Reader Visitor Put up – Journey Earlier than Dementia

Immediately, I deliver you a visitor submit from a few nomadic retirees, Tom Swan and Georganna Hawley. They’ve been residing a nomadic life-style for about two and a half years and don’t have any plans for stopping.

Should you’ve thought-about this life-style in retirement, and even when you haven’t, you’ll discover their story fascinating and study worthwhile classes from their experiences. Matters coated embody their expertise with downsizing, how they’ve handled well being points whereas on the street, selecting places the place they wish to spend time in retirement and dealing with logistics, and different classes realized alongside the best way.

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

It is a Life-style, Not a Trip

“We’re NOT on trip” is maybe the commonest reply to our mates’ and household’s misunderstanding of our Nomad life-style. Usually, Individuals go on a 2-3 week trip, frantically seeing every thing doable in a “whirlwind tour.” Then they return dwelling and require one other 2-3 weeks to recuperate from the holiday. 

Sure, we now have seen some great, iconic, even unique locations. Nonetheless, we additionally purchase our veggies on the open market, journey the native trains or buses and take free strolling excursions as an alternative 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 infrequently misunderstood life-style. In September of 2021, we “embraced the change” that lots of our fellow boomers should not but able to face.

Embracing Change

Covid-19 restrictions allowed Tom to shut his workplace and work on-line. Our grandsons turned adults, and we immediately didn’t want a giant home. A minimalist aesthetic was making us suppose our stuff owned us as an alternative of the opposite method 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 on the point of looming retirement and had us asking what we would like from this new section of our lives.

Downsizing

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

Lastly, we received all of it right 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 offered our home and one in every of 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 Highway

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

Some nomads select to maintain their home and lease it out, preserve a storage unit of their dwelling 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 targeted ahead, studying make this nomad life-style 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 purchasers’ wants from wherever we’re. 

Good WIFI is essential, and out there everywhere in the world! His cellphone is on a VOIP (Voice Over Web Protocol), and is definitely his previous workplace quantity. So purchasers acknowledge it’s him, however everybody he calls asks, “The place is Tom at present?”

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 workforce 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 trustworthy, if one thing occurred to me, I’d quite go to Türkiye.

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

Getting Round

Our transportation mode of selection is by way of prepare in Europe, however buses are additionally an excellent possibility if we wish to go a bit slower. Public transportation in Europe is normally clear, low cost, and in depth. We have now discovered {that a} good various might be to rent a personal 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 good selection for nomads for trans-oceanic journey. A cruise ship supplies 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 after all as much as us, and it has turn into an element time job. We work collectively, doing analysis on locations, what we wish to do, and the perfect time of 12 months to remain specifically places.

We additionally think about suggestions from different nomads. It typically is sensible 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 preserve our change-of-seasons packing to a minimal. If we by no means see snow once more, that will likely be simply fantastic with us.

The web is (largely) our pal 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 will likely be, then submit it so household can observe our progress.  Regardless that we work collectively to plan our travels, we now have nonetheless managed to make aircraft reservations for the mistaken day, forgotten how the Worldwide Date Line works, and gotten our timezones confused.  

As Nomads, we now have realized to pivot, clear up issues and discover options rapidly.

Selecting Lodging

We like to remain in flats with a kitchen and washer with easy accessibility 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 now have performed this 4 occasions now. It’s a good way to fulfill and get to know the native folks and the free lodging assist to stretch the price range. 

This 12 months we added a home/pet sitting into the combination. We get to spend high quality time with canines and cats, and keep in an actual dwelling, typically within the English countryside, different occasions in a southern California suburb. Selection retains our nomad life-style enjoyable and fascinating.

Fantastic Tuning Our Planning

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

If climate or timing preserve us from doing all we have been planning for, we all know we are able to at all times come again subsequent 12 months, or the subsequent. Typically we purposely don’t search out all that we predict could be fascinating, 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 a vital a part of our planning. The Schengen Zone includes 27 European Union nations + 4 different nations. 

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

Final 12 months 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 await 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 a giant purpose we preserve touring.

Isn’t This Costly?

After all we now have a price range, 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 typically purchase clothes as a result of the house is proscribed in our suitcase. Many nomads purchase garments at thrift shops and re-donate once they depart a location. We select to go along with what we now have and if it will get chilly, we simply head south! 

We every personal one pair of sturdy strolling sneakers. I did purchase a beautiful classic denim jacket in Hamburg, Germany final 12 months. It’s too cumbersome to pack, so I needed to make the aware resolution that I have to put on it on each journey day. When that will get to be too cumbersome, I can depart it in a donation bin for another person to like.

Leveraging Journey Rewards

One other price range stretcher is utilizing bank card reward factors to our benefit. Final 12 months Tom manipulated our factors into 22 free resort nights and 16 free enterprise class aircraft tickets. The “factors sport” is rising in recognition amongst nomads, and properly price Tom’s time spent learning the repeatedly altering choices.

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

Are we nonetheless proud of our option to eliminate every 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 life-style, we are able to pivot. We have now performed it earlier than, we are able to 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 by way of their “Two Vacationers” Fb web page.

Should you loved their story, take a look at one other visitor submit from nomadic retirees Margot and Nick.

Reader visitor posts are at all times widespread on the weblog. Should you’d wish to share your story ship me an electronic 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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