Everytime I use my bathroom in my Rocky Point, Mexico casita, I am reminded of my off the wall life that I have lived.
I literally mean off the wall as there are licences plates of vehicles from everywhere I have lived hanging on the bathroom door.
I also have a vanity plate “Mexico-USA-Canada” above the toilet!
Every license plates was one of my personal plates over the years—except the top plate. That one belonged to my Mom.
It represents more than miles traveled. It represents a lifetime of cars, trucks, boats and trailers. All of the relocations, road trips, career changes, adventures, and the freedom to build a life on my own terms.
From Edmonton to Calgary, Dallas, Atlanta, Charlotte, Arizona, Mexico, every plate tells part of the story.
The only plate that wasn’t mine belonged to the person who helped start the journey!
. Each plate represents a different chapter of my life.
The one that belonged to Mom reminds me where the story started. ❤️
Most “normal” people spend their entire lives in the city where they were born. Some never even leave the same neighborhood.
I went in the exact opposite direction.
For whatever reason, I spent most of my life chasing a crazy dream that had me moving from city to city, country to country, and eventually collecting passport stamps instead of getting married and starting a family.
I am 100% convinced I would have been paying child support and alimony like so many broken families out there. Its not calus, it;s just the reality.
Along the way, I also worked countless short-term assignments in other cities, countries, and vacations filling a world map with pins in more than 50 countries.
Looking back, diversification didn’t just shape my finances—it shaped my entire life.
Edmonton, Alberta (1972–1995)
I was born and raised in Edmonton, graduating from high school in 1990 and later completing my Telecommunications diploma at NAIT in December 1995.
Within weeks of graduating, I packed my bags and headed to Calgary.
Calgary, Alberta (1996–1999)
I was fortunate enough to land a job with Northern Telecom, Canada’s largest company at the time. It was the start of something amazing!
Calgary became my home for the next few years as I started building a career, earning real money, and discovering that there was a much bigger world beyond Alberta.
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas (1999–2003)
After several years in Calgary, work began sending me regularly to our U.S. headquarters in Richardson, Texas.
I quickly fell in love with America.
Escaping a Calgary winter and landing in Texas a few hours later felt like magic.
Eventually, I was offered a full-time position and moved south.
For the next several years, I lived on the road, traveling constantly throughout the United States and internationally while building my career and banking money.
Edmonton, Alberta (2003)
Like many people, I eventually thought it was time to move home.
During my travels, I designed and had a built what I believed would be my dream house—a 2,400-square-foot home on a corner lot in northeast Edmonton.
I paid cash for it.
I sold it before ever spending a single night there.
To this day, it remains one of the most looked back decisions I’ve ever made.
North Atlanta, Georgia (2003–2010)
Instead of returning to Edmonton, I moved to North Atlanta and spent seven years managing Verizon Wireless as customer support operations Manager. I helped manage Georgia and Alabama during the early growth of 3G wireless technology.
During that time, I continued investing and bought a condo in Mesa, Arizona, during the 2009 housing crash for $52,500 USD cash! That’s almost how much I paid for my Jeep FFS!!
It would eventually become my home base.
North Charlotte, North Carolina (2010–2015)
My next promotion took me to North Carolina, where I helped managed operations across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee for Verizon Wireless 4G.
I purchased three acres of land near Lake Norman and continued expanding my investments while renting out my Georgia property. I would also start to rent my AZ condo on Airbnb which was another sign of my future.
The same tenant stayed in my GA house for 10+ years before eventually purchasing it in 2022. 10+ years of paying down my mortgage and sold it for market value as is.
After 18 years with Northern Telecom, my journey took another unexpected turn.
In 2014, I was laid off after experiencing massive burnout.
All the years of high stress situations had gotten to me!
Mesa, AZ 2015 –
I accepted a generous layoff package and moved into my awaiting condo and currently call AZ home. I worked for Century Link for less than a year before taking a job with PayPal. I worked with PayPal for seven years before getting laid off again in February 2024 just before turning 52. After 25 years of service, I was done with corporate American. I started to take a run at retirement at that point to see if it was achievable.
Rocky Point, Mexico –
Soon after settling in AZ, I rented a vacation studio in Rocky Point, Mexico. I am currently sitting in my studio as I write this blog. Simple but everything I need for $150 a month waiting for me anything I wanted to head down the road four hours to Mexico.
I currently spend my time in Mesa, AZ and Rocky Point, Mexico when I am not traveling. I now rent my AZ condo on Airbnb five months a year to snowbirds to suppliment my attempt at retirement.
Looking back, it was 2022 when I discovered life in SE Aisa. PayPal gave me a four week paid sabbatical after five years of service and added two more weeks of vacation time. I spent three months in the Philippines in 2025 and plan to spend January – April there in 2027 to see if it will be a yearly going forward.
My condo was also rented on Airbnb so it was a paid vacation that set me up for my future travel plans.
After traveling the world, the Philippines appears to check all the boxes!
Looking back now, the second PayPal layoff was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me. It forced me to reevaluate what I actually wanted from life.
Instead of chasing the next promotion, I eventually found what I had always dreamed and planned: Freedom to travel!
I setup my YouTube channel and NorthAmericanDarrell.com to document my past, present and future travels.
Some days I wonder what TF I am doing but, that’s has been my life in general!