Over the years, I've seen a lot of people use travel as a way to challenge themselves to somehow do or be better. They have good intentions but push it beyond reasonable limits and I did the same. I'd carry bags that were way too heavy, stay at Airbnb's with no elevator and put up with cheap furnishings. Took me years to accept my actual needs. Now I treat travel as my regular way of life and arrange it the same way as if I were living there all the time. I choose more comfortable housing in central locations, pack my own cookware/knives/utensils, and schedule plenty of leisure time to relax and recuperate. I've been to 40 countries since 1990 and it's just my life, not a contest to see how much stress I can take or how little I can spend.
I’m a scientist so what you are doing makes perfect sense to me! Rather than wait til you had all the answers, you set out on your journey of full time travel. Now, you are looking back at the data (health, airbnb, etc) and you are going to adjust based on what you’ve learned for you. Your analogy with the baby is spot on!
I’d slow it down - pick 4 destinations a year - go for 2-4 months to each and abandon 24/7 travel - post Covid it’s no fun traveling, so adjust. The dream was not travelling anyway, it was the time together at the destination.
Hi Stephen, we have done a lot of that in our travels and we are trying many different models. For example, we were in San Miguel de Allende for 3 months, Athens for 2 months, Chiang Mai for around 5 months and Kuala Lumpur for 3 months. This is fun to learn and we are making great progress now.
Great insights! So important to focus on your health! I think most of the problems you experienced are directly related to the pace and quantity of travel. You might want to consider concentrating on 3-4 specific countries or regions each year and spending 3-4 months in one place. This would allow you to establish healthy routines and establish bonds with the local community.
Thank you for sharing, Neil. I think it's very important for those who might be considering this lifestyle to know the challenges involved. I've been in this nomad lifestyle for a little over a year now and love it more and more each day. But there are things that I've had to work on (and still work on) that I hadn't given much thought to before I started. The biggest two are ones you touched on in your video...learning how to eat in a healthy way while not putting on the pounds and figuring out how to get sufficient exercise. I've really struggled with both but feel like I've gotten into a routine that works for me. I only have 2 meals a day (a healthy breakfast and lunch), with a light healthy snack like an apple or similar in the early evening. I also walk as much as possible when I am out and about and I love to hike, but like you pointed out, sometimes weather can make it difficult to do as much as you would like. So I've started staying in AirBnBs or hotels that have a fitness center so that I can use a treadmill and do other working out when being outside isn't optimal. I often have to remind friends and family that this isn't a vacation. This is my normal life. I love living this way, but it takes some adjustments to learn how to live it in a healthy and satisfying way. I believe those adjustments that you and Sarah have been working on are what you will be covering in next week's video. I look forward to hearing your tips! Thank you again for sharing!
Absolutely get that thing about it not being a vacation... it is something that family struggle with understanding isn't it. Sounds like you too are living a great life. Hope we see you somewhere on the road.
Neil, you and Sarah are an inspiration for us as we sell down everything in prep to go as a four member family in 2026. This video highlights things we are already thinking about. It's so good to get such an honest take on things that can help us too. Thank you both so much.
Hey Fusedarchive, thank you so much. We really want to be able to help with the kind of information we were unable to find when we started our travels. Really pleased we are able to hel you in some way.
Thanks Neil, for the authenticity of the video. We are just starting our second year of travel, and we have been following you for sometime now. Your intentionality lessons that you taught early has stuck with us. Life, at times, going to throw challengers at us, and we always want to believe that those challenges will never derail our vision of travel. We believe in your vision and your intentionality and your capacity to meet the challenge in front of you and we are looking forward to see how do you meet those challenges.
Hey thank you so much. These are just some of the challenges we have faced and we actually love the learning as we go and you seem to be doing similar. Happy travels!
Hi to Neil,Sarah and viewers. Me and my wife have been traveling for 3 years and this video is all spot on. We have struggled to eat healthy and keep in a fitness routine. We are currently in Vietnam and I can confirm that is to hot for ten miles hikes etc etc. We travel fast making the routine thing harder.. I am 48 and my wife is 42 and we are both generally fit people.. We spend 6 months of the year in a motorhome in Europe and I find this helps to keep a home and some sort of routine. Just having your personal home comforts to hand helps.. My advice is to keep flexible as what you think might be the dream might not be,it will need tweaking and changing to make it work for you.. Wayne
Thank you, Neil. These are all issues that can be game changers. Never once did my wife or I think you were “doing things wrong”. We’ve been watching your videos and very thankful for the candid discussions you provide. We hope to begin our slow travel soon. We’ve been using our vacation travel to scout out areas for our slow travels. Cheers for your great information. 🌏✈️❤
I think if I were in your situation, I would decide what my favorite place was to date and go spend a year there. Live there. Cook, get your health straightened out, have a garden, immerse yourself in the language. Your videos could be deep dives into where you are. Just my two cents. I wish you guys the best whatever you decide to do.
That is a really good two cents. We sometimes feel the same and other times just can't wait to go exploring somewhere new. We think we are now getting into a really good rhythm and you will see that in future videos.
You are being brutally honest with yourselves and I can relate completely. My husband and I have accepted our limitations and live full time in South America as expats and travel to other world destinations for 4-6 weeks at a time twice a year to keep our wanderlust satisfied. Where we moved was based on affordability, access ro good healthcare and general ease of living. Most days we are blessed with the wow moments we get while traveling to foreign countries while experiencing incredible hospitality.
My husband and I are slow travellers and plan to spend a year in South America next year. Any tips on best places to base ourselves for three months at a time?
Hi Neil: Thank you for sharing your trials and tribulations. For us short term vacation type travel has been our style in Europe and the Caribbean(55 trips). We like to have a home base and will be downsizing to an apartment so we can travel anytime and hopefully while we still have our health. You and Sarah have freedom, no rules and you can change your plans anytime. Live the dream and stay safe and healthy. Cheers from Canada.
Hi Paul, having that base to return to must be pretty cool. Funny really isn't it, you can't have everything in life and every decision we all make we discount other decisions we could have taken. That is actually the fun in life for us.
You and Sarah are great inspiration to all of us. I absolutely love your videos and eagerly look forward to them. You've got a natural talent as a speaker who's very easy to listen to and we all wish you the very best in your adventures.
Thanks for such a candid video. We have been planning travel as well, and have found that things are a lot more complicated than those extremely chipper videos make it out to be. Your comments about exercise and planning are spot on.
Thank you so much. We like to be as clear as possible as we know at times, people are basing their own plans on us... So we feel some responsibility for getting it right. Appreciate the comment.
Thank you for sharing this, and I totally get where you are coming from. I turned 57 a fortnight ago, and also went part time with the intention of finally retiring at 58 and go travelling. However, I do find myself tempted by "one mor year" syndrome - going to 59. Hearing what you have to say really helps :)
Haha we have a lot of friends that are in the One More Year club. We get it totally but don't do it at the cost of missing out on an amazing retirement.
My partner and I have been early retired and slow traveling for 8 months now. I totally feel you on this video. Getting into a healthy routine when moving so much is extremely difficult! Can't wait for the next video. Thanks sooo much for sharing!
Anyone who says that long-term world travel is easy or for everyone is nuts. It’s not for everyone. That said, if you can get past the ups and downs of some of the issues that come with any type of travel, the benefits of travel far outweigh the challenges. You go with the flow, adjust to the situation, make the best of where you are, and move on. The weather nasty? Well, you can still have great experiences-sometimes unexpectedly great. You get out of travel whatever you are willing to put into it. If you go in with attitudes that if something goes wrong you’ll be upset or disappointed, then that’s going to be your experience. If you go in with the attitude that no matter what you’re going to have the best experience you can, then you will have some great experiences no matter the challenges you face. Neil, I love your and Sarah’s videos. So informative, authentic, and enjoyable. Love that you’re willing to do videos just like this. Keep it up, do not let challenges interrupt your dreams. Keep on keeping on.
Thank you so much. We love the fact that we are always reassessing what we are doing. The one thing that remains a constant for us is.... travel. How we do it and how we flex is the changes we make. Lovely comment thank you.
Well Neil we appreciate your candor on this topic of health. If you want to improve your health moving forward your gonna have to make some changes in your lifestyle and eating habits. I have improved my health significantly at age 56. I lost 40 lbs and fixed my non- alcohol fatty liver, stabilized my blood pressure, improved greatly my sore knees, got my mental fog cleared up…… on and on with the health improvements! I’m excited to retire at 58 and start our slow travel adventures now that the health issues getting better, it will make traveling easier and more fun. With all the walking your doing maybe just add some push ups every day or so, you don’t need to do long runs or heavy weights to be strong and healthy at our age. Proper nutrition ( getting nutrients out of our food) is very important also, so watch for digestive issues and fix them when you notice it. Fasting from food for Long periods a day is incredible for reversing health issues (especially metabolic issues). Get to a point where you fast for 16 hours a day and eat within a 8 hour window, and this will be very beneficial to long term health. Lastly eating a low carb diet, including minimal fruit is important. Fructose is a driver of many metabolic health concerns so watch out for that. I say all this to you so it can help you to look and do research on these topics. Dr Berg Dr Berry Dr Fung Dr Jamnardis And many many more like minded health coach’s to doctors put out videos on UA-cam. This stuff will make travel Easier on the mind and body and will literally save your life! You two are mentors on how to travel in retirement, we need you strong and healthy for a long time to come!!!!! I hope this may help you turn around your health and improve your quality of life!👍🤙
This makes a lot of sense. Sarah and I are going to investigate this... Thank you so much and well done on that amazing weight loss based on real science. Good work.
Hello, Neil! What a great video this was! I empathise with every issue you mention. I've been there, done that...and then some. People think full time travel is easy...it is not. However, it has been the most amazing thing I have ever done. In 2014, I quit my job, sold my condo & vehicle plus, gave away the extra things that I didn't gift to my niece for safekeeping. Oct 30th will be my 9 year anniversary. Over the years, I've had my ups & downs &, there have been times when I unequivocally want to throw in the towel and, "go home" however, there has not been a nanosecond where I have regretted my decision to pull up stakes & head out into my future. After I have a down day, I get back on the bus & travel to the next place where it is yet another beautiful place that I would not have wanted to miss in a million years. I turned 65 this year and, despite some aches and pains, I just finished my 3rd around the world trip. People tell me that they would never be able to do what I do. I jokingly agree with them. Attitude is everything. When I turned 65 in March, I did a self check with myself and decided that it was probably time to buy a condo back in the Canadian city that I left 9 years ago. Yikes! What was I thinking? You can't go back. Once a mind has been expanded, it can never go back to thinking inside the box. I arrived back in Canada in July and instantly knew that I can't go back. After spending a month visiting with friends and completing my 27th year of volunteering for our local music festival, I made my way to California for a visit with a friend and, currently, I am lounging away the Sunday in Cuernavaca, Mexico. In closing, I'll just say, "a bad day of travel is still better than a good day at work..." Best wishes to you & Sarah for many more joyous years of travel. The real question now is what to do for my 10 year anniversary in 2024! Any thoughts?
Haha Brilliant. I also love your feeling about friends saying that they 'would never be able to do that'. It is a shame though that people don't at least try isn't it. Because when their world has expanded who knows where they go from there. 10 years... hmmm.... We love creating things. How about writing a book? "Why 10 years of travel changed my life forever"?
Well done Neil! This is a great video topic and one that I watched while procrastinating about putting on an exercise video and doing my thing here in the hotel room. Eating a healthy diet while travelling can be so hard and sometimes (20%) we just have a burger or whatever else is around but 80% we find a grocery store and have a picnic. We also carry healthy snacks with us, a small knife sharpener and coffee filters etc. What I really struggle with is reducing my alcohol. That's crept up as we enjoy the local beverages but I'm working on it....off I go to find those resistance bands...
My husband is taking early retirement next year and we plan to spend at least half the year travelling. Retirement is causing him a fair bit of anxiety because he’s the type of guy that like to plan and know how things are going to work & there are a lot of unknowns ahead. I keep telling him that we won’t know how we feel and what will works for us until we get into it. Just because we say and plan for things to go one way doesn’t mean we can’t make adjustments to our lives depending on how we’re feeling. You and Sarah are no different, plan big, make adjustments as you go & see the world your way. Wishing you both well!
Never thought you were doing anything wrong, but was concerned about your health. Glad you are at home now hopefully recharging. Look forward to seeing y’all back out on the road in the future. Take care.
We have just come home after 6 months of traveling in Europe. To us it happened the other way round. We have lived healthier. We have lost both 10kg and now the challenge is to this healthier life in our usual environment. In that respect we see traveling as an opportunity to make positive change as well. Good luck Thomas
Thank you for sharing this, Neal. Your points especially resonated with Tanya. It's interesting how something so enjoyable, like travel, can produce some undesirable effects, like putting on weight. We all have expectations of how wonderful this world of travel can be and it's a bit of a slap in the face when the reality doesn't always meet those expectations. You're definitely spot on regarding having a routine and making adjustments to it depending on your circumstances. Have a great week.
As always, I love the message. We've coined this our fall of transformation. No we're not going to end the year with 6 pack abs. But we are living more intentionally. (Thanks for the timely reminder) We're both trying to get in better shape, eating out less to save calories and money. When we launch we plan to start with a camino hike as our intro. So we need to be in shape before. Recently started a book referring to you only have 4000 weeks in your life. Well I'm down to probably 1300 weeks of decent mobility. So I am focusing on yoga and walking/ hiking to maintain flexibility. Plan to add in more body weight exercises that can be done anywhere. We travel at least quarterly, so in the past, we get off track when we leave for a few weeks, then it's a struggle when we return. Now, we're aiming to continue our routines regardless of our location. Cheers to all of us finding the path that works for us & many more years of healthy travel and exploring this beautiful world. Safe travels!
Just finished a week of the Camino Frances! Way hillier than we were expecting. We’ve been pretty active walker/runners and were surprised it was as difficult as it was. Beautiful scenery and definitely worth getting a rucksack transport service.
