10 years later: what happened to retiree couple who became world nomads

Billy and Akaisha were the ones who inspired us to work towards early retirement. Like them, we have a home base and live the 'Nomad' life about 6 months at a time, then take mini trips the rest of the year. We are approaching year 10 since retiring early in our 40s and thank them and this group for the inspiration and info. Interestingly, since Covid, we have met a large number of early retirees who consider themselves part of the 'FIRE Movement', traveling full time and relying on their YouTube Income to supplement equity they had from selling their homes and 401k. It will be interesting to see how they do long term as well!

Dang, I wouldn't want to have to rely on YouTube income. The bloggers got hit hard with some pretty massive traffic and income reduction over the past few years.

Grounded Life Retirement claims to pull in $15k-$20k per month from their YouTube channel.


In this video, he talks about how they probably wouldn't have bought economy plane seats if they knew they would have the YouTube income. They say they retired with $300k.
 
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I (we) had this realization when visiting Europe (London and Paris) last year. After watching Rick Steves for decades (when working) we had all these fantasies about travel. Figured out quick that we want to be AWAY from people. A private (but not remote) cabin on a mountain side (or beach) with an outdoor deck is much more our thing. Also, after changing our diet a couple of years ago, restaurants (which seem to be 80% of the reason most people travel) hold no appeal for us. Strange the way things play out.
This is the sort of thing me and my wife talk about (the cabin on the lake with a small dock, secluded but not too remote.)

We will be finished paying for our primary residence in a few years. I was wondering did you wait to purchase till you hit full retirement or did you take out a mortgage and manage two properties once you paid off your first? Also how did you find it?
 
Golden Mean said:
I (we) had this realization when visiting Europe (London and Paris) last year. After watching Rick Steves for decades (when working) we had all these fantasies about travel. Figured out quick that we want to be AWAY from people. A private (but not remote) cabin on a mountain side (or beach) with an outdoor deck is much more our thing. Also, after changing our diet a couple of years ago, restaurants (which seem to be 80% of the reason most people travel) hold no appeal for us. Strange the way things play out.
This is the sort of thing me and my wife talk about (the cabin on the lake with a small dock, secluded but not too remote.)

We will be finished paying for our primary residence in a few years. I was wondering did you wait to purchase till you hit full retirement or did you take out a mortgage and manage two properties once you paid off your first? Also how did you find it?
I was speaking more to renting a cabin for vacations than buying one. We haven't bought one. We are planning on a finding a primary residence that's got a bit of what a private cabin property would offer in the future.
 
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We will be finished paying for our primary residence in a few years. I was wondering did you wait to purchase till you hit full retirement or did you take out a mortgage and manage two properties once you paid off your first? Also how did you find it?
Having experienced a cottage in the family for over 100 years, here are my thoughts:
Pick an area within 300 miles maximum radius , and of course 100 miles is much nicer. As you will need to haul stuff back and forth. A short distance of say 100 miles means you can use it on weekends, but if it takes a full day to drive there, then weekends are pretty much out of reach.

Also a small cabin is better, as less maintenance and easier to repair.

Consider that many times depending on many factors like condition of the place and availability of local workers you may be spending time fixing/repairing things instead of sitting on the dock (which requires replacement every 15 years, or insert and removal if a removable dock each year).

Renting a couple of weeks per year will cost what taxes and repairs cost yearly at a remote cabin without the work.
 
Renting a couple of weeks per year will cost what taxes and repairs cost yearly at a remote cabin without the work.
I would certainly rent for a few seasons before ever considering purchase.

DW's parents had a small river cottage and (literally) all they ever did with it was keep it in repair. They never (never as in not one single time) did they sleep in it! FIL put in a septic system (I helped him dig it) and they never even hooked it up! They got poison ivy every spring when they cleaned the property and DW and I always helped pick up sticks in the yard.

Eventually, the parents got so they could no longer keep it up and then it flooded 2 years in a row (ruining all the dry wall.) SO they owned it for 40 years and w*rked on it for 35 years and never spent a night in it. What's up with that?
 
We have rented the same lakeside house in Maine for two weeks every summer for the last 24 years. It is the perfect retreat. From my vantage point, I much prefer renting it. I don't have to get the dock in or out of the water. When the water heater breaks, it's not my problem. If someone breaks in while it is vacant, also not my problem.
 
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