TR: A never ending trip
 

This is going to be a very different trip report. It will cover a trip that started nearly four years ago and that is nowhere near it's ending. This is because I'm a perpetual traveler and I'm going to post here on a regular basis about what it's like to live this lifestyle. The challenges, the anecdotes, the wow moments and of course the hotels/flights/trains.

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First of all, let me introduce myself. I'm Simon and I'm from YUL. I've been traveling the world on a non-stop basis for nearly four years. If you had asked me five years ago what were my plans for the future, I'd have answered: graduate, get an office job and start saving for a house. Didn't happened that way though and it's all because of a radio show I listened to back then. They ran an episode about the five flag theory and let's just say it had a profound impact on me.

For those who haven't heard of it, it basically goes like this: you are the citizen of one country (flag one), you are the resident of another country (flag two), you own a business in another country (flag three), you bank in another country (flag four) and you live in any countries that isn't one of your other flags (flag five).

If done right, you can eliminate most of your tax burden legally but there is one caveat: you have to keep traveling in order to avoid becoming a tax resident in any country (other than flag two). That's why it's also sometimes referred to as the perpetual traveler theory.

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Going back to my story, the idea that I could travel and work at the same time completely blew my mind. Not to mention the tax savings and the fact that I wouldn't have to live through another cold winter! I immediately started preparing and a few months later I graduated from uni and found myself on a plane going to SIN. The first of a very long list of one-way flights.

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A lot has happened since I got on that plane. I've been to many places. I've built multiple businesses, one of them completely in Mandarin. I also have my fair share of Flyertalk accomplishments that I will talk about in my future posts.

Anyway I hope you will enjoy reading my TR!

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Epic! Subbed. Is it a Private Jet I see? OI happen to be a citizen in SIN. :D

have subscribed, this is going to be a very interesting read. Yes did notice the very small cabin, so assume private jet:D^

Care to share your "flag arrangement"? :)

Sounds cool but..
 

Hi there,

My suggestion would be to set up a BLOG external to flyertalk and
just put the link to the BLOG when you have a new posting. The interface
here with people commenting in between leads to thread being very long
and difficult to read. (especially if it will be over a long period of
time)

My $.02..Thanks.

F.A.

That would be good. If he can't though, next best would be an index with links to the posts.

wow this does indeed sound of epic proportions. very very interested to read this and how your story developed, truly a diff kinda Life Report! :D

having never heard of the 5 flag theory, a link to that radio show transcript or better yet a podcast would be great.

look closer folks- he already has one. infact this might be sort of a marketing/traffic push. regardless, subbed for something new/kinda unique.

I have a blog but while many of my posts are related to travel, they are more of an informative nature (not about my life/travels). They are probably not of interest to most FTers anyway.

Thanks for the suggestion, that's what I'll do (the index).

Thanks for the comment. I'll try to find the podcast tomorrow :) (it's already 2am here in Shanghai)

It's indeed a private jet and in true FT fashion I only paid 4$ for the flight!

I want to travel all over the world when I retire. You are an inspiration.

...and I pay $800 for a Y class seat in Row 70 in the middle seat...

Same boat, started this trip in Jan. '12, has taken me to 79 countries since then. Amazing experiences, crazy stories and lots of interesting people.