When you’re living your days, on your grind, doing your thing, you forget about the invisible lines we drew on maps hundreds of years ago.

It’s not until those boundaries unexpectedly wrap around you that they matter. It’s not until they dictate your movement, your decisions, and your relationships that they matter.

This is true for me too.

I hadn’t given location independence or my passport stack a single thought until I had to.

Let me tell you a story and why I believe a nationality stack should be your top priority.

What happened?

In late 2021 I left the United States for Latin America. I was supposed to be there for just three months before I returned home.

By Week 3, my plans were derailed.

I met my girlfriend in Colombia and ended up staying until June 2022. I had been won over, and I was smitten.

Falling in love was not the plan. But hey, what are you gonna do.

With an American passport, I have 180 visa-free days in Colombia every calendar year. Meaning I don’t need to apply for a visa (just an extension from 90 → 180 days) nor leave the country at any time in those 180 days.

Once I hit my 6 months, I had to either 1) leave or 2) get a visa. And I chose to leave, to focus on my business, to see more of Latin America, and to continue our relationship long-distance until I could return to her country in 2023.

In the latter half of the year, I lived in and explored Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panamá, Perú, and Uruguay. Because I couldn’t see her in Colombia, I flew my girlfriend in for an awesome time in Ecuador and an even better trip to Buenos Aires.

But I only saw her a cumulative two weeks in those 6 months.

I remember vividly each time I dropped her off at the airport after our time together.

It’s difficult to describe that pain of waving goodbye in the airport, not knowing when I’ll see her next, standing in a crowd of travelers unaware of what felt like a knife turning in my stomach.

(It sounds dramatic, I know. I would’ve thought the same had I read this before experiencing it first-hand.)

In short, I never want to feel that pain again.

So what?

This is my story. But it could just as easily be yours.

Replace my girlfriend with your mother. Or your father. Or your friends or co-founders. It doesn’t matter.

Borders are borders.

If you don’t have the right documentation, you’re not allowed to traverse some of them – even in today’s super-globalized world. No matter where you’re from or who you are.

I resolved to never let borders restrict, confine or trap me again.

So that is why I so fervently believe in second residencies and second passports.

That is why I decided to invest in Colombian real estate, start my path toward permanent residency and citizenship, and not just go the easy way with a digital nomad or student visa.

You have no true location independence and you have no true mobility until you can freely move about the world as you wish. It’s about ensuring that no one government and no one policy can dictate where you can be and with whom.

This is more than just travel. This is personal liberty.