Since my husband Billy and I left the working world behind at the age of 38 in 1991, we’ve been traveling the globe and have lived in dozens of countries.
But when we were employed, our demanding careers of working 60 to 80 hours a week for years took its toll. Something needed to change, and it seemed that Billy had the answer for us. He’s like a bulldog with a chew toy—a bulldog who also knows how to crunch numbers.
So, we hammered out our plans for leaving the daily grind. Trade-offs between one lifestyle and another had to be made. There was plenty of what we fondly call “high-volume discussions.” Besides that, in the 1980s the notion of chucking the rat race aside seemed absurd. People told us we were committing financial and social suicide. Would our plan work?
Our lovely three-bedroom home—only minutes from the beach in Monterey Bay, California— with its 900-square-foot redwood deck, hot tub, huge yard, and three flower gardens, required a gardening contract and maid service to maintain. We had prestigious jobs and fashionable clothing, and we drove new cars.
There were lavish parties, exotic vacations, and sailing in the Caribbean. We visited Napa Valley Wine country buying topnotch wines for use in our restaurant and to update our private collection. After an expensive two-week vacation, we’d slam ourselves back into our careers without questioning our priorities too much.
It was hard work to keep up this lifestyle, and unknowingly, the stress had added up. The commitment to these high-status jobs and to our high-maintenance home was getting in the way of what we really wanted to do—and that was to travel, to experience more of the world firsthand, and to become global residents.
Basically, we wanted to accumulate experiences instead of stuff.
The life of an adventurer
We left the working world for a life of daring experiences, and now there are no regrets. Retirement is a lifestyle—in our case an adventurous one—and not a vacation. It’s an avenue of new opportunities, not an escape.
Over the two decades of our retirement, we have literally lived years overseas. Due to our youth or to particular quirks of our personalities, it’s been difficult to choose just one country in which to settle. There are so many beautiful paradises around the world, with such broad offerings for enrichment, why decide on just one? This has led us to living a global lifestyle.
“Back home” in the U.S., many considered us an oddity. However, there are thousands of global travelers throughout the world. Some global residents travel for months at a time, others for years. Some have no home base at all.
“Can we afford it?” Whenever we’re considering one of our adventures, we ask ourselves if we can afford it. Our answer is always the same: “We can’t afford not to go.” Gaining life experience is more important to us. When we retired in 1991 we sold everything to fund our retirement—our home, two cars, our “stuff”—and we hit the road. We invested in liquid assets (equities/stocks) to make our funds readily available at any time and to be able to control it via telephone or online.
Over the years, we have dived for lobsters on the Caribbean island of Nevis in the West Indies…traveled the length of the Ecuadorian Andes and spent time in the cloud forest, seeing volcanic lakes and llamas…visited Spanish-conquered Quechua villages and centuries-old cathedrals.
The wonders of both north and south islands of New Zealand were eye-catching, and we lived in an oceanfront apartment watching the sailboats in Sydney Harbour drift by for only $25 a night. We explored different cultures, like living in tiny Chinese villages where no one speaks English, which posed a challenge to our communications skills. And the impressive beauty and history of Vietnam touched us deeply. We hired a private boat at 5 a.m. to savor the sunrise over the Thu Bon River, watching the night fishermen return with their catch for the market.
In the last year alone we traveled extensively through rural areas of Thailand, where we rode in horse-drawn carriages to tour the town, had two-hour Thai massages for a total of $6, and participated in ancient Buddhist traditional holiday celebrations.
The bottom line is that most people will only see these countries in books or magazines, but this is our daily lifestyle.
A major component of our satisfying retirement is our penchant for volunteering.
Since we no longer need to work for money, our time is utilized in a multitude of satisfying ways. We did end-of-life care for our parents, taught English as a second language to teens in Mexico, raised money and built two tennis courts for the city of Chapala in Mexico.
Billy imported an electronic scoreboard from the States to this same city of Chapala, and coached basketball for a women’s team, winning the city finals. Learning new languages such as Spanish and Thai has opened up our personal world. The global success of our popular book, The Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement, which has sold in 36 countries, has been a humbling experience. We volunteer our time through our website, www.RetireEarlyLifestyle.com, sharing stories, photos, and lifestyle articles that help others who have questions about early retirement.
