Retired Couples who Trek the Globe on a Budget

[BellBarbara]

That sounds great! Have fun.

 

[walkinwood]

I am reading the book right now. It is definitely NOT a how-to, but more of a travelogue with some important information buried in it. I'm finding it an okay read.

One nugget I learned the Schengen Agreement & its impact on US citizens visiting Europe:

If you are a U.S. citizen with a valid U.S. passport traveling for tourism or business, you can apply to enter the Schengen area without a visa for a period of three months within each six-month period. If you spend three months in the Schengen area during any six-month period, you must wait another three months before you can apply to enter the Schengen area again without a visa.

Schengen FAQ

I saw this article on Lynne & Tim Martin today. They carry international health insurance ($400), budget $2500/mo max for lodging/utilities, and $1000/mo for food, $500/mo for entertainment & travel. I can't remember if they even mentioned these amounts in the book.

Extreme retirement abroad: How one footloose couple sees the world | Reuters

 

[Surewhitey]

We've been doing quite a bit of travel on a budget this year.

4 weeks in LA and Yosemite in May
Stayed with great friends & another loaned us their car as they were not in town.

3 week in Dallas with DD in June

5-6 weeks in Dallas and Hot Springs AR this month and next
DD again and a old friend has invited us to watch his house in HS, AR.
Rented out our place for this trip... In Playa del Carmen

We just add airfare & a little car rental.

Also started using housecarers.com for possible house sitting jobs in cool places.

 

[Focus]

I saw this article on Lynne & Tim Martin today. They carry international health insurance ($400), budget $2500/mo max for lodging/utilities, and $1000/mo for food, $500/mo for entertainment & travel. I can't remember if they even mentioned these amounts in the book.

Extreme retirement abroad: How one footloose couple sees the world | Reuters

I was hesitant to read yet another article on this "home free" duo, but Mark Miller does a good job of covering retirement issues. I thought his article had more specifics (and was thus more useful) than the book itself.

Add Social Security to the $6,000 they're withdrawing from their portfolio monthly, and we can roughly estimate they're living on $110,000 or so a year. They may not consider themselves wealthy, but they're more comfortable than most. Not everyone can afford to do this.

 

[krafthaus]

Steve & Lulu do a nice job of trekking by motor camper and boat. Try giving them a read:
yodersafloat | We don't need no stinking schedule!

 

[coldnose]

After getting the book from my library and reading it, I can only say that I'm glad I didn't buy it. It would have been nice if they included a budget spreadsheet.

I've given this lifestyle quite a bit of thought. Airbnb seems OK, but I'm not keen on living with my 'hosts' and would like to see more worldwide short term rentals centrally located on a reliable rental website similar to rent.com. I know that craigslist also serves as a place to find short-term apartments, but avoiding scammers is probably a full time job.

 

[kcowan]

$400 for emergency health insurance in her 70s. Sounds too good to be true.

Do they avoid California taxes? What would they pay in taxes every year?

 

[MooreBonds]

$400 for emergency health insurance in her 70s. Sounds too good to be true.

That's $400/MONTH. Also, as with most on-line articles, they fail to have even the most base of details. It could be a $10,000 deductible policy for only heart-attacks and other insanely expensive health issues.

Do they avoid California taxes? What would they pay in taxes every year?

I find it interesting that they merely say that the financial advisor sends them "the same $6,000/month stipend they were receiving when they owned a home in CA". So they are able to spend $6,000/mo, AND pay a FA an unknown annual fee, BEFORE you add in the presumed equity they had in a CA home. Of course, there's also the electronics business it says the husband runs (with unspecified income), along with "publishing novels" (which I presume might amount to a rounding error in their budget).

Definitely doesn't sound too "middle classish" to me if your portfolio can pay you $72k/year after financial advisor fees, without home equity. Of course, again, the article fails to mention anything about their investment plan, balances, yields, or returns. For all we know they will end up hanging it up in 5 years and be forced to ratchet expenses down to SS + $10,000/year.

 

[seraphim]

We're gone about six months out of the year in our TC. Spend about $1000-$1500 for a month of travel. Our annual travel budget is $18000.


