Next year, i will have been retired for 15 years on my works final salary pension. On my birthday next January, i will be getting the extra £959 full state pension at 66. All that is left to do is continue exercising, staying slim, no smoking and rare alcohol cinsumption and try to at least be on my pension for as long as i worked, happy and healthy. My usual exercise, is either on zwift or outside on one of my bikes, every other day, an hour at my aeobic threshold of 170 bpm. Usually around 25 miles in the hour on zwift tempus fugit course, racing thousands of other people ). You can't plan anything without your health.
Thanks for this Steve. We hope that you enjoy reaching the state pension milestone. Having graduated in Physical Education, with a hefty dose of sports science, we absolutely agree in the importance of lifelong activity. It is the elixir of life! Have a good week, Richard & Jackie
It’s a lovely kind of busy now doing the things we love doing with the people we like doing it with 😊 I do enjoy the odd day just staying at home and reading and watching TV because we can!!
Love watching your videos, very inspirational. Myself and my partner retired a couple of years ago at the age of 58 in part due to the early death of my brother. My partner was a teacher and I’m a civil engineer. We were both fortunate to have reasonably good pensions, our net income is now around £4600 a month which is more than enough to let us enjoy life the way we want to. Your videos have given us lots of ideas in how to enhance our retirement, so thank you for posting and please do keep them coming!
Many thanks for sharing this, and sorry for your loss. We are great believers in growth out of trauma. I miss my dad and brother everyday- and that is a real motive for me to go out and live my best life. Glad that you are enjoying your retirement and your life together. Have a good weekend, R
On review from a long time viewer. Your ease and comfort with the camera has come on leaps and bounds. I love the content it continues to be interesting and so valuable. Many thanks and congratulations on 10k
Glad to have found your channel - I’m looking to take early retirement (probably in early 2026 at 56) and my wife who is a teacher wants to work until she is 60 (2031) but I’m hoping she may decide to retire a little earlier. Really useful to hear your experience.
Please be encouraged! Your experiences resonate re the van and early retirement and, more importantly, your process of honest reflection is a real encouragement. For me journaling has been really helpful and after watching this video I will press a metaphoric pause today and give myself permission to fill some blank pages. Top job!
We do a 6 month review/goals at home. Last 6 months was to save for our spring/summer adventures which we have achieved. We also decided not to move, so over next year we need to decorate. We have a dog and are not brave enough to take him to Europe this year even though he loves the campervan.
I can imagine that taking a dog abroad adds a big layer of planning - we often chat to people about that on the road. The UK has some of the most beautiful places we have visited - we just have our fingers crossed that the weather improves! Have fun in your travels 🚐
We’ve come across your channel while in our holiday home in Cornwall and have binged all episodes…it certainly gives us food for thought. Thank you for sharing your experiences 😊
Thank you so much for watching 😊 we are glad you have found things that you might take away from the videos. We are headed down to Cornwall soon and are really excited 🚐
Congrats on the 10k subs and 100k views! 🎉 Your channel is great. Recently early retired myself (with a van), I use this channel as a resource for ideas, motivations, tips/hints. I'm sure as others come across your channel your sub base will rocket....next stop 100k!
Ah thank you for your kind words - it is still abit of a shock to us that so many people watch the channel. I am glad you enjoy some of the hits and places that we visit - it is a wonderful world out there waiting to be discovered 🚐
We retired early, about 12 years ago, and toured around Europe in our Mazda Bongo. We now have a Fiat Ducato 5.4m long van with fixed rear bed, shower and toilet. As you get older you may need to get up in the night more often to use the loo. Also it gives flexibility to stop anywhere for the night. You have set yourself goals in retirement, which seems common in other retired teachers that I know. I do not have a bucket list, I just enjoy travelling. As Robert Louis Stephenson and Paul Theroux have said, it is the journey that is important, not the destination. When I travel I like to take the slow route away from the crowds and have no expectations (as your Hippy friend said). If the journey takes longer than we expect, we can stop off in our camper van for the night. We live near you in Kirkby Lonsdale, so I may see you out cycling when you get your bikes serviced. Have fun.
