Reader Visitor Put up – Journey Earlier than Dementia

In the present day, I carry you a visitor publish from a few nomadic retirees, Tom Swan and Georganna Hawley. They’ve been residing a nomadic way of life for about two and a half years and haven’t any plans for stopping.

In the event you’ve thought-about this way of life in retirement, and even if you happen to haven’t, you’ll discover their story fascinating and study useful classes from their experiences. Subjects lined embrace their expertise with downsizing, how they’ve handled well being points whereas on the highway, selecting areas the place they need to spend time in retirement and dealing with logistics, and different classes realized alongside the way in which.

We now have no monetary relationship. Take it away Tom and Georganna….

This can be a Life-style, Not a Trip

“We’re NOT on trip” is probably the most typical reply to our buddies’ and household’s misunderstanding of our Nomad way of life. Sometimes, Individuals go on a 2-3 week trip, frantically seeing every little thing potential in a “whirlwind tour.” Then they return residence and require one other 2-3 weeks to get better from the holiday. 

Sure, we’ve seen some great, iconic, even unique locations. Nonetheless, we additionally purchase our veggies on the open market, experience the native trains or buses and take free strolling excursions as a substitute of organized “touristy” excursions. Typically we even keep in and simply do laundry like everybody else.

We’re Tom Swan and Georganna Hawley, semi-retired Individuals. We live our greatest life with this new, and sometimes misunderstood way of life. In September of 2021, we “embraced the change” that lots of our fellow boomers will not be but able to face.

Embracing Change

Covid-19 restrictions allowed Tom to shut his workplace and work on-line. Our grandsons grew to become adults, and we out of the blue didn’t want an enormous home. A minimalist aesthetic was making us assume our stuff owned us as a substitute of the opposite means round.

We have been intrigued and impressed by a radio interview on Rick Steves with Michael and Debbie Campbell, The Senior Nomads. All this was taking place getting ready to looming retirement and had us asking what we wish from this new part of our lives.

Downsizing

We started the monumental job of shedding all our possessions in 2020. I bought 4 stitching machines. Tom bought his valuable drill press and all his instruments. We additionally bought or gave away these particular china dinner settings our daughter didn’t need (NOTE: your youngsters don’t want your stuff). We scanned all of the contents of picture albums (now saved on the cloud), had seven yard gross sales, and numerous journeys to Goodwill. 

Lastly, we obtained all of it all the way down to solely two rolling carry ons, and two backpacks. We retained two 14 gallon storage bins (half filled with treasures) to retailer at our daughter’s home. We bought our home and one in all our two vehicles. Final, we drove our truck to our daughter’s home at hand over the storage bins, and we offered the keys and pink slip of the truck to our oldest grandson.  

Associated: Downsizing In Retirement – Any Regrets?

Hitting the Street

After that, we pretty danced all the way in which to the airport jet method to fly off to our first nomad vacation spot, Vienna, Austria, on September 23, 2021.

Some nomads select to maintain their home and hire it out, hold a storage unit of their residence city, and/or preserve a mother-in-law cottage with their youngsters. We selected to dive off the deep finish with none “what if we alter our minds” contingencies. We discover it retains us centered ahead, studying the way to make this nomad way of life work, with no “escape clause”.

I’m now 72, a retired archaeologist and textile artist. Tom is 65 and continues to work remotely as a retirement planner and monetary advisor. He works servicing shoppers’ wants from wherever we’re. 

Good WIFI is essential, and out there all around the world! His telephone is on a VOIP (Voice Over Web Protocol), and is definitely his outdated workplace quantity. So shoppers acknowledge it’s him, however everybody he calls asks, “The place is Tom at the moment?”

What About Healthcare?

Tom wanted each arthritic knees changed, however his insurance coverage firm claimed he was too “younger” and wanted to attend for Medicare to pay for it. And most US surgeons will solely do one after the other. 

Whereas visiting Istanbul, Turkiÿe he obtained a free session with a crew of two orthopedic surgeons who quoted a worth that was lower than 1/3 of the insurance coverage copays in California. So, we scheduled surgical procedure. Tom had his knees changed in Istanbul; each on the identical day. 

His care was outstanding. Bodily remedy was painful however tolerable, and 5 weeks after surgical procedure we have been strolling alongside Hadrian’s Wall in northern England. 

We do carry worldwide well being care insurance coverage for emergencies and an evacuation coverage for me. However, to be sincere, if one thing occurred to me, I’d quite go to Türkiye.

The USA has medical insurance, the remainder of the world has well being care. Large distinction.

Getting Round

Our transportation mode of alternative is through prepare in Europe, however buses are additionally an excellent choice if we need to go a bit slower. Public transportation in Europe is normally clear, low cost, and intensive. We now have discovered {that a} good various will be to rent a non-public driver, particularly if we’re crossing a number of borders in non-EU nations. 

Journey in South America presents fewer options. There are few trains, and buses can vary from nice to downright terrible. We normally go for flying between South American nations. 

Repositioning cruises are additionally a sensible choice for nomads for trans-oceanic journey. A cruise ship offers us with our transportation, lodging, meals and leisure multi function package deal. With cruises, we don’t must pack/unpack for weeks at a time, and no jet-lag! We select to fly solely as a final resort generally.

Assembly Logistical Challenges

Journey preparations are in fact as much as us, and it has turn into an element time job. We work collectively, doing analysis on locations, what we need to do, and the most effective time of yr to remain particularly areas.

We additionally contemplate suggestions from different nomads. It usually is smart to journey in a selected course; north and east for spring and summer season months, after which start heading south for the winter, at all times chasing 72 levels. 

