Zero To Travel Podcast

How would your life change if you decided to take a mini-retirement to travel the world, instead of waiting? 

After saving for two years, Helen Lin and her former husband, Tim, put their life into storage, rented out their home, and quit their 9–5 jobs to take off on a mini-retirement traveling around the world. They documented their 25+ month adventure across 26 countries on their YouTube channel, Helen and Tim Travel. Along the way, their relationship was reshaped by the experience, and they ultimately returned home divorced, still grateful for the journey they shared. 

In this episode, Helen shares what it actually looked like to plan and take an extended trip as a mini retirement, including the practical runway, the emotional realities, and the unexpected ways long-term travel can impact your relationships. 

If you’ve ever dreamed of taking months off to travel, this conversation gives you a grounded look at what it takes to make it happen and what you might learn about yourself along the way. Helen talks about building a financial runway, using local guides to lower the friction of adventure travel, and why campervan trips can be their own logistical puzzle. We also get honest about the parts people rarely post, stress, mental health, and the way constant proximity can intensify relationship dynamics. Plus, Helen shares destination recommendations and the practical systems that helped them stay on the road, including earning 1.5 million credit card points over five years to offset major travel costs. 

If you took a mini retirement, what would you want it to help you rethink about your life right now? I’d love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you’ll share by sending me an audio message. 

Tune In To Learn: 


Why Helen thinks “mini retirement” beats waiting for traditional retirement 


How increasing your savings rate can create a real travel runway 


Advice for choosing destinations around seasonality and the adventures you want most 


How guided trips can reduce risk and planning overwhelm for big hikes and outdoor goals 


What Helen learned from campervanning in Norway and New Zealand, and what she’d plan differently 


How long-term travel can amplify relationship patterns, for better or for worse 


Why “wherever you go, there you are” applies to mental health on the road 


How to think about boundaries and personal space when traveling with a partner 


How Helen and Tim earned about 1.5M points and miles over time to support their travels 


What it looks like to come home and build a new chapter after a life-shifting trip 


And so much more 

Resources: 


Sign up for our FREE newsletter 


Instagram 


Helen and Tim Travel 


Waves of Color 

Want More? 


How to Win at Travel with “The Points Guy” Brian Kelly 


Travel Is Your Birthright: Breaking Free from “Too Broke to Travel”, Travel Hacking (Without Credit Cards), and Solo Travel in 90+ Countries with Shakeemah Smith 


How to Plan Your Camino + Going Beyond the Camino Frances (Secret Routes, Donkey Highways, and Spain’s Hidden Village Network) with Shawn and Lainey 

Thanks To Our Sponsors 


Listen to the Planet Visionaries podcast on Apple and Spotify 


Go to https://surfshark.com/zerototravel or use code ZEROTOTRAVEL at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN! 


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Want to hear bold ideas and big solutions for our planet? We have been listening to Alex Honnold as he hosts Planet Visionaries, in partnership with the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative. Each week, Alex spotlights innovators who are not just imagining a better future but actively creating it. Go check it out and hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Shakeemah Smith, aka The Passport Abuser, is a solo traveler who has visited 92 countries and helped more than 12,000 people ace their first solo trip. A former social worker from East Orange, New Jersey, she built her platform, Travel Like a Bawse, to teach practical strategies for traveling more affordably and flipping everyday bills into airline miles. She later relocated to Antigua and Barbuda, where she now lives as an expat. 

In this episode, we talk about the personal shift that makes solo travel possible, how to travel for free without credit cards, and what it’s really like to move abroad and build a life in the Caribbean. 

Shakeemah opens up about calling off her wedding three months before the big day, boarding her first solo flight to Paris in the middle of heartbreak, and realizing she didn’t know how to be alone. What follows is a conversation about self-trust, identity, and deciding to meet the “2.0 version” of yourself instead of waiting for permission. 

We also get tactical. Shakeemah shares the exact systems she used to earn airline miles through everyday expenses like gas, groceries, utilities, and dining. And we talk honestly about leaving the U.S., adjusting to island life, and what it means to create safety and belonging on your own terms. 

If you’ve been waiting for the right time, the right money, or the right person to travel with, this one might challenge that story. 

Who would you become if you stopped waiting and just went? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you’ll share by sending me an audio message. 

Tune In To Learn: 


How growing up near New York City shaped her worldview and early curiosity about the world 


Why ending her engagement forced her to confront her fear of being alone 


The insights and exercises that helped Shakeemah move from emotional dependence to independence and from fear to self-trust 


Why she believes solo travel is a fast track to trusting your instincts and enjoying your own company 


The moment she decided to build a framework to help others take their first solo trip 


How she turned 34 countries’ worth of lessons into a structured framework for new travelers 


The overlooked airline shopping portals that generate miles without opening new credit cards 


How to earn flights from gas, electricity, and everyday bills you’re already paying 


The mindset behind “bills to boarding passes” and why it works long term 


Why she moved to Antigua and Barbuda during 2020 and what that decision taught her about safety and lifestyle design 


The cultural adjustments of living on island time and navigating life as an American expat 


And so much more 

Resources: 


Sign up for our FREE newsletter 


Travel Like a Bawse 


Bills to Boarding Passes FREE masterclass 


Instagram 

Want More? 


How to Win at Travel with “The Points Guy” Brian Kelly 


Seizing Your Opportunity to Travel, Saving Money as a Solo Traveler, Lessons from a Career Break, and How to Figure Out What You Want (In 60 Seconds) with Leslie McKellar 


7 Mistakes to Avoid When Moving Abroad (Or Traveling Long-Term) with Chrishan Wright 

Thanks To Our Sponsors 


 Listen to the Planet Visionaries podcast on Apple and Spotify 


Experience an audio guide to the world's strange, incredible, and wondrous places with Atlas Obscura Podcast 


Go to https://surfshark.com/zerototravel or use code ZEROTOTRAVEL at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN! 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Want to hear bold ideas and big solutions for our planet? We have been listening to Alex Honnold as he hosts Planet Visionaries, in partnership with the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative. Each week, Alex spotlights innovators who are not just imagining a better future but actively creating it. Go check it out and hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Want to hear bold ideas and big solutions for our planet? We have been listening to Alex Honnold as he hosts Planet Visionaries, in partnership with the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative. Each week, Alex spotlights innovators who are not just imagining a better future but actively creating it. Go check it out and hope you enjoy it as much as we do.