A Milestone Moment: 500 Subscribers and a World of Possibility š
We're celebrating you, readers ā all 500 of you dreamers, doers, and wanderers in 41 countries who are reimagining work-life balance and travel in midlife. Here's what weāve built and what comes next.
āļø Welcome to Midlife Nomads, your weekly hit of real talk, smart ideas, and helpful tools for building a location-independent life through remote work, travel, and business.
Today weāre celebrating something truly special: 500 of you have joined the Midlife Nomads journey!
Thatās 500 dreamers, doers, and wanderers who believe, like I do, that thereās more to life than meetings and mortgage payments. Five hundred more humans whoāve said yes to exploring a different way of living, working, and seeing the world.
Some of you are friends, colleagues, and long-time supporters. But lately, Iāve been seeing a lot of new subscriber names pop up.
And now, people from 41 countries are reading along.
Many of you discovered Midlife Nomads on Substack. About a quarter found your way here through Google by searching, perhaps, for your next adventure or an entirely different way of life.
However you arrived, wherever youāre tuning in from, Iām so glad you're here.
Weāve been exploring topics like flag theory mindset, burnout and starting over, and rehabbing Nicaraguan cats together.
Weāve taken deep dives into the foibles of travel insurance and borderless bank accounts, and studied the nuances of travel visas, residency, and citizenship.
And I feel like weāre just getting started, still in the early days of building something special. But the fact that you're here, reading this, tells me we're on the right track.
Midlife Nomads began as a way for me to explore and make sense of my own choices by journaling out loud. Iām a 40-something sandwich-generation writer and editor with a home base and family in Canada (complete with a non-nomadic but waiting-to-expat partner, delightful sons who are increasingly finding their own way, a few budgies, and the suckiest English Shepherd on the planet).
My work has been fully remote since way before it was cool, and I now operate my business out of the EU as an e-Resident of Estonia while traveling about half the calendar year.
Over the past decade, my work has taken me to more than 25 countries, from Europe to South America to Antarctica. Iāve been incredibly luckyā¦ but Iāve also been searching.
The North American Dream never quite fit. Building a life on credit, rooted in isolated boxes with postage-stamp lawns, feels more like something we need to survive than actually living. So I started experimenting: with coliving, with slow travel, with building a location-independent life.
The more I see, the more I realize just how many ways there are to live.
Everyone here gets access to my weekly emails: dispatches on life beyond the grind, whatās happening in the worlds of travel and remote work, and finding ways of being that work for you.
Full subscribers unlock my destination guides, deeper dives into places Iāve been and loved that I hope might inspire your own adventures, like these:
The View from Here: Cruising Croatia's Adriatic Coast & a Visit to Vis
Guide to SĆ£o Miguel, Azores: How to Make Every Moment Count
Waterfall Adventures & Other Good, Clean Fun in Northern Nicaragua
Full subscribers also get access to my occasional real-time ramblings from the road. Iām still trying to find the right balance of sharing versus being a woman in the world whose writing pisses people off at times, and so find myself keeping more of my real-time location info off of social media and out of open posts.
Your support fuels every post, every photo, every step, and makes it possible for me to keep showing up with practical tips and honest reflectionsāand I am incredibly grateful.
Keep readingā¦ Iāve rounded up a few things worth reading and pondering below. I hope these bits of travel news, digital nomad intel, and thought-provoking inspiration to keep you dreaming, planning, and questioning the script.
Is Colombia Safe for Travelers? WorldNomads Weighs In
Colombia has come a long way from its turbulent past, and today itās one of South Americaās most exciting destinationsā¦ if you travel smart. Read up on why you shouldnāt ādar papayaā (make yourself an easy target) to what to wear, where to go, and what not to ask about in Colombia. Bonus: emergency contacts and smart transport tips included.
š Read Is Colombia Safe for Travelers? 6 Essential Safety Tips from World Nomads
(P.S. I loved MedellĆn and would go back for a few slow-travel months in a heartbeat.)
REAL ID: Big Changes Coming May 7, 2025, for Domestic U.S. Travel
Flying domestically in the U.S. after May 7? Youāll need a REAL ID (look for the gold star on your license) or another TSA-approved doc like a passport or Global Entry card.
No star = no boarding pass. āļøš«
š Check the requirements at dhs.gov/real-id
Letās Retire Retirement (Podcast)
What if not retiring at 65 isnāt a failure, but a better way forward?
In this episode of the Further Podcast: Live Long and Prosper, Brian Clark chats with Derek Coburn, a former financial advisor challenging everything we think we know about retirement. They dive into the myths of traditional planning, how to design a purpose-driven life now, and why fulfillment and financial freedom donāt have to be opposites.
š Listen to Letās Retire Retirement
Thatās it for this week! Stay tuned for a new destination guide Iām putting the finishing touches on, and Iāll be back in your inbox talking all things location independence next week.
āš» Miranda
P.S. Like what you see here? Upgrade to a full subscription and help me keep sharing tips and resources for midlife nomads carving their own paths.
You might also like:
Thanks for the mention of the podcast Miranda!