Your size van sounds ideal - did you covert it yourself ? We have seen a couple of makes that we like the look of that are that size. Our bucket list just grows as we talk to more and more travellers that we meet on the road that talk about places we had never heard of, or considered! We do keep saying that we will never know where our favourite place is as we have probably never been there yet. Richard is hoping to get the bikes out and serviced over the next couple of days, I will have to start on shorter rides to get my hill legs back as it is not like the flat Cheshire roads we are used to! Have fun with you travels 🚐
@@earlyretirementwanderlust We have a Hymer Ayers Rock van conversion. Agreed that the people you meet on your travels are part of the joy of travel. One night we were camping at a vineyard on the Austrian/Slovenian border and met two German couples who were preparing to travel to Mongolia. They had self-built 4x4 Iveco vans and one had a bread oven inside! You can cycle without too many hill around here if you follow the river valleys. Try the Lune valley. The old Roman road on the east side of the Lune gorge is good. Also the Ribble valley. You have fun
Oh I love the Ayres Rock...I have secretly admired them for a few years, but the Hymer prices seem to have gone through the roof recently (as have most other manufactures TBH!). We have had a look round some Hymers and the finish and design is first rate!
I am closely following Richard's letting go of his iron fist as I have one as well and we'll be retiring early this summer. I have trying to be more patient, relaxed, and not so type A in run up to August 1st. I think the mental side of getting to know yourself and retiring early is of particular interest to me. Thank you for sharing yourselves and your journey!! We can't wait to follow in your footsteps.
I remember you saying in past comments how similar you are to Richard! He has actually been amazing in his retirement - he did worry about going from such a full on job full of huge responsibilities to total freedom. He now just has to project manage me! Good luck in the summer I am sure you will be fine - Richards advice would be to find a project that interests you to keep you busy in those first few months or go travelling as much as possible!
It’s probably about 4 miles for my size steps. I am not so bothered about hitting the 10,000 a day because we enjoy doing 2-3 good hikes a week so it averages out. It was amazing how few steps I did the week I was poorly in February. Like you say just getting out for a walk each day is great - getting lots of fresh air 😊
Being an ex teacher myself, I can tell by the way you structure these sort of videos to make them orderly, planned out and easy to follow. The communication skills you have learnt in teaching I reckon are putting you in good stead for UA-cam. Lovely video to watch. Xx
Thanks for this Tina- I guess no matter how hard we try we cannot lose the teacher role- we lived it for 30 years so it is a hard habit to break!!! The funny thing is that throughout our entire career we didn't think we would be capable to do anything else in any other sector. Only in early retirement have we realised our transferable skills and we are loving the process! Have a good one. R
You two have become my favourite on UA-cam so I am overjoyed to learn that you have reached 10k subscribers! Congratulations!!🎉 I’m glad you are enjoying the journey and I appreciate all the good info you share especially as it aligns so well with my interests (which is how ai found you!). Looking forward to your gardening content and hoping you get to Slovenia this summer (my cousin is married to a Slovenian and their family visits almost every summer - it looks so beautiful there!).
Thank you so much 😊 we spent a week in Slovenia before Covid and have wanted to go back ever since - it was stunning and such a friendly country. We want to spend some time around Lakes Bled and Bohinj and to explore to capital city. (We also still have Canada on our long term bucket list)
Congratulations on the 10K subscribers. I'll be taking early retirement very soon from being an HE professor, and it is taking me a while to wind down and realise that I will actually have free time. We don't have a camper van, but a vintage caravan, and are looking very forward to some more prolonged travel again. Really enjoy your channel, and thank you for it.
Thanks for watching and happy retirement when it arrives! We are loving all the freedom that we now have and still don't quite know what we do with all that time. We just know that we have enjoyed making the most of every minute and love being able to do what we want when we want! Have fun travelling in your caravan - there are so many fab places out there to discover.
