I get that. You get bombarded with content, especially once the algorithm picks up on certain lifestyles and especially if you have once indicated that investing is in the cards. Here is the difference:
I am not your broker or finance guru driving a nice car to show off my successes. I am a low key father and husband that has a genuine interest in real estate, hospitality, construction and investing who has lived in a cozy little villa in Kuta, Lombok, getting around (with the family) on a Honda Scoopy, ideally dressed in a colorful shirt and wearing flipflops. That alone is not enough reason but if you get the vibe, stick around for the rest...
I grew up in the Netherlands where my birthday presents were tools and I went to the local hardware store for wood scraps to turn my fantasy into objects. When I grew older my interest for real estate/construction grew but the Dutch school system was in the way to go directly to the university I preferred so, my family thought it would be good for me to study business as people seemed to buy things from me. Looking at it now, it was more the relation that made them buy then my sales skills and although I did take a few classes on sales, pushing people to buy stuff they don't/shouldn't want was not my thing, so after a short career at Pepsi as a sales rep (where BTW I rebuild great relations), it was time to hit the road and travel.
Meanwhile the Pepsi job did get me on the ladder as I managed to buy my first apartment at 19 years old. I worked my way up in hospitality ending up managing large teams in boutique hotels and restaurants around the world in my 20's until I met my (now) wife Daniella, in Peru.
Together we started businesses and those businesses started to open stores. Being creative with our financial resources, and Daniella being a licensed Architect, we designed our own stores and I started digging up my skills to supervise construction and get my own hands dirty building our own stores. People felt the passion, and the blood, sweat and tears that went into them, and store after store our builds started drawing attention.
Being creative with our own resources too, we decided to buy an abandoned house in the area we liked and fix it up ourselves, not saving on quality but being creative with things that would not make a difference. We would bring suitcases full of Grohe fittings from an outlet in The Netherlands, import floor heating from the UK but keep the original steel windows and take the time to clear the rust and find a local glass fitter to put in double glass. You get it.
When the house was done, some terrains close to the beach caught our eyes and taking off some time from the office, I drove all left over scrapes of wood and building materials there, and started to build our first shed. The first months the kids slept in the material storage we had built out of scrap wood, while we slept in a tent, and step by step we turned the place into a cosy glamping side which we started renting on Airbnb. In 2023 we decided to sell our businesses and eventually also our house. Emptying out the stores and office gave me new materials to then build a second glamping for rental.
Soon after we started traveling as a family without a plan. We booked one way tickets to Aruba, wanting to visit some other caribean Islands I lived on. With time on my hands, I picked up reading again, starting off with some finance books. That is where I looked back on my life and could actually see what had worked and what hadn't.
I had build relations and made lot's of friends on the way. Those genuine relations, based on trust and honesty, and principles, led to the main drivers in life. Business success, happiness, a solid family but also financial success. I also learned about my mistakes in investments. My plans weren't always thought trough well and often impulsive. They did not always have a clear goal to align them with and too often a good sales person tricked me in a purchase or investment I would later regret. The land of the glamping for example, will probably never be owned by us as the zoning was off. For ourselves I build some guardrails for the future and Daniella as the more skeptical thinker, has been asked to step up if something doesn't feel right.
Now you know a lot more about me, but what does this mean for you? It means what you want it to mean. Don't let me be the sales person selling you something you don't want. Let me be the friend that shares his findings and experience, and then, if there is something you feel comfortable with, let me help you make the right choice. My dad has been determined in what it means to be a man of my word, which leads me to feeling that responsibility and to see places, people and locations with my own eyes before sharing them and before I give my word to others that, to my best knowledge, it is an opportunity I would invest in myself.
I will spent enough time in each location to see the projects, the location, the weather and the people with my own eyes and then share those findings. I will also investigate what it means to invest in that country and how purchases can be structured. What it can mean in terms of taxes, whether it is a place to live or to invest. Meanwhile, I mainly want to take you along for the ride and show where it takes us, as a family of travelers and entrepreneurs.
André