As I was doing my “after lunch surf”, (compare with “nap”) I stumbled through Marlena Batist’s (Swedish) blog onto an imperium hietherto unknown to me, The Four Hour Work Week (4HWW).
It is a book, a blog and the tagline is “Escape 9-5, live anywhere and join the new rich” (from a migration perspective I found the term “new rich” interesting; the new rich have time and mobility in abundance. Anyhoo…). The 4 Hour Work Week is an international best-seller and a concept that many seem to love, although it still seems a bit blurry to me. I guess I have to read the book.
However, as this was not an option for me this afternoon, I think the best free resources out there were the 4HWW author Tim Ferriss’s Schedule a regular day, the posts that had examples or case studies of people living the 4HWW and an interview with Ferriss on the key concept of “mini-retirements” on the blog Get Rich Slowly.
Personally, I really sympathize with living simply and having time and money to do what you want, especially when looking at the horrid stats from the US: (of course conveniently provided by the 4HWW crew)
Only 14% of Americans take two weeks or more at a time for vacation [4]. The average American therefore spends more time in the bathroom than on vacation.
61% of Americans check email while on vacation [5].
Average Annual Vacation Days
- Italy 42
- France 37
- Germany 35
- Brazil 34
- Britain 28
- Canada 26
- Japan 25
- USA 13
However I hate the terms “outsource your life” and “mini-retirements” and I also love working! I do not want to escape the 9-5 life! I guess if you have a job you enjoy, you can live a dream without the book, the website, the blog and the hype?
What do you think?
Pic courtesy of Marlena Batist.