Mark Manson - Escape Plan: Ditch The Rat Race, Discover The World, Live Better For Less

Copyright Mark Manson, 2012

All Rights Reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Requests for permission for or further information on usage of this document should be addressed to:

Legal Notice

The Purchaser or Reader of this publication assumes responsibility for the use of these materials and information. Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations, federal, state, and local, or any other jurisdiction is the sole responsibility of the Purchaser or Reader.

The Author and Publisher assume no responsibility or liability whatsoever on the behalf of any Purchaser or Reader of these materials.

Any perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.

Welcome to Escape Plan. This is a guide to extended world travel.

Long-term, perpetual travel is the dream of many. But surprisingly, for such a popular desire, few people realize how accessible it is.

When asked what people are working all of their life for, a common answer they give is, To retire and go live on a beach somewhere, lay in the sun, and do what I love every day. This is both admirable and sad.

Its admirable because they have a genuine desire to enjoy their life to the fullest.

Its sad because they dont have to work their entire lives to do it. In fact, I lived on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world last year (Nai Harn, Thailand) and I was only 27 years old. And I had only had a steady-paying job for three or four years. Friends of mine have lived on Borocay (Philippines), Caborete (Dominican Republic) and Bali (Indonesia).

None of them are retired either.

On my Facebook profile, I have photo albums of dozens of countries: Ecuador, China, Indonesia, Australia, Russia, all back-to-back-to-back. I get messages and emails all the time from old friends, college classmates, acquaintances and people who read my website asking the same thing:

How do you afford to live like this?

Its as if they think I discovered a pot of gold somewhere or won the lottery. They dont realize that 1) I work just as hard as anyone else for my money and 2) those places can be enjoyed for a fraction of what they suspect.

You know how much living on that beach in Thailand cost?

Hold on a second; let me help you out here with some more info. It was a beach thats often rated in top 10 lists for most beautiful beach in the world. The weather is perfect year-round. I had my own studio apartment with a kitchen, bathroom, balcony, fully furnished with satellite TV and wireless internet. I had a housekeeper who came every day, lived down the street from half a dozen local Thai restaurants, and would rent a motorbike 2-3 times a week to go on joy rides around the island.

Want to take a stab at how much that cost?

OK, make sure youre sitting down for this:

About $1,000 per month.

Why would you work your ass off your entire life, buying and selling expensive crap over and over again, when you could likely go and live on that beach right now the way I did? Right this minute.

And even if you dont have the money now, scrounging together a few thousand isnt the hardest thing to do in the world especially after youve read this book.

Have a full-time job? If you work for a major multi-national corporation, getting re-assigned all over the world is often not much harder than asking. Or you could switch professions to something that allows you to travel more.

You could get a job abroad. You could start a business. You could volunteer for an organization.

A good friend of mine who is a consultant, after seeing how easily I lived abroad, decided to take a stab at finding clients in foreign countries. He now spends 10 months a year outside of the US, enjoying a much higher quality of life than he did within the US for less money.

If this all sounds a bit ridiculous or pie-in-the-sky, then this book should show you how straight-forward it can actually be. You just need to be willing to work hard and stomach a little bit of risk.

My Story

In November of 2007, I started an online business on a whim. I did it primarily because I enjoyed it and it was a way to make some money on the side. I was still convinced that I was going to follow a typical career track in finance.

In June of 2008, I quit my day job to focus on my internet business full-time. In September of 2009, I gave up my apartment and most of my possessions and began living in various parts of the world, working and living off my internet business.

Ive been to 45 countries and lived in nine of them for more than a month. I speak four languages and Ive seen some of the most spectacular locations in the world and met hundreds of fascinating people.

In the beginning, I actually made little money. In fact, to travel through Europe in 2009 I had to scrounge up clients as I went. And I also crashed for a few weeks at a friends house and then another couple months at my mothers.

In fact, my lifestyle back in Boston before I began traveling around the world was actually more costly than my new nomadic one.

My cost of living in Boston hovered around $40,000 per year before I took the plunge and pursued my internet income. And in a city as expensive as Boston, I was not exactly living well: my apartment was small, I rode a bike everywhere, I ate at crappy restaurants and didnt have much money to go out and see friends.

The main premise of this book is that you can live a higher quality of life by spending less money and fulfilling your travel dreams at the same time.

Im about to prove that point.

Take a look at the list below. Its a list of everything I did in 2011. As you read through it, keep in the back of your mind how much it likely cost. Yes, that includes ALL expenses (visas, airfare, insurance, lodging, etc.)

• Spent three weeks studying Spanish four hours per day in Guatemala with a private tutor. Took salsa lessons. Hiked volcanoes. Had a two-floor apartment with a spiral staircase.
• Learned to surf on the beaches of Costa Rica, spent 10 days with my own room on the beach.
• Spent three weeks in England (London and Bristol).
• Three weeks in Prague, Czech Republic in the center of the Old Town. Went out and partied almost every night.
• Lived for a month in St. Petersburg, just off Nevsky-Prospekt (their version of Broadway) and studied Russian with a private tutor every day while I was there.
• Met up with a friend to travel and party through Budapest (Hungary), Odessa (Ukraine), Berlin (Germany) and Ibiza (Spain), all for a week apiece, going out partying and eating out almost every night for more than a month straight.
• Visited Barcelona, Amsterdam and Dublin on my way back to the US.
• Met with a client in Miami and stayed on South Beach, visited friends in Chicago and Boston, and then visited my brother briefly in Seattle.
• Lived in an apartment on a tropical beach in Thailand for three months with multiple visits to Singapore and Bangkok and Chiang Mai.
• Spent three weeks traveling around India: New Delhi, Agra, Gaya, Goa, Bangalore, etc.
• Spent two weeks in Beijing, China. Saw the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Maos Mausoleum.
• Short stopover in LA to meet with a business contact and see friends. Partied in Hollywood. Flew to my mothers in time for Christmas.

To put it in more statistical terms:

• 17 countries
  
• 32 cities
• Lived on two world-class beaches, visited three others.
• Rented furnished apartments in the best part of town everywhere I went.