If you’re new here, I’m Andy. I retired at 35, and these days I fund that retirement by selling options. I also write about geo-arbitrage: moving abroad so you can retire decades earlier, the same way I did. Want me landing in your inbox each month? Subscribe below.
What I’ve Been Up To
Here’s a quick catch-up on October so far.
Semester two at uni is wrapping up. Prep for the New Zealand trip is well underway.
I’m lining up some meetings with lawyers in Panama, and I’ve been working on the options trading course, which I’m hoping to launch mid to late November.
Want to be first in line when it drops? Sign up for the course waitlist here:
The Salt Path is Raynor Winn’s 2018 memoir. In the book’s account, she and her husband Moth lose their farm in North Wales after a bad investment in a friend’s company and a court case they can’t afford to fight. In the same stretch, Moth is diagnosed with corticobasal degeneration, a terminal brain condition.
With almost nothing left, they pack a tent and walk the 630-mile South West Coast Path. They wild camp on the headlands for months with next to no money. Somewhere along the trail, Moth’s symptoms start to ease.
Look, there’s zero finance in this book. The lessons apply to anyone going through a tough stretch, and sometimes we all need a little perspective, right?
Sundays, coffee and a good book. This is retirement right here.
Top 3 Key Takeaways
1. The Human Spirit Is Harder to Break Than You Think
The first thing I took from this book is how indomitable the human spirit can be. Ray and Moth get hit by a relentless run of hardships, and each one lands before they’ve recovered from the last. They keep walking anyway.
It’s like that flippin scene from The Revenant with Leonardo DiCaprio, where the bear is mauling him. Then just when you think old Yogi bear has finished with poor Leo, Chomp! Bites him in the ribs! Great movie, but Bruuutal.
Your hardships will probably look smaller than theirs. A red month in the account, or a plan that falls over. This book is a good reminder that you can take far more than you’d guess.
2. Distance Creates Clarity
Sometimes you need distance to see your situation clearly. Out on the path, Ray and Moth are free from the pressures and the comforts of normal life, and that space lets them reassess everything.
Funny how living on packet noodles, running out of water or having your food stolen by a fu&!en seagull can really focus the mind.
Distance also throws up surprises. It often hands you alternatives to the problems you were stuck on. In the book’s telling, the walking itself seems to help Moth’s symptoms, the last thing anyone expected. I personally find that long hikes clear my mind so I can think more deeply without the clutter of the day to day getting in the way. Do you have something like that or is it just me?
This is the same reason geo-arbitrage works for so many people. Stepping out of your home country strips away the default options and shows you ones you never considered. For me it was the Camino de Santiago. That walk is what pushed me off the traditional career path. It’s also why I keep banging on about patch-switching: a new patch gives you new answers.
3. Pick the Right Partner
The third lesson is how critical the right partner is. Whatever hit Ray and Moth, whether it was a bad diagnosis, losing the house, having no money or trying not to drown while sleeping in a tent in a huge rainstorm, they faced it together.
If you’ve got another person walking through life with you, you can overcome a lot of what the world throws at you. Retiring early and moving countries are both a lot easier with someone in your corner who’s bought into the plan. The most important financial decision you’ll ever make is who you share your life with. It beats picking the best index fund by a mile.
The Scandalous Twist You’ve Been Waiting For!
I didn’t know any of this until after I’d finished the book. Somehow it made the whole thing even more interesting.
They even made a movie about it, with Gillian Anderson from The X-Files and Jason Isaacs, aka that Death Eater Lucius Malfoy from Harry Potter! RIP Dobby.
In July 2025, The Observer published an investigation that took aim at the two events the whole story rests on. Here’s the short version:
Different names, different story. The Observer reported that the couple’s legal names are Sally and Tim Walker, and that they lost their home for reasons other than the failed business deal in the book. Read the rundown
The money. The widow of Sally’s former boss at an estate agency alleges around £64,000 went missing while Sally worked there. Sally was arrested and questioned by police, but no charges were brought. Winn says it was settled on a “non-admissions basis” and that this dispute wasn’t why they lost the house. More here
The diagnosis. Neurologists quoted by The Observer questioned Moth’s diagnosis, given how long he’s lived with the condition and how far he can still walk. Winn responded by publishing letters from his doctors. Background
The “first” book. Winn’s own lawyers confirmed to a BBC podcast that she wrote a book in 2012 under the alias Izzy Wyn-Thomas, despite calling The Salt Path her first. The details
The theft and diagnosis claims haven’t been tested in court. Winn calls the reporting highly misleading and stands by the book. Whichever version you believe, two people lost their home and walked that path together. The lessons that came out of it are still impactful and great reminders for everyone, in spite of the potentially sketchy reality behind it all.
Finally
Life is going to be hard sometimes. Resilience and having the right people beside you will help you push through and onto better things.
Whether it’s your business or your relationships, The Salt Path is a good reminder to keep going.
Keeping going gets a lot easier when your income isn’t tied to one place. That’s what the options trading course launching in November is built to teach you. Sign up below.
