Mappy February
Earth as a destination, Travel hacking, Panchakarma in India, Sunrise exposure, Cheap flights to Kauai, AloMoves 30-day free trial, 4.55% APY, Psychedelic documentary, Tao of Pooh, Sparketype test
New on MappyEverAfter:
Life as a travel destination
How I travel hack with US credit card points
Video of Mark having his huge beard shaven in India
From the Archive: The one where we drank goblets of melted butter and got cleansed in every which way (aka - 28-day Panchakarma retreat in India)
Experiment: Resetting my circadian rhythm with sun exposure
Travel: Flights from LA to Kauai for $270 round trip
Health: AloMoves link for a 30-day free trial
Money: Wealthfront now at
4.55%4.80% APYWatch: Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics
Read: The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
Mental Hack: Find your Sparketype
Just because: Hidreley Diao uses AI to capture what historical figures would look like if they were modern people.
Note: I will always tell you if I’m getting any referral bonuses and how much they are. In this letter, there’s a referral link to AloMoves - you get a 30-day free trial (normally it’s 14 days) and I’ll get $25 towards the AloMoves subscription, and Wealthfront referral link - you and I both get 4.55% interest on our savings for 3 months (4.05% thereafter)
New on MappyEverAfter.com
What if we planned our life the same way as we plan a vacation? I pondered this in Earth as a Travel Destination
This is how I go about using points to travel for next to nothing (aka: Travel Hacking)
Mark had had a big beard for 15 years before he had it all shaven off when we were in India. I made a video so you can see the before and after.
From the Archive: We drank goblets of melted butter and got cleansed in every which way
We spent a month in Kerala, India, in an Ayurveda clinic. Panchakarma is a cleansing and rejuvenating program for the body and mind. Ours consisted of four-handed full-body massages, drinking cups of melted ghee, steam baths, therapeutic vomiting, laxatives, oil and herbal enemas, oils dripped up our noses and on our foreheads, yoga, and a special diet. Here’s a video we made while there.
Experiment - Resetting my circadian rhythm by getting outside at sunrise
“Getting sunlight in your eyes first thing in the morning is absolutely vital to mental and physical health. It is perhaps the most important thing that any and all of us can and should do in order to promote metabolic well-being, the positive function of your hormone system, get your mental health steering in the right direction.
That morning sunlight in your eyes should be a non-negotiable thing 360 days out of the year.”
-Dr. Andrew Huberman
Andrew Huberman is not subtle about the necessity of morning sunlight exposure (if you prefer video, click here). I’ve tried it many times before but never with any consistency.
As luck would have it, we’ve been dogsitting four little pups that wake up 10 minutes before sunrise. As we take them out to pee, I go to a spot with a perfect view of the sun rising over the red cliffs of Southern Utah, putting Huberman’s advice into practice.
After three weeks of this regimen, I noticed I fall asleep faster and sleep deeper, but the most noticeable change is in my mood. I feel almost giddy for a good part of each day. Of course, the cute doggies and 1600 other animals in this sanctuary (I wrote about it in Mappy January) might be a contributing factor as well :)
Travel - Spring deals on flights to Kauai
We haven’t been yet, but this offer, $269 from LA to Kauai is very tempting. HawaiiGuide says April and May are the best months to visit. The prices are lower, the weather is great, and there are fewer tourists.
The first screenshot is from Momondo, my favorite site for airfare deals, and the second one is from the Hawaiian Airlines website:
Health - AloMoves, a huge library of Yoga, Fitness, and Meditation classes
AloMoves regularly offers a 14-day free trial and then charges $20/month or $199/year. 14 days was not enough for me so I contacted them and asked for a 30-day trial. Not only did they say yes but they also gave me a referral link to share. If you sign up for your 30-day free trial, I’ll get $25 towards any future paid membership. Win-win.
I signed up three weeks ago and have been doing yoga every single morning ever since. One of my favorite instructors is Dylan Werner, a yoga teacher with a background as a paramedic who puts a lot of emphasis on strength and flexibility.
Money - 4.55% 4.80% interest on your savings (updated on 3/25/23, all links point to the best current offer)
I told you about the high yields that Wealthfront offers in Mappy January. A couple of days later, they (again) raised their interest rates. If you use my referral link, you and I both get 3 months of 4.55% 4.80%APY on our savings and 4.05 4.3% thereafter (unless you then sent out your own referral links, which can get you up to 12 months of this higher rate). The next Fed meeting on March 21st is expected to result in another rate hike and Wealthfront usually follows suit shortly after.
Shout out to the ones that used the link last month, thank you. Your rate is now 4.55% 4.80% as well and will continue to go up each time the interest rate raises.
Using bank and credit card bonuses and getting good interest on savings takes the sting out of inflation.
Read - The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
Pooh is a textbook Taoist and this slim book and global best-seller, first published in 1982, tells us why, through amusing stories and charming dialogue. It explains Taoism in a way that even a bear with very little brain can understand. I keep coming back to it again and again, for wisdom and chuckles.
Watch - Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics
When you start interviewing people (celebrities in this case) about their tripping experiences, the result is bound to be entertaining. Anthony Bourdain, Carrie Fisher, Ben Stiller, Sting, Sarah Silverman (and many more) offer their trippy tales in this funny, thought-provoking, kaleidoscopic Netflix documentary.
Mental Hack - Find your Sparketype
You are about to discover your Sparketype™, the essential nature of work that fills you with meaning and lets you feel fully-expressed, alive with purpose and absorbed in flow ("sparked"). Your Sparketype serves as one of the single biggest clues in your quest to figure out what to do with what the poet, Mary Oliver, called your "one wild and precious life."
-Jonathan Fields from the Good Life Project
I like personality tests, so I gave Sparketype a go. The test is free but I had to give them my email address to get the results. I had one of those “How the hell do you know this about me?” moments so I decided to get the Sparked book (from the library) which goes into more detail.
It explains what brings you joy and why, how others perceive you, what gets on your nerves, and ways to fix it.
Just Because - Historic Figures as Modern People
Click the picture to see Mona Lisa, Mozart, Van Gogh, and others, how they would look if they were born during our lifetimes.
So there you have it. Hope your February was short and sweet 😊💕
Be Mappy,
Mags