Extended travel - have you done it? (budget, locations, places)

[jamary1]

I did that at 19. Took a year off from college, worked for a while to save up some money and then took off to Europe to bum around. Got tired of one place? Hopped a train to another place. Youth hostels and very, very cheap hotels/pensiones.


In between college and retirement, we lived overseas and traveled as much as we could. Returning to the US, we still did some domestic and international travel, but mostly were tied down by work and family responsibilities.


Now, in retirement, my life is either traveling, recovering from traveling or planning a trip. We go out for 4-5 months at a time in our RV and I do some international traveling with my sisters or friends.


I'm 70 but no cane or walker for me yet. I'm off to Costa Rica in about a week for some hiking and zip-lining.

[BusyMeAK]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

<$40k for 1 yr RTW. 100% was BORROWED funds (2.8% HELOC / Credit card). Worked out great, cuz I sold some properties while gone + my rental income props added $60K to my bank account while I was absent.

(most expense was for "Transportation"... rental cars / vans / air / train / fuel - food was HIGH but we usually ate local / grocery / fresh markets / co-ops)
Escaped USA from Oct 2015 until Oct 2016 (election yr = good time to be GONE), arrived home in time to vote, but there were still no viable candidates...

Departed on a One way ticket to OZ and winged it from there, following the long days and summer / spring westbound. Flowers / beach / WARMTH was great in Dec - March in NZ and Australia, headed to Indonesia, SE Asia, then Burma / took a ship from Dubai to Italy (all was unplanned and VERY cheap...) then did many countries in Europe via Discount carriers ~ 12 - 40 Euro / destination.

Used Hospitality Guest homes + volunteered at camps / retreat centers / vocational schools for free room and board (Only stayed in 8 hotels)

Rented camper vans (next time will BUY and resell)

Why on borrowed funds, and at that time?
1) It was an opportune time to leave (just had finished rebuilding some rental homes, had finished an international temp job)
2) Took a 1yr unpaid leave with understanding there might not be a job upon return (some risk involved)
3) PLANNED a 6 month leave, but boss said a yr was OK, so POOF - I was GONE!
4) While gone, 6 coworkers left employment in a 7 person staff (plenty of need to return)
5) Being GONE was great! coming home was great (but LOTS of 'catch-up / repairs' on farm and rural properties)
6) Not getting any younger, may croak any minute (Parents dropped out of life early)

• Keep a blog while gone (for family, friends, yourself, saved photos and comments)
• Have accounts stable and multiple CC. (CC companies and banks disliked us logging on from a different country / location / Computer every few days) They froze us OUT a lot... wanting to txt us a code. We had left our US phones at home, cuz USA cell is worthless in most countries, and you can get SIM cards for CHEAP, and Asia phones (<$100) have 2-3 SIM cards at one time (multiple counties on same phone at same time)
• use auto pay
• Have someone stay in your home and feed the pets and plants and collect mail.
• Have Power of Attorneys in place (medical and financial) (It was a challenge to close a property transaction from Portugal)
• Be VERY flexible... terrorist activity in Brussels was tough on our 5 connections already booked.
• What you MOST enjoy / is NOT what you plan...
• Not rush to return home (enjoy the other cultures)
• Live in one place for a few months (get to know local people and culture)
• Don't go as a tourist. (We did very few tourist activies but LOTS of local events / volunteering / fun / work)
  
• INCOME (jobs) is not ez in foreign countries (unless you are under age 31 in NZ or Australia) / work permit

Oh Man! I love your approach to life so much! No whining, go see the world with an open mind, dive into it, solve the tech problems, broaden the horizons, feel more freedom and power, cool!

[LookinForMayberry]

Originally Posted by k374

Has anyone quit their job and traveled for an extended period (6 months+) OR are planning to do so in the near future? If so, are you planning to just save up and sustain your trip with savings, planning to earn money on the road or a combination of both? Where are you planning to go and for how long? What are your plans for returning to the workforce when you get back? Or are your plans that far out undetermined?

We traveled the country (38 states of it anyway) from July '08 to August '10, in a 38' motor home. We were both employed before we left our jobs, and had some savings, as well as income from our two rental properties. We gave up the jobs, but managed the properties from the road. We'd intended to go for three years, but shortly before we left one rental incurred a costly expense due to poor road maintenance in Seattle which resulted in our sewer connection to be broken from the city's infrastructure (the street collapsed).

We started preparing in '07. We assumed we would find work when we returned. I did. He went to work for himself.

He kept a blog. You can see it here: RAWH

[NW4me]

even staying within the US, this sounds like great fun...

[GeoffD]

At age 40, I took 21 months off. I had jillions of frequent flyer miles, a ski resort season pass that worked at a bunch of ski resorts, and friends & family scattered at ski resorts around North America. My season pass worked at Steamboat, The Canyons, and Heavenly. Mom wintered in Park City so I spent some time there. My pass worked at The Canyons. They skied Deer Valley so I was there a lot. Some Snowbird/Alta/Brighton/Solitude days thrown in. I had a co-worker friend I rented a condo from at Steamboat for a couple weeks. I have friends at Tahoe so I skied with them at Squaw and a couple days at Heavenly. I have friends with a place at Whistler so I was there for several weeks. I used my vacation home at a Vermont ski resort as home base to check my mail, do laundry, ski, and prepare for the next trip. I did a 3 week New Zealand summer ski trip.