We love the thought of doing the Camino! Recommendation for you, there is a channel that we watch on UA-cam that are just starting the Camino, I think you will find that an interesting series to watch. They are called "Those Happy Days". Sounds like you have a great plan, This will not be the winter of your discontent :-)
That’s really useful advice Neil. We spent eleven months traveling overseas and a couple of months traveling around our own country in Australia this past 18 months and came across a lot of the same issues. We ate out way more than we intended, walked less than expected and spent more than we would have liked. Looking forward to hearing your solution and keep up the great work as your videos are always interesting and entertaining 😊
This is a learning experience, just as a new job is. We started our first year slow traveling, and after staying in several Airbnb’s. even the nice ones, there was always some bit of discomfort. Unsharpened knives, uncomfortable beds, etc. Packing, unpacking, travel days, we’re a grind. So a year and a half ago, we settled in Guadalajara for a bit to immerse ourselves in the culture and travel within the area. I don’t know how long we will stay. Maybe three years, maybe ten, maybe move next year. I also carry my own knives, and some creature comforts when we are traveling for a month or more. I love having a home base that cost a fraction of what it did in the States. We’ve been able to lose weight and are slowly getting healthier (we are in our 50’s). I agree with you Don’t wait to travel. Just find a way that allows you to do it comfortably. I’m not a young backpacker anymore. 😊
Nice, that is good to carry the knives. We use to but weight has been an issue for us with camera gear too so we only travel with what is necessary... Maybe a knife is necessary lol!
Thanks for sharing Neil, it’s something we found too, I think sometimes we can all “treat ourselves” too often and perhaps treat it like a “holiday”. I also believe as you get older the weight which creeps on is harder to shift and also impacts more on a persons health. You made some great points, recognising there is an issue is the first step to resolving it. We are on the same journey, look forward to next weeks video ❤
Thank you Lynn, we are really making positive moves to improve and are starting to see the benefits. Having said that I am just eating a flapjack as I type this.... hmm...
I am sure there’s a lot of struggle putting a functional life together when you make a drastic change in lifestyle such as this. I absolutely resonate with how you’re feeling about the balancing of the realities of constant travel with meeting your needs for a healthy lifestyle. I’m working on the same process as well and am starting a bit more slowly and deliberately with smaller steps, I reckon, but hopefully will end up as a full time traveler as well. I just spent nearly a month in a van I turned into a microcamper exploring areas of the US I haven’t seen before. I realize that this is only doable for me maybe a month at a time before I feel a need to return to home for simply the ease of life - cooking, working out, meeting my very limited social needs but even introverts need this a little. I also have a plan for nearly a year of international travel next year and have had to compromise and add a roommate/housesitter in my home until I am thru with exploring the lifestyle and feel comfortable selling the house. So, I’m doing it more in baby steps and trials. I’m learning that a lot of what I need and desire in my life can’t be fit into a suitcase or van and this too is a process. Working on solutions constantly to build a life of freedom takes a lot of energy and is hard. I thought the hardest part would be getting financially ready but this is not the reality in my own life. In addition, living under the microscope of UA-cam has a lot of stressors as well, I’m sure. Good luck because I totally resonate with the struggle.
Thank you, good message. We like that you are working at your own pace and doing what works for you. That is what we are always refining for ourselves too. Thank you.
Excellent advice! I am 61 and my husband 57 and we will be starting our slow travel in February I started getting my health in order and I have been looking at how do I keep my regimen up so I stay fit. My husband kept saying once he retires he would start. I have been pushing him to start even small changes now so he can manage what he wants to be doing soon. If you cannot walk a mile on the flat Texas plains, that hike down to the beach in Spain is goin to be tough! Our first stay I looked up a gym, but it crossed my mind about future stays and availability and also health in general. As always thank you for your transparency and sharing.
As a fellow world traveler, I offer that you're only as young as your back is healthy. Taking care of your back should be just as important as taking care of your cholesterol and heart. The latest MRI technology that allows the patient to move while the MRI is scanning your back is remarkable and offers insight only dreamed about a few years ago. It took me decades to realize that 85% of my health is diet and 15% is exercise. When I was younger, I thought it was the other way around. Quite simply, you can't outrun a bad diet. Reducing sugar alone was a game changer. My sugar research has revealed that it is much more detrimental to my health than everything I've eaten in the past. Bottom Line: Keep your back healthy, eat healthy, and decide to see the world. Money and circumstance is not an excuse. Thanks for the video.
Wow... So true about a healthy back! Is that an MRI that is easily available... I would invest in getting that kind of insight. Excellent advice all round here. Thank you.
Hi . We have been travelling for Nearly 5 years now . One tip I can give you is take up yoga . Our morning routine never changes where ever we are . We get our yoga mats out do a hiit class followed by yoga and meditation . So we always book a room where we can do our workout . Doing this keeps you disciplined . This routine also fits in with our intermittent fasting we don’t eat between 7pm & 11am . We have never been fitter we are both 59 . Good luck with your travels and get out the Uk . 😂
YES! Sarah is really trying to move me into learning yoga and we just have to do it. I know that is what is best for us. Also Intermittent Fasting is something we have done before and once we are more in control of our lives will easily return to. Thank you for your comment.
I can relate. I am currently having something of an existential crisis. I am 64 and have built my life around travel, to the point where if I'm not travelling or planning my next trip my life feels empty. In the last couple of years I have had a recurring health issue that makes it very difficult to plan anything, even a trip to the supermarket. I can be well for weeks and then not. It's not life threatening but it is definitely travel threatening. I can no longer rely on my body and that's really depressing. I accept that this is very much a 'first world problem'. Not really sure what I am going to do about it. I might have to switch to totally spontaneous travel (as in when I'm feeling well), but that is a lot more expensive. I will be continuing to follow you with great interest and empathy. Thank you for the honest sharing.
Interesting and that sounds very debilitating for this kind of lifestyle. Not a first world issue at all. Travel can be vital for many of us and you are clearly one of these people. I wonder if there is something you can do around creating a journal of your travels and in doing so you will relive your high moments. A challenge to write a book maybe. Then when you do travel spontaneously, you can really savour it.
Hi, and thanks so much for replying. Yes, I already do that, via photography. I have about thirty years worth of holiday travel photo archives and i watch them regularly. I've already written a book (a PhD thesis) and am in no rush to do that again, we are talking relaxation not stress LOL. I will continue to travel (in fact I am going to Japan in four days) but am just learning to adjust my expectations, speed and spontaneity.
We often come to realise that our health is the key to enjoying life too late, however, seeing how others are determined to overcome their difficulties has inspired me to keep an open mind. For example, I found out that there were people who pulled their backpacks on hiking trips and also there were others with prosthetic leg, happily doing what seemed to be torturing themselves. Hopefully I can learn to see and appreciate the “half full” glass rather than worrying about the other “half empty” portions, applying this attitude towards both myself and others around me. Please keeps doing what makes you feel happy and stop only when it’s no longer fun, after all, time is the single use currency that no one knows exactly how much we have left.
We enjoy trying different approaches and I think if we call all do it by keeping our glass half full then we will all win out in the end. Great comment, thank you.
Neil………total admiration for you both! Lots of folk dream and talk about changing their lives and following dreams of travel……you two had the balls to go out there and do it!!! Kudos! Was it always going to be perfect? Of course not. Were there going to be unforeseen problems? hell..yes! But……. Nobody can take away those memories and experiences that you have had…and will continue to have. The key lesson here for me is how we must look after our health first and foremost because, without our health, the rest of it is just pipe dreams. Best wishes to you both for a healthy, safe and fun 2024 👏🏻
We were very active prior to travel and have been able to continue the lifestyle because we pick places with activities such as hiking, swimming, cycling, walking and running. We love the beaches and the mountains. We eat a very clean diet (no red meat), no fried foods. It is harder to do when traveling but we make it a priority. We try to eat a closely to what we eat at home. Lots of fruit and veg. We bring resistance bands with us to travel and do workouts on UA-cam like Caroline Girvan. If you incorporate exercise as part of your day, it becomes a priority because you feel and sleep much better after a great workout.
Great video.... We've been traveling now since June... Three arbnb stays. Learning a lot. Agree with everything you have said. We had a six year plan and started our dream this year. Due to family emergency we had to return after the first month. We've adjusted our plans to accommodate. We're trying to get better at focusing on schedule and routine in all aspects. I'm 52 she is 47. We see that diet and exercise is the key to long term success. Avoiding stress and anxiety by trying to get everything everywhere done or seen. Deep breaths. Slowly focus on the moment and the experience. Thank you for the video. ❤
Yes we get all that you speak of there totally. And we know about having to return home at short notice. But you sound like you are managing the process well for you both. Good work.
These are important points to address early or before travel points. My suggestion is to look back and review all the good things Or good times that you and Sarah have had up to this point. Remember all the good decisions you made to make things happen the way you would like. Anything off that path, treat it as a blessed lesson. As for what you are experiencing now, what needs to change in your original plan or equation? Then implement those changes. For example, if many of the Airbnb have been less than stellar, find out how to overcome that. You may possibly need to address some expected wants and needs to these airbnb places prior to booking. You and Sarah have done so well during your travels. Sometimes it will go bad but that's how you know the good times too. Overcome the obstacles that impact you negatively which may mean changing the plan a bit to avoid the unpleasantness. Remember its your dream and up to you to make it happen. As far as wellness, cut down on any bad habits or practices and start new practices that can help going forward. For example, supplements, holistic foods, intermittent fasting, and getting a good night sleep. Then do what keeps you motivated with life! Great video. Looking forward to the next!
I know when I’ve watched your and others videos one thing that has resonated with me is packing a suitcase that we check that had cooking stuff with us - I’ve had issues with air bnb not having proper eqpt and bad furniture - thank you for making this real
Yes we have tried that sometimes Wendy. There always seems to be another utensil that isn't there that we need. But we are constantly learning. Good comment, thank you.
Hi Neil, my wife and I have been subscribers since your early days (stuck in the UK during Covid). Since then we've taken the plunge and have been travelling for the past year and a half or so (US, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Spain and now Portugal - writing this from the Azores) and faced many similar challenges - and great experiences that more than offset. This video in particular spoke to us, as we had many of the same expectations around staying healthy, and we found ourselves gaining weight despite our overall low stress lifestyle. In order to address the walking challenge we were facing in hot countries (we try to get 10k steps a day, just as a gauge - or more accurately 70k+ a week) we added in a calisthenics routine we do 5x a week, at less than 30 minutes a day. That helped our fitness level but the weight gained stayed on. More recently, in May this year we started calorie counting and its helped us shed quite a bit - I'm down 35 lbs since May. I also added in weight training that I try to do 3x a week, but that's just additive - gain muscle burns more and I can eat more. We're both foodies and I like to imbibe so if it works for us... anyway, thought I would share. If we're ever in the same area at the same time it would be great to meet up, also feel free to reach out if you want to know more on how we handled it (apps, workout gear that we travel with etc.). Cheers!
Hi I would love to know the apps etc that you use to stay healthy on your travels. Hubby and I set out in a couple of years and I am worried about gaining weight as it’s always a struggle for me.
Hey Carol, that's exciting! We're happy to share. We use Samsung Phones so the apps might not exist on Apple but I'm sure there are equivalent or better. We'll start with walking and tracking our fitness. I use Google Fit to track my steps and body measurements, my wife uses Samsung Health. Both are free and do about the same thing. In Google Fit's profile you can set up your steps target and update your weight - you can see the historicals under Body Measurements. One thing that can be challenging when travelling is finding a scale! Once a week on one of our walks we try and find a big department store that has scales - Cortez Del Ingles has been good in Spain and Portugal. We weigh ourselves there and back at our accommodations we weigh the stuff we were wearing and carrying with our luggage scale to get our actual weight. "They" say that measuring your waist is a better measure of progress, and we do that too but I think we're incompetent at measuring because our results are all over the place. Now for calorie counting, the key to it all. I like an app just called "Calory", and use the free version. again, my wife likes a different app. In the profile you can set up your information (age, weight etc.) and it can auto set a goal for you based on your objective, which might be to hit or maintain a certain weight. If you're not familiar or you want more information, Googling Forbes Calorie Calculator brings you to a bit of a noisy (ads) page that has a calculator and lots of good information on the why's and how's of target setting. The targets are very close to what Calory sets automatically, so good either way. At first its a bit of a pain to look up what you're eating and updating the app all the time, but it keeps it top of mind and gives you a good idea of what you should be consuming to achieve your goals - over time it should become more intuitive. Another thing it helps with is giving perspective and motivation for the walking and exercise - the more you do the more you can eat and still achieve your goals. On to Calisthenics. We started with Yoga (Yoga with Adriene on UA-cam is amazing) but found we needed something that got our heart rate up. We might go back to Yoga (and Adriene) once we're where we want to be. I did a bunch of googling and found a 5 day calisthenics / HIIT program we could do with just Yoga mats. We started with long rest times and short workouts and have gradually been reducing rest and increasing workout time as we get more fit. The app we now use to help our program is "Tabata Timer". Its not free but the lifetime version is less than $10. You enter the program in the app and it guides you through your daily routine with countdowns to your next exercise etc. As for Yoga mats to give us something to workout on, my wife uses the Yogo Ultralight Folding Yoga Mat and I'm considering switching over. Its super compact, ideal for travelling. It's sold out right now but they're expecting to release an updated version. I've been using the Liforme Original Yoga Mat, which is amazing, grippy and gives a lot more padding but is also much heavier and take a lot of room in our suitcase. We also both have a Heathyoga TPE Knee Pad that we use to protect ourselves from the hard floors for some exercises. Super comfy and they don't take a lot of room in the suitcases when laid flat. A super long reply, so I won't get into my weight training (yet one more app, a pair of workout gloves and a couple gym outfits). For us the key, as Neil mentioned, was building a routine. We also and started one thing at a time. We did the walking for a year before we started the next thing (in hindsight, we would have been better off starting with calorie counting). We keep ourselves honest and don't sweat missing a day because its a travel day or its raining or whatever. Its also helped us keep track of "weekends", because we look forward to our "days off" of working out :)@@caroljordan4316
Like Carol, we would love to know your apps also! We would also love to meet up somewhere in this world of ours. Pleased that you took control with the calorie counting, we are doing similar now.
