What an episode we’ve got for you today! Shlomo, a cool digital nomad tells us how his family manages to be location independent, this insides of his business in China and the details of a nomad life. Be prepared for some inspirational stuff!

What we talk about:

• Where Shlomo has lived
• His FI plan
• How he manages digital nomading with a family
• How he makes money
• His business in China
• The steps you can take to have a flexible career

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Shlomo and his family

Shlomo and his wife have a 3 year old daughter, and have been digital nomads ever since their daughter was born. Shlomo has been an entrepreneur for 15 years, and has lived in China, Israel, Thailand, Portugal and many more. Their breathe, eat and live flexibility – buckle in to hear how you can too.

 

Flexibility as a Digital Nomad

They currently live in Israel, but can basically work wherever there is good internet. They do this thing Shlomo calls workations – working and vacationing at the same time. Sounds pretty sweet, huh? This normally goes on for 2-3 months and then they move to somewhere else.

The real question: how do they do it?

Shlomo’s wife has a job working as a support team manager, and Shlomo himself manages a personal coaching business in China. They also own several rental property, invest in P2P lending, do some value investing and have even dipped their toes into cryptocurrencies. Their lifestyle revolves around living like locals. They do travel hacking, they live cheaply and enjoy the simple things. Literally, an embodiment of a FI family. They talk about how they lived cheaply in Portugal using a platform called Love Home Swap, using the steps explained in their blog post .

What Shlomo tells us is that what he really strives for is flexibility. He defines himself as flexible, adaptable and diversified. We can see this in his lifestyle, his investments and his income. And as Alvar gasps in astonishment, he tells us that he can pretty easily manage any unexpected event – whether it’s to do with work or family.

 

What about their daughter?

Alvar asks: how do they deal with educating their daughter if they keep moving from place to place? Shlomo admits it’s pretty easy since she’s only 3 at the moment and doesn’t really get a say of what’s going on.

But what they’re doing is really home schooling. In places like Thailand they’ve found some affordable nurseries, but if not, they do some education themselves. Shlomo says his daughter now talks English and Hebrew fluently, and is learning Chinese and French (crazy!). These are the advantages of an international life, my friends.

 

Shlomo’s Personal Coaching Business

The meat of this episode: how is Shlomo managing a business in China all the way from Israel?

Shlomo lived in China for 3 years, and as an entrepreneur himself, he was able to see the obstacles people in China faced when trying to be more flexible and start a business. In his own words, this is what his business does:

Help people align their life goals with their financial goals

At first he started out with only clients in China, but now he also has clients from Europe and around the world. He affirms that he is not a financial adviser, but more of a critical thinker. He will look at your situation and advise you on how to move forward. More actionable tips in the section below 😉

What was also very interesting was his experience in China. I (Araminta) also have lived in China (Shanghai, to be specific), where I was studying Mandarin and worked as a digital marketing intern for 5 months. At the age of 18, this was a huge culture shock for me – and I loved it.

Shlomo says the same. As he explains, every single day in China is interesting – you never know what to expect, what adventure could behold you. And he says something really true about China:

‘The more time you spend in China, the more you realise how little you know about this culture’

So to summarise, if you want a crazy life-changing experience, go to China.

 

How can you achieve your ideal lifestyle?

Mathias asks Shlomo how he first approaches a client when dealing with a lifestyle change. Shlomo starts with these two questions:

1. What does your perfect day look like?
2. What net worth do you think you need?

From there, he builds a plan together with his client to reach said goals. What’s interesting here is how he reverse engineers his coaching. First start with what lifestyle you want, and the work your way back. Interesting.

Mathias then asks him what are some steps someone can do as an employee who wants to have a more flexible life. Shlomo recommends negotiating with your boss: ask if you can work remotely one day a week, and then two days a week, and then if you can try doing a workation. This is a good way to get started with leading a more flexible career.

And if you feel this is not possible, I recommend reading the great book The 4 Hour Work Week, where Tim Ferris walks you through how to achieve a lifestyle where, you guessed it, you only need to work 4 hours a week. Very much coincides with Shlomo’s story.

A truly amazing episode with Shlomo, one that shows us that the digital nomad life is not impossible to those who want it.

Links

• Shlomo’s website: Free Financial Self
• Shlomo on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

 

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