4 Years of FIRE & Perpetual Travel/Nomad Life

[Diver]

Thanks for this post. We have considered a liveaboard in Raja Ampat. We spent 2 weeks on Gangga Island in 2015 and really liked the diving there. Maldives is on our bucket list, as is the Tubbataha Reef.

When you did the Great Barrier Reef, did you go out to Osprey Reef and Lizard Island? We are thinking of this but have read a lot about coral bleaching in that area.

Have you ever dove Papau New Guinea? That’s another one we’d like to try. So many places!

OK, now Gangga Island is on my list. Looks beautiful! I think doing a liveaboard is the best way to do Raja Ampat. We spent a lot of time getting to dive sites from land. We plan to go back there on a liveaboard one day.

We started our GBR liveaboard by flying out to Lizard Island on a puddle jumper to meet the boat. The views of the reef from the plane were to die for. There was alot of bleaching when we were there 2 years ago, and I hear more now. The shallow reef walls we saw looked dead. There were some pretty pinnacles in deeper water. It is a bucket list thing for so many of us, so I would never say don't go, just go as far out as you can, and don't have high expectations. It will pale in comparison with where you have been, I think. Mix it in with seeing other things in Oz and check out NZ, esp the southern island if you can. Beautiful place!

No to Papua New Guinea. DH really wants to go, so still on our list.

 

[Scuba]

OK, now Gangga Island is on my list. Looks beautiful! I think doing a liveaboard is the best way to do Raja Ampat. We spent a lot of time getting to dive sites from land. We plan to go back there on a liveaboard one day.

We started our GBR liveaboard by flying out to Lizard Island on a puddle jumper to meet the boat. The views of the reef from the plane were to die for. There was alot of bleaching when we were there 2 years ago, and I hear more now. The shallow reef walls we saw looked dead. There were some pretty pinnacles in deeper water. It is a bucket list thing for so many of us, so I would never say don't go, just go as far out as you can, and don't have high expectations. It will pale in comparison with where you have been, I think. Mix it in with seeing other things in Oz and check out NZ, esp the southern island if you can. Beautiful place!

No to Papua New Guinea. DH really wants to go, so still on our list.

Thanks Diver. Good to have a report from a recent trip. We planned a trip to PNG and Lizard Island years ago, but had to cancel it and never rebooked. Since ER, we considered a “slow travel” trip to Oz, including Lizard Island and Osprey Reef. The diving part is quite expensive so not sure if it’s worth it.

The diving around Gangga Island was really great. What I didn’t love but seems to be common to all resorts in that area of Indonesia is the strong currents at the beach, and all the trash in the ocean. The resort works hard to keep their beaches clean, but due to the currents, trash (shoes, tires, clothing, and food wrappers) is constantly washing up, and none of the resorts in the area provide kayaks, sailboats, etc. to use off the beach because the currents are too strong. After a morning of diving, I love to catch some sun on the beach and enjoy snorkeling or small boats, and that wasn’t possible there. Still, the resort is lovely and the diving was very memorable.

If you haven’t been to Fiji, we loved the diving there. Qamea Resort is very nice. Excellent food, staff, and dive operation.

 

[HI Bill]

We just finished our planning tonight for a 2 week trip to Maldives, incl a 1 wk liveaboard! So happy to hear you liked it!

We also loved Palau. So beautiful! I hope you saw the super friendly Napolean wrase there that like to be "petted". Bali was OK, but we were over by the Liberty wreck. We have done Grand Cayman, but need to get around to the other Caymans. We have not been to Wakatobi, so will have to look into it.

Our favorite pkace so far is Indonesia, specifically Raja Ampat. Really incredible, we thought. We decided not to rough it in a homestay (could not deal with no fresh water showers!) and stayed at the only modern dive resort there, Meridian, and all their boats and equipment were brand new, the dive shop kids were all from South Africa, but all the dive guides and captains were locals who knew that water like the back of their hands. Every dive seemed better than the one before. Komodo was nice too, but the currents in some places were almost too much. That said, you will see some huge mantas there.