Your intro there to having 8 days in a week reminds me of one of George Carlin's bits where he talks about just setting aside an hour for kids to daydream in school. Having that day to yourself isn't a bad idea at all. Thank you so much for your honest video and sharing with us your side of the story. I am writing you walking to my French market in a nearby Chicago West burb. We are 56 and 55 still working as a husband wife architecture firm. We just spent the past two weeks in Spain and while we enjoyed the time off we're ready to get back to work. Two weeks almost seem like too long as a week might have been enough, so I can just imagine what 3 years may have been like for you particularly since you are into a domestic activity as a chef. I will say though that you are absolutely right to encourage others too do it now. The builder I most worked with fortunately took vacations through his 50s and '60s, and at the age of 69 a year before he planned to retire he was diagnosed with ALS. He is now confined to a wheelchair as a quadriplegic talking with a Stephen Hawking like keyboard. So as the old email chain used to go, don't just look at the good China, use it now. And whatever your decision is sir Best wishes to you and know that videos like this are tremendous benefit to everyone.
Hi Tim, Looks like you have the perfect working arrangement if you are keen to return to it. I love to hear that and with regard to your friend, that is a fear for us all isn't it... to not miss out on the opportunities of life. Thanks for the message, appreciate it.
@@2GoRoam Thanks much, I reread what I wrote and did some edits. I used voice recognition to write it and I neglected to note that we got back from two weeks in Spain the day before You released your video. Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo, Granada, Córdoba, and Sevilla. We traveled between all with high speed trades which was great, but Andalusia was ungodly hot close to 100F everyday. That was a shock for October.
Ahhh now that is interesting! We were thinking of checking out Andalusia! You will see some places you have been in our videos later this year! Watch this space!
Neil, thanks for the points you made in this video! We'll continue to watch and wish you and Sarah the best. Indeed, travelling to new cultures, food and environments would certainly affect hubby's and my health. We appreciate your efforts, and are happy you will be in the UK for a while. I kind of hope you and Sarah will bunk in with her mom for a good long while and travel around your wonderful country. I'd love to have a tour of the pubs and have the owners discuss their history. Anyways, all the best! 😊
Thanks for your honesty. Don't be so hard on yourself. NOW that you have identified your concerns, you can make adjustments and continue on your adventure, what ever that may look like. I admire you both because your living your dream. I am still just dreaming...
100% agree with your points. I traveled full-time for a year, and the airbnb's stripped me of my enthusiasm for the project. I've settled into an apartment as my home base and am scratching my travel itch with lots of extended vacation-type travel while I figure this out for myself.
Thanks for sharing, I have found your videos very helpful as I plan our early retirement travel. I have experienced some of your challenges twice in my working life, once as a IT consultant in my 20s on the road for 3 years in the UK staying away from home for months at a time and later in life as a helicopter pilot in Canada in my 30s and 40s. In both cases I put on a lot of weight and got really out of shape. As you might expect the toll on my body in my 30s and 40s was much more and I needed to make a change. I did a few things. I brought a bit of a cooking kit with me so I could control my diet more and I was very selective what I ate when eating out. I came up with a workout routine that did it require equipment and I could do anywhere any time (calisthenics) and made that part of my daily routine and made sure I always got 8 hours sleep (mandatory if you are a pilot). In the end I actually lost weight and built strength. I realized a new lifestyle requires a new routine and as I got older I needed to be more disciplined if I wanted to get the most out of it. It was tough to start, but it worked. Looking forward to what you have in mind. All the best and let me know if you are coming to Canada. I have never met a UA-cam celeb 😉
Fantastic message and I will discuss this with Sarah later today. Really interesting... That gives me hope that things can actually turn around and improve! We WILL be in Canada! So stick around!
Well said! All of that! I’ve had a recent brain tumor and they want me on immunotherapy for up to two years. Now I’m trying to figure out how to make my travel plans happen with that “hanging over me”. It can be very depressing. Enjoy your life!
Thank you for your honesty !!! I am sure that overall the experiences you have had overcome the downsides of what you have experienced. Looking forward to seeing what your next stops are !!!! Don't listen/read the naysayers. Live your dreams 2 GO ROAM !!!!
Thank You for your honesty. I always say that I have never wasted a Penny traveling. How many times did I have a bad experience and just changed directions and Magic Happens at those moments.
The extreme honesty in this video is why I appreciate your channel. It sounds like you’re really going to benefit from this reset of your priorities and intentions. It’s great that you can shift gears in this way and adjust your plans without any regrets or pushback. Some simply cannot overcome their inertia. I look forward to the next video, which I’m going to watch now, to see what decision you’ve made. Very curious.
Looking forward to hearing the rest of your advice Neil. My husband and I are in our early 50s and are taking a year off next year to see if we can travel full time. We have been spending this year getting fit. I know it won’t exempt us from getting sick or injured, but trying to get ourselves in the best shape we can. Best of luck to getting back on track. Cheers from Australia
agreed with all your points. Travel takes a toll on us too. Air BBS are almost always a surprise and I laughed about the knives- we’ve been in 10-15 in the last year and NEVER a sharp knife and where are the can openers and how old is that oil, etc. one of the keys to keep going is just the awe and joy in some of the places you go- we learn so much and find new foods and new ways of managing life-I guess your baby analogy is right on. We’ve all got a lot to learn ( and it’s a shame we didn’t start this 20 years ago) good luck to you both in your adventures!
Bless you! Thanks for sharing your story. Long term travel is not for me because I need to have a home base where I can cook for myself and exercise consistently and sleep in a bed that won't hurt my spine.
Absolutely 100 percent agree this happens to everyone Iv ever met out travelling. A few adjustments are definitely needed maybe slower travel to get in to ( mini routines ) or rent a motorhome if budget and country permits so you have your own bits and pieces ( I find this easier as it’s home from home ) but some country’s this would be difficult however a good stint in Europe and it would be perfect . ( no carrying of stuff either for your back to heal . And a yoga mat for some physio. Just to end with a positive a few tips to deal with the peanut gallery watching you . ( us ur viewers 😂) Don’t defend your position! Just hold it . And don’t explain to people you are not going to hear your explanations. There is always going to be the comments of I told you so ! They haven’t given up on you they have given up on them selves and spend the rest of there time arguing for the limitations of others. I’m sure this can be sorted as health is important but so is your dream . And you my friends can do both . Safe travels .
Debbie... great message thank you. Appreciate your kind words. Defending our decisions in life is something that in the space on a 12 to 15 minute video on UA-cam actually takes up too much useful time so we try to avoid that as much as possible. We have some great ideas to really mix up our travels going forward, we hope you like it when you see it :-)
Interesting thoughts, we've moved from the UK to Portugal and intend to stay here for another 7 0r 8 years then move to Malaysia for life. We travel extensively many times a year both in Europe and further. I agree with many points. Our biggest challenge is wanting to go everywhere in the limited time left of this Earth plus we love our new home in Portugal. When we're home, we want to travel and when we're away - we get homesick! I have no answer but the excitement for waking up and going to the airport fires our soul - then on our way back we look forward to the stability and our comfortable bed.
Some people forget about proper health care if required and cost of insurance. Health care in your home country if required is generally better and might cut the trip short.
@@paulhunter6652 I recently broke my wrist and have received excellent care in Portugal. I had a triage consultation within 15 minutes, numerous x-rays, specialist consultation, fracture re-aligned (ouch), cast placed on the arm, another x-ray to ensure all was correct, and final consultation - all within 4 hours. The medical staff spoke English. I have another appointment on Friday to ensure all is healing well.
Hey Neil, great video thanks for sharing your difficulties and solutions. Quick question. In the next video please can you also share any financial shortfalls (unless there haven’t been any), ie things you’d do differently or maybe if you should have kept your house and/ or saved more etc.. Thanks
Hi Ian! We will indeed talk about all things money and whether we would have done something differently. That will be in a few weeks time though, so hope you don't have to hold on too long for that one. Hope you are both well.
I love your videos, they are realistic. I only have one child that I had "late " in life, so I quit my job last year & we went to Europe for a year - soon she'll be gone for college + live so I invested in us and our time together. Time is a hot commodity under-appreciated.
Look like you've answered your own issues Neil! I'm a firm believer that when you can't change the situation you are in, change your outlook! That way, you can make anything work!
Fabulous video guys and sooooooo spot on. 19 years of travel has taught us the same lessons as what you've been going through. For us travel is our life, and like you we needed to find a balance that equalised and carefully maintained all elements within our life. You articulated this information perfectly. I hope this video reaches a wide audience so that those with the same dreams, can start to think about these issues before they venture out on their own journeys.
Great video and brutally honest which we really, really appreciate. We're hoping to retire in the not too distant future and our plan is to travel 6 months of the year (Oct-Mar) and stay at home for the other 6 months of summer (we live in Scotland) so take from that what you will :) , but Apr-Sept should be reasonable for resetting, catching up with family, making new travel plans etc. After the last 3 years of largely working from home (i.e. sat in front of a computer most days), having family bereavements to sort out and being a woman of a certain age, I was hoping that early retirement was going to improve our health and now you have just crushed that you brute!! Only kidding, I totally appreciate your honesty in this area and it's something we need to now consider as part of our retirement and travel plans. Love the channel - you guys are a real inspiration for us.
Leaving Scotland for the winter... Crazy idea lol! Well crush maybe but hopefully I have signposted the things to be aware of so you can learn from our (many) mistakes. Happy travels!
Excellent chat for us dreamers. Expectations versus reality. Thank you for your advice, you mentioned things to think about that hadn’t occurred to me😊
Very honest video Neil, thanks for sharing, it's brave and can't be easy. Having travelled a lot the last 18 months we can definitely relate to finding it hard to stick to a routine. After 6 months we missed simple routine like going to the gym etc. The big revelation seemed to be finding a balance and not being too extreme with our activities (ie not boozing too much or doing just one activity for too long etc etc - everything in moderation). I think you are big exponents of slow travel and perhaps you need to slow it down even more and also spend some more time in the UK might help as it helped us get grounded spending some of the summer months in the UK before going travel again. It helps keep the excitement of travel as well as after a few months in the UK you can be ready and excited to travel again. One of the biggest challenges I've found travelling is accepting that every day doesn't have to be a 5 Star day where loads happens, that it is OK to have a day in front of the computer catching up with people and "real life". Anyways in the Austrian Alps now which are breathtaking and off for a bike ride! Stay well and keep going!
Hi Nathan, very well thought out comment, thank you. The last point you made is something that we have focused on a lot. That is why we often say that travel isn't what we do, it is where we are. What we do is often much like what our friends do back home and that doesn't include going to see all the local tourist attractions. Thanks for raising that.
So glad you did this! We all need to vent, and you & Sarah are doing a magnificent job❤️ And, BTW, come back to SMA in the fall & winter. It’s luscious here now. I have sweatpants & a light jacket on😊
A reset and refocus and I’m confident you two will be “on the road again” (American song reference). You two provide excellent content and I love your transparency. Feel better soon! Much love from Colorado 💞💞💞
I’ll be moving to Mexico next year, and at 58 I am about 40 lbs overweight and out of shape. Cutting carbs and doing intermittent fasting seems to help me the most to lower inflammation and increase my energy. Hope you find something that works for you to feel healthier!! ❤️❤️❤️
I've enjoyed your channel from the beginning and really appreciate your honesty and perspective. My husband (57) and I (55) are planning to semi-retire (I'll continue to work remotely) in about 2-3 years. Our dream is to travel a lot during the next 10 years, and living abroad is part of that plan. Since we live in the USA, it's just too expensive, arduous, and impractical to have our home base here and go back and forth across the oceans every time we travel. So our idea is to spend two years in each of three different parts of the world as our home base, and travel to nearby places, like a wheel and spoke system. For example, live in Portugal for two years and visit most of the UK and Europe from there during that time. Then, move to northern Thailand for two years and visit most of Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand during that time. I'm very curious to see whether your new plan will look anything like this approach. Keep these great videos coming! We're all rooting for you and Sarah to find a way to travel the world and get fitter and healthier in the process.
Your analogy about a baby learning to walk brought an old memory back to me. I was about 6 or 7 years old and a neighbour across the street was standing in his driveway talking and drinking beer with a couple of other guys. His baby, wearing nothing but a diaper came toddling out with unsteady steps. The neighbour put out his foot and nudged the child in the backside, causing him to fall down. The baby got up and took a few more unsteady steps and the guy knocked the baby down again. This repeated a couple more times. As a small child, I was horrified by how cruel this was. I don’t know how it applies to your analogy but I thought I’d share this memory since what you said brought it back so strongly. I appreciate the honesty in your videos. When my husband’s sister passed away 8 years ago from pancreatic cancer at the relatively young age of 62, my husband and I decided we shouldn’t put off travel plans until retirement. My SIL was an exceptionally healthy person, an organic gardener and a runner who was healthy and fit up until the last 8 months of her life. None of us knows how long we have. Early retirement has not been possible for us but we managed to make the most of our 3 weeks vacations every year until the pandemic hit. Last year we had a trip planned to Ireland and the UK, our first international trip since 2019, but we had to cancel at the last minute upon recommendation from my husband’s physician. This year we chose to travel domestically, fitting our vacation around family commitments. Prior to the pandemic, I dreamed of doing what you’ve done, sell everything to travel the world. But after losing our oldest son in December 2019, followed soon after by the pandemic, I’ve come to value having a secure home base. I’d still like to do a bit more travelling but full-time travel no longer holds the same kind of appeal. I guess all this is to say, plans can change, dreams can change and you don’t owe anybody an explanation. Your videos are thoughtful and honest, the kind of authentic content that I value. I look forward to learning about your future plans in the next video.