Thank you - we are looking forward to exploring the south coast - and hoping the weather improves! We are also planning a trip to the Shetland island and orkneys later in the year which I am really excited about 🚐
@@earlyretirementwanderlust 2 places I haven’t been to, so I’ll enjoy those videos. I’m also a lapsed cyclist, and can’t motivate myself to run (except for parkrun on a Saturday which I really enjoy) - so I need to work on my motivation for these this year!
This video could have been made about me as it describes many of my goals - I’m trying to read more and I’m also planning to do the Dales Way as I’ve never done a multi-day walk before.
@FrugalMrB Richard is enjoying getting out running I have struggled to be motivated as everywhere is uphill from here!! Looking forward to cycling a little though 🚲
51 & found you while searching for channels on Campervans (bought ours last year) but the channel has gone beyond that (aiming to retire as soon as possible) keep up the great work
Thanks for all your videos. We enjoy watching them. We have had to change our timing for trips as last June we had such bad hayfever my wife developed bronchitis and we had to retain home early loosing a lot of money on pre paid camp sites! We have managed one trip a month so far this year and are off again soon. Will see how this your goes re hayfever and maybe short trips if feeling OK. We are mid to late 70's tow a caravan with a camper so best of both worlds! Enjoy your retirement. I resigned at 57 due to stress and have never regretted it! Your informal style looks natural and very watchable.
Oh no, that is not what you want on a summer trip! I am glad you are still getting out frequently - it is great having the time to do that, we love planning our next trip as soon as we get home from the last. Does it help being near the coast with the breeze? It would be such a shame to have to limit your travels in the summer months. Thanks for watching our videos and your very kind words. Hope your travels are more successful this year.
@@earlyretirementwanderlust we were on the Gower Welsh coast! But next to a hay field that was cut while we were there. however we had an interesting 4 week trip September/October including storm Agnes while staying In Barmouth. Had got a new waterproof jacket earlier in the trip and used it a lot!! Once more thanks for sharing your adventures with us all. We are now not able to go on long walks but watching yours brings back memories.
Great review, very honest. I’m glad you’re not beating yourselves up about the goals you’re not meeting - it’s easy to focus on what you’re not doing and not celebrate the things you’re succeeding at, and enjoying. Interesting about the not making relationships where you live - I’d guess that when it’s time it will happen, until then it’s not happening because it’s not needed.
Thanks for this Brenda. We are definitely much more chilled about the targets we are "working towards". The thing we absolutely love about quarterly reviews is reflecting on how much we have managed to do. Too often we forget the good stuff unless we take out time together to think about it. The problem that we are finding with local relationships is that we are travelling so much- which is a nice problem to have. We are however loving meeting people on our travels. Thanks again. Richard & Jackie
You guys continue to be an absolute inspiration - thank you once again for your wonderful content - you're doing a MUCH better job than I could ever do in front of (& behind) the camera! Very impressive goal setting and reviews in this video, although I hope you do prioritise a few more of those duvet days...you both sound extremely busy (as a PT and health coach myself I know that health and wellbeing is all about 'balance')! Awesome news about the 10k+ subscribers too, I don't know much about how UA-cam works but I hope that means you are earning money from all your hard work on here. Keep going you two, you're fab!
thanks for your lovely comment - we are really enjoying all aspects of the UA-cam journey. As much as it may sound like we have been really busy - we have had loads of down time and time just pottering! The UA-cam and weekly blog are projects that we spend no more than a couple of hours a day on and not every day. We try and build the filming in around what we are doing anyway. Surprisingly, we are now in a position where we can fund some of our travel from our UA-cam earnings which certainly help preserve some of our savings 😊
@@earlyretirementwanderlust That's great news - well done both of you! Really looking forward to seeing what you're up to over the spring & summer months.
Congratulations on your 10000 subscribers and we’ll done on your Q1 achievements. I think it’s good to be relaxed if you don’t hit an objective. Looking forward to seeing your garden progress - that’s on my priority list for Q2. I’m also in Yorkshire and wish the rain would stop for a bit so I can make a start.
Thank you 😊 Luckily it is not a big garden so hopefully we will only need a couple of weeks of reasonable weather!! We did have a bit of a reprieve in the weather last week and have managed to get in a few hikes between the rain showers!
