TL;DR
I’m 10 days into a ~67 day Europe trip and it’s going great so far. I’ve gotten to explore wonderful cities, swim in fjords, play lots of disc golf, and make new friends, all while having a record month in my business.
These cities (Copenhagen especially) feel like everyone is fun-employed and happy all the time. Maybe it could be worth trading 50% of your income to taxes in exchange for free healthcare, education, and reduced working hours. It’s probably not a coincidence that this place is constantly voted happiest country in the world.
I’ve now booked the majority of this trip, I just haven’t decided where to go in Europe from Sep. 3 to Sep. 18. Send suggestions pls…
CURRENTLY
Documenting my journey
I didn’t score super highly in Norway, but I crushed it in Sweden, with probably my best round ever!
This week, I played multiple current or former world #1 disc golf courses. Finland, Estonia, Norway, and Sweden have the most disc golf courses per capita in the world, and I’m testing out as many as I can!
No bogeys 🥹 - Not a usual sight on my scorecards!
FINANCES
Money and Investing Updates
$11 (Copenhagen), $15 (Oslo), and $8 (Stockholm). The cost for a single beer in those cities. I knew Norway would be expensive, but dang!
$9. The best value meal of the trip was from IKEA in Sweden! Hard to beat this spread, and finding anything under $10 is very rare in Scandinavia it turns out…
That’s #value right there
BUSINESS PULSE
Mitten Ventures (my AI consulting and implementation practice) is off to a great start!
This month, I launched a new website for Charlotte Trimlight, and I’m now working on six other Trimlight sites for different owners.
I built this site faster (and for 1/3 the price) than traditional web development agencies; and… the site has even more capabilities than most shops offer. That’s what I call #value.
I also have 12 other sites I’m working on for other clients - they’ve been keeping me busy on the trains and busses here!
This month, we brought on a fantastic new ecommerce ads client, Living Fit. They are a premier destination for online fitness equipment, supplements, and more. We’re excited to help take their business to the next level w/ digital ads.
We’ve built all sorts of new tools, systems, and content for Trailmix Wealth to help make free, advanced education on financial freedom and investing accessible to all. It’s a blast.
Congrats again to Michael and our team on an amazing launch of the new website, free course, and community. We’ve had over 15,000 new visitors to the website, and ~ 70 new paid members join the community!
A sneak peak of a new calculator we are building…
WHAT I’M LEARNING
This is a random one, but you may find it interesting. The other day, I used an authenticator app when my internet & service were down. That got me wondering how those codes actually work. Turns out it’s extremely smart and extremely simple (quick explanation).
Another thing I’ve learned here is that Finnish people have a crazy tolerance for heat. While most saunas here are 80º C, the Finnish ones can be over 100º C!!
WHAT I’M CONSUMING
Nostalgic Noah Kahan
Maybe I’m just missing the concert, but I’ve gotten hooked on Noah Kahan’s Fenway Park live show recording from 2024. Every song is 🔥.
Shoutout to my brother for re-introducing me to this set.
Links: Apple Music (for better sound quality) | Spotify (for most people)
DESK OF THE WEEK
📍 Oslo, Norway
A delicious bakeri in Oslo - perfect for some Saturday morning client website development
TRAVEL GALLERY
Ratings and Highlights
I thought it would be fun to rate the cities I visit on this trip and share a few highlights from each of them. So far this trip, I’ve visited:
🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark: 10/10.
I had perfect weather for swimming in the canals, sunbathing, watching Europe’s first solar eclipse in decades, biking for hours on end, and exploring with new friends. The only thing wrong here was how expensive everything is (I’m talking $25 USD for lunch). I’ll be shocked if any city beats this one on this entire trip, honestly.
Nyhavn
🇳🇴 Oslo, Norway: 6/10.
I wish I had more time and ability to visit further north, but Oslo was all I could fit in this trip. I did get to play at the #1 disc golf course in the world 2 days in a row and experience a floating sauna on the fjord, but Oslo’s architecture and events were nothing special to me, not to mention it was even more expensive than Copenhagen.
Floating sauna in the fjord
🇸🇪 Stockholm, Sweden: 9/10.
Stockholm really surprised me. From delicious coffee to stunning architecture, beautiful islands, canals, and bridges, and tons of bike paths, I had a fantastic time here and I wish I had booked more than two nights. I also made some really funny friends at a great hostel here, which rocked.
Pic from a bike ride
WHAT’S NEXT?
My Sep 3 to Sep 18 leg is in flux due to expected transportation woes in the Balkans, but I’m sure I’ll find somewhere fun to visit (whether it’s the Balkans, Alps, or more parts of Italy or Spain).
Adventure is out there!
✌️ Matthew
SUPPORT
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Not financial advice. Just a guy sharing his journey. Thanks for being here!
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