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The Value of Silent Retreats

Last updated: November 13, 2023Leave a Comment

silent retreat

Every year or so, I like to take a few days off and make a retreat. I don’t go on holiday to some fabulous destination (although I do that too at other times).

When I go for a retreat, the one thing I look for is silence.

I like to find a retreat house in the countryside or wilderness and spend 3-5 days there without talking to anyone. I suspect many of us don’t realize exactly how noisy our lives are. The experience of spending a few days in complete silence can at times be overwhelming, but highly beneficial.

Whenever I do such a retreat, I always come back to ‘real life’ way more focused, and with a renewed and positive attitude. Last week, I did this year’s retreat and as usual, it was a great experience. In fact, I’d like to make it a more regular thing. I’d also like to incorporate more elements of reflection and meditation in my daily life.

There are many retreat centers all around the world, what you need to make sure is that the center is one that helps you stay in silence for as long as possible. We’re not looking for a center that fills up your day with activities here, it should, in fact, be as boring as possible.

I prefer going to Christian retreat centers; one of my absolute favorites is theΒ Montserrat benedictine monastery in Spain. The reason is twofold. One is that Christian centers tend to be centered around a really nice church or monastery that embodies the spirit of contemplation and reflection that we are looking for. Secondly, if you need it, you will also find monks ready to help you guide you along your journey.

If you’re attempting this for the first time, I would strongly recommend choosing a guided retreat. It doesn’t have to be religious, most monks and priests are happy to help you from a human aspect without necessarily involving religious teachings or readings from the Bible. If you do want to have a more religious experience, they are of course also delighted to guide you.

I’ve done both types of retreats and found them both beneficial. Ultimately, it’s all about what you believe and think about the world and your personal life journey. If you’re a religious person, it will help you to focus on passages from the Bible and spend time in prayer, while if you’re not particularly religious you will benefit from the solitude that breeds internal reflection. You can take an inspirational book with you to help out. Ultimately, both outcomes will be very similar.

My favorite retreat location – Montserrat

A key element of my retreats is always the practice of journaling or writing. While the first day or two can be tough until I quiet down my mind, once I get settled thoughts inevitably turn inwards and I usually get lots of insights. It is essential to write things down and also write about all your struggles. This will help you remember the lessons you learned and also help you if you have someone guiding you to the retreat, as you will have a handy reference during your talks with the guide.

In addition to exploring silent retreats worldwide, I occasionally organize exclusive, soul-nourishing retreats in Montserrat for members of the Good Life Collective. These gatherings offer a unique blend of tranquility and community, perfect for those seeking deeper connections and personal growth.

There are no hard and fast rules for the duration of retreats and their frequency. If you manage to find a place that you like and is not that far from home, I think that would be a really good win, as you can go there whenever you feel that you need to. So far, I have tended to stick to 4 or 5 days as that gives me enough time to quieten down and be very productive while at the same time not staying away from my family and normal life too long.

Have you ever been on such a retreat? How did it help you?

Filed under: Thoughts & Experiences

Are You Losing out from PayPal’s Exchange Rates?

Last updated: February 15, 2023120 Comments

currency conversion

If you have a PayPal account that you regularly use for collecting payments, and your main home currency is not US dollars, you would do well to read on.

Short aside: If you are using PayPal to transfer money abroad and change from one currency to another, consider using Wise instead. It’s what I’ve been using for years now and it is infinitely better than PayPal for this purpose.

Not too long ago, I had written about biding your time to get the best exchange rate possible when transferring your money from PayPal to your bank account. Soon after that, I discovered that there is another area of optimization which we should be aware of.

My home currency is the Euro, so my bank account uses Euro by default. Online I collect payments in USD since that’s the de facto currency on the web. That means that when it’s time to get the gold home I am subject to conversion rates when changing from USD to Euro. This is precisely where many people lose a good chunk of money, so you have to be careful.

Since your bank account is in Euro and your PayPal account is in USD, a conversion needs to take place. Now it’s a well-known fact that PayPal currency conversion rates aren’t the best; they incorporate quite a healthy profit for themselves here. So it might actually be better for you to let your bank handle the conversion at their exchange rates.

All you need to do is check out your bank’s exchange rates, make your calculations on how much Euro they would give you for a given amount of USD, then compare it to what PayPal would give you via their currency converter.

Beware also that some banks charge an extra fee for currency conversions. My bank charges around 1 Euro each time there is a conversion.