For wrecks, there is no comparison to Chuuk/Truk. I think there are over 60 wrecks there from WWII Operation Hailstorm (mainly shipwrecks, but also some planes). It was so eerie diving through huge ships through torpedoes and bomb holes. We dove some of the Japanese wrecks with a Japanese diver, who shared all his uw pics with us. It is their Pearl Harbor, so to speak, so that was interesting. Go sooner rather than later, as some wrecks are still full of fuel and are deteriorating.

Also, we were wowed by Tubbataha Reef in the Philippines, which we had never heard of until we got there. It is really great diving teeming with sharks, and we were arms length of a curious whale shark on one dive. Incredibly clear water and a pristine reef. It is a well protected national park reachable only by liveaboard (too far for any fishermen to ruin) and only open for diving a few months a year. If you go to the Philippines, you have to check it out. It was by random luck that we heard about it at the end of their season and caught the very last liveaboard to go. It was a bit of a rickety old boat, but the diving more than made up for it, esp the whale shark, and all the other liveaboards were gone for the season, so we had the place to ourselves. Did I say dumb luck?

You have already been to some incredible places, but there are even more to enjoy for us all. We are doing a 2 week liveaboard trip to the Red Sea in Egypt in June (from Marsa Alam) , so PM me if you like in July, and I will let you know how it compares.

Happy bubbles!

Awesome! I did see some Napoleon wrasse at Blue Corner, but that was back in 1997, and I don't think he wanted to be petted, then. In Bali, we hired an excellent Japanese dive guide, and he showed us things I would have totally missed, including the pygmy sea horses! We did all shore diving in the Tulamben area.
I've also done some great diving in the Okinawan islands (Honto, Ishigaki, Iriomete and the Kerama Islands), Wake Island, Guam, Bahamas (Tiger Beach), Florida Keys, West Palm Beach area of Florida (Blue Heron Bridge, Boynton Beach), Bonaire, and Little Cayman, as well as a couple in Botany Bay, Australia, and most recently, 9 surprisingly good dives in New Zealand (Poor Knights and Coramandel Peninsula). My wife has done a lot of diving in Thailand and the Philippines. Looking forward to progressing through the dive bucket list! Australian fur seals, minke whales, great whites, and a few other big critters remain on my 'critter' bucket list! We are thinking of going to Raja Ampat soon!

 

[tn3sport]

Hey Diver. We are planning our own nomadic breakaway in the coming years. Boat in St. Augustine being prepped... At any rate. Doing some research. Have you heard of "Diver Dan" supplement insurance? If so, any opinions or experiences? My understanding is they airlift you back to the US for healthcare if something happens while outside of the US. Doesn't have to be diving related accident or issue.



Most recent example was a US tourist driving on the wrong side of the road in Turks and Caicos (British colony) got into a head on collision. His Diver Dan policy heli-evacuated him to the Ft. Lauderdale hospital for care.



I think the policy is less than $100/yr and it is clearly NOT intended to be a primary policy. It sounds like a nice layer to add to the insurance stack for a nomadic living outside the US.

 

[HI Bill]

Have you heard of "Diver Dan" supplement insurance? If so, any opinions or experiences? My understanding is they airlift you back to the US for healthcare if something happens while outside of the US. Doesn't have to be diving related accident or issue.

The insurance company is DAN (Divers Alert Network). Coverage costs and details can be found here:

https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/scuba-dive-insurance/?a=memberinfo

You have to join DAN to get the insurance. The coverage is pretty good. I needed emergency medical treatment, and they covered 100% of my treatment costs not covered by my primary insurance. I never saw an invoice, even though the treatment was likely around $15-20K.

They have a $100K medical evacuation coverage: "DAN Members receive $100,000 of emergency medical evacuation assistance coverage. This benefit is valid for diving and nondiving medical emergencies anytime you travel more than 50 miles from home." I'm pretty sure this would only apply during medical emergencies where the local hospitals/clinics couldn't do the treatment, but you can call them to confirm my assumption.

