Midlife Nomads explores how people are redesigning work, travel, and life in our 40s, 50s & beyond.
Greetings from rural Nicaragua, where this majestic beauty grazing in front of a cloud-covered volcano popped its head up and blew my mind on an afternoon walk this week. š¤©
Iām hunkered down at a housesit with two cuddle-bug dogs and a snuggly cat, binge-watching Law & Order and despairing at the state of the world trying to keep up on client work while elbows-deep in a book manuscript thatās due to the publisher this fall.
If youāve been reading a while, you know Iām big on building multiple income streams into your business, especially if youāre solo and want to be fully location independent. Last week brought a stark reminder of why this is such an important strategy, and Iām still working through what it means for my own business.
One of my longest-standing clients has been acquired several times in recent years. The most recent one seemed to be great newsā¦ until the parent company did a mass lay-off last week, eliminating entire offices and departments in one fell swoop of emails. (What a way to go. š”)
Suddenly, all of my contacts at the client company are gone. And this client represents a fair chunk of my total revenue.
Of course, the initial reaction is blind panic. But realistically, this is the revenue mix for this month:
Income source as share of total revenue, August 2026
Writing, editing & content strategy clients: 78%
Owned publications and books: 17.2%
Investments: 2.8%
That particular client represents about 20% of my client-based income.
Iād love for owned publications and books, plus investments, to represent a larger share of that pie, and itās something Iāve been working on. That changes the current decision from āWhere do I find a new client?ā to āDo I even want toā¦ or can I invest more time in another income stream of my own?ā
In the meantime, seeing colleagues Iāve worked alongside lose their full-time positions in this job market (which is horrific, if even a portion of the job interview tales on LinkedIn are accurate) has been sobering.
I feel terribly for them. These are good people with mortgages and children and aging parents, and none of them got there by planning badly. Their exposure wasn't a personal failing; it was the arrangement everyone was told was the safe one.
Having been laid off, bankrupt, and homeless at different times myself, Iāve become hypersensitive to overexposure and look for backup systems built into the backup systems these days.
Which is a little funny, given where I'm sitting. The homeowners have solar for when the power goes out, water reserves for when it doesnāt rain, and I keep an eSIM active for when the local internet connection is on the blink. My downtime here is close to zero, which is no small feat outside the major cities in Central America.
All of that was built on purpose, and so was the revenue mixā¦ more than one client, more than one income stream. It's why this was a bad week and not a catastrophe.
It doesn't stay built, though. If you've already done this work you'll know the feeling. The second client lands, the second stream starts earning, and then one of them moves and you're recalculating something you thought was settled. You didn't plan badly. You're just back at the same question, with better numbers than last time.
Thatās how we grow.
And with that in mind, hereās what you may have missed in your inbox this past week:
From the Blog
If youāre on the move or planning travel for the weeks and months ahead, youāll want to have these happenings on your radar:
Latin American hotel rates are running 9.5% up this year, the steepest of any region and triple the North American growth rate, which is worth knowing as you try to make sense of those prices youāre seeing.
Globally, economy airfares are up 8.7% this year against a 1.1% rise forecast for 2027, so if a big trip can wait until spring, the arithmetic is on your side (for now).
Travellers through London, note that Notting Hill Carnival runs Sunday and Monday with up to two million people expected. Kensington and Chelsea has the full road closure list ā if youāre flying out of London Monday, leave early and donāt count on the Tube.
Buenos Aires reopens Aeroparque this afternoon after a 55-hour runway closure that pushed every flight out to Ezeiza, 35km further from the city, so check which airport your ticket actually says. (I had to switch airports there once in rush hour traffic and DO NOT recommend.)
Canada has 582 active fires and more than 10,000 people still under evacuation orders around Summerland and Peachland, and Ottawa is forecasting above-normal fire danger through September everywhere except Alberta and Saskatchewan. Itās the opposite of the usual shoulder-season assumption, and need-to-know info if you were eyeing the Okanagan in September.
Thailand's plan to cut visa-free stays from 60 days to 30 is still only agreed in principle, with no formal announcement and no start date ā nothing has changed yet, and there's no reason to rebook a winter trip over it.
Irelandās Aer Lingus is pulling three US routes out of Dublin before Christmas ā Denver on September 28, Minneapolis on October 24, Las Vegas on December 3 ā and if one of those was your cheap way across, rebook now rather than in November.
Still running from last week: baggage disruptions at Barcelona El Prat with no deal for Groundforce workers in sight, ETIAS still not required and still not worth paying for, and Europe's fire season isnāt over yet.
Thatās it for now. Until next time, may your naps be uninterrupted and your bags arrive in one piece.
āš» Miranda
P.S. Iāve opened up consulting sessions for people working through a specific remote work or relocation question. Details and rates are on the Work With Me page.
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