If you establish that it would indeed be beneficial for the bank to handle the conversion, you can change your PayPal account from being Euro-based to USD-based via this link.

Setting the currency to use when withdrawing money

Setting the currency to use when withdrawing money

On a related note, you can check the net amount you will receive from a PayPal money transfer via this PayPal fee calculator. Sadly, it appears that the calculator’s formulae are a bit out of date as the net amounts didn’t exactly correspond when I tested it on my account.

Note that if you have a Europe-based USD bank account, you will not be able to send USD directly from PayPal to that USD bank account. There will always need to be a conversion happening on the bank’s side, and the money will then go to your Euro account. You can try your luck with linking a multi-currency account like Wise Borderless to go around this issue, but it doesn’t always work.

As a test, I made a few transfers of $2,500 to my Euro-based bank account just to test the difference in money between using PayPal’s exchange rates and those of the bank.

Here are the results:

  • $2,500 converted to Euro by PayPal: €2,171.92
  • $2,500 converted to Euro by my bank: €2,216.06

Crazy huh?

More than €44 difference on each transaction!! That’s around 2% more added cost on each transaction. Keep in mind that PayPal is already charging you $2.50 per transaction as a fixed fee.

It definitely works better for me to use USD as my PayPal account currency, then withdraw directly in USD to my credit card. Note that changing your withdrawal currency has to be done manually by following my guide.

Buying Crypto with PayPal

Did you know you can now buy crypto with PayPal? That’s right, you can use Binance since it accepts PayPal deposits. Just hit the links below to get started.

Binance-Banner

You can also read my full review of Binance to learn more about this crypto exchange.

Buy Bitcoin with Binance

This withdrawal method is extremely popular at the moment, as people worldwide seek to get themselves some Bitcoin or Ethereum due to their extremely bright future price prospects.

Note: If you have any questions after reading this and the several other articles relating to PayPal on this site, please leave a comment or contact PayPal directly. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I am unable to offer any advice over email so all emails related to PayPal will remain unanswered.

  1. Are You Losing out from PayPal’s Exchange Rates?
  2. πŸ€” Which PayPal Account is Best for You?
  3. πŸ’Έ Changing Your PayPal Withdrawal Currency
  4. πŸ’Έ Understanding PayPal Cross Border Fees
  5. How to Withdraw From PayPal into a Maltese Bank Account
  6. πŸ’³ Withdrawing Money From PayPal for Non-US Accounts
  7. Which PayPal E-Commerce Checkout Service Should You Use?
  8. πŸ€” Should You Open Separate PayPal Accounts for Each of Your E-Commerce Stores?
  9. πŸ†š PayPal VS Wise Borderless
  10. πŸ’³ Linking Virtual Bank Accounts and Cards to PayPal (Revolut, Wise etc)
  11. How to Change Ownership of a PayPal Account

Filed under: Money, Payment Processors

Malta – a Top Digital Nomad Destination

Last updated: December 22, 202339 Comments

malta

Update 2023: This article was originally written in 2012, and many things have changed since then. I’m leaving this post online as a record of my thoughts back then, but please do further research if you’re interested in Malta as a digital nomad destination. One positive development has been the launch of the digital nomad visa. Whether this is successful long-term is anyone’s guess, but you should definitely have a look if you’re a non-EU citizen.

When embarking on the journey to become a digital nomad, one of the first things we search for is a great place to relocate to. Deciding to become a digital nomad is, often, a direct consequence of a wish to travel and discover the world, and get a break from your familiar surroundings.

As working as a digital nomad becomes more fashionable, we can see a certain list of countries establishing themselves as ideal locations, due to various factors.

Here are some of the cities/countries most cited by bloggers and digital nomads:

  • Chiang Mai – Thailand
  • Berlin – Germany
  • Buenos Aires – Argentina
  • Medellin – Colombia
  • Davao City – Philippines
  • Ho Chi Minh City – Vietnam
  • Barcelona – Spain

The clear trend is that of moving to places which give you better value for money and an immersion into a new culture. You will seldom find cities in the US or Europe mentioned as ideal choices for a location independent lifestyle, largely because they are too expensive, or they are not deemed to be exotic enough.

Today I am going to bring you one more destination, a place which has been largely overlooked by digital nomads and location independent workers. I strongly believe that Malta is an almost perfect location and has been a well-guarded secret for far too long.

[Read more…]

Filed under: Expat life

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