 

[flyingaway]

In our years of travel some of the unhappiest travelers, the biggest moaners/complainers, and the rudest were the ones who expected everything to be the same as home. From food to customs to accommodation. Made us wonder why they bothered to travel.

Some people traveled to south America countries and complained that people there do not speak English.

 

[brett]

^+1. That...and do they take USD in such and such a country?

We. or should I say I am typically planning for two trips when we return home from a winter trip in March. We start thinking about a fall trip and a winter trip. We often have a plan A and a plan B for both, each having some variations along the way. It is a crazy way to do it but that is how it works for us. The past few winters have been to the same area so we may change it up a little this winter.

The final choice usually depends on a combination of what strikes us on that particular day, where DW wants to go, the travel options, and where our point of departure will be. We do have a bucket list but we like to add on other areas where possible. So, if we decide to go to Corfu and the Ionian islands in the fall we will probably fly to Venice. Rent a car, drive down the coast to Bari, and then take a flight to Corfu on a local airline. After than, some islands on the other side, and then perhaps time in Israel because it is so close and easy to get to from Greece. That is an example of how we plan. Not sure of the route home yet.

 

[rkser]

A very inspiring & helpful Thread

 

[TDub]

A very inspiring & helpful Thread

Agreed

 

[Diver]

Hey Diver. We are planning our own nomadic breakaway in the coming years. Boat in St. Augustine being prepped... At any rate. Doing some research. Have you heard of "Diver Dan" supplement insurance? If so, any opinions or experiences? My understanding is they airlift you back to the US for healthcare if something happens while outside of the US. Doesn't have to be diving related accident or issue.



Most recent example was a US tourist driving on the wrong side of the road in Turks and Caicos (British colony) got into a head on collision. His Diver Dan policy heli-evacuated him to the Ft. Lauderdale hospital for care.



I think the policy is less than $100/yr and it is clearly NOT intended to be a primary policy. It sounds like a nice layer to add to the insurance stack for a nomadic living outside the US.

What HNL Bill said! We do have an annual DAN policy, as we do dive several times a year. I have also heard good things about them taking care of non diving accidents or emergency medical conditions, including airlifting people back to the states for treatment. We plan to keep the annual policy for the foreseeable future. I do consider it a good backup insurance for an emergency medical condition and to get us back home for treatment if necessary, as well as coverage for diving accidents.

Thank you, HNL Bill, for sharing your good experience with DAN. I have read some other great reviews on scuba boards from people that suffered non-diving medical conditions and how well DAN coordinated their care and costly medical evacuation from the Caribbean to Florida. Fingers crossed we never have to use it, but glad to have it! Being divers, we would never go without it simply for their expertise in case of a diving accident.

 

[Markola]

Congrats on your inventive lifestyle and thanks for sharing all of your experience. What kind of cell phones and plan do you have and are you able to track each other’s locations in all countries, please? Costs? DW and I are planning a GAP year in 2021 and we want to be able to see the other’s location at all times. Thank you.

 

[Diver]

Congrats on your inventive lifestyle and thanks for sharing all of your experience. What kind of cell phones and plan do you have and are you able to track each other’s locations in all countries, please? Costs? DW and I are planning a GAP year in 2021 and we want to be able to see the other’s location at all times. Thank you.

We use T-Mobile for cell service. We have never tried to track each others location before, but there is probably an app for that, or maybe you could use one of the "find my phone" features. Not sure.

FWIW, we use wifi when we can to not abuse the unlimited data, and also download maps of areas we are heading to next while on wifi for offline use once we get there. Then even if offline, the map feature will get your location from the cell tower and give you directions and track your progress, etc. without using data.

 

[oscar1]

Huge fans of Billy and Akaisha (https://www.retireearlylifestyle.com/). They also were my early retirement inspiration although we still have not become travel nomads (soon hopefully - still have an aging dog at home - last kid to get off the payroll!). In the mean time, Mr. Money Mustache was HUGE inspiration for getting our financial house in order so we could retire early (https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/). Good luck. The World Is Your Pearl

 

[brett]

I would love to do a year or two of travel with or without a fixed address. DW...not so much. So we compromise. I start looking and thinking about the next trip or the one after that about a week after returning home from a trip. So it goes at our home.