Wonderful! Enjoy your last week at work 😊 It was a very strange feeling knowing we were never going back to the schools we had been at for 15+ years! We have never looked back
You are very inspiring and I am now a subscriber. In a similar vein to your quarterly planning, I am watching Kate Kaden who is doing the 12 week year with her followers and that is very interesting too. Best wishes.
I thought you guys did great on this style of video ❤ You both have really lit a fire in me for pushing for early retirement for my husband. Our initial aim was 58 which is 5 years away, I am really questioning our big expenses and whether they align with our goals. We have just bought a camper and have had some weekends away, we are looking forward to doing more travel in it. Also thank you for outlying how you budget, I love money talk haha
Thank you! We are now living on less than a quarter of our joint earnings but are so much happier. It helps that we are mortgage free and own the van outright so we have no massive outgoings. Ideally we would have retired at 55 when we can access our teachers pension- but life kind of got in the way! Having our campervan in the last few years of working was a real life changer for us as it gave us the freedom to get away as much as we wanted - which was every weekend. We find having a cash budget keeps us on track as we have to justify to ourselves why we need more and it makes me count the pennies in the supermarket so we don’t put too many things not on our list in the trolley!! Good luck x
@@earlyretirementwanderlust we are debt free and save about 40% of our income, I like the idea of cash, it is so easy to tap your card. I am looking forward to reading your blog.
So pleased you've achieved over 10,000 subscribers, you're amazing. Being an aspiring early retiree for 2025, your videos are so enjoyable to watch and motivational. I look forward to having quality time to look after my health. Looking forward to seeing you in the Dolomites, we did a hut tour there in the mid-90s. I'm not sure we will take our campervan and dog abroad, there's so much to explore in the UK, but, never say never,. Good luck with the bike maintenance and the yoga😊 I love reading for pleasure just need more leisure time to enjoy this treat. 🚐😀❤️
Thank you ☺️ we do really value the time we now have to look after ourselves and our health - good luck with you retirement plans - it’s not too far off! We are looking forward to the Dolomites and Slovenia and are avidly researching places to go and things to see. You are right the UK has so many beautiful places to go. One of our trips later in the year is to the Orkneys and the Shetlands which we are so excited about. The Yorkshire Dales are also stunning with lots to explore 😊🚐
I love your videos and think the 10k subs is well deserved. I’ve been watching since the beginning and have learned so much from you guys! Keep up the great work!
What a lovely part of the country you live in - we have got the wild guide to Cornwall and Devon and plan on just following the sun and the recommendations. (I will also pack the waterproofs) 🚐
Happy 10,000 subs! What a lot you have done. It does feel like you are working as hard at your retirement as you did your careers! I’ve done ‘Hippy’ eventually, it is blissful. I was confused about your trips to the Alps. So you have driven there and back twice in the last 3 months??? We are older than you but I don’t think we could have even done that at 53!😮
Thank you ☺️. 🤣 we are busy - but the difference being we are doing things we love with the people we like! We did drive out twice 😬 we did 4 weeks in January then came home for February - we don’t like being away too long from Richards mum between visits and we wanted to preserve Schengen days for our summer trip. Then we had 3 weeks in March to make the most of the ski season pass we had bought. I’m not sure we would split the trip again as it is a lot of driving - or possibly I could send Richard back from Geneva for a few days which would be cheaper and easier 🤣🤣
I’ve been binge watching videos on FIRE and Geo Arbitrage (new ideas to me!) we retired aged 60 nearly 6 years ago…. and looking forward to our state pension in a few months! We’ve just signed up to Trusted Housesitters purely for the fun of it! We’ve been on some mega big trips 2-3 months at a time but we get tired being away from home so will now limit trips to 6/7 weeks….. as you age your needs/wants change… being adaptable is important.