Blimey, I would call that experience with the baby 'Tough Love'. I wonder if that baby turned out to be an amazing gymnast in future life? You raise a really important point about changes happening in life and having to reassess and move forward. Most importantly, we are very sorry to hear about your loss. You should be proud for managing and moving forward. We admire you. Best wishes Neil & Sarah
First, thanks for having the courage to share something very personal. I'm sure there are many people who can identify with this challenge. I believe the most important take away from this video is your first tip... develop routines. If I may add, develop "healthy" routines. One routine that we have developed is we walk almost everywhere. The other that we have developed is regular cooking at home that includes a large amount of vegetables. These meals are typically simple stir fry types of meals. We make large batches that last us several meals. We satisfy our craving for variety and experiencing the local cuisine by going out to eat from time to time. Even then, we avoid things like deep fried foods most of the time. This simple style of home cooking doesn't require much by way of fancy cookware. So, most of the time we are OK with what is provided by the accommodation. In the few instances that we needed something, such as a sharp knife, we purchased it. I'll stop there for now, as I don't want to come across as too preachy or too verbose. However, I will say that I believe these two routines, more than anything else, have contributed to our success with maintaining our health while living a nomadic lifestyle. I'm looking forward to seeing your own solutions in the coming video. Take care my friend. Safe travels.
Hey Skip, in this video where we mention that we have friends that we look up to that achieve all this well. That is you and Dian, I think you knew that. Alway great advice from you.
@@2GoRoam I did not realize it was us you were referring to. However, we are flattered that you hold us in such high regard. We hope our paths can cross again soon.
Perfect video! I feel the same way as some of the feelings you've experienced and worried about my health and traveling full time, so thank you for this video!
We started traveling 18 years ago, in our fifties and now nearing 70 it does get more difficult especially getting on and off small boats, Island hopping etc..we are fit but not as agile so what you say is so true don't put it off follow your dreams they know the way
No one’s life is perfect, and people put on weight because they reduce the amount of exercise they do and eat poor food whilst staying at home, so you shouldn’t beet yourself up about it.. The fact that you recognize it means that you can and probably will do something about it.. Having travelled most of my life I love watching your videos. Although I am retired, I don’t want to travel full time like you and Sarah (I want stability), but I do still want to go away and visit places and experience new people and things… Thank you both for a great Chanel, and I look forward to continuing your journey with you!
Really good (and honest) points for us middle-age (ahem!) travellers. Whilst the young vlogger content can be excellent, it’s useful to see content that is more relatable. You just know those young vloggers aren’t having the same aches and pains getting out of bed in the morning! 😀The point about doing it as soon as you are feasibly (financially) able to is, I think, an important one. Travel is fun and exciting but can also be mentally and physically tiring. Also going from long-term settled to nomadic lifestyle is not a simple transition. We’ve currently limited ourselves to Europe at the moment as world travelling with our dog would be too complex. We’re also doing it in a motorhome so at least we travel with the necessities and a degree of comfort. I know how depressing it would be to walk into an Airbnb which is dingy and basic, especially if it is going to be ‘home’ for a month or so. Of course living in a MH comes with its own set of challenges but there are always compromises to be made when travelling, especially if your budget isn’t unlimited. The only thing i’d ‘disagree’ with is the ‘10yr of travelling’. On one hand it’s good to have a target to inspire when things get tough but I also think that it could be unrealistic and start to make travel seem like an obligation. It’s a long time and who knows what can happen in between. We’re travelling for the next year or 2 and if we keep enjoying it will carry on. Anyways all the best for your next adventure.
Hey Russ, great comment. A quick note on the 10years or travel. We address that in this coming up video so look out for our take on that. Traveling further afield with a dog I can imagine would add a lot more stress than we would feel comfortable with, so you doing that in Europe with a Motorhome seems a really good approach. Thanks again.
Thank you for sharing this video. I am looking forward to seeing your next video and I hope that is a solution that works for you. I am still a little over 2 years away from retirement, but my plan is to do slow travel where I spend 2 to 6 months in a location depending on the visa. Maybe spending longer periods of time in a location would help with the struggles. I really appreciate your suggestion to start traveling as soon as possible. I keep thinking about delaying my retirement for various reasons, but your comments encouraged me to get retire and start traveling as soon as I can. Thank you!
So many people we know are delaying retirement and it causes us a lot of concern for them. We will be making videos on that subject very soon so watch this space!
If I were in your shoes I'd consider longer stays, around 3-4 months per destination. This might allow you to get into healthier routines and get a deeper feel for what it's like living in each destination. Regardless of how you travel going forward, I wish you both good health and happiness!
Over the last three years we have actually spent 2 months in some places, 3 months in others and even 5 months in Thailand. We are always flexing our style.
I’m glad you shared this with us. My husband and I will start our world travels in 40 months. I’ll be 60 and he’ll be 63. I’m healthy but he was just diagnosed with heart failure. Asymptomatic. We have always planned on staying 2 months in a country or even 3 in a Schengen country. We’re also thinking about having a class C or class B motor home here in the US to give us freedom to travel within the US as well. (We’re selling our home and will eventually buy a tiny house or ranch somewhere in the US in old age)
Hopefully you are both well. We're living it up the the Philippines atm. Tough gig, but hey, somebody has to do it. We know where you are heading with this, so all the best. See you both soon. ❤
Only regrets I've ever had are not trying something. There is no guarantee of tomorrow. Anyone can sit on their butt at home watching television waiting to die. They won't be disappointed it will arrive. Why not enjoy the life we are given with awesome experiences. Keep rocking the videos I really enjoy them.
Neil and Sarah i enjoy your channel because of your pragmatism and planning. It's a rare thing on UA-cam. I was born with cerebral palsy and I am in a wheelchair, so I happily accept that this is a factor In any of my travel plans. I think you have stuck Gold with the topic of this video because not many other related videos have people who travel as themselves. I will give a simple example, with your skills you could travel to a location where what the location offers is not as important as what you can do in personal skills there (like cooking) I think that would be a very interesting video series. Thankyou
Hey! Thank you for the kind comment. Firstly it is cool that you don't see cerebral palsy as something that stops you from living the life you want, you are just factoring it in to how you travel. Nice, we like that a lot. Your example is something we are actually thinking on at the moment. As is always the case with us, our channel is going to be going through a lot of changes over the coming months. One thing we learnt was that people really didn't seem that interested in our actual travels but more how we deal with things and how we got ourselves into a position to travel. So we are going to focus on that more going forward and help people with the reality of travel and of early retirement. Cool comment, thank you.
Neil, Many thanks for sharing. Looking to start traveling next year when I early-retire. Going to convert a van and will now reconsider the kitchen design as I was going basic, but maybe I need to ensure I can eat how I want to and not be constrained by space and lack of facilities that I am putting into it.
Yes would be a really good idea to make the Kitchen around you and what you need. Maybe pretend you are in the van now and setup an area at home with the utensils you will use in the van to be sure it works. Look forward to hearing about the conversion as you go!
Thanks for your tips, advice and honesty. I don’t think age has anything to do with your issue. You both need to slow down! One month in one location is ok occasionally, but it’s just too much when you’re doing it all year round, it’s just not good for your mental and physical health. It’s like being a shift worker! As you said, routine is important. I’m thinking about the places you’ve been to this year, and I feel exhausted! I’d still be following your channel even if you stayed in one place for six months, because your content is interesting & entertaining. Sorry, I know you don’t need advice, you’re intelligent people, but think of me as a sister who cares. Happy & safe travels. ❤Zeljka
Have really enjoyed sharing your adventures. Above all I appreciate your honesty it’s very useful information to us retirees. Whatever happens going forward you should be proud of yourselves
Very brave insightful and candid video Neil callisthenics helps me manage my back anywhere and ‘no gym required’ ! Hope you both enjoy the new adventure👍🙌💪
I Retired at 50 with a Plan to travel the World, I did for two years with my then Chinese wife. We seen many great places I loved it could not wait until the next location. But I could feel all was not well then the bombshell fell my wife said she wanted to return to the U.K. and live in the same apartment and get her job back in the coffee shop. We returned back to the U.K. we visited a marriage guidance councillor but from the start it was not what I wanted to return back to the U.K. She did not want to live out of a suitcase anymore. I did. So long story short we got divorced. I moved to Thailand and love the lifestyle, a Thai wife who loves travel we spend 24 hrs a day with each other but we have our own space on weekends she has a little job where she chats with other Thai people, I have a brunch club chatting to other expats. It works for us. Health unlike you when I returned to the U.K. for 9 weeks I was I’ll 3 weeks out of 9 Once returned to Thailand now 11 months never been sick. Loved hearing your story. Hope things work out for you both.
Wow interesting. Although that doesn't sound a positive story... at least you too action and are now living the life you love. Excellent... We love hearing about people that shun the norm to do what works for them. Would it work for everyone? Hell no... but it works for you and that is perfect. Thanks for the kind comment.
We are definitely staying longer and travelling slower. Most people associate travel with eating out, but long term travel needs adjustment. For me I look now for a place with a gym locally, I get 10k steps per day, I gave up alcohol 5 years ago. But this is not for everyone.
Good work on giving up the alcohol. Since returning to the UK and the prices here, it has certainly helped us SIGNIFICANTLY reduce our intake! And we are actually loving that. Thanks as ever Steve.
Years ago I came up with this stupid catch phrase "Semper Gumby." The meaning is intended to be "Always Flexible," like the Gumby cartoon. What I hear you describing is the need to change up plans based on the things you're experiencing. It doesn't mean you dislike travel and it doesn't mean you're running out of money. It just means you're going to scratch the itch in a different way. Seeing the narrowboats behind you is indicative of a similar situation we may be dealing with. We'd love to get a narrowboat and cruise the canals of England and Scotland for a few years. However, parental age and other issues may, at least in the short term, alter that dream to seasonal touring of the Erie Canal in New York near where we live. When the paradigm changes, we'll alter the plan again. I can't wait to see what you plan to do, and I love what you've already done!
Well done Neil to express your challenges in a very open and honest way, this is why you have such a loyal following, because you pair say it as it is and people love the honesty ❤. Keep doing what your doing, so many people get inspiration from your hints,tips, funny and sometimes sad very real videos each week. Your commitment to deliver them even when the chips are down is commendable xx Looking forward to what’s next for you both xx Take care x
Great video. We are three weeks into being nomads and already are suffering the effects you talk about. For exercise have you ever thought of doing parkrun? Don't be put off by the word run, you wouldn't be last even if you walked. They are weekly 5ks all over the UK and there are a few abroad. Apart from fitness they are very social and generally end up in a cafe. They would be a great way to meet locals in a new place since you immediately have something in common. Maybe just go along and watch one to get an idea of how supportive they are
Age is by far the biggest issue, I’m coming up 67, my first years travel was curtailed as my dad was ill then passed at the wonderful age of 93, then actually a few days before that I severely popped my knee out of joint, 6 weeks later im waiting on an MRI next week. That said, i should be off to do 90 days in Spain & Italy very soon, but my age is now only just catching up with me & i feel a bit vulnerable going as far as i first planned alone. We shall see, but I don’t want to be in England this coming winter
Take your thought about being in England this winter! I think I would say, don't push yourself too far and you will grow into the right travels for you.
Over the years, I've seen a lot of people use travel as a way to challenge themselves to somehow do or be better. They have good intentions but push it beyond reasonable limits and I did the same. I'd carry bags that were way too heavy, stay at Airbnb's with no elevator and put up with cheap furnishings. Took me years to accept my actual needs. Now I treat travel as my regular way of life and arrange it the same way as if I were living there all the time. I choose more comfortable housing in central locations, pack my own cookware/knives/utensils, and schedule plenty of leisure time to relax and recuperate. I've been to 40 countries since 1990 and it's just my life, not a contest to see how much stress I can take or how little I can spend.
Linda you’re speaking my language! :) i would love if you started your own channel
So helpful. I’m agreed. I start my first year of full time trave! In June.
Linda, that is really cool and fantastic advice!!!
I’m a scientist so what you are doing makes perfect sense to me! Rather than wait til you had all the answers, you set out on your journey of full time travel. Now, you are looking back at the data (health, airbnb, etc) and you are going to adjust based on what you’ve learned for you. Your analogy with the baby is spot on!
Thank you DA! It was a difficult video to make for sure.
I’d slow it down - pick 4 destinations a year - go for 2-4 months to each and abandon 24/7 travel - post Covid it’s no fun traveling, so adjust. The dream was not travelling anyway, it was the time together at the destination.
Strongly agree
Hi Stephen, we have done a lot of that in our travels and we are trying many different models. For example, we were in San Miguel de Allende for 3 months, Athens for 2 months, Chiang Mai for around 5 months and Kuala Lumpur for 3 months.
This is fun to learn and we are making great progress now.
Great insights! So important to focus on your health! I think most of the problems you experienced are directly related to the pace and quantity of travel. You might want to consider concentrating on 3-4 specific countries or regions each year and spending 3-4 months in one place. This would allow you to establish healthy routines and establish bonds with the local community.
Yes, we are flexing as we go and it's a great way to learn what is best for us. We are now making great progress. Thank you for your input, love it.
Thank you for sharing, Neil. I think it's very important for those who might be considering this lifestyle to know the challenges involved. I've been in this nomad lifestyle for a little over a year now and love it more and more each day. But there are things that I've had to work on (and still work on) that I hadn't given much thought to before I started. The biggest two are ones you touched on in your video...learning how to eat in a healthy way while not putting on the pounds and figuring out how to get sufficient exercise. I've really struggled with both but feel like I've gotten into a routine that works for me. I only have 2 meals a day (a healthy breakfast and lunch), with a light healthy snack like an apple or similar in the early evening. I also walk as much as possible when I am out and about and I love to hike, but like you pointed out, sometimes weather can make it difficult to do as much as you would like. So I've started staying in AirBnBs or hotels that have a fitness center so that I can use a treadmill and do other working out when being outside isn't optimal.
I often have to remind friends and family that this isn't a vacation. This is my normal life. I love living this way, but it takes some adjustments to learn how to live it in a healthy and satisfying way. I believe those adjustments that you and Sarah have been working on are what you will be covering in next week's video. I look forward to hearing your tips! Thank you again for sharing!
Absolutely get that thing about it not being a vacation... it is something that family struggle with understanding isn't it. Sounds like you too are living a great life. Hope we see you somewhere on the road.
Neil, you and Sarah are an inspiration for us as we sell down everything in prep to go as a four member family in 2026. This video highlights things we are already thinking about. It's so good to get such an honest take on things that can help us too. Thank you both so much.