 

[WestUniversity]

4 Years of FIRE & Perpetual Travel/Nomad Life

Some people traveled to south America countries and complained that people there do not speak English.

To the extent that I can, I try to blend in with the locals. Eat where they eat, shop where they shop and so on. Another culture is just that, another culture. Don’t expect them to do things the same way they are done in the States. Anyone I run across that has those expectations I tell them to simply stay home...

 

[bearkeley]

Great thread. We too, were inspired by Billy and Akasha and travel 6 or 7 months during the winter (mostly diving too!) since we retired 4 years ago. We have realized that having a ‘home base’ is important to us but recently decided to sell our house and use one of our vacation rentals as our ‘home base’ for a few months out of the year. Hard part is downsizing, but hopefully we’ll simplify our lives too. Congrats!

 

[BarbWire]

We use T-Mobile for cell service. We have never tried to track each others location before, but there is probably an app for that, or maybe you could use one of the "find my phone" features. Not sure.

FWIW, we use wifi when we can to not abuse the unlimited data, and also download maps of areas we are heading to next while on wifi for offline use once we get there. Then even if offline, the map feature will get your location from the cell tower and give you directions and track your progress, etc. without using data.

From other forums I've heard that T-Mobile is cracking down on long-term travellers and cancelling accounts ( and hence phone numbers) that are used abroad during more than three billing cycles per year. Have you had any pushback from T-Mobile? With your low data usage, you may be flying under the radar.

For my upcoming 18-month-ish trip I want to keep my T-Mobile account -- which has worked well on 6-week trips in the past, in Asia and in Europe -- to have access to my phone number for second factor identification, calls to/from the US, etc. So as to not irk T-Mobile, I may buy a local SIM for my second cellphone, and use that for data.

Thoughts?

 

[dixonge]

Here in Chapala, Mexico, a couple could live well on $1,500/mo, including eating out alot. You can rent a nice apt in town for $300-400/mo all-in.

These numbers are *very* optimistic. Try $2000-2500 for more realistic numbers. We recently moved away from the Chapala area due to ever-increasing rents. Our former place, a tiny studio, now goes for $850/mo. I would say that $700 is the new base rent for lakeside from Chapala to Jocotepec. If you want a convenient location or a view of the lake, plan on $1000.

In comparison our rent in Zacatecas is $211 for the most modern apartment we have ever lived in here in Mexico, going back to 2012. Of course, unlike Lakeside, English is as rare as gringos here.

 

[Bigdawg]

From other forums I've heard that T-Mobile is cracking down on long-term travellers and cancelling accounts ( and hence phone numbers) that are used abroad during more than three billing cycles per year. Have you had any pushback from T-Mobile? With your low data usage, you may be flying under the radar.

For my upcoming 18-month-ish trip I want to keep my T-Mobile account -- which has worked well on 6-week trips in the past, in Asia and in Europe -- to have access to my phone number for second factor identification, calls to/from the US, etc. So as to not irk T-Mobile, I may buy a local SIM for my second cellphone, and use that for data.

Thoughts?

My DD just got back from 9 months in Ireland (grad school). We have Verizon. She would swap out her sim card going to and from Ireland. Never had an issue. As long as the bill was paid everything was fine.

 

[HI Bill]

From other forums I've heard that T-Mobile is cracking down on long-term travellers and cancelling accounts ( and hence phone numbers) that are used abroad during more than three billing cycles per year. Have you had any pushback from T-Mobile? With your low data usage, you may be flying under the radar.

For my upcoming 18-month-ish trip I want to keep my T-Mobile account -- which has worked well on 6-week trips in the past, in Asia and in Europe -- to have access to my phone number for second factor identification, calls to/from the US, etc. So as to not irk T-Mobile, I may buy a local SIM for my second cellphone, and use that for data.

