’t matter what the job is. It doesn’t
matter whether you’re, you know, gardening or, or directing traffic or whatever,
all the silly jobs you could name. It doesn’t matter what they are. You will hate
it if you’re not nomadic. Mm-hmm. So let’s play to that.
Let’s play to that. Who do you need to know? Because we all know it’s not what
we know. It’s who we know. Who do you need to know? Mm-hmm. To get your
foot in the door in an opportunity like that? And where do you find them and
where do they [00:19:00] congregate? Yeah. Yeah. And who do you know who
does this? What friends or colleagues or, uh, acquaintances or other folks do
you know who have found a way to make a living that way?
I remember I, I’ve been going to Ocean City, Maryland for vacations since I
was, uh, old enough to walk so close to 50 years. And one of my, one of my
friends from high school, um, is, uh, and was for many, many years a bartender
there. And I would see him in the summer and he said, I work four or five
months of the summer.
I make enough money here on a vacation area to, to then take the other seven
months off and I surf in Australia or wherever I am. And I used to look at him
cross-eyed, like, how have you? And he looked at me the same way and he, I
remember him saying to me, cause I’m, I have no stability whatsoever. But I’m
so happy, and I’m sure you’re doing it right, but I’m really loving this.
And I looked at him and I said, I’m not sure I’m doing this [00:20:00] right. Like
this life is not a dress rehearsal. This is our one shot at this. Let’s do the things
that we love. So, and now, you know, fast forward, he’s 50 years old, um, and is
still bartending, but also is, is in real estate in the vacation area and, and still
travels.
And he’s made a career for himself just by virtue of knowing people and being
someplace. I mean, even got married, I mean, this is somebody who no one
thought that would happen necessarily. And if you’re listening, you know who
you are. And yeah, I kicked your coverage. Um, but in terms of, in terms of how
to do that, this is not, um, this isn’t neurosurgery.
This is putting yourself in a position to, to be able to do what you love all the
time. And it, it’s not a fairytale, it’s not a fantasy. Someone’s gonna pay you to
do what you love to do. There are people who want what you do. You don’t
need any additional skills or education. I mean, you might need some
geography.
If you’re working at Yosemite, you gotta know [00:21:00] the park. But some
information, yeah. Yeah. I mean, obviously you need to learn if you’re gonna be
a tour guide somewhere, but if what you’re doing is taking a a, a group of
tourists from Vermont up to Nova Scotia on a bicycle, All you need to know is
how to get there, how to change a tire, and how to call for the calvary if
something goes wrong.
Yeah. You know what I’m saying? Yeah.
[00:21:23] Narrator: So, yeah, so
[00:21:25] Eric Brotman: you know, I, I think you should be sending me
postcards from everywhere you go professionally. I. Because at the end of the
day, I, I can agree to that. Well, so that’s, that’s what I want. Yeah. I expect
postcards cuz I never get postcards anymore. Nobody sends postcards anymore.
They all send e greetings, which I hate. E greetings for the record or text. Yeah.
I, I prefer a text to an e greeting. Nothing’s worse than getting an email where
you have to click it and watch, watch it for 60 seconds to find out who it’s from.
I, I’ll, no, I don’t want that anyway. Um, So, so Barbara Sloan’s, somebody you
need to know, there are people in this industry.
You need to [00:22:00] know there are resources and books that you can read
on how to do this. And there are companies out there, and like every company
in the US right now, they’re begging for people to come work. Like companies
are having trouble finding workers. Right now is the greatest time to be looking
for work, probably in my lifetime.
And what you aren’t looking for is you’re not looking for a job. Or a career
necessarily. You’re looking for a way of life that will pay the bills. Yeah. Yeah.
I, you know, I don’t, I, I can’t drop this mic because it’s on a, it’s on a, a swing
arm. But if I could, I would because I feel like we just, I feel like we just nailed
it.
So what are the things, because you talked about putting down roots, that’s not
putting down roots, that’s finding some stability mm-hmm. Without planting
yourself. And I actually don’t know that putting down roots is a good idea for
you. Why would you do that?
[00:22:53] Rachael Schlimmer: Yeah. I don’t feel, the more that I’ve been
thinking about it, cuz it was a sort of a novel concept to come into this iteration
[00:23:00] with.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, And therefore, you know, useful to kind of play
around with and, and do the imagination exercise. But the more I’ve been here,
I’m like, yeah, so this is nice, but like I’m not, this isn’t the place. Mm-hmm. I’m
sure there will be one, but I haven’t found the place yet. Okay. And I think that’s
part of this project and this lifestyle is not only do I wanna travel and see a lot of
the world, but I think part of it is the sense of looking for where is my home?
And is it in the people that I meet or the work that I find for myself or the
projects in craft that I develop? Mm-hmm. Um, and when, when that becomes a
place, great. But until then, fun to just be lots of places.
[00:23:46] Eric Brotman: I, and I will contend that I’m not sure that place
exists. And that’s okay. Quite possible. Yeah.
Like why, why, why are you searching for something you don’t necessarily
want? Just because you think it’s what you’re supposed to do? [00:24:00] Fair.