Hey Fusedarchive, thank you so much. We really want to be able to help with the kind of information we were unable to find when we started our travels. Really pleased we are able to hel you in some way.
Thanks Neil, for the authenticity of the video. We are just starting our second year of travel, and we have been following you for sometime now. Your intentionality lessons that you taught early has stuck with us. Life, at times, going to throw challengers at us, and we always want to believe that those challenges will never derail our vision of travel. We believe in your vision and your intentionality and your capacity to meet the challenge in front of you and we are looking forward to see how do you meet those challenges.
Hey thank you so much. These are just some of the challenges we have faced and we actually love the learning as we go and you seem to be doing similar. Happy travels!
Good on you for sharing the reality. Keeping it real is important, all the best
Thanks so much Leeanne! Appreciate it.
Hi to Neil,Sarah and viewers. Me and my wife have been traveling for 3 years and this video is all spot on. We have struggled to eat healthy and keep in a fitness routine. We are currently in Vietnam and I can confirm that is to hot for ten miles hikes etc etc. We travel fast making the routine thing harder.. I am 48 and my wife is 42 and we are both generally fit people.. We spend 6 months of the year in a motorhome in Europe and I find this helps to keep a home and some sort of routine. Just having your personal home comforts to hand helps.. My advice is to keep flexible as what you think might be the dream might not be,it will need tweaking and changing to make it work for you..
Wayne
Hi Wayne, something tells me you might find our next video very interesting indeed :-)
Yes, Am sure I will.. Not to ruin the show but see you in Europe.. Happy camper!! Lol
Thank you, Neil. These are all issues that can be game changers. Never once did my wife or I think you were “doing things wrong”. We’ve been watching your videos and very thankful for the candid discussions you provide. We hope to begin our slow travel soon. We’ve been using our vacation travel to scout out areas for our slow travels. Cheers for your great information. 🌏✈️❤
Like the idea of the scouting missions and that must be really building up the excitement for you! Hope the long term travels go well.
I think if I were in your situation, I would decide what my favorite place was to date and go spend a year there. Live there. Cook, get your health straightened out, have a garden, immerse yourself in the language. Your videos could be deep dives into where you are. Just my two cents. I wish you guys the best whatever you decide to do.
That is a really good two cents. We sometimes feel the same and other times just can't wait to go exploring somewhere new. We think we are now getting into a really good rhythm and you will see that in future videos.
You are being brutally honest with yourselves and I can relate completely. My husband and I have accepted our limitations and live full time in South America as expats and travel to other world destinations for 4-6 weeks at a time twice a year to keep our wanderlust satisfied. Where we moved was based on affordability, access ro good healthcare and general ease of living. Most days we are blessed with the wow moments we get while traveling to foreign countries while experiencing incredible hospitality.
My husband and I are slow travellers and plan to spend a year in South America next year. Any tips on best places to base ourselves for three months at a time?
Nice comment, Sounds like you too are living an intentional life and we like it.
Hi Neil: Thank you for sharing your trials and tribulations. For us short term vacation type travel has been our style in Europe and the Caribbean(55 trips). We like to have a home base and will be downsizing to an apartment so we can travel anytime and hopefully while we still have our health. You and Sarah have freedom, no rules and you can change your plans anytime. Live the dream and stay safe and healthy. Cheers from Canada.
Hi Paul, having that base to return to must be pretty cool. Funny really isn't it, you can't have everything in life and every decision we all make we discount other decisions we could have taken. That is actually the fun in life for us.
You and Sarah are great inspiration to all of us. I absolutely love your videos and eagerly look forward to them. You've got a natural talent as a speaker who's very easy to listen to and we all wish you the very best in your adventures.
Yes! Agreed 😊.
Very cool, thank you Carolyn. Very good of you to say.
Thanks for such a candid video. We have been planning travel as well, and have found that things are a lot more complicated than those extremely chipper videos make it out to be. Your comments about exercise and planning are spot on.
Thank you so much. We like to be as clear as possible as we know at times, people are basing their own plans on us... So we feel some responsibility for getting it right. Appreciate the comment.
Thank you for sharing this, and I totally get where you are coming from. I turned 57 a fortnight ago, and also went part time with the intention of finally retiring at 58 and go travelling. However, I do find myself tempted by "one mor year" syndrome - going to 59. Hearing what you have to say really helps :)
Haha we have a lot of friends that are in the One More Year club. We get it totally but don't do it at the cost of missing out on an amazing retirement.
My partner and I have been early retired and slow traveling for 8 months now. I totally feel you on this video. Getting into a healthy routine when moving so much is extremely difficult! Can't wait for the next video. Thanks sooo much for sharing!
Hello! Hope you are loving your travels. Pleased that something here resonated with you.
Anyone who says that long-term world travel is easy or for everyone is nuts. It’s not for everyone. That said, if you can get past the ups and downs of some of the issues that come with any type of travel, the benefits of travel far outweigh the challenges. You go with the flow, adjust to the situation, make the best of where you are, and move on. The weather nasty? Well, you can still have great experiences-sometimes unexpectedly great. You get out of travel whatever you are willing to put into it. If you go in with attitudes that if something goes wrong you’ll be upset or disappointed, then that’s going to be your experience. If you go in with the attitude that no matter what you’re going to have the best experience you can, then you will have some great experiences no matter the challenges you face. Neil, I love your and Sarah’s videos. So informative, authentic, and enjoyable. Love that you’re willing to do videos just like this. Keep it up, do not let challenges interrupt your dreams. Keep on keeping on.
Thank you so much. We love the fact that we are always reassessing what we are doing. The one thing that remains a constant for us is.... travel. How we do it and how we flex is the changes we make. Lovely comment thank you.
Really honest video. Good health to you from here on in Neil.
Cheers guys! You know that whatever travel you undertake, there are always challenges eh.
Well Neil we appreciate your candor on this topic of health.
If you want to improve your health moving forward your gonna have to make some changes in your lifestyle and eating habits.
I have improved my health significantly at age 56. I lost 40 lbs and fixed my non- alcohol fatty liver, stabilized my blood pressure, improved greatly my sore knees, got my mental fog cleared up…… on and on with the health improvements! I’m excited to retire at 58 and start our slow travel adventures now that the health issues getting better, it will make traveling easier and more fun. With all the walking your doing maybe just add some push ups every day or so, you don’t need to do long runs or heavy weights to be strong and healthy at our age.
Proper nutrition ( getting nutrients out of our food) is very important also, so watch for digestive issues and fix them when you notice it. Fasting from food for
Long periods a day is incredible for reversing health issues (especially metabolic issues). Get to a point where you fast for 16 hours a day and eat within a 8 hour window, and this will be very beneficial to long term health.
Lastly eating a low carb diet, including minimal fruit is important.
Fructose is a driver of many metabolic health concerns so watch out for
that. I say all this to you so it can help you to look and do research on these topics.
Dr Berg
Dr Berry
Dr Fung
Dr Jamnardis
And many many more like minded health coach’s to doctors put out videos on UA-cam.
This stuff will make travel
Easier on the mind and body and will literally save your life!
You two are mentors on how to travel in retirement, we need you strong and healthy for a long time to come!!!!! I hope this may help you turn around your health and improve your quality of life!👍🤙
This makes a lot of sense. Sarah and I are going to investigate this... Thank you so much and well done on that amazing weight loss based on real science. Good work.
Hello, Neil!
What a great video this was!
I empathise with every issue you mention. I've been there, done that...and then some. People think full time travel is easy...it is not. However, it has been the most amazing thing I have ever done.
In 2014, I quit my job, sold my condo & vehicle plus, gave away the extra things that I didn't gift to my niece for safekeeping.
Oct 30th will be my 9 year anniversary. Over the years, I've had my ups & downs &, there have been times when I unequivocally want to throw in the towel and, "go home" however, there has not been a nanosecond where I have regretted my decision to pull up stakes & head out into my future. After I have a down day, I get back on the bus & travel to the next place where it is yet another beautiful place that I would not have wanted to miss in a million years.
I turned 65 this year and, despite some aches and pains, I just finished my 3rd around the world trip.
People tell me that they would never be able to do what I do. I jokingly agree with them. Attitude is everything.
When I turned 65 in March, I did a self check with myself and decided that it was probably time to buy a condo back in the Canadian city that I left 9 years ago. Yikes! What was I thinking? You can't go back. Once a mind has been expanded, it can never go back to thinking inside the box. I arrived back in Canada in July and instantly knew that I can't go back. After spending a month visiting with friends and completing my 27th year of volunteering for our local music festival, I made my way to California for a visit with a friend and, currently, I am lounging away the Sunday in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
In closing, I'll just say, "a bad day of travel is still better than a good day at work..."
Best wishes to you & Sarah for many more joyous years of travel.
The real question now is what to do for my 10 year anniversary in 2024! Any thoughts?
Haha Brilliant. I also love your feeling about friends saying that they 'would never be able to do that'. It is a shame though that people don't at least try isn't it. Because when their world has expanded who knows where they go from there.
10 years... hmmm.... We love creating things. How about writing a book? "Why 10 years of travel changed my life forever"?
Well done Neil! This is a great video topic and one that I watched while procrastinating about putting on an exercise video and doing my thing here in the hotel room. Eating a healthy diet while travelling can be so hard and sometimes (20%) we just have a burger or whatever else is around but 80% we find a grocery store and have a picnic. We also carry healthy snacks with us, a small knife sharpener and coffee filters etc. What I really struggle with is reducing my alcohol. That's crept up as we enjoy the local beverages but I'm working on it....off I go to find those resistance bands...
We use the resistance bands too. Problem is that I always find ways to resist using them... Maybe that is where they get their name from :-)
My husband is taking early retirement next year and we plan to spend at least half the year travelling. Retirement is causing him a fair bit of anxiety because he’s the type of guy that like to plan and know how things are going to work & there are a lot of unknowns ahead. I keep telling him that we won’t know how we feel and what will works for us until we get into it. Just because we say and plan for things to go one way doesn’t mean we can’t make adjustments to our lives depending on how we’re feeling. You and Sarah are no different, plan big, make adjustments as you go & see the world your way. Wishing you both well!
Really interesting. We get that anxiety totally... You know what though, it is the unknowns that make life so much more exciting and interesting.
Never thought you were doing anything wrong, but was concerned about your health. Glad you are at home now hopefully recharging. Look forward to seeing y’all back out on the road in the future. Take care.
Thank you so much. Appreciate your support as ever.
We have just come home after 6 months of traveling in Europe. To us it happened the other way round. We have lived healthier. We have lost both 10kg and now the challenge is to this healthier life in our usual environment. In that respect we see traveling as an opportunity to make positive change as well. Good luck Thomas
Ahhhh the joy of Europe! We are thinking that may be part of our key to success in diet! Thank you!
Thank you for sharing this, Neal. Your points especially resonated with Tanya. It's interesting how something so enjoyable, like travel, can produce some undesirable effects, like putting on weight. We all have expectations of how wonderful this world of travel can be and it's a bit of a slap in the face when the reality doesn't always meet those expectations. You're definitely spot on regarding having a routine and making adjustments to it depending on your circumstances. Have a great week.
Thank you so much. I hope that you are both working your way through these issues too and making good progress.
As always, I love the message. We've coined this our fall of transformation. No we're not going to end the year with 6 pack abs. But we are living more intentionally. (Thanks for the timely reminder)
We're both trying to get in better shape, eating out less to save calories and money. When we launch we plan to start with a camino hike as our intro. So we need to be in shape before.
Recently started a book referring to you only have 4000 weeks in your life. Well I'm down to probably 1300 weeks of decent mobility. So I am focusing on yoga and walking/ hiking to maintain flexibility. Plan to add in more body weight exercises that can be done anywhere.
We travel at least quarterly, so in the past, we get off track when we leave for a few weeks, then it's a struggle when we return. Now, we're aiming to continue our routines regardless of our location.
Cheers to all of us finding the path that works for us & many more years of healthy travel and exploring this beautiful world.
Safe travels!
Just finished a week of the Camino Frances! Way hillier than we were expecting. We’ve been pretty active walker/runners and were surprised it was as difficult as it was. Beautiful scenery and definitely worth getting a rucksack transport service.
We're still trying to plan our route but looking like spring 25 now that we've added a Greenland trip to our fall 24 plans.
We love the thought of doing the Camino! Recommendation for you, there is a channel that we watch on UA-cam that are just starting the Camino, I think you will find that an interesting series to watch. They are called "Those Happy Days".
Sounds like you have a great plan, This will not be the winter of your discontent :-)
That’s really useful advice Neil. We spent eleven months traveling overseas and a couple of months traveling around our own country in Australia this past 18 months and came across a lot of the same issues. We ate out way more than we intended, walked less than expected and spent more than we would have liked. Looking forward to hearing your solution and keep up the great work as your videos are always interesting and entertaining 😊
Hi Danielle,
Thank you! Nice to see that we aren't alone in this. Phew! :-).
This is a learning experience, just as a new job is. We started our first year slow traveling, and after staying in several Airbnb’s. even the nice ones, there was always some bit of discomfort. Unsharpened knives, uncomfortable beds, etc. Packing, unpacking, travel days, we’re a grind. So a year and a half ago, we settled in Guadalajara for a bit to immerse ourselves in the culture and travel within the area. I don’t know how long we will stay. Maybe three years, maybe ten, maybe move next year. I also carry my own knives, and some creature comforts when we are traveling for a month or more. I love having a home base that cost a fraction of what it did in the States. We’ve been able to lose weight and are slowly getting healthier (we are in our 50’s). I agree with you Don’t wait to travel. Just find a way that allows you to do it comfortably. I’m not a young backpacker anymore. 😊
Do you ever have problems getting knives through border security?
Nice, that is good to carry the knives. We use to but weight has been an issue for us with camera gear too so we only travel with what is necessary... Maybe a knife is necessary lol!
