Past Residencies
2023
2025
Pending
Winter Residencies
- Sydney
- Mumbai
- Cairo
- Santiago
- Istanbul
- Singapore
- Mexico City
- Hong Kong
- Hanoi
- Buenos Aires
Spring Residencies
- New York
- Barcelona
- Montreal
- Toronto
- Paris
- London
- Tokyo
- Osaka
- Moscow
- St. Petersburg
Player Options: I also allow myself 3 bonus options in case war, budget, or intrigue takes over.
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Option 2
- Option 3
FAQ
- What is a residency? A residency is a temporary second home outside of Puerto Rico.
- How long am I gone? The minimum is 30 days.
- How do I select where I go?
- The first criterion is based on the size of the city
- The second is based on my like or dislike of said cities. (see TPOL’s Travels: The Best Big Cities in the World). )
- The third is based on weather.
- The fourth is based on price. I am not looking to live cheap. I am looking to splurge and stay in upscale apartments, in the city center, with at least the luxuries of home.
- Why not stay in Puerto Rico all year?
- Weather
- The weather from May to September is hot as hell.
- Sept-Nov is hurricane season.
- November and December are rainy season.
- Holidays in PR are the worst. There are too many tourists and the power goes out too frequently. Traveling in December is the best because offices aren’t open, there’s a holiday feeling at the airports, and the life clock seems to be on pause.
- Routine
- The sun goes down every day at around 6PM. Accordingly, I have a set routine for tennis, golf, working out, and work. This set schedule is exhausting and I need a break to sleep in, slack off, and see new things (see Why A Second Residency?).
- Weather
- How much do you pay for an apartment? $100 a night has been the going rate for a nice apartment (see Madrid Long-Term Rental: Show Up, Start Living at The Blueground). As I go to more expensive cities, I will have to increase my residency allowance.
- What do I do ‘in residence’? Nothing. The purpose of a residency is to do what I would do if I were an actual resident. That means not being a tourist. That means not being adventurous. The keyword here is ‘I’, not you.
- Do you work while you’re gone? I keep work to a minimum while I’m gone. This allows me even more time to do nothing.
- Do you do back-to-back residencies? In 2023, I lived in Melbourne, followed immediately by Bangkok. Including my trip through the South Pacific, I was gone for more than two months. While it was a perfect experience, I came home to mold in my villa, a non-working golf cart, and two dead vehicles. Until I resolve the issue of home upkeep while I’m away, I am not sure I can do that again.
- Can you cancel a residency? Yes, I often do despite announcing that I am going (see 2024 Residencies! Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Cape Town). It can’t be a forced experience.
- Are you going to stop galavanting around the globe? Residencies and travel are different. When I travel, I try to see new places to increase my Country Count (see Where I’ve Been) while not staying in a place for more than a few days (see ThePointsOfLife Travel Philosophy).
- Weren’t you going to let readers decide where you lived? Yes, that was a bad idea. They would prefer it if I was shipped off to Siberia (see Vote for Where TPOL Will Move Next And…). Now, I decide.
- Where will I live? Initially, I was going to do two residencies a year. One of those two had to be in my two favorite cities: Shanghai, China or Cape Town, South Africa. By going to the same city every other year, I could spend more time enjoying and less time having to deal with setting up a routine. The second residency would be in the following cities with no repeats allowed until I completed the list. It may be hard to stick to this rule.