Many nomads select to see the Arctic or Antarctic and have great tales and pictures. We select to remain in hotter climates and hold our change-of-seasons packing to a minimal. If we by no means see snow once more, that shall be simply high quality with us.

The web is (largely) our good friend for planning and making reservations. It takes fairly a little bit of group, however we handle redundancy with a paper calendar, excel spreadsheets, and each of us having all confirmations and reservations on our computer systems and telephones.

I copy a map on-line and label the subsequent few months the place we shall be, then publish it so household can comply with our progress.  Though we work collectively to plan our travels, we’ve nonetheless managed to make aircraft reservations for the improper day, forgotten how the Worldwide Date Line works, and gotten our timezones confused.  

As Nomads, we’ve realized to pivot, remedy issues and discover options rapidly.

Selecting Lodging

We like to remain in flats with a kitchen and washer with quick access to the native metro or bus. Normally discovering Airbnb’s in a metropolis middle neighborhood fits us. Quick, dependable WIFI and an elevator are a should. 

We additionally take pleasure in volunteering at English Immersion retreat classes and we’ve completed this 4 occasions now. It’s an effective way to fulfill and get to know the native individuals and the free lodging assist to stretch the funds. 

This yr we added a home/pet sitting into the combo. We get to spend high quality time with canine and cats, and keep in an actual residence, typically within the English countryside, different occasions in a southern California suburb. Selection retains our nomad way of life enjoyable and attention-grabbing.

Effective Tuning Our Planning

We’re nonetheless trying to find the candy spot of how lengthy to remain in anybody place. Usually every week is sufficient to maintain our curiosity, and a month could also be too lengthy. 

If climate or timing hold us from doing all we have been planning for, we all know we will at all times come again subsequent yr, or the subsequent. Typically we purposely don’t search out all that we predict could be attention-grabbing, figuring out a city or area will certainly be on our “return for longer” listing.

The Schengen Zone is a problem for us and different Nomads, and is an important a part of our planning. The Schengen Zone includes 27 European Union nations + 4 different nations. 

As Individuals we will solely keep within the Schengen for 90 days out of 180. The nations outdoors the zone means our  “Schengen Shuffle”  is consistently on the radar (there are apps for that). 

Final yr Croatia entered the zone, and in 2024 Romania and Bulgaria are scheduled to enter. This implies we might want to discover various nations to discover whereas we look forward to our Schengen clock to reset. 

Türkiye, Albania, Macedonia, Georgia, and 5 of the “Stans” are good nomad decisions. Even the tiny mountain nation of Andorra between Spain and France is outdoors the Schengen. And what about North Africa? The infinite potentialities are an enormous purpose we hold touring.

Isn’t This Costly?

After all we’ve a funds, we’re not spending wildly on trip, in any case! The cash saved not having to pay utilities, taxes, vehicles, fuel, tires, repairs, and a number of insurances means we spend lower than if we nonetheless lived in California. Even our month-to-month lodging prices are lower than our mortgage.

Transportation prices are additionally a lot lower than the price of proudly owning a number of vehicles. We don’t usually purchase clothes as a result of the area is proscribed in our suitcase. Many nomads purchase garments at thrift shops and re-donate once they go away a location. We select to go together with what we’ve and if it will get chilly, we simply head south! 

We every personal one pair of sturdy strolling footwear. I did purchase a beautiful classic denim jacket in Hamburg, Germany final yr. It’s too cumbersome to pack, so I needed to make the aware resolution that I need to put on it on each journey day. When that will get to be too cumbersome, I can go away it in a donation bin for another person to like.

Leveraging Journey Rewards

One other funds stretcher is utilizing bank card reward factors to our benefit. Final yr Tom manipulated our factors into 22 free resort nights and 16 free enterprise class aircraft tickets. The “factors sport” is rising in reputation amongst nomads, and nicely price Tom’s time spent learning the constantly altering choices.

Associated: Journey Extra & Spend Much less With Credit score Card Journey Rewards

Are we nonetheless proud of our option to do away with every little thing and journey the world as modern-day senior nomads? Sure! When can we plan to cease (the second most requested query)? We don’t.

If well being or unknown circumstances make us rethink our way of life, we will pivot. We now have completed it earlier than, we will do it once more when that point comes.

Chris’ $.02

Due to Tom and Georganna for sharing your story. Their solely need for sharing their story is to ispire and join with others who share their pursuits. You may join with them via their “Two Vacationers” Fb web page.

In the event you loved their story, try one other visitor publish from nomadic retirees Margot and Nick.

Reader visitor posts are at all times widespread on the weblog. In the event you’d prefer to share your story ship me an e mail at chris@caniretireyet.com.

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[Chris Mamula used principles of traditional retirement planning, combined with creative lifestyle design, to retire from a career as a physical therapist at age 41. After poor experiences with the financial industry early in his professional life, he educated himself on investing and tax planning. After achieving financial independence, Chris began writing about wealth building, DIY investing, financial planning, early retirement, and lifestyle design at Can I Retire Yet? He is also the primary author of the book Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence. Chris also does financial planning with individuals and couples at Abundo Wealth, a low-cost, advice-only financial planning firm with the mission of making quality financial advice available to populations for whom it was previously inaccessible. Chris has been featured on MarketWatch, Morningstar, U.S. News & World Report, and Business Insider. He has spoken at events including the Bogleheads and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants annual conferences. Blog inquiries can be sent to chris@caniretireyet.com. Financial planning inquiries can be sent to chris@abundowealth.com]

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