Timothy Ferriss - The 4-Hour Workweek - Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich - Expanded and Updated

Removing Clutter: 1–800-GOT-JUNK (www.1800gotjunk.com), Freecycle (www.freecycle.org), and Craigslist (www.craigslist.org)

I used Craigslist’s “Free” category to get rid of four years of accumulated possessions in less than three hours on a Saturday evening. There were some for-sale items that I also cleared out at 30–40% of original retail. I then hauled off the last remaining items using the überfast 1–800-GOT-JUNK paid service. Freecycle is comparable to Craigslist for giving away, and getting, things for free when you’re short on time. Get unattached and you’ll make it a habit. I purge every 6–9 months, often including donations to Goodwill (www.goodwill.org), which can do pickups for free with advanced notice.

One-Bag: The Art and Science of Packing Light (www.onebag.com)

One of PC magazine’s “Top 100 [Can’t Live Without] Sites.” Pack light and experience lightness of being.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov/travel)

Recommended vaccinations and health planning for every nation in the world. Certain countries require proof of inoculations to pass through customs. Get the shots well ahead of time, as some take weeks to order.

Tax Planning (www.irs.gov/publications/p54/index.html)

More good news. Even if you permanently relocate to another country, you will have to pay U.S. taxes as long as you have a U.S. passport! Not to fret—there are some creative legal sidesteps, such as form 2555-EZ, which can provide up to an $85,700 income exemption if you spend at least 330 days of a consecutive 365 days off U.S. soil. This means you have 35 days in a given 12-month period to spend in the U.S. as you like, but no more. That’s part of the reason my 2004 trip extended to 15 months. Get a good accountant and let them do the detail work to keep yourself out of trouble.

U.S.-Sponsored Overseas Schools (www.state.gov/m/a/os)

If the idea of pulling your children out of school for a year or two isn’t appealing, stick them in one of more than 190 elementary and secondary schools sponsored by the U.S. Department of State in 135 countries. Kids love home work.

Homeschooling 101 and Quickstart Guide (http://bit.ly/homeschooling101)

This subsection of http://homeschooling.about.com/provides a step-by-step process for considering homeschooling options that can be applied to education during extended travel. Children can often return to traditional public or private schools ahead of their classmates.

Home Education Magazine (www.homeedmag.com)Rich collection of resources for homeschoolers, traveling families, and unschoolers. Links include curriculum, virtual support groups, legal resources, and archives. Good reasons to learn the law: Some U.S. states offer up to $1,600 of funding per year for qualified homeschooling expenditures, as it saves the state money to not educate your child in the public school system.

Universal Currency Converter (www.xe.com)

Before you get caught up in the excitement and forget that five British pounds does not equal five U.S. dollars, use this to translate local costs into numbers you understand. Try not to have too many “Those coins are each worth four dollars?” moments.

Universal Plug Adapter (www.franzus.com)

Carrying bulky cables and connectors is irritating—get a Travel Smart all-in-one adapter with surge protection. The size of a pack of cards folded in half, it is the only adapter that I’ve used everywhere without problems. Note that it is an adapter (helps you plug things in), but it is not a transformer . If the foreign wall outlet has twice as much voltage as in the U.S., your gadgets will self-destruct. Yet another reason to purchase necessities abroad instead of taking them all with you.

World Electric Guide (www.kropla.com)

Figure out outlets, voltage, mobile phones, international dialing codes, and all sorts of things related to electric mismatching worldwide.

Cheap and Round-the-World Airfare

Orbitz (www.orbitz.com), Kayak (www.kayak.com), and Sidestep (www.sidestep.com)

Search 400+ airlines worldwide for each service. Orbitz is my starting point for pricing comparisons, after which I check both Kayak and Sidestep. Sidestep has proven most effective when searching for flights that start and end outside of the U.S.

TravelZoo Top 20 (http://top20.travelzoo.com/)

Moscow for $129 one-way? These last-minute weekly travel specials might be the push you need to pull the trigger.

Priceline (www.priceline.com)

Start bidding at 50% of the lowest Orbitz fare and move up in $50 increments.

CFares (www.cfares.com)

Consolidator fares with free and low-cost memberships. I found a round-trip ticket from California to Japan for $500.

1–800-FLY-EUROPE (www.1800flyeurope.com)

I used this to get the $300 roundtrip from JFK to London that left two hours later.

Discount Airlines for Flights within Europe (www.ryanair.com, www.easyjet.com)

Free Worldwide Housing—Short Term

Global Freeloaders (www.globalfreeloaders.com)

This online community brings people together to offer you free accommodation all over the world. Save money and make new friends while seeing the world from a local’s perspective.

The Couchsurfing Project (www.couchsurfing.com)

Similar to the above but tends to attract a younger, more party-hearty crowd.

Hospitality Club (www.hospitalityclub.org)

Meet locals worldwide who can provide free tours or housing through this well-run network of more than 200,000 members in 200+ countries.

Free Worldwide Housing—Long Term

Home Exchange International (www.homeexchange.com)This is a home exchange listing and search service with more than 12,000 listings in more than 85 countries. E-mail directly owners of potential homes, put your own home/apartment on the site, and have unlimited access to view listings for one year for a small membership fee.

Paid Housing—from Arrival to the Long Haul

Otalo (www.otalo.com)

Otalo is a search engine for vacation rentals that searches across the Internet’s many different vacation rentals sites and 200,000+ homes. Otalo is like a Kayak.com for vacation rentals. The site scours a variety of other rental search sites and aggregates the results in one easy-to-use search tool.

Hostels.com (www.hostels.com)

This site isn’t just for youth hostels. I found a nice hotel in downtown Tokyo for $20 per night and have used this site for similar housing in eight countries. Think location and reviews (see HotelChatter next) instead of amenities. Four-star hotels are for binge travelers; this site can offer a real local flavor before you find an apartment or other longer-term housing.

HotelChatter (www.hotelchatter.com)

Get the real scoop on this daily web journal with detailed and honest reviews of housing worldwide. Updated several times daily, this site offers the stories of frustrated guests and those who have found hidden gems. Online booking is available.

Craigslist (www.craigslist.org)

Besides local weekly magazines with housing listings, such as Bild or Zitty (no joke) in Berlin, I have found Craigslist to be the single best starting point for long-term overseas furnished apartments. As of this writing, there are more than 50 countries represented. That said, prices will be 30–70% less in the local magazines—if you have a tight budget, get a hostel employee or other local to help you make a few calls and strike a deal. Ask the local helper not to mention you’re a foreigner until pricing is agreed upon.