When we are not being interviewed about our lifestyle or speaking at events, we play tennis, go white-water rafting, or body surfing in Phuket, Thailand. Many times we have sailed throughout the Caribbean on a 256-foot sailboat, and have gone RVing around the western U.S. We even helped a friend open the Four Seasons Resort on the Caribbean island of Nevis, West Indies. Opportunities to utilize our talents and skills are everywhere.
Friends all over the world have brought such enrichment to our lives.
Everyone looks at retirement differently. Some people have said to us, “We’re going to work a few more years. You never know what the future will bring.” It’s hard to dispute that statement. However, others have said to us just as firmly, “We’re going to retire now. You never know what the future will bring.”
We, of course, subscribe to the latter school of thought.
Travel has broadened our minds, giving us a perspective of the world and a confidence that pervades daily living
Managing your finances on the road
It’s a footloose manner of living, but it’s not free, so there are things to consider in making travel go more smoothly. Before we leave our home base, we call our credit card companies to let them know we will be on the road. This is to dispel any notion of fraud over charges originating in a faraway land. We let them know that those charges will be ours, and to expect them.
We each have a set of cards utilizing both Visa and Mastercard, so that in the event of loss or worse we have a backup.
We also check our credit card and debit card expiration dates. We are not always in a location where we can accept snail mail, even if a new card were mailed to us. So we get our cards’ expiration dates current and staggered so that we are never without access to money.
We make copies of all important documents, such as passports, birth certificates, driver’s licenses, documents for staying in the country of arrival, and travel visas. When we leave our passports in the hotel safe, we carry our digitally-made passport ID with us.
For almost two decades we have been living this lifestyle, so for convenience we have our financial information and accounts available online. Any recurring bills that need to be paid are on automatic bill paying systems. Other bills are entered on our online calendar informing us when they are due.
We can access our financial accounts at any time to sell shares as needed to obtain funds to cover payments. We also carry a small spiral notebook with necessary data, names, and account information, not leaving it committed to memory. Some travelers keep this same information encrypted in cyberspace accessible from anywhere, or they use newer thumb drives with encryption software included.
If we need to call a financial institution or friends in the U.S., we use Skype. Skype is a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) service that allows you to call another computer for free or a landline or cell phone for a small per-minute charge. We have found that most cyber cafés have headsets and webcams and are set up with Skype already installed. It saves money on long distance phone calls and makes calling 800 numbers a snap.
We get local currency by accessing our money at ATMs worldwide. This is far easier and poses less hassle than bringing travelers checks.
When you travel, bring $200 of small denominations of U.S. currency for easy negotiating wherever you are, a handheld calculator, a few blank checks from your financial accounts for the unexpected, and empty business-size envelopes for a filing system for your receipts, some jumbo paperclips, and numerous passport photos for visas.
Then, sit back and enjoy your trip!
Medical care overseas
If you are thinking of living or traveling for long periods overseas, medical care is a serious consideration in the mix.
Health care options are varied in foreign countries. In our experience from countries we have visited, the quality of care is reasonably high, and at sensible prices. On the whole, dentists, opticians, pharmacists, and general practitioners are skilled, and hospitals are clean and modern. Most doctors and nurses speak and read English, and they have access to the latest equipment.
Normally pharmacists are the first lines of defense when health issues arise. They are very knowledgeable and can help you with day-to-day health issues. If more elaborate services are needed, employees at some hotel desks usually speak English and know the locations of the best medical facilities. They can make the appointment for you and write instructions directing the taxi driver to take you to the correct place. This is most helpful, and takes the stress and fear out of being potentially vulnerable far from home.
In our case, we pay cash for medical services instead of carrying international health insurance. From past experience, the local health care has been affordable. However, if you find yourself staying for long periods of time in Thailand, try Bupa insurance, which also covers you while traveling. Or see World Nomads. As with any health insurance coverage, be sure to read all fine print.