Thoughts?

I have T-Mobile's Simple Choice, and used it for three weeks in New Zealand and 6 weeks in Guam. Haven't had a problem, but we'll see once I move overseas. They say that the account is not for full-time use out of the country, and I definitely can see them cancelling the account.

 

[Diver]

Great thread. We too, were inspired by Billy and Akasha and travel 6 or 7 months during the winter (mostly diving too!) since we retired 4 years ago. We have realized that having a ‘home base’ is important to us but recently decided to sell our house and use one of our vacation rentals as our ‘home base’ for a few months out of the year. Hard part is downsizing, but hopefully we’ll simplify our lives too. Congrats!

Good luck with the downsizing, Bearkeley! I think you will really appreciate it when it is done, but it can seem overwhelming at the start. Should get easier and easier, tho!

 

[Diver]

From other forums I've heard that T-Mobile is cracking down on long-term travellers and cancelling accounts ( and hence phone numbers) that are used abroad during more than three billing cycles per year. Have you had any pushback from T-Mobile? With your low data usage, you may be flying under the radar.

For my upcoming 18-month-ish trip I want to keep my T-Mobile account -- which has worked well on 6-week trips in the past, in Asia and in Europe -- to have access to my phone number for second factor identification, calls to/from the US, etc. So as to not irk T-Mobile, I may buy a local SIM for my second cellphone, and use that for data.

Thoughts?

Great point, BarbWire. I have read similar stories of accounts cancelled. One was an intl flight attendant. I am concerned, because I got one text from T-Mobile last year, and one this year that said that I had excessive intl usage and that it was intended for occasional use. I have not heard about the 3 billing cycle rule. My husband has never gotten a nastygram, so I am very careful to use wifi nearly all the time and let him turn on data if necessary. I do plan to get a sim card when we stay in a country for awhile.

We have 4 other lines on our family plan, and they are all stateside. I don't know if that helps. Somehow DH is flying under the radar, but I have been flagged. I do love T-Mobile, so fingers crossed. It took 2 years to get any sort of slap on the hand.

I think you will be OK with your trip, but I would advise you to use wifi anywhere available so your usage stays down.

 

[Diver]

These numbers are *very* optimistic. Try $2000-2500 for more realistic numbers. We recently moved away from the Chapala area due to ever-increasing rents. Our former place, a tiny studio, now goes for $850/mo. I would say that $700 is the new base rent for lakeside from Chapala to Jocotepec. If you want a convenient location or a view of the lake, plan on $1000.

In comparison our rent in Zacatecas is $211 for the most modern apartment we have ever lived in here in Mexico, going back to 2012. Of course, unlike Lakeside, English is as rare as gringos here.

I will defer to you since you lived there, and we only were visiting.

We paid $600/mo thru Airbnb (owner had a 50% discount from daily rate of $40 for monthly rentals) for a 2 bdrm apt in Chapala centro a block from the lake and a block from the main street. Walkable to everything in town. It was a typical older Mexican apt, tho, not a modern gringo one, but clean with wifi and TV and all utilities included. A nicer more modern place would definitely cost more.

We met friends that were apt hunting in town and they found some apts (again, older, not modern, and in local neighborhoods) for the prices I mentioned. No lake views, of course! There seemed to be a big price difference between renting from locals using word of mouth from other locals vs renting from other gringos or going through realtors and advertisements. We did hear many long term expats complain about rising rents, though, so I hear you.

Sounds like you found a great area with a really reasonable cost of living. Will have to check it out one day!

 

[brett]

Very envious of your lifestyle over the past four years.

Good for you for living your dream. Happy trails. I hope the wind is always at your back.

 

[Kim451]

Did you fly or take local buses when traveling Vietnam? I'm considering it but SWF here so not sure if I'd be comfortable or not. If you didn't have DH along, would you be fine with solo travel there?

I'll be working in India for a few months so I guess I'll get to find out the easy way there!