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[RetiredAndFree]

We're gone about six months out of the year in our TC. Spend about $1000-$1500 for a month of travel. Our annual travel budget is $18000.


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We're gone about the same, spend about the same. Thus far in 2014 we've spent five months in our RV traveling through the western half of the US, plus lots of shorter, more local trips, plus one 'splashy' trip to S. America.

Of all the things we've spent money on over our lifetimes, travel is the one category I can look back on with absolutely no regrets. The stimulation, the learning, the challenges, the joy . . . I can't imagine my life without it.

 

[seraphim]

We're gone about the same, spend about the same. Thus far in 2014 we've spent five months in our RV traveling through the western half of the US, plus lots of shorter, more local trips, plus one 'splashy' trip to S. America.

Of all the things we've spent money on over our lifetimes, travel is the one category I can look back on with absolutely no regrets. The stimulation, the learning, the challenges, the joy . . . I can't imagine my life without it.

+1

We need to do more in the SW - not big on the desert environment, however. I know there's a lot more to it than that...


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[RetiredAndFree]

+1

We need to do more in the SW - not big on the desert environment, however. I know there's a lot more to it than that...


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I would be happy to make recommendations on 'must do's' vs 'not so much' if the time ever comes. We stayed in over 40 different locations throughout 11 states. Our focus was getting to as many National Parks as possible, everything from Saguaro NP in S. Arizona to Theodore Roosevelt NP in N. Dakota, but we hit lots and lots of other sites and places beside. Truly the experience of our lifetimes to date.

 

[In-control]

Wife and I are going to buy a used enclosed trailer 17 X 7 and fill it with our home. Locate furnished or unfurnished houses/apartments for rent during the off seasons and hang out in those area's.

Rent a uhaul to move the trailer and get down to one car.

 

[seraphim]

Wife and I are going to buy a used enclosed trailer 17 X 7 and fill it with our home. Locate furnished or unfurnished houses/apartments for rent during the off seasons and hang out in those area's.



Rent a uhaul to move the trailer and get down to one car.

Are you going to convert the trailer to camp in, for when you're not renting a place?


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[In-control]

Are you going to convert the trailer to camp in, for when you're not renting a place?


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Nope - any gaps will stay in hotels/campgrounds(Tent) etc... I will plan the logistics so we don't do that too much. for example in our area, MA, from Sept thru May you can get a place near the ocean for 900/month with everything included except food. That's 8 months of 12. The next 4 maybe someplace away from cities and tourist area's - we shall see.

 

[seraphim]

Nope - any gaps will stay in hotels/campgrounds(Tent) etc... I will plan the logistics so we don't do that too much. for example in our area, MA, from Sept thru May you can get a place near the ocean for 900/month with everything included except food. That's 8 months of 12. The next 4 maybe someplace away from cities and tourist area's - we shall see.

Great! Sounds like an excellent plan...


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[simple girl]

Wife and I are going to buy a used enclosed trailer 17 X 7 and fill it with our home. Locate furnished or unfurnished houses/apartments for rent during the off seasons and hang out in those area's.

Rent a uhaul to move the trailer and get down to one car.

Are you going to hire someone to help you load/unload the trailer each time you move? As someone who has moved a lot, I'm recalling how tough the move part was each time. Perhaps you are really scaling down your household items that you plan to move each time?

 

[spncity]

I would be happy to make recommendations on 'must do's' vs 'not so much' if the time ever comes. We stayed in over 40 different locations throughout 11 states. Our focus was getting to as many National Parks as possible, everything from Saguaro NP in S. Arizona to Theodore Roosevelt NP in N. Dakota, but we hit lots and lots of other sites and places beside. Truly the experience of our lifetimes to date.

I'd be interested in these recommendations - start a thread or add here or arrange to email - your choice.

Kindest regards.

 

[spncity]

Thanks,

For us our motto is "adventure before dementia", we've known too many couples where one or the other becomes too ill to travel. Fortunately this is something that both of us wanted to do and were able to retire early enough to do while still in good health.

Love the motto...