16 Moves in 4 Years with 4 Kiddos ...

This is the only way to move a California King from Tokyo to Chicago... and luckily it cost less than $62,000...->

Yesterday we completed our 16th move in 4 years with 4 kids... and as a global medTech entrepreneur I know more than any sane human should about expat relocations.

So let's talk about technical advantages of "tacoing" a mattress and how a year ago my wife saved us from a potential scorched earth exit from Japan on our own dime.

It was around this time last year that we hit zero in Tokyo after 7 months of all-in entrepreneurship failed.

Turns out starting a business in a foreign country without prior experience is hard lol.

So we made the brutal choice of relocating to our hometown in Chicago for a full life restart vs bankruptcy in a foreign country with four kids.

This choice gave us a 20 day lead time to exit... which most international relocation services would have deemed impossible.

Our first quote for an international sea shipment of our possessions to America was quoted at $62,000... impossible for us financially.

So while I started exploring scorched earth transitions... selling/scrapping everything we owned... my wife started running multiple quotes in parallel.

She found the unicorn company...

Not only could they get everything packed out before Halloween... but they could do it for $22000...

A curious price as we had recovered that exact amount from our children's international schools by withdrawing them midterm due to our extreme circumstances.

So over the course of three days they packed out our tiny Japanese town home and a storage unit... and we floated our plane tickets on the AMEX...

...and the bold vision and action of my wife miraculously got our family to Chicago by Halloween 2024.

Fast forward a year and we have navigated some wild risks.

Pulled our 401k to double and triple down on entrepreneurship [finally got my business to a cashflow positive position]... hit zero two more times along the way.

My wife worked part time assessing property taxes and I've worked full-time 3rd shift at Amazon for the last 4 months.

I had two members join my paid community Pro on Skool with annual memberships which provided a great cash flow boost

I delivered great value in a stealth mode consulting gig... which provided another cash boost.

Working between timezones has allowed us to be present with all four kids without daycare cost... so we saved up a $5000 double security deposit [bad entrepreneurial credit score] and our first month's rent.

... and I'm writing this post laying on the carpet of a beautiful home of our own...

It's kind of like when folks stranded at sea kiss the sand of a new island.

It's been hard fought

A Chicago base to build up on as we consider future global opportunities in the years to come.

It's been a joyful and humbling season of life living in a 4 generation home with the in-laws... we're so thankful for the reset we've been provided.

We wont waste it.

Taco Video in the Comments Below 👇

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