Episode 16 - Jennifer Novak - on living as an Expat in Cambodia, practicing minimalism, and living in a tiny house!
Jenn is an expat living in Cambodia. Formerly an acupuncturist in CA. she started traveling at 3 months old (thanks Mom & Dad!) and lived overseas until she was 10. She's come full circle to being an expat again. Now she's an online English teacher and creator of Herbal Nomad, a blog about traveling and herbal medicine.
Show Notes:
Tiny House Movement
https://thetinylife.com/what-is-the-tiny-house-movement/
Origami Tiny House
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/this-tiny-home-folds-and-unfolds-like-paper-so-you-can-take-it-anywhere/ar-BB1csTPN?ocid=msedgntp
IKEA's Tiny Homes
https://www.travelandleisure.com/culture-design/ikea-tiny-home-project-escape-vista-boho-xl
Johnny FD Podcast
https://www.johnnyfd.com/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invest-like-a-boss/id1123552997
**A Reasonable Life by Ferenc Máté
https://amzn.to/3kh4O2Z
**Your money or your life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez
https://amzn.to/3ayiTFU
Jenn answers my questions here:
Dreams:
Unconventional Travel:
Minimalism:
If you could give your 10 year old child self 1 piece of advice NOW, what would it be? Try to break free a little sooner! By differentiating what you really want versus the “shoulds” of society.
Where can our listeners find you?
IG - herbalnomad life
From AUA Host KA:
Want to make my day? Please follow me on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/anunknownadventure/
--
Full Show Notes Here:
https://www.anunknownadventure.com/aua13.html
--
KA's Website and Blog here:
https://www.anunknownadventure.com/
--
Thank you so much for listening :)
Kimberly Anne
--
*** affiliate links - if you use this, there is no extra cost to you and KA gets a few cents but you are not obligated at all to use the affiliate link.
Show Notes:
Tiny House Movement
https://thetinylife.com/what-is-the-tiny-house-movement/
Origami Tiny House
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/this-tiny-home-folds-and-unfolds-like-paper-so-you-can-take-it-anywhere/ar-BB1csTPN?ocid=msedgntp
IKEA's Tiny Homes
https://www.travelandleisure.com/culture-design/ikea-tiny-home-project-escape-vista-boho-xl
Johnny FD Podcast
https://www.johnnyfd.com/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invest-like-a-boss/id1123552997
**A Reasonable Life by Ferenc Máté
https://amzn.to/3kh4O2Z
**Your money or your life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez
https://amzn.to/3ayiTFU
Jenn answers my questions here:
Dreams:
- what were your dreams and how long did it take you to go after them? To travel and live overseas. A long time! My first attempt was in 2005 but then I fell back to the “shoulds” because of family pressure. That lasted until 2019.
- what was the deciding factor? Was there a major shift or incident in your life to make you change what you were doing or were you always moving forward in the dream achievement department? We were working towards it slowly but in 2018 Gabe had a seizure that really made us realize we couldn’t wait any longer to make our dreams come true.
- what responses do you get from other people when they find out? Most are supportive, some don’t understand and others are envious.
- What would you tell others who aspire to…Try to really listen to yourself and don’t let others sway you. And there’s never a perfect moment or time, you’ll never feel 100% ready but just do it anyways!
- Anything else you want to tell people? The rewards of making your life dreams come true far outweigh the struggles to get there.
- ***** Don’t be afraid to give up the good for the great!
Unconventional Travel:
- what type of unconventional traveler are you? Slow traveler/expat
- when did you start? Requisite backpacking through Europe trip after college but when I studied abroad in Hangzhou and then traveled through Thailand and Laos.
- what do you like about it? That it pushes me outside my comfort zone and that it makes me feel alive. Seeing other cultures, meeting people from all over the world.
- what don’t you like about it/what are your challenges? That it pushes me outside my comfort zone, not speaking the language.
- what do you see as your future? Living in Asia, more travel and maybe one day settling down on our land in New Mexico
- what responses do you get from other people when they find out? Curious, supportive, envious
- What would you tell others who aspire to… Go for it! Don’t wait, tomorrow is not guaranteed!
- Anything else you want to tell people? Slow down, it’s not about ticking off the boxes, it’s about getting to know a place, the culture, the people.
Minimalism:
- what made you decide to become a minimalist or move toward minimalism? ***A book called “A Reasonable Life” by Ferenc Mate and Your Money or Your Life by Joseph Dominguez and Vicki Robin
- what has it done for you? how has your life changed because of it? Set us free. You can live for things or you can live for experiences. Made life simpler and easier.
- where do you see yourself in the future in regards to minimalism and “stuff"...continuing to live minimally in small places.
- what responses do you get from other people when they find out? “How do you do that? I couldn’t live in something so small.”
- What would you tell others who aspire to…Start asking yourself “Do I really need this?” And when you see something you want at a store, if you don’t really need it, wait and see how you feel in 3 days or a week. Do you still really want it? Also how much life energy does the purchase take? Is it really worth it?
- Anything else you want to tell people? Minimalism frees up your physical space but also your mental space and helps you get out of the rat race since you don’t have to keep buying things.
If you could give your 10 year old child self 1 piece of advice NOW, what would it be? Try to break free a little sooner! By differentiating what you really want versus the “shoulds” of society.
Where can our listeners find you?
IG - herbalnomad life
From AUA Host KA:
Want to make my day? Please follow me on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/anunknownadventure/
--
Full Show Notes Here:
https://www.anunknownadventure.com/aua13.html
--
KA's Website and Blog here:
https://www.anunknownadventure.com/
--
Thank you so much for listening :)
Kimberly Anne
--
*** affiliate links - if you use this, there is no extra cost to you and KA gets a few cents but you are not obligated at all to use the affiliate link.