Thanks for sharing Neil, it’s something we found too, I think sometimes we can all “treat ourselves” too often and perhaps treat it like a “holiday”. I also believe as you get older the weight which creeps on is harder to shift and also impacts more on a persons health. You made some great points, recognising there is an issue is the first step to resolving it. We are on the same journey, look forward to next weeks video ❤
Thank you Lynn, we are really making positive moves to improve and are starting to see the benefits. Having said that I am just eating a flapjack as I type this.... hmm...
I am sure there’s a lot of struggle putting a functional life together when you make a drastic change in lifestyle such as this. I absolutely resonate with how you’re feeling about the balancing of the realities of constant travel with meeting your needs for a healthy lifestyle. I’m working on the same process as well and am starting a bit more slowly and deliberately with smaller steps, I reckon, but hopefully will end up as a full time traveler as well. I just spent nearly a month in a van I turned into a microcamper exploring areas of the US I haven’t seen before. I realize that this is only doable for me maybe a month at a time before I feel a need to return to home for simply the ease of life - cooking, working out, meeting my very limited social needs but even introverts need this a little. I also have a plan for nearly a year of international travel next year and have had to compromise and add a roommate/housesitter in my home until I am thru with exploring the lifestyle and feel comfortable selling the house. So, I’m doing it more in baby steps and trials. I’m learning that a lot of what I need and desire in my life can’t be fit into a suitcase or van and this too is a process. Working on solutions constantly to build a life of freedom takes a lot of energy and is hard. I thought the hardest part would be getting financially ready but this is not the reality in my own life. In addition, living under the microscope of UA-cam has a lot of stressors as well, I’m sure. Good luck because I totally resonate with the struggle.
Thank you, good message. We like that you are working at your own pace and doing what works for you. That is what we are always refining for ourselves too.
Thank you.
Excellent advice! I am 61 and my husband 57 and we will be starting our slow travel in February I started getting my health in order and I have been looking at how do I keep my regimen up so I stay fit. My husband kept saying once he retires he would start. I have been pushing him to start even small changes now so he can manage what he wants to be doing soon. If you cannot walk a mile on the flat Texas plains, that hike down to the beach in Spain is goin to be tough! Our first stay I looked up a gym, but it crossed my mind about future stays and availability and also health in general. As always thank you for your transparency and sharing.
Haha, you sound more like Sarah Henry and he is more like me... I am the one that needs coaxing!
Thanks as ever for your support.
As a fellow world traveler, I offer that you're only as young as your back is healthy. Taking care of your back should be just as important as taking care of your cholesterol and heart. The latest MRI technology that allows the patient to move while the MRI is scanning your back is remarkable and offers insight only dreamed about a few years ago.
It took me decades to realize that 85% of my health is diet and 15% is exercise. When I was younger, I thought it was the other way around. Quite simply, you can't outrun a bad diet. Reducing sugar alone was a game changer. My sugar research has revealed that it is much more detrimental to my health than everything I've eaten in the past.
Bottom Line: Keep your back healthy, eat healthy, and decide to see the world. Money and circumstance is not an excuse. Thanks for the video.
Wow... So true about a healthy back! Is that an MRI that is easily available... I would invest in getting that kind of insight.
Excellent advice all round here. Thank you.
Hi . We have been travelling for Nearly 5 years now . One tip I can give you is take up yoga . Our morning routine never changes where ever we are . We get our yoga mats out do a hiit class followed by yoga and meditation . So we always book a room where we can do our workout . Doing this keeps you disciplined . This routine also fits in with our intermittent fasting we don’t eat between 7pm & 11am . We have never been fitter we are both 59 . Good luck with your travels and get out the Uk . 😂
YES! Sarah is really trying to move me into learning yoga and we just have to do it. I know that is what is best for us. Also Intermittent Fasting is something we have done before and once we are more in control of our lives will easily return to. Thank you for your comment.
Thank you for the reply . We are in India for the next 6 months . If your over this side of the world . Be nice to have a cup of tea and chat .
I can relate. I am currently having something of an existential crisis. I am 64 and have built my life around travel, to the point where if I'm not travelling or planning my next trip my life feels empty. In the last couple of years I have had a recurring health issue that makes it very difficult to plan anything, even a trip to the supermarket. I can be well for weeks and then not. It's not life threatening but it is definitely travel threatening. I can no longer rely on my body and that's really depressing. I accept that this is very much a 'first world problem'. Not really sure what I am going to do about it. I might have to switch to totally spontaneous travel (as in when I'm feeling well), but that is a lot more expensive. I will be continuing to follow you with great interest and empathy. Thank you for the honest sharing.
Interesting and that sounds very debilitating for this kind of lifestyle. Not a first world issue at all. Travel can be vital for many of us and you are clearly one of these people.
I wonder if there is something you can do around creating a journal of your travels and in doing so you will relive your high moments. A challenge to write a book maybe. Then when you do travel spontaneously, you can really savour it.
Hi, and thanks so much for replying. Yes, I already do that, via photography. I have about thirty years worth of holiday travel photo archives and i watch them regularly. I've already written a book (a PhD thesis) and am in no rush to do that again, we are talking relaxation not stress LOL. I will continue to travel (in fact I am going to Japan in four days) but am just learning to adjust my expectations, speed and spontaneity.
We often come to realise that our health is the key to enjoying life too late, however, seeing how others are determined to overcome their difficulties has inspired me to keep an open mind. For example, I found out that there were people who pulled their backpacks on hiking trips and also there were others with prosthetic leg, happily doing what seemed to be torturing themselves. Hopefully I can learn to see and appreciate the “half full” glass rather than worrying about the other “half empty” portions, applying this attitude towards both myself and others around me. Please keeps doing what makes you feel happy and stop only when it’s no longer fun, after all, time is the single use currency that no one knows exactly how much we have left.
We enjoy trying different approaches and I think if we call all do it by keeping our glass half full then we will all win out in the end. Great comment, thank you.
Neil………total admiration for you both! Lots of folk dream and talk about changing their lives and following dreams of travel……you two had the balls to go out there and do it!!! Kudos! Was it always going to be perfect? Of course not. Were there going to be unforeseen problems? hell..yes! But……. Nobody can take away those memories and experiences that you have had…and will continue to have. The key lesson here for me is how we must look after our health first and foremost because, without our health, the rest of it is just pipe dreams. Best wishes to you both for a healthy, safe and fun 2024 👏🏻
We were very active prior to travel and have been able to continue the lifestyle because we pick places with activities such as hiking, swimming, cycling, walking and running. We love the beaches and the mountains.
We eat a very clean diet (no red meat), no fried foods. It is harder to do when traveling but we make it a priority. We try to eat a closely to what we eat at home. Lots of fruit and veg. We bring resistance bands with us to travel and do workouts on UA-cam like Caroline Girvan. If you incorporate exercise as part of your day, it becomes a priority because you feel and sleep much better after a great workout.
We have the resistance bands too. But seriously... I have to stop resisting using them! Thanks Dina as ever!
Great video.... We've been traveling now since June... Three arbnb stays. Learning a lot. Agree with everything you have said. We had a six year plan and started our dream this year. Due to family emergency we had to return after the first month. We've adjusted our plans to accommodate. We're trying to get better at focusing on schedule and routine in all aspects. I'm 52 she is 47. We see that diet and exercise is the key to long term success. Avoiding stress and anxiety by trying to get everything everywhere done or seen. Deep breaths. Slowly focus on the moment and the experience. Thank you for the video. ❤
Yes we get all that you speak of there totally. And we know about having to return home at short notice. But you sound like you are managing the process well for you both. Good work.
These are important points to address early or before travel points. My suggestion is to look back and review all the good things Or good times that you and Sarah have had up to this point. Remember all the good decisions you made to make things happen the way you would like. Anything off that path, treat it as a blessed lesson. As for what you are experiencing now, what needs to change in your original plan or equation? Then implement those changes. For example, if many of the Airbnb have been less than stellar, find out how to overcome that. You may possibly need to address some expected wants and needs to these airbnb places prior to booking. You and Sarah have done so well during your travels. Sometimes it will go bad but that's how you know the good times too. Overcome the obstacles that impact you negatively which may mean changing the plan a bit to avoid the unpleasantness. Remember its your dream and up to you to make it happen. As far as wellness, cut down on any bad habits or practices and start new practices that can help going forward. For example, supplements, holistic foods, intermittent fasting, and getting a good night sleep. Then do what keeps you motivated with life! Great video. Looking forward to the next!
Thanks Edward. We are making good progress and learn as we go which is a lot of the fun of it really.
Interesting comment, thank you.
I know when I’ve watched your and others videos one thing that has resonated with me is packing a suitcase that we check that had cooking stuff with us - I’ve had issues with air bnb not having proper eqpt and bad furniture - thank you for making this real
Yes we have tried that sometimes Wendy. There always seems to be another utensil that isn't there that we need. But we are constantly learning. Good comment, thank you.
Hi Neil, my wife and I have been subscribers since your early days (stuck in the UK during Covid). Since then we've taken the plunge and have been travelling for the past year and a half or so (US, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Spain and now Portugal - writing this from the Azores) and faced many similar challenges - and great experiences that more than offset. This video in particular spoke to us, as we had many of the same expectations around staying healthy, and we found ourselves gaining weight despite our overall low stress lifestyle. In order to address the walking challenge we were facing in hot countries (we try to get 10k steps a day, just as a gauge - or more accurately 70k+ a week) we added in a calisthenics routine we do 5x a week, at less than 30 minutes a day. That helped our fitness level but the weight gained stayed on. More recently, in May this year we started calorie counting and its helped us shed quite a bit - I'm down 35 lbs since May. I also added in weight training that I try to do 3x a week, but that's just additive - gain muscle burns more and I can eat more. We're both foodies and I like to imbibe so if it works for us... anyway, thought I would share. If we're ever in the same area at the same time it would be great to meet up, also feel free to reach out if you want to know more on how we handled it (apps, workout gear that we travel with etc.). Cheers!
Hi I would love to know the apps etc that you use to stay healthy on your travels. Hubby and I set out in a couple of years and I am worried about gaining weight as it’s always a struggle for me.
Hey Carol, that's exciting! We're happy to share. We use Samsung Phones so the apps might not exist on Apple but I'm sure there are equivalent or better. We'll start with walking and tracking our fitness. I use Google Fit to track my steps and body measurements, my wife uses Samsung Health. Both are free and do about the same thing. In Google Fit's profile you can set up your steps target and update your weight - you can see the historicals under Body Measurements.
One thing that can be challenging when travelling is finding a scale! Once a week on one of our walks we try and find a big department store that has scales - Cortez Del Ingles has been good in Spain and Portugal. We weigh ourselves there and back at our accommodations we weigh the stuff we were wearing and carrying with our luggage scale to get our actual weight. "They" say that measuring your waist is a better measure of progress, and we do that too but I think we're incompetent at measuring because our results are all over the place.
Now for calorie counting, the key to it all. I like an app just called "Calory", and use the free version. again, my wife likes a different app. In the profile you can set up your information (age, weight etc.) and it can auto set a goal for you based on your objective, which might be to hit or maintain a certain weight. If you're not familiar or you want more information, Googling Forbes Calorie Calculator brings you to a bit of a noisy (ads) page that has a calculator and lots of good information on the why's and how's of target setting. The targets are very close to what Calory sets automatically, so good either way. At first its a bit of a pain to look up what you're eating and updating the app all the time, but it keeps it top of mind and gives you a good idea of what you should be consuming to achieve your goals - over time it should become more intuitive. Another thing it helps with is giving perspective and motivation for the walking and exercise - the more you do the more you can eat and still achieve your goals.
On to Calisthenics. We started with Yoga (Yoga with Adriene on UA-cam is amazing) but found we needed something that got our heart rate up. We might go back to Yoga (and Adriene) once we're where we want to be. I did a bunch of googling and found a 5 day calisthenics / HIIT program we could do with just Yoga mats. We started with long rest times and short workouts and have gradually been reducing rest and increasing workout time as we get more fit. The app we now use to help our program is "Tabata Timer". Its not free but the lifetime version is less than $10. You enter the program in the app and it guides you through your daily routine with countdowns to your next exercise etc. As for Yoga mats to give us something to workout on, my wife uses the Yogo Ultralight Folding Yoga Mat and I'm considering switching over. Its super compact, ideal for travelling. It's sold out right now but they're expecting to release an updated version. I've been using the Liforme Original Yoga Mat, which is amazing, grippy and gives a lot more padding but is also much heavier and take a lot of room in our suitcase. We also both have a Heathyoga TPE Knee Pad that we use to protect ourselves from the hard floors for some exercises. Super comfy and they don't take a lot of room in the suitcases when laid flat.
A super long reply, so I won't get into my weight training (yet one more app, a pair of workout gloves and a couple gym outfits). For us the key, as Neil mentioned, was building a routine. We also and started one thing at a time. We did the walking for a year before we started the next thing (in hindsight, we would have been better off starting with calorie counting). We keep ourselves honest and don't sweat missing a day because its a travel day or its raining or whatever. Its also helped us keep track of "weekends", because we look forward to our "days off" of working out :)@@caroljordan4316
Like Carol, we would love to know your apps also! We would also love to meet up somewhere in this world of ours. Pleased that you took control with the calorie counting, we are doing similar now.
Your intro there to having 8 days in a week reminds me of one of George Carlin's bits where he talks about just setting aside an hour for kids to daydream in school. Having that day to yourself isn't a bad idea at all.
Thank you so much for your honest video and sharing with us your side of the story. I am writing you walking to my French market in a nearby Chicago West burb. We are 56 and 55 still working as a husband wife architecture firm. We just spent the past two weeks in Spain and while we enjoyed the time off we're ready to get back to work. Two weeks almost seem like too long as a week might have been enough, so I can just imagine what 3 years may have been like for you particularly since you are into a domestic activity as a chef.
I will say though that you are absolutely right to encourage others too do it now. The builder I most worked with fortunately took vacations through his 50s and '60s, and at the age of 69 a year before he planned to retire he was diagnosed with ALS. He is now confined to a wheelchair as a quadriplegic talking with a Stephen Hawking like keyboard. So as the old email chain used to go, don't just look at the good China, use it now. And whatever your decision is sir Best wishes to you and know that videos like this are tremendous benefit to everyone.
