Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show. 

This time around, we have a bit of a different format, featuring the book that started it all for me, The 4-Hour Workweek. Even though it was published in 2007, it was one of Amazon’s top-10 Most Highlighted Books of All Time last time I checked in 2017. 

Readers and listeners often ask me what I would change or update, but an equally interesting question is: what wouldn’t I change? What stands the test of time and hasn’t lost any potency? 

This episode features three timeless chapters from the audiobook of The 4-Hour Workweek:

1) The chapter on taking mini-retirements, which challenges the deferred-life plan and shows you how to distribute recovery and adventure throughout life instead of saving it all for retirement.

2) “Filling the Void,” which addresses what happens when you actually achieve lifestyle design and the unexpected emotional and philosophical challenges of having a lot of time on your hands.

3) “13 Mistakes of the New Rich,” where I outlined the most common pitfalls I’ve seen people encounter when implementing the book’s principles.

The chapters are narrated by the great voice actor Ray Porter. If you are interested in checking out the rest of the audiobook, which is produced and copyrighted by Blackstone Publishing, you can find it on Audible, Apple, Google, Spotify, Downpour.com, or wherever you find your favorite audiobooks.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by:

• Gusto simple and easy payroll, HR, and benefits platform used by 400,000+ businesses
• Momentous high-quality creatine for cognitive and muscular support
• Shopify global commerce platform, providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business
• Coyote the card game?, which I co-created with Exploding Kittens

Additional podcast platforms

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Meditation, Retreats, and “Slowing Down” Resources

Charity, Philanthropy, and Volunteering Resources

People, Books, and Ideas

People and Case Studies

• Josh Steinitz – NileProject.com: Cancer survivor turned global vagabond and cofounder of a site providing customized itineraries to travelers.
• Jen Errico: Single mother who took her two children on a five-month world tour and later planned a move to a European ski chalet.
• Robin Malinosky-Rummell: Traveled through South America for a year with her husband and seven-year-old son, including time in Patagonia.

Selected Travel, Places, and Experiences

• Smithsonian Tropical Research Island, Panamá: Private island trip with local fishermen and hidden dive spots (tied to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute).
• Mendoza wine country, Argentina: Location for chartering a private plane over vineyards and the snowcapped Andes.
• Baffin Island, Nunavut: Arctic location where Josh watches narwhals from sea ice.
• Narwhals: Rare whales (“unicorns of the sea”) with spiral tusks; central to the Baffin Island story.
• Baños, Ecuador: Volunteer site for building wheelchairs.
• Suriname: Volunteer site for shepherding leatherback sea turtles.
• Recommended “vagabonding” starting points: Argentina (Buenos Aires, Córdoba); China (Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei); Japan (Tokyo, Osaka); England (London); Ireland (Galway); Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai); Germany (Berlin, Munich); Norway (Oslo); Australia (Sydney); New Zealand (Queenstown); Italy (Rome, Milan, Florence); Spain (Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla); Holland (Amsterdam).

TIMESTAMPS

• [00:00:00] Start.
• [00:02:31] Mini-retirements: embracing the mobile lifestyle.
• [00:09:22] The birth of mini-retirements and the death of vacations.
• [00:11:03] The alternative to binge traveling.
• [00:16:14] Purging the demons: emotional freedom.
• [00:18:43] The financial realities: it just gets better.
• [00:24:24] Fear factors: overcoming excuses not to travel.
• [00:30:08] When more is less: cutting the clutter.
• [00:39:29] The Bora-Bora dealmaker.
• [00:43:11] Questions and actions.
• [00:44:22] Take an asset and cash-flow snapshot.
• [00:45:02] Fear-set a one-year mini-retirement in a dream location in Europe.
• [00:48:38] Prepare for your trip.
• [00:59:42] Adding life after subtracting work.
• [01:01:51] Depression and boredom: it’s normal.
• [01:05:31] Frustrations and doubts: you’re not alone.
• [01:12:01] The point of it all.
• [01:13:37] Learning unlimited: sharpening the saw.
• [01:17:24] Service for the right reasons.
• [01:20:05] Questions and actions.
• [01:22:46] Make an anonymous donation to the service organization of your choice.
• [01:24:05] Take a learning mini-retirement in combination with local volunteering.
• [01:28:42] The top 13 new rich mistakes.

This episode is brought to you by Gusto! If you’re a small business owner looking to simplify payroll and HR tasks, Gusto could be the game-changer you need. Gusto is an all-in-one payroll, benefits, and HR platform designed specifically for small businesses. Gusto automatically files federal, state, and local payroll taxes, handles W-2s and 1099s, and offers straightforward health benefits and 401(k) options for nearly any budget. With an intuitive interface and features like time tracking, onboarding tools, and direct access to certified HR experts, Gusto saves time and eliminates headaches so you can focus on what matters—growing your business. ?As a special offer to lsteners, new customers get Gusto free for their first 3 months. This is the perfect time to choose Gusto to take care of your team and stay compliant. See for yourself why 9 out of 10 businesses recommend it. Get started now! Terms apply at Gusto.com/terms.

This episode is brought to you by Momentous high-quality creatine! I’ve long benefitted from creatine for athletic and gym performance, and now I’m increasing my daily intake to enjoy the cognitive benefits as well. A pilot study in Alzheimer’s patients demonstrated that supplementing can increase brain creatine levels in just 8 weeks, improving measures of memory, reasoning, and attention. And a double-blind, placebo-controlled study found that creatine can restore aspects of memory and attention within hours in adults who are sleep deprived. I use Momentous Creatine made with Creapure®, which is sourced from Germany and has the strictest lab standards to ensure it’s at least 99.9% pure. And try Momentous’s Creatine Chews—clean, chewable tablets with 1 gram of Creapure® creatine per chew—and their whey protein isolate and magnesium threonate, all of which meet their same, exacting standards. Check out Momentous for yourself and get up to 35% off your first subscription order with code TIM at LiveMomentous.com/Tim. 

This episode is brought to you by Shopify! Shopify is one of my favorite platforms and one of my favorite companies. Shopify is designed for anyone to sell anywhere, giving entrepreneurs the resources once reserved for big business. In no time flat, you can have a great-looking online store that brings your ideas to life, and you can have the tools to manage your day-to-day and drive sales. Go to shopify.com/Tim to sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period. It’s a great deal for a great service, so I encourage you to check it out. Take your business to the next level today by visiting shopify.com/Tim.

Want more timeless tools from The 4-Hour Workweek? Listen to this episode on The Art of Refusal and The Low-Information Diet. These elimination strategies are the foundation that creates the freedom for mini-retirements — teaching you how to protect your most valuable resource (time) by saying no to both people and the endless stream of information competing for your attention.