Thanks for this Bonin. So exciting that state pension is looming- enjoy it when it arrives! We love the idea of house sitting- we had never heard of a forum for this. We will definitely check it out for the future. It is so true that our wants and needs will change over time- we are trying to remain flexible and open minded about the future. Thanks again for the comment. Have a good one. Richard & Jackie
Thank you - we are getting really excited doing the research for where to go - we loved the Triglav national park last time and based ourselves in Kranjska Dora at camping spin which was lovely. We are hoping to stay by both Bled and Bohinj lakes - where about are you going?
Heading to Kranjska Dora with the aim of climbing Triglav and also Lake Bohinj. Our first time in Slovenia so really looking forward to it especially as we had it planned for 2020 - then something happened.
The climb up Triglav looks epic...the Slovenian's really embrace it as a rite of passage! From what I recall there is a great mountain hut on the route that is quite legendary! Have a great time. R
I'm new to your channel, I'm 53 and loving your topics... maybe one of your goals could be to reduce your goals.... you have a lot ❤❤ I believe the book Essentialism by Greg McKeown discusses this. It's what ever suits each individual really. Thanks for your videos 🧡🙏🧡
Thanks for watching our videos and welcome to our channel 😊 I think that although the targets seemed a lot most of them are based around our lifestyle anyway such as the 300, 000 steps and Everests. All of the targets feed towards to our primary goal of living a happy and fulfilled life with our family and us at the centre. Richard has added the book to his ever growing reading list - thanks for the recommendation x
For a multiday hike you could consider walking in the footsteps of the Romans along Hadrians wall which would also be a great video, the 400 year Roman history of Britain is under valued. Or you can just visit Vindolanda with the van…
The 2 things Richard loves - Roman history and hiking! You have planted a seed in his head now. On another note - our son is keen to drag Richard out to do the Pilgrams trail following Chaucers footsteps!
@@earlyretirementwanderlust - it's the "teacher" in you. Organised, concise, delivered well. 38 years teaching done for me in less than 2 years. Walking .... running away.
Thank you 😊 Richard has a couple of routes he takes from the house - all very much uphill for the first couple of km's!! He has built up to 5km (he is not interested in long distance running) slowly over time. If he is feeling good he might go a little bit further!
Where did those subs come from?! That's grown so quickly! Congratulations. It just goes to show there are lots of us in our 50's who have left the rat race. The best thing that my in laws did was go into a home. Their social lives went through the roof! 🤣
We are truly stunned at how quickly the channel has grown - we never thought there would be so many people interested in our early retirement ramblings and van life adventures. Thanks for being one of our most consistent supporters 😊 Richards mum is really content in the home and has settled so well - which is a weight lifted from our minds and it is close to where we are so we can visit often. With her having dementia - its like she is making new friends everyday!
@@earlyretirementwanderlust it seems to have just taken off in the last few months. I am really pleased for you. There are many of us in the same boat. I think Covid brought it all into focus. But once you pay off your mortgage you find freedom! Dementia is a cruel disease. But at least Richard's Mum is happy
Just stumbled upon your channel today with your Minimalism Hacks video. Appreciate this one as it really helped me paused and reconsider my own quarterly goals. Thank you.
Thanks for this Andrew- I will add it to our spreadsheet of ideas! We have chatted about this and would love to do a video like this...even though we feel that we are still stumbling through the whole process😂 All the best. Richard & Jackie
Next year, i will have been retired for 15 years on my works final salary pension. On my birthday next January, i will be getting the extra £959 full state pension at 66. All that is left to do is continue exercising, staying slim, no smoking and rare alcohol cinsumption and try to at least be on my pension for as long as i worked, happy and healthy. My usual exercise, is either on zwift or outside on one of my bikes, every other day, an hour at my aeobic threshold of 170 bpm. Usually around 25 miles in the hour on zwift tempus fugit course, racing thousands of other people ). You can't plan anything without your health.
Thanks for this Steve. We hope that you enjoy reaching the state pension milestone. Having graduated in Physical Education, with a hefty dose of sports science, we absolutely agree in the importance of lifelong activity. It is the elixir of life!
Have a good week,
Richard & Jackie
You’re busier now than you’ve ever been.