Hi Tim,
Looks like you have the perfect working arrangement if you are keen to return to it. I love to hear that and with regard to your friend, that is a fear for us all isn't it... to not miss out on the opportunities of life.
Thanks for the message, appreciate it.
@@2GoRoam Thanks much, I reread what I wrote and did some edits. I used voice recognition to write it and I neglected to note that we got back from two weeks in Spain the day before You released your video. Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo, Granada, Córdoba, and Sevilla. We traveled between all with high speed trades which was great, but Andalusia was ungodly hot close to 100F everyday. That was a shock for October.
Ahhh now that is interesting! We were thinking of checking out Andalusia! You will see some places you have been in our videos later this year! Watch this space!
Neil, thanks for the points you made in this video! We'll continue to watch and wish you and Sarah the best. Indeed, travelling to new cultures, food and environments would certainly affect hubby's and my health. We appreciate your efforts, and are happy you will be in the UK for a while. I kind of hope you and Sarah will bunk in with her mom for a good long while and travel around your wonderful country. I'd love to have a tour of the pubs and have the owners discuss their history. Anyways, all the best! 😊
We are going to be spending time looking around our home country and you will see that in future videos for sure :-)
@@2GoRoam Great! Looking forward to the future videos. Hugs to both of you 😊.
Thanks for your honesty. Don't be so hard on yourself. NOW that you have identified your concerns, you can make adjustments and continue on your adventure, what ever that may look like. I admire you both because your living your dream. I am still just dreaming...
Thank you so much. We are making some big changes and hope you find them interesting!
100% agree with your points. I traveled full-time for a year, and the airbnb's stripped me of my enthusiasm for the project. I've settled into an apartment as my home base and am scratching my travel itch with lots of extended vacation-type travel while I figure this out for myself.
Thanks for sharing, I have found your videos very helpful as I plan our early retirement travel. I have experienced some of your challenges twice in my working life, once as a IT consultant in my 20s on the road for 3 years in the UK staying away from home for months at a time and later in life as a helicopter pilot in Canada in my 30s and 40s. In both cases I put on a lot of weight and got really out of shape. As you might expect the toll on my body in my 30s and 40s was much more and I needed to make a change. I did a few things. I brought a bit of a cooking kit with me so I could control my diet more and I was very selective what I ate when eating out. I came up with a workout routine that did it require equipment and I could do anywhere any time (calisthenics) and made that part of my daily routine and made sure I always got 8 hours sleep (mandatory if you are a pilot). In the end I actually lost weight and built strength. I realized a new lifestyle requires a new routine and as I got older I needed to be more disciplined if I wanted to get the most out of it. It was tough to start, but it worked. Looking forward to what you have in mind. All the best and let me know if you are coming to Canada. I have never met a UA-cam celeb 😉
Fantastic message and I will discuss this with Sarah later today. Really interesting... That gives me hope that things can actually turn around and improve!
We WILL be in Canada! So stick around!
Well said! All of that! I’ve had a recent brain tumor and they want me on immunotherapy for up to two years. Now I’m trying to figure out how to make my travel plans happen with that “hanging over me”. It can be very depressing. Enjoy your life!
❤
Sending best wishes to you.
Oh that is awful!!!! We can imagine this is hanging over you. If you want to talk, please drop us an email at info@2goroam.com xxx
Thank you for your honesty !!! I am sure that overall the experiences you have had overcome the downsides of what you have experienced. Looking forward to seeing what your next stops are !!!! Don't listen/read the naysayers. Live your dreams 2 GO ROAM !!!!
100%, everything we have done is far more important than the issues and we are loving every day, still. Thank you so much!!!!
Thank You for your honesty. I always say that I have never wasted a Penny traveling. How many times did I have a bad experience and just changed directions and Magic Happens at those moments.
Absolutely agree! That is where the magic is. The moments you remember. Nice comment!
The extreme honesty in this video is why I appreciate your channel. It sounds like you’re really going to benefit from this reset of your priorities and intentions. It’s great that you can shift gears in this way and adjust your plans without any regrets or pushback. Some simply cannot overcome their inertia. I look forward to the next video, which I’m going to watch now, to see what decision you’ve made. Very curious.
Looking forward to hearing the rest of your advice Neil. My husband and I are in our early 50s and are taking a year off next year to see if we can travel full time. We have been spending this year getting fit. I know it won’t exempt us from getting sick or injured, but trying to get ourselves in the best shape we can. Best of luck to getting back on track. Cheers from Australia
Getting fit is the best decision by far and we wish we had focused more on that. Good luck with you travels!
agreed with all your points. Travel takes a toll on us too. Air BBS are almost always a surprise and I laughed about the knives- we’ve been in 10-15 in the last year and NEVER a sharp knife and where are the can openers and how old is that oil, etc. one of the keys to keep going is just the awe and joy in some of the places you go- we learn so much and find new foods and new ways of managing life-I guess your baby analogy is right on. We’ve all got a lot to learn ( and it’s a shame we didn’t start this 20 years ago) good luck to you both in your adventures!
Can't agree enough Cathy. The issues are far out weighed by the joy of discovery. Thank you for the great comment.
Bless you! Thanks for sharing your story. Long term travel is not for me because I need to have a home base where I can cook for myself and exercise consistently and sleep in a bed that won't hurt my spine.
We get that totally. Thanks as ever for your kind support.
Absolutely 100 percent agree this happens to everyone Iv ever met out travelling. A few adjustments are definitely needed maybe slower travel to get in to ( mini routines ) or rent a motorhome if budget and country permits so you have your own bits and pieces ( I find this easier as it’s home from home ) but some country’s this would be difficult however a good stint in Europe and it would be perfect . ( no carrying of stuff either for your back to heal . And a yoga mat for some physio.
Just to end with a positive a few tips to deal with the peanut gallery watching you . ( us ur viewers 😂)
Don’t defend your position! Just hold it . And don’t explain to people you are not going to hear your explanations. There is always going to be the comments of I told you so ! They haven’t given up on you they have given up on them selves and spend the rest of there time arguing for the limitations of others.
I’m sure this can be sorted as health is important but so is your dream . And you my friends can do both . Safe travels .
Debbie... great message thank you. Appreciate your kind words. Defending our decisions in life is something that in the space on a 12 to 15 minute video on UA-cam actually takes up too much useful time so we try to avoid that as much as possible.
We have some great ideas to really mix up our travels going forward, we hope you like it when you see it :-)
Interesting thoughts, we've moved from the UK to Portugal and intend to stay here for another 7 0r 8 years then move to Malaysia for life. We travel extensively many times a year both in Europe and further. I agree with many points. Our biggest challenge is wanting to go everywhere in the limited time left of this Earth plus we love our new home in Portugal. When we're home, we want to travel and when we're away - we get homesick! I have no answer but the excitement for waking up and going to the airport fires our soul - then on our way back we look forward to the stability and our comfortable bed.
Some people forget about proper health care if required
and cost of insurance. Health care in your home country if required is generally better and might cut the trip short.
Great comment. We suffer the same challenge of wanting to go everywhere but with slow travel that just isn't practical is it. Thank you.
@@paulhunter6652 I recently broke my wrist and have received excellent care in Portugal. I had a triage consultation within 15 minutes, numerous x-rays, specialist consultation, fracture re-aligned (ouch), cast placed on the arm, another x-ray to ensure all was correct, and final consultation - all within 4 hours. The medical staff spoke English. I have another appointment on Friday to ensure all is healing well.
Hey Neil, great video thanks for sharing your difficulties and solutions. Quick question. In the next video please can you also share any financial shortfalls (unless there haven’t been any), ie things you’d do differently or maybe if you should have kept your house and/ or saved more etc.. Thanks
Hi Ian!
We will indeed talk about all things money and whether we would have done something differently. That will be in a few weeks time though, so hope you don't have to hold on too long for that one. Hope you are both well.
I love your videos, they are realistic. I only have one child that I had "late " in life, so I quit my job last year & we went to Europe for a year - soon she'll be gone for college + live so I invested in us and our time together. Time is a hot commodity under-appreciated.
Sure is a hot commodity! Bet you are so excited to get traveling!
Look like you've answered your own issues Neil! I'm a firm believer that when you can't change the situation you are in, change your outlook! That way, you can make anything work!
Fabulous video guys and sooooooo spot on. 19 years of travel has taught us the same lessons as what you've been going through. For us travel is our life, and like you we needed to find a balance that equalised and carefully maintained all elements within our life. You articulated this information perfectly. I hope this video reaches a wide audience so that those with the same dreams, can start to think about these issues before they venture out on their own journeys.
Thank you so much you two. I know this will hit home with you both, you are people that we look up to and learn from so much.
Great video and brutally honest which we really, really appreciate. We're hoping to retire in the not too distant future and our plan is to travel 6 months of the year (Oct-Mar) and stay at home for the other 6 months of summer (we live in Scotland) so take from that what you will :) , but Apr-Sept should be reasonable for resetting, catching up with family, making new travel plans etc. After the last 3 years of largely working from home (i.e. sat in front of a computer most days), having family bereavements to sort out and being a woman of a certain age, I was hoping that early retirement was going to improve our health and now you have just crushed that you brute!! Only kidding, I totally appreciate your honesty in this area and it's something we need to now consider as part of our retirement and travel plans. Love the channel - you guys are a real inspiration for us.
Leaving Scotland for the winter... Crazy idea lol!
Well crush maybe but hopefully I have signposted the things to be aware of so you can learn from our (many) mistakes. Happy travels!
Thanks for sharing, Neil. Without question, your best video so far!
Brilliant! Thank you Stan!
Excellent chat for us dreamers. Expectations versus reality. Thank you for your advice, you mentioned things to think about that hadn’t occurred to me😊
Thank you Rebecca, hope we are helping you travel better. All the best.
Very honest video Neil, thanks for sharing, it's brave and can't be easy. Having travelled a lot the last 18 months we can definitely relate to finding it hard to stick to a routine. After 6 months we missed simple routine like going to the gym etc. The big revelation seemed to be finding a balance and not being too extreme with our activities (ie not boozing too much or doing just one activity for too long etc etc - everything in moderation). I think you are big exponents of slow travel and perhaps you need to slow it down even more and also spend some more time in the UK might help as it helped us get grounded spending some of the summer months in the UK before going travel again. It helps keep the excitement of travel as well as after a few months in the UK you can be ready and excited to travel again.
One of the biggest challenges I've found travelling is accepting that every day doesn't have to be a 5 Star day where loads happens, that it is OK to have a day in front of the computer catching up with people and "real life". Anyways in the Austrian Alps now which are breathtaking and off for a bike ride! Stay well and keep going!
Hi Nathan, very well thought out comment, thank you. The last point you made is something that we have focused on a lot. That is why we often say that travel isn't what we do, it is where we are. What we do is often much like what our friends do back home and that doesn't include going to see all the local tourist attractions. Thanks for raising that.
@@2GoRoam Well said 👌
So glad you did this! We all need to vent, and you & Sarah are doing a magnificent job❤️
And, BTW, come back to SMA in the fall & winter. It’s luscious here now. I have sweatpants & a light jacket on😊
Susan, you are brilliant! You know we will be in SMA when we can make it work.
A reset and refocus and I’m confident you two will be “on the road again” (American song reference). You two provide excellent content and I love your transparency. Feel better soon! Much love from Colorado 💞💞💞
You know... when we leave an accommodation we always sing "On the road again!" :-)
Thank you so much.
@@2GoRoam 💞
I’ll be moving to Mexico next year, and at 58 I am about 40 lbs overweight and out of shape. Cutting carbs and doing intermittent fasting seems to help me the most to lower inflammation and increase my energy. Hope you find something that works for you to feel healthier!! ❤️❤️❤️
Can I recommend you start walking 6000 to 10000 steps a day
Yes we are now embarking on more of a Greek diet and that will help us a lot. Hope it is working out for you too Liz
I've enjoyed your channel from the beginning and really appreciate your honesty and perspective. My husband (57) and I (55) are planning to semi-retire (I'll continue to work remotely) in about 2-3 years. Our dream is to travel a lot during the next 10 years, and living abroad is part of that plan. Since we live in the USA, it's just too expensive, arduous, and impractical to have our home base here and go back and forth across the oceans every time we travel. So our idea is to spend two years in each of three different parts of the world as our home base, and travel to nearby places, like a wheel and spoke system. For example, live in Portugal for two years and visit most of the UK and Europe from there during that time. Then, move to northern Thailand for two years and visit most of Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand during that time. I'm very curious to see whether your new plan will look anything like this approach. Keep these great videos coming! We're all rooting for you and Sarah to find a way to travel the world and get fitter and healthier in the process.
That is a stunningly good plan. We like that a lot! Well thought out, the hub and spoke idea will work wonders we're sure.
Love the honesty. Life is always about the plan and the adjusting plan. You are living a life with lots of decisions and admire your courage
Thank you so much as ever. Lovely message.
Your analogy about a baby learning to walk brought an old memory back to me. I was about 6 or 7 years old and a neighbour across the street was standing in his driveway talking and drinking beer with a couple of other guys. His baby, wearing nothing but a diaper came toddling out with unsteady steps. The neighbour put out his foot and nudged the child in the backside, causing him to fall down. The baby got up and took a few more unsteady steps and the guy knocked the baby down again. This repeated a couple more times. As a small child, I was horrified by how cruel this was. I don’t know how it applies to your analogy but I thought I’d share this memory since what you said brought it back so strongly.
I appreciate the honesty in your videos. When my husband’s sister passed away 8 years ago from pancreatic cancer at the relatively young age of 62, my husband and I decided we shouldn’t put off travel plans until retirement. My SIL was an exceptionally healthy person, an organic gardener and a runner who was healthy and fit up until the last 8 months of her life. None of us knows how long we have.
Early retirement has not been possible for us but we managed to make the most of our 3 weeks vacations every year until the pandemic hit. Last year we had a trip planned to Ireland and the UK, our first international trip since 2019, but we had to cancel at the last minute upon recommendation from my husband’s physician. This year we chose to travel domestically, fitting our vacation around family commitments.
