So HOW are we Doing This?
So HOW are we doing this? A lot of times when we tell someone what we're doing, they respond, "Oh, I would LOVE to do that!" And we say, "You can!", to which they almost always reply, "Nah. I don't think so."
We want to encourage you that it IS possible! There are many ways to do it, and there are LOTS of people all over the world who are doing what we're doing or a variation of it. We are retirees living on a fixed income that is not all that much - our social security and Duane's teacher retirement pension.
The key is learning how to do it economically. There are HEAPS of resources on blogs, YouTube, and other social media sites about traveling/living abroad for seasons or for long-term. Get out of debt. Downsize. Travel in low season. Research places with low cost of living (check out numbeo.com as one example). Stay in places that have kitchens so you can make at least some of your meals rather than eating out all the time. Use public transport.
Also, it may seem like it would be an eternity before you'd ever reach the point to be able to do something like this, but we want to say, "Don't give up!" We dreamed about doing this since we returned from Indonesia in 2002. We needed to get our kids raised, get out of debt, and wait until Duane could fully retire. The ducks finally got in a row for us after we carried the dream for 22 years, and now it is finally a reality!
If you're thinking about doing this, we encourage you to start researching and see what other people are doing. One YouTube channel you might want to check out is called The Retirement Travelers (https://www.youtube.com/@RetirementTravelers). They are travelling much faster than we want to travel, but they have a ton of good content on their channel, and their videos are well done.
Another one we like to keep an eye on is Amelia and JP (https://www.youtube.com/@AmeliaAndJP). Check out their YouTube channel if you're interested.
It's totally possible to travel/live abroad - short-term or for life! We're also always happy to answer questions you may have about what/how we're doing.
Happy Trails!