I try to remember that it’s ok to do nothing sometimes and to free the mind.
It’s a lovely kind of busy now doing the things we love doing with the people we like doing it with 😊 I do enjoy the odd day just staying at home and reading and watching TV because we can!!
Love this channel. The fact that you are (ex)teachers, the fact you are so honest on camera, makes you very relatable. Keep up the good work!
Thank you ☺️
Love watching your videos, very inspirational. Myself and my partner retired a couple of years ago at the age of 58 in part due to the early death of my brother.
My partner was a teacher and I’m a civil engineer. We were both fortunate to have reasonably good pensions, our net income is now around £4600 a month which is more than enough to let us enjoy life the way we want to.
Your videos have given us lots of ideas in how to enhance our retirement, so thank you for posting and please do keep them coming!
Many thanks for sharing this, and sorry for your loss. We are great believers in growth out of trauma. I miss my dad and brother everyday- and that is a real motive for me to go out and live my best life.
Glad that you are enjoying your retirement and your life together.
Have a good weekend, R
On review from a long time viewer. Your ease and comfort with the camera has come on leaps and bounds. I love the content it continues to be interesting and so valuable. Many thanks and congratulations on 10k
Thank you so much 😊 we have really enjoyed our UA-cam journey so far!
Glad to have found your channel - I’m looking to take early retirement (probably in early 2026 at 56) and my wife who is a teacher wants to work until she is 60 (2031) but I’m hoping she may decide to retire a little earlier. Really useful to hear your experience.
Thanks for the comment Tim- we have never regretted our decision, although it was a scary process at the start.
Have a good weekend, R
Really getting into your channel Not surprised at the views you are getting.
Thank you - it does still surprise us! 😊
Please be encouraged! Your experiences resonate re the van and early retirement and, more importantly, your process of honest reflection is a real encouragement. For me journaling has been really helpful and after watching this video I will press a metaphoric pause today and give myself permission to fill some blank pages. Top job!
Thank you We are glad you have been able to take something away from our videos 😊
Congrats on the 10K subscribers. Onwards to 20K.
Thank you ☺️ we are just amazed at the 10,000 for now!!
We do a 6 month review/goals at home. Last 6 months was to save for our spring/summer adventures which we have achieved. We also decided not to move, so over next year we need to decorate. We have a dog and are not brave enough to take him to Europe this year even though he loves the campervan.
I can imagine that taking a dog abroad adds a big layer of planning - we often chat to people about that on the road. The UK has some of the most beautiful places we have visited - we just have our fingers crossed that the weather improves! Have fun in your travels 🚐
We’ve come across your channel while in our holiday home in Cornwall and have binged all episodes…it certainly gives us food for thought. Thank you for sharing your experiences 😊
Thank you so much for watching 😊 we are glad you have found things that you might take away from the videos. We are headed down to Cornwall soon and are really excited 🚐
I will be eligible for a federal pension on July 1st at the ripe old age of 56.5
It’s nice to know I can retire at any time.
A great feeling 😊 Hope all goes well
Congrats on the 10k subs and 100k views! 🎉 Your channel is great.
Recently early retired myself (with a van), I use this channel as a resource for ideas, motivations, tips/hints.
I'm sure as others come across your channel your sub base will rocket....next stop 100k!
Ah thank you for your kind words - it is still abit of a shock to us that so many people watch the channel. I am glad you enjoy some of the hits and places that we visit - it is a wonderful world out there waiting to be discovered 🚐
We retired early, about 12 years ago, and toured around Europe in our Mazda Bongo. We now have a Fiat Ducato 5.4m long van with fixed rear bed, shower and toilet. As you get older you may need to get up in the night more often to use the loo. Also it gives flexibility to stop anywhere for the night.
You have set yourself goals in retirement, which seems common in other retired teachers that I know. I do not have a bucket list, I just enjoy travelling. As Robert Louis Stephenson and Paul Theroux have said, it is the journey that is important, not the destination. When I travel I like to take the slow route away from the crowds and have no expectations (as your Hippy friend said). If the journey takes longer than we expect, we can stop off in our camper van for the night.