Prior to the pandemic, I dreamed of doing what you’ve done, sell everything to travel the world. But after losing our oldest son in December 2019, followed soon after by the pandemic, I’ve come to value having a secure home base. I’d still like to do a bit more travelling but full-time travel no longer holds the same kind of appeal.
I guess all this is to say, plans can change, dreams can change and you don’t owe anybody an explanation. Your videos are thoughtful and honest, the kind of authentic content that I value. I look forward to learning about your future plans in the next video.
Blimey, I would call that experience with the baby 'Tough Love'. I wonder if that baby turned out to be an amazing gymnast in future life?
You raise a really important point about changes happening in life and having to reassess and move forward.
Most importantly, we are very sorry to hear about your loss. You should be proud for managing and moving forward. We admire you.
Best wishes
Neil & Sarah
First, thanks for having the courage to share something very personal. I'm sure there are many people who can identify with this challenge. I believe the most important take away from this video is your first tip... develop routines. If I may add, develop "healthy" routines. One routine that we have developed is we walk almost everywhere. The other that we have developed is regular cooking at home that includes a large amount of vegetables. These meals are typically simple stir fry types of meals. We make large batches that last us several meals. We satisfy our craving for variety and experiencing the local cuisine by going out to eat from time to time. Even then, we avoid things like deep fried foods most of the time. This simple style of home cooking doesn't require much by way of fancy cookware. So, most of the time we are OK with what is provided by the accommodation. In the few instances that we needed something, such as a sharp knife, we purchased it. I'll stop there for now, as I don't want to come across as too preachy or too verbose. However, I will say that I believe these two routines, more than anything else, have contributed to our success with maintaining our health while living a nomadic lifestyle. I'm looking forward to seeing your own solutions in the coming video. Take care my friend. Safe travels.
Hey Skip, in this video where we mention that we have friends that we look up to that achieve all this well. That is you and Dian, I think you knew that.
Alway great advice from you.
@@2GoRoam I did not realize it was us you were referring to. However, we are flattered that you hold us in such high regard. We hope our paths can cross again soon.
We are always comparing our style of travel to yours.... We will get to where you are one day! Just watch us :-)
Perfect video! I feel the same way as some of the feelings you've experienced and worried about my health and traveling full time, so thank you for this video!
Thank you Kirsten. Hope it helps you get to some solutions for yourself.
We started traveling 18 years ago, in our fifties and now nearing 70 it does get more difficult especially getting on and off small boats, Island hopping etc..we are fit but not as agile so what you say is so true don't put it off follow your dreams they know the way
No one’s life is perfect, and people put on weight because they reduce the amount of exercise they do and eat poor food whilst staying at home, so you shouldn’t beet yourself up about it.. The fact that you recognize it means that you can and probably will do something about it.. Having travelled most of my life I love watching your videos. Although I am retired, I don’t want to travel full time like you and Sarah (I want stability), but I do still want to go away and visit places and experience new people and things… Thank you both for a great Chanel, and I look forward to continuing your journey with you!
Thank you Cathy, yes it is a fact of life and we are working to solve it for us. Thank you for joining us as we learn and also enjoy your travels!
Really good (and honest) points for us middle-age (ahem!) travellers. Whilst the young vlogger content can be excellent, it’s useful to see content that is more relatable. You just know those young vloggers aren’t having the same aches and pains getting out of bed in the morning! 😀The point about doing it as soon as you are feasibly (financially) able to is, I think, an important one.
Travel is fun and exciting but can also be mentally and physically tiring. Also going from long-term settled to nomadic lifestyle is not a simple transition. We’ve currently limited ourselves to Europe at the moment as world travelling with our dog would be too complex. We’re also doing it in a motorhome so at least we travel with the necessities and a degree of comfort. I know how depressing it would be to walk into an Airbnb which is dingy and basic, especially if it is going to be ‘home’ for a month or so. Of course living in a MH comes with its own set of challenges but there are always compromises to be made when travelling, especially if your budget isn’t unlimited.
The only thing i’d ‘disagree’ with is the ‘10yr of travelling’. On one hand it’s good to have a target to inspire when things get tough but I also think that it could be unrealistic and start to make travel seem like an obligation. It’s a long time and who knows what can happen in between. We’re travelling for the next year or 2 and if we keep enjoying it will carry on.
Anyways all the best for your next adventure.
Hey Russ, great comment. A quick note on the 10years or travel. We address that in this coming up video so look out for our take on that.
Traveling further afield with a dog I can imagine would add a lot more stress than we would feel comfortable with, so you doing that in Europe with a Motorhome seems a really good approach.
Thanks again.
Thank you for sharing this video. I am looking forward to seeing your next video and I hope that is a solution that works for you. I am still a little over 2 years away from retirement, but my plan is to do slow travel where I spend 2 to 6 months in a location depending on the visa. Maybe spending longer periods of time in a location would help with the struggles.
I really appreciate your suggestion to start traveling as soon as possible. I keep thinking about delaying my retirement for various reasons, but your comments encouraged me to get retire and start traveling as soon as I can. Thank you!
So many people we know are delaying retirement and it causes us a lot of concern for them. We will be making videos on that subject very soon so watch this space!
If I were in your shoes I'd consider longer stays, around 3-4 months per destination. This might allow you to get into healthier routines and get a deeper feel for what it's like living in each destination. Regardless of how you travel going forward, I wish you both good health and happiness!
Over the last three years we have actually spent 2 months in some places, 3 months in others and even 5 months in Thailand. We are always flexing our style.
@@2GoRoam There you go, I knew you two were on top of it. You're basically pro's now 🙂 I'm enjoying the videos, best to both of you!
Thanks Chris! Appreciate it.
Very thought provoking. My takeaway is maximise opportunity whilst you are still well enough to do. Do it today not tomorrow .
Appreciated your honesty hope you’re future plans be successful
Thank you so much!
I’m glad you shared this with us. My husband and I will start our world travels in 40 months. I’ll be 60 and he’ll be 63. I’m healthy but he was just diagnosed with heart failure. Asymptomatic.
We have always planned on staying 2 months in a country or even 3 in a Schengen country.
We’re also thinking about having a class C or class B motor home here in the US to give us freedom to travel within the US as well. (We’re selling our home and will eventually buy a tiny house or ranch somewhere in the US in old age)
Thank you for your honesty, SO much food for thought.
Thank you so much Marieta!
Hopefully you are both well. We're living it up the the Philippines atm. Tough gig, but hey, somebody has to do it. We know where you are heading with this, so all the best. See you both soon. ❤
Only regrets I've ever had are not trying something. There is no guarantee of tomorrow. Anyone can sit on their butt at home watching television waiting to die. They won't be disappointed it will arrive. Why not enjoy the life we are given with awesome experiences. Keep rocking the videos I really enjoy them.
Perfect.... Regret the things you DO in life, not the things you were too scared to try.
Great message, thank you.
Oh my, your cooking challenges / airbnbs so mirror mine. It got to the point that I would bring my knives and cooking gear with me,
Marilyn... Yes we have done similar at times. Crazy eh.
Neil and Sarah i enjoy your channel because of your pragmatism and planning. It's a rare thing on UA-cam. I was born with cerebral palsy and I am in a wheelchair, so I happily accept that this is a factor In any of my travel plans. I think you have stuck Gold with the topic of this video because not many other related videos have people who travel as themselves. I will give a simple example, with your skills you could travel to a location where what the location offers is not as important as what you can do in personal skills there (like cooking) I think that would be a very interesting video series. Thankyou
Hey! Thank you for the kind comment. Firstly it is cool that you don't see cerebral palsy as something that stops you from living the life you want, you are just factoring it in to how you travel. Nice, we like that a lot.
Your example is something we are actually thinking on at the moment. As is always the case with us, our channel is going to be going through a lot of changes over the coming months. One thing we learnt was that people really didn't seem that interested in our actual travels but more how we deal with things and how we got ourselves into a position to travel. So we are going to focus on that more going forward and help people with the reality of travel and of early retirement.
Cool comment, thank you.
@@2GoRoam thank you for taking the time to reply to me with such a detailed reply best of luck to you both. Lindsay
Neil, Many thanks for sharing. Looking to start traveling next year when I early-retire. Going to convert a van and will now reconsider the kitchen design as I was going basic, but maybe I need to ensure I can eat how I want to and not be constrained by space and lack of facilities that I am putting into it.
Yes would be a really good idea to make the Kitchen around you and what you need. Maybe pretend you are in the van now and setup an area at home with the utensils you will use in the van to be sure it works. Look forward to hearing about the conversion as you go!
Great honest video. My only suggestion from my years with Airbnb, is always bring a hand held knife sharpener.
Yep! We have travelled with one of those for the last few years and that helps sometimes for sure! Thanks for the comment.
At least you’re thinking about it Neil and you’re not burying your head in the sand. Keep doing what you’re doing and safe travels. 🤙
Cheers Ryan. You know we will always act positively to make the travels the best for us. Al the best.
Thanks for your tips, advice and honesty. I don’t think age has anything to do with your issue. You both need to slow down! One month in one location is ok occasionally, but it’s just too much when you’re doing it all year round, it’s just not good for your mental and physical health. It’s like being a shift worker! As you said, routine is important. I’m thinking about the places you’ve been to this year, and I feel exhausted! I’d still be following your channel even if you stayed in one place for six months, because your content is interesting & entertaining. Sorry, I know you don’t need advice, you’re intelligent people, but think of me as a sister who cares.
Happy & safe travels.
❤Zeljka
Thank you! We have actually stayed between 2 to 5 months in some places and we have a new plan that we think will help things a lot!
I'm back! I implore you to look in to house sitting, the accomodations will be better! Glad you're carrying on - Anne
They have talked about their house sitting in previous videos
Hi Anne, our most recent videos have been on the subject of housesitting. Hope you are well.
@@2GoRoam watching homework! 😂
Haha good. You are in detention completing your homework on our channel :-)
So lovely to have you back.
Have really enjoyed sharing your adventures. Above all I appreciate your honesty it’s very useful information to us retirees. Whatever happens going forward you should be proud of yourselves
Thank you so much. We hope that sharing helps others that are looking to do something similar.
Very brave insightful and candid video Neil callisthenics helps me manage my back anywhere and ‘no gym required’ ! Hope you both enjoy the new adventure👍🙌💪
BEST ADVICE EVER! Thank you, kind sir!
Thank you so much! Pleased you got something from it.
I Retired at 50 with a Plan to travel the World, I did for two years with my then Chinese wife. We seen many great places I loved it could not wait until the next location. But I could feel all was not well then the bombshell fell my wife said she wanted to return to the U.K. and live in the same apartment and get her job back in the coffee shop. We returned back to the U.K. we visited a marriage guidance councillor but from the start it was not what I wanted to return back to the U.K. She did not want to live out of a suitcase anymore. I did. So long story short we got divorced. I moved to Thailand and love the lifestyle, a Thai wife who loves travel we spend 24 hrs a day with each other but we have our own space on weekends she has a little job where she chats with other Thai people, I have a brunch club chatting to other expats. It works for us. Health unlike you when I returned to the U.K. for 9 weeks I was I’ll 3 weeks out of 9 Once returned to Thailand now 11 months never been sick.
Loved hearing your story. Hope things work out for you both.
Wow interesting. Although that doesn't sound a positive story... at least you too action and are now living the life you love. Excellent... We love hearing about people that shun the norm to do what works for them. Would it work for everyone? Hell no... but it works for you and that is perfect. Thanks for the kind comment.
We are definitely staying longer and travelling slower. Most people associate travel with eating out, but long term travel needs adjustment. For me I look now for a place with a gym locally, I get 10k steps per day, I gave up alcohol 5 years ago. But this is not for everyone.
Good work on giving up the alcohol. Since returning to the UK and the prices here, it has certainly helped us SIGNIFICANTLY reduce our intake! And we are actually loving that.
Thanks as ever Steve.
Years ago I came up with this stupid catch phrase "Semper Gumby." The meaning is intended to be "Always Flexible," like the Gumby cartoon. What I hear you describing is the need to change up plans based on the things you're experiencing. It doesn't mean you dislike travel and it doesn't mean you're running out of money. It just means you're going to scratch the itch in a different way. Seeing the narrowboats behind you is indicative of a similar situation we may be dealing with. We'd love to get a narrowboat and cruise the canals of England and Scotland for a few years. However, parental age and other issues may, at least in the short term, alter that dream to seasonal touring of the Erie Canal in New York near where we live. When the paradigm changes, we'll alter the plan again. I can't wait to see what you plan to do, and I love what you've already done!
That is a great message all round and yes. We reassess and then move forward flexibly. We are adopting your Semper Gumby approach :-)
Just enjoy each day. Tomorrow is never promised. Go at your own pace and enjoy.
Chris, a great message. Thank you.
Well done Neil to express your challenges in a very open and honest way, this is why you have such a loyal following, because you pair say it as it is and people love the honesty ❤.
Keep doing what your doing, so many people get inspiration from your hints,tips, funny and sometimes sad very real videos each week. Your commitment to deliver them even when the chips are down is commendable xx
Looking forward to what’s next for you both xx
Take care x
Thank you Dawn! Lovely for you to say. You know us both very well and know that after all we are very simple and straight forward people. x
Great video. We are three weeks into being nomads and already are suffering the effects you talk about. For exercise have you ever thought of doing parkrun? Don't be put off by the word run, you wouldn't be last even if you walked. They are weekly 5ks all over the UK and there are a few abroad. Apart from fitness they are very social and generally end up in a cafe. They would be a great way to meet locals in a new place since you immediately have something in common. Maybe just go along and watch one to get an idea of how supportive they are
Age is by far the biggest issue, I’m coming up 67, my first years travel was curtailed as my dad was ill then passed at the wonderful age of 93, then actually a few days before that I severely popped my knee out of joint, 6 weeks later im waiting on an MRI next week. That said, i should be off to do 90 days in Spain & Italy very soon, but my age is now only just catching up with me & i feel a bit vulnerable going as far as i first planned alone. We shall see, but I don’t want to be in England this coming winter
Take your thought about being in England this winter! I think I would say, don't push yourself too far and you will grow into the right travels for you.