You know, the, the reasons to put down roots are potentially because you want
to, you want to have children and, and you want your kids to go to the same
school for a period of years.
I mean, that’s a reason. So if that’s part of your long term plan, then that will
involve some roots. But until that time, I mean, there are cruise ships looking
for, looking for staff. There are, uh, travel agencies looking for, for folks. There
are certainly just in hospitality alone, if you’re working for one of the big
hospitality companies, you can go to any of their properties as an employee
benefit if there are not for free, but, but in a very inexpensive, frugal way to
travel if you’re, if your same thing’s true with the airlines.
You could. Mm-hmm. You can get a job at an airline and then you can hop on a
plane and, and be wherever you feel like being, as long as it’s on their route.
Like these things exist and there’s people who do it. Mm-hmm. And, you know,
are, are [00:25:00] you, are you in Texas currently? Oh yeah, I’m currently in
Austin.
You’re in currently in Texas. So, so if Texas isn’t the place and Seattle,
Washington isn’t the place, and all the other places you’ve been aren’t the place,
then maybe there’s no place. Maybe home is where you’re, where you rest your
head. Yeah. And maybe that’s okay. Yeah, that’s fine. Yeah. All right. I, I’m, I’m
gonna ask you a question that, um, it’s gonna be a particularly interesting one
today because I, I ask everyone who’s on the show, what they want to be when
they grow up, and I, I would love to know what Rachel Slimmer wants to be
when she grows up.
What’s the plan? And that doesn’t mean adulting cuz maturing is for the birds. I
tell my daughter on a regular basis not to grow up cuz it’s a trap, but in so much
as we can dream a little. Mm-hmm. What do you wanna be when you grow up?
Yeah.
[00:25:57] Rachael Schlimmer: I feel like I get this question a lot, um,
[00:26:00] particularly in conversations about. What am I doing with myself
and what comes next and why aren’t you happy? And like, what are you looking
for? Um, whether that’s like, in an ideal world, what would you do? Or like if
money wasn’t an object, you’re like, you know, there’s all kinds of versions of
this question.
Mm-hmm. Um, and it’s been difficult for me to pin down, I think, because I do
still feel like I’m in such an exploratory phase. Um,
There. The, the little girl part of me, the like six year old version of me, would
love, I think to be one of those, uh, what is it called? I think it’s called horse
vaulting. Um, where it’s like gymnasts, but on horseback.
[00:26:55] Eric Brotman: So like, so equestrian. Some kind of equestrian.
Yeah.
[00:26:58] Rachael Schlimmer: Yeah, I was horse crazy [00:27:00] as a kid.
Yeah.
But not
[00:27:01] Eric Brotman: anymore.
[00:27:05] Rachael Schlimmer: I think I just had given up on it. Why?
Because it’s so like distant from my everyday life. Um, it’s not like I, you know,
just see a horse every other day, you know? So it feels like, I think there’s just
been too much, too much space there.
[00:27:20] Eric Brotman: Okay, but you are,
[00:27:23] Rachael Schlimmer: you look so
[00:27:24] Narrator: confused right now. Be cause No, I think it’s great.
I think you,
[00:27:27] Eric Brotman: but you’re mobile, so what’s what? So why not
work? Why not work? Um, in a, in a, in an equestrian area or in an equestrian
center or in a, in a farm or in a, um, or in a training center or in a, uh, anything
to, to do with that industry. If that’s what you love to do, why wouldn’t you do
that? Yeah.
You need to be in horse country. You gotta go to Kentucky or Virginia or
something. But it’s there. There’s plenty in Maryland. We’d love to have you.
There’s lots of horses, like,
[00:27:59] Narrator: you know. Yeah,
[00:27:59] Eric Brotman: I, [00:28:00] but, but I mean, if, why, why give up
on the six year old version of yourself? It’s not like you wanna be an astronaut.
That’s a little bit more difficult. But if you wanna work with horses, yeah. There
are people who. And we’ve had clients who are in that business who work with
horses and, and, um, you know, and there are schools here in the area where,
um, there’s boarding students and they board horses in literally around the
corner from us.
This exists here. So it, it, I don’t think you should rule that out if that’s
something you love to do, and that would be, that would allow you to put some
roots down. But it might also be seasonal to an extent. I mean, it depends. It
depends whether you want to care for horses or whether you want to train
horses, or whether you wanna, um, just be around the sport.
Yeah, but I, I love your answer. I think when you grow up, you should do that.
Well, thanks. Well, why not? All right. So yeah, we, we need an extra credit
assignment from you, and at the end of the day, Um, [00:29:00] I’m gonna ask,
and I don’t normally do this, but I’m gonna ask in a very targeted way mm-hmm.
For an extra credit assignment that involves going to a place.
Mm-hmm. And that is, if there was one place that you could visit again,
whether it was for a week or a month or the rest of time, how, where would it be
and, and what would you tell folks about going there? Hmm. Because you’ve
been all over and I don’t leave the country. Yeah. So, yeah.
[00:29:35] Rachael Schlimmer: Yeah. I’m trying to think
[00:29:38] Eric Brotman: now.
All right. You’re going to Detroit. It’s been solved. That’s where you’re going?