We live near you in Kirkby Lonsdale, so I may see you out cycling when you get your bikes serviced. Have fun.
Your size van sounds ideal - did you covert it yourself ? We have seen a couple of makes that we like the look of that are that size. Our bucket list just grows as we talk to more and more travellers that we meet on the road that talk about places we had never heard of, or considered! We do keep saying that we will never know where our favourite place is as we have probably never been there yet.
Richard is hoping to get the bikes out and serviced over the next couple of days, I will have to start on shorter rides to get my hill legs back as it is not like the flat Cheshire roads we are used to!
Have fun with you travels 🚐
@@earlyretirementwanderlust
We have a Hymer Ayers Rock van conversion. Agreed that the people you meet on your travels are part of the joy of travel. One night we were camping at a vineyard on the Austrian/Slovenian border and met two German couples who were preparing to travel to Mongolia. They had self-built 4x4 Iveco vans and one had a bread oven inside!
You can cycle without too many hill around here if you follow the river valleys. Try the Lune valley. The old Roman road on the east side of the Lune gorge is good. Also the Ribble valley.
You have fun
Oh I love the Ayres Rock...I have secretly admired them for a few years, but the Hymer prices seem to have gone through the roof recently (as have most other manufactures TBH!). We have had a look round some Hymers and the finish and design is first rate!
Congratulations on 10,000. Love your channel a little bit of something for everyone, well done. Living life as it should be lived.
Thank you so much - we are certainly making the most of every minute and loving the freedom we have and opportunities that arise.
I am closely following Richard's letting go of his iron fist as I have one as well and we'll be retiring early this summer. I have trying to be more patient, relaxed, and not so type A in run up to August 1st. I think the mental side of getting to know yourself and retiring early is of particular interest to me. Thank you for sharing yourselves and your journey!! We can't wait to follow in your footsteps.
I remember you saying in past comments how similar you are to Richard! He has actually been amazing in his retirement - he did worry about going from such a full on job full of huge responsibilities to total freedom. He now just has to project manage me! Good luck in the summer I am sure you will be fine - Richards advice would be to find a project that interests you to keep you busy in those first few months or go travelling as much as possible!
10,000 steps a day is, I believe, 4-5 miles. I try to do an hour’s walk every day but my distance is a lot less at aged 77
It’s probably about 4 miles for my size steps. I am not so bothered about hitting the 10,000 a day because we enjoy doing 2-3 good hikes a week so it averages out. It was amazing how few steps I did the week I was poorly in February. Like you say just getting out for a walk each day is great - getting lots of fresh air 😊
Being an ex teacher myself, I can tell by the way you structure these sort of videos to make them orderly, planned out and easy to follow. The communication skills you have learnt in teaching I reckon are putting you in good stead for UA-cam. Lovely video to watch. Xx
Thanks for this Tina- I guess no matter how hard we try we cannot lose the teacher role- we lived it for 30 years so it is a hard habit to break!!!
The funny thing is that throughout our entire career we didn't think we would be capable to do anything else in any other sector. Only in early retirement have we realised our transferable skills and we are loving the process!
Have a good one. R
You two have become my favourite on UA-cam so I am overjoyed to learn that you have reached 10k subscribers! Congratulations!!🎉 I’m glad you are enjoying the journey and I appreciate all the good info you share especially as it aligns so well with my interests (which is how ai found you!). Looking forward to your gardening content and hoping you get to Slovenia this summer (my cousin is married to a Slovenian and their family visits almost every summer - it looks so beautiful there!).
Thank you so much 😊 we spent a week in Slovenia before Covid and have wanted to go back ever since - it was stunning and such a friendly country. We want to spend some time around Lakes Bled and Bohinj and to explore to capital city. (We also still have Canada on our long term bucket list)
Congratulations on the 10K subscribers. I'll be taking early retirement very soon from being an HE professor, and it is taking me a while to wind down and realise that I will actually have free time. We don't have a camper van, but a vintage caravan, and are looking very forward to some more prolonged travel again. Really enjoy your channel, and thank you for it.
