Getting to the End of the Road

ELBA, ALABAMA – I can’t believe what an amazing journey we’ve been on together, but…

I’m sad to say this will be one of my final Postcards messages for you in these pages…

(More below.)

$59 a Night in Rural America

Greetings from a roadside motel in rural America…

My family and I are a traveling family. We drift from flophouse to flophouse, sleeping on floors, couches, in tents, in garages, in Airbnb apartments, hostels, in backyards – and even once in a barn.

We are currently in Elba, Alabama, a tiny town in the southern part of the state. We’re staying at a motel called the Riviera.

(We are on our way to West Palm Beach, Florida, to spend Christmas with Kate’s parents.)

The room is okay… for $59 a night plus tax.

Tomorrow, we’ll be in Tallahassee… Then the next day in Ocala… Then, if all goes well, we’ll be in West Palm Beach by Friday.

Here we are doing homeschooling in our room…

And here are the boys practicing football (they love the Nerf football colleague Dan Denning gave us last week)…

Further Into the Unknown

Three years ago, we quit everything… our kids’ schools, my job, our friends and family. We got rid of all our possessions and we gave back the keys to our apartments.

Now… we’re going even further into the Unknown…

Along with my colleagues Bill Bonner and Dan Denning, I’m leaving Rogue Economics.

There are no hard feelings or anything like that.

But we’ve decided to leave the security of a big, established publishing house and return to our desktop/kitchen table roots as independent newsletter writers.

Bill and Dan asked me to join them as their Investment Director. I didn’t hesitate… even though for Kate and I, it means giving up our only source of income.

I will write to you one last time in these pages on Friday evening. But this isn’t the end of our journey…

Starting next week, you can find our updates from the road — and follow the next chapter of our journey as wildcat publishers — at our new venture.

You’ll also hear from a new editor at Rogue Economics, Nomi Prins, starting on Monday.

Nomi sees the world much like Bill, Dan, and I do. And she’ll guide you in the next stage of the feds’ great financial experiment.

Stay tuned…

– Tom Dyson

P.S. To continue following our journey, go to this link. After you click on the “Subscribe now” button there, you can choose the free option, or one of the two premium options. The premium options will give you access to our investment research, which is what Bill, Dan, and I will spend most of our time working on in our new venture.

P.P.S. We love the names of the small towns we encounter as we cross the USA. In the last few days, for example, we’ve been to Paris (Arkansas), Florence (Mississippi), Miami (Missouri), Philadelphia (Mississippi) and Lebanon (Kansas).

Like what you’re reading? Send your thoughts to [email protected].

Readers share their admiration for the Dysons’ homeschooling experiment… and comment on Tom’s bucket-list trip to the railroad freight yard…

Reader comment: I love to read your stories. We homeschool and I just started reading your Postcards to my son. I’ve been reading for a few years. Amazing way to live! God bless you and your family!

Reader comment: You probably know this, but Mark Twain once commented that he “never let his schooling interfere with (his) education.” When could that be more true than today?

Leaving spiritual things aside, and assuming a loving home, what better could you do by your kids than teaching them to think for themselves? They certainly don’t learn that in schools today. I totally applaud everything you are doing and love the courage of your convictions (home and financial). Have followed your letters since India and love them.

Reader comment: Those 100 locomotives sitting on the side don’t need crews! Engines can be turned off and then on when needed. We still haven’t found a reversible off/on switch for people. People tend to move on to something else/somewhere else.

I agree with you; the backroads are more fun, educational, interesting, and exciting, especially when you are not on a schedule, and you can maintain contact with your dad daily via phone or computer. Good luck and be safe in your travels.

Tom’s note: Thank you as always for your messages. As I’ve said many times before, I would’ve stopped writing these Postcards years ago if it weren’t for your encouragement. Please keep writing us at [email protected]. I’ll respond to as many of your notes as I can on Friday, in our final edition of these Postcards.