Whistler was the year Mount Baker broke the snowfall record with over 1,000 inches of snow. Whistler was unreal. I was skiing things that are usually cliffs. Steamboat got 100" of snow while I was there in late-January. Every day was a powder day. I caught an April 1 storm at The Canyons. Waist deep powder and nobody there. A ski/golf day at Squaw on the 4th of July. Heli skiing in New Zealand.

I did do a couple of months of consulting that summer to top off the bank account before heading off to New Zealand.

[Standingroom0nly]

Yes, on year 2 of travel! We (husband and I and 2 young kids) spent last year traveling internationally, this year we are traveling the U.S (we live out of airbnb's) ... We typically stay 1 month in a location and then move on (slower travel is cheaper!). We sold our house, lightened up our things (sold or gave away), husband quit his job and started his own business. We planned this for quite some time so financially we would be ok traveling.

[projectmaximus]

Originally Posted by Standingroom0nly

Yes, on year 2 of travel! We (husband and I and 2 young kids) spent last year traveling internationally, this year we are traveling the U.S (we live out of airbnb's) ... We typically stay 1 month in a location and then move on (slower travel is cheaper!). We sold our house, lightened up our things (sold or gave away), husband quit his job and started his own business. We planned this for quite some time so financially we would be ok traveling.

That's awesome!!! Any thoughts/advice? This is exactly what I am planning: travel internationally and travel domestically, one year at a time, staying in airbnbs for 2-4 weeks in each location. Planning to wait til our kid(s) are elementary school age so still maybe 6-8 years away.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by projectmaximus

That's awesome!!! Any thoughts/advice? This is exactly what I am planning: travel internationally and travel domestically, one year at a time, staying in airbnbs for 2-4 weeks in each location. Planning to wait til our kid(s) are elementary school age so still maybe 6-8 years away.

Consider other options than Air B&B, our experiences have not been good compared to:

• https://wikitravel.org/en/Hospitality_exchange (nearly free - $20 / night for entire family (including meals). (published 'profile' of host, and when with kids, we often stayed with farm families with kids near same age) We also used a 'Homeschool' guest home directory (So kids were home instead of at school)
• House exchange (Free) (Works great of you have a vacation home / extra residence / living space @ home)
• House / pet / plant / farm sitting, (Several websites list opportunities)
• Camp / boarding school volunteer (We have done that at several locations around the world (Free room and board), often in very scenic / historic setting.
• Workamping

[Standingroom0nly]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Consider other options than Air B&B, our experiences have not been good compared to:

• https://wikitravel.org/en/Hospitality_exchange (nearly free - $20 / night for entire family (including meals). (published 'profile' of host, and when with kids, we often stayed with farm families with kids near same age) We also used a 'Homeschool' guest home directory (So kids were home instead of at school)
• House exchange (Free) (Works great of you have a vacation home / extra residence / living space @ home)
• House / pet / plant / farm sitting, (Several websites list opportunities)
• Camp / boarding school volunteer (We have done that at several locations around the world (Free room and board), often in very scenic / historic setting.
• Workamping

These are great options depending on how flexible you are. Housesitting is tricky with kids. There are not very many housesits that allow kids, and you have to be very flexible on location and dates. We've loved airbnb, and the places we've stayed have worked out very well. There are REALLY good discounts for monthly stays and off season rates (we've gotten up to 70% off). Everything is negotiable and we've negotiated with owners directly also. I am a fan of planning ahead so we can stay in the locations we want for the price we want... we aren't the last minute find-a-place-to-stay people (at least not for our longer term month+ stays). I find I can find beautiful places in good locations on a budget when I plan ahead.

[Standingroom0nly]

Originally Posted by projectmaximus

That's awesome!!! Any thoughts/advice? This is exactly what I am planning: travel internationally and travel domestically, one year at a time, staying in airbnbs for 2-4 weeks in each location. Planning to wait til our kid(s) are elementary school age so still maybe 6-8 years away.

My advice is to stay for at least a month in a location. Don't treat your travel as a check-it-off-bucket-list -- that is, you don't need to see 25+ countries in a year. Slow down a bit -- especially with kids. Enjoy those little ordinary moments in a new place -- not seeing all the tourist sites. Time together on your terms -- that is the true luxury about this type of travel.

Have a purpose to your travel or something meaningful to do while traveling. Start a business, creative project, write a book, etc. Long term vacation isn't what we are doing, and doesn't feel like we are (regardless of how outsiders see it). We prefer to see it like we are living in a location for a month or so and get a small sampling of the city/town before we move onto the next place. We have normal days, just with slightly adjusted routines in each place as we get to see some new places and sample new foods. Our time together is more fluid and less compartmentalized -- we like it that way.

Vacation rental owners will often offer discounts for monthly stays -- I've seen up to 90% off advertised!... Practically asking you to housesit. More common is 30-50% and it may depend on the season. You can find really good monthly deals outside of the U.S...the U.S. tends to be more expensive for AIRBNBs and VRBOs. We have found our gems though, you just have to keep looking. Some travelers swear by waiting till they get into a country before booking a place and asking locals for rentals (outside the U.S.)-- this can get you some really good deals from the stories I've heard. We haven't done this yet, as I am such a pre-planner.

Join online forums and Facebook groups for travelers with kids (look up worldschoolers). You'll find lots of inspiration there. Keep your dream alive The hardest part is just making the decision to actually do it.