[00:29:43] Rachael Schlimmer: I, I am. Okay,
[00:29:44] Eric Brotman: great. Yes, we’re sending, look, if you don’t have an
answer, we’re going Detroit. Okay. Well, that’s where you’re going. Um, have a
great time. You’re on your way to the, to enjoy on your way to the motor, to the
motor city.
Um, yeah. If you think [00:30:00] about this, yeah. Think about where that
would be, because that’s another answer to your question. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,
you, you really, at the end of the day, There’s gotta be some place where you
were like, oh my God, I never wanna leave this place. Yeah. Or,
[00:30:14] Rachael Schlimmer: or is the newness? Well, there’s a couple that
come to mind.
Of course. And so it’s like, well, what are they? Well, so don’t pick one. Okay.
Okay. Okay, great. Great. We have options. Um, one, one I would say was the
small Irish town, um, about an hour outside of Dublin. I was working at a stud
farm at the time. And it was a university town, and so it was, um, it was very
small and so it felt like small town life, not the, you know, sort of big city
bustle.
But of course, if you wanted that, Dublin was super close. Um, and because it
was a university town, they still had a couple of cool hangout spots, so it wasn’t
just like [00:31:00] your corner store and your groceries and, you know mmhmm. Maybe a nail salon or something like, Mm-hmm. There are actually some
really cool little spots there.
Um, and just the setup I was, I was in at the time. I’d, you know, do my work
with the horses in the morning and then I could ride my bike down to the town
and spend a couple hours at the coffee shop, do some reading, do some
studying, whatever I wanted to do. Um, come back, wrap my day. Um, and I
was there for, It’s three, three to five weeks, I wanna say.
Mm-hmm. Um, it wasn’t super long and I, I was actually sad to leave, which is
not always true. Okay. Um, so that is Maynooth Dublin. I have a university
there. Um, really cool little spot. As a tourist, you know, plan yourself hiring or
take a trip or something. Are they hiring? I don’t know if they’re, that’s a very
good question.
One of the things in the back of my brain has [00:32:00] been to really try to
look into, um, how difficult it is to work as a US citizen overseas. Um, my like.
Top level exploration, um, of working in Europe has been that it’s just very
difficult because you have to have a specialized enough skillset mm-hmm. That
they can justify hiring somebody from outside the country.
Um, and I’m not like specially trained or, you know, have a degree in any
particular thing. Um, So having like all round skills is one thing, but I dunno
that I could prove like, oh yes, I’m a like top level neurosurgeon. You need me
for your hospitals, for, you know, whatever reason. Um, so where are there
similar?
[00:32:43] Narrator: But that has been something to
[00:32:44] Eric Brotman: look into. Well and where are there similar facilities
in the us There’s a big country. Yeah. And mm-hmm. You know, you will find
something in, whether it’s a stud farmer or some other aspect of, of horse, horse
[00:33:00] life, there’s a lot of it here. Mm-hmm. And if you are able to find
stability doing that, and it allows you to not only start to build some of your
personal finance and your, and your, your roots, but also it allows you to have resources to travel for fun when you want to.
I mean, that’s, that’s not terrible. Mm-hmm. So, alright. You, you, I, I, I, as
much as I hate homework, I’m giving you a homework assignment because,
because that just as it’s my showing No, no. You’re actually getting a homework assignment. No, not extra credit. No. Oh, okay. We’re going, we’re going back to school immediately.

Um, your, your assignment is, your assignment is to explore these two distinct avenues, one around horses and one around travel and leisure and hospitality, and to report back. I want a full report and then, and then, um, I’m gonna
[00:34:00] suggest that you consider starting a blog of some kind, and that we create a brand of Rachel Schlimmer.
So, begin with doing the search. You figure it out. You’re gonna write, you’re
gonna tell your story, and it’s going to be inspiring, and you’re gonna be happy about it, and you’re gonna have fun with it. I can see it in your face.
[00:34:25] Rachael Schlimmer: This, this is the hypnosis section
[00:34:27] Eric Brotman: of the show, correct? Correct. Just follow my finger. No, don’t, don’t do that. All right. You’ll be happy. You’re, we, we are out of time and normally I would say we need to know your website. We need to know where you published your book. We need to know all that stuff about you. In this case, we need to know what your due date is for the homework. So when will you be getting back to me?
Hmm? July 1st. July 1st. Okay. Mr. Arbitrary. Okay. By July 1st, I need to
know, I need a full report on, on what you found, and I’m gonna follow this and we’ll do a follow up at some point and talk about it [00:35:00] and it’s gonna be awesome. Deal. Deal. Let’s play. Thank you for, thank you for getting out of your comfort zone. I know you were scared to death to do this, and I hope it wasn’t painful. I hope you enjoyed it.
[00:35:11] Narrator: Yeah, it was fun. It was fun. All right, well
[00:35:13] Eric Brotman: thanks for, thanks for being here.
[00:35:15] Rachael Schlimmer: Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate Eric. I’d
[00:35:18] Eric Brotman: like to thank all of you for listening and watching
today. We would love to hear from you, so please send us a message or leave us comments at don’t retire graduate.com or on social media.
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