Thanks for watching and happy retirement when it arrives! We are loving all the freedom that we now have and still don't quite know what we do with all that time. We just know that we have enjoyed making the most of every minute and love being able to do what we want when we want! Have fun travelling in your caravan - there are so many fab places out there to discover.
Excellent news about the 10,000 subscribers - very well deserved. Looking forward to following your adventures this year.
Thank you - we are looking forward to exploring the south coast - and hoping the weather improves! We are also planning a trip to the Shetland island and orkneys later in the year which I am really excited about 🚐
@@earlyretirementwanderlust 2 places I haven’t been to, so I’ll enjoy those videos. I’m also a lapsed cyclist, and can’t motivate myself to run (except for parkrun on a Saturday which I really enjoy) - so I need to work on my motivation for these this year!
This video could have been made about me as it describes many of my goals - I’m trying to read more and I’m also planning to do the Dales Way as I’ve never done a multi-day walk before.
@FrugalMrB Richard is enjoying getting out running I have struggled to be motivated as everywhere is uphill from here!! Looking forward to cycling a little though 🚲
The route for the Dales Way goes through so many of our favourite Dales locations - as long as we get a good weather window at some point 🥾
51 & found you while searching for channels on Campervans (bought ours last year) but the channel has gone beyond that (aiming to retire as soon as possible) keep up the great work
Thank you ☺️
Thanks for all your videos. We enjoy watching them. We have had to change our timing for trips as last June we had such bad hayfever my wife developed bronchitis and we had to retain home early loosing a lot of money on pre paid camp sites! We have managed one trip a month so far this year and are off again soon. Will see how this your goes re hayfever and maybe short trips if feeling OK. We are mid to late 70's tow a caravan with a camper so best of both worlds! Enjoy your retirement. I resigned at 57 due to stress and have never regretted it! Your informal style looks natural and very watchable.
Oh no, that is not what you want on a summer trip! I am glad you are still getting out frequently - it is great having the time to do that, we love planning our next trip as soon as we get home from the last. Does it help being near the coast with the breeze? It would be such a shame to have to limit your travels in the summer months. Thanks for watching our videos and your very kind words. Hope your travels are more successful this year.
@@earlyretirementwanderlust we were on the Gower Welsh coast! But next to a hay field that was cut while we were there. however we had an interesting 4 week trip September/October including storm Agnes while staying In Barmouth. Had got a new waterproof jacket earlier in the trip and used it a lot!! Once more thanks for sharing your adventures with us all. We are now not able to go on long walks but watching yours brings back memories.
Great review, very honest. I’m glad you’re not beating yourselves up about the goals you’re not meeting - it’s easy to focus on what you’re not doing and not celebrate the things you’re succeeding at, and enjoying. Interesting about the not making relationships where you live - I’d guess that when it’s time it will happen, until then it’s not happening because it’s not needed.
Thanks for this Brenda. We are definitely much more chilled about the targets we are "working towards". The thing we absolutely love about quarterly reviews is reflecting on how much we have managed to do. Too often we forget the good stuff unless we take out time together to think about it.
The problem that we are finding with local relationships is that we are travelling so much- which is a nice problem to have. We are however loving meeting people on our travels.
Thanks again.
Richard & Jackie
You guys continue to be an absolute inspiration - thank you once again for your wonderful content - you're doing a MUCH better job than I could ever do in front of (& behind) the camera! Very impressive goal setting and reviews in this video, although I hope you do prioritise a few more of those duvet days...you both sound extremely busy (as a PT and health coach myself I know that health and wellbeing is all about 'balance')! Awesome news about the 10k+ subscribers too, I don't know much about how UA-cam works but I hope that means you are earning money from all your hard work on here. Keep going you two, you're fab!
thanks for your lovely comment - we are really enjoying all aspects of the UA-cam journey. As much as it may sound like we have been really busy - we have had loads of down time and time just pottering! The UA-cam and weekly blog are projects that we spend no more than a couple of hours a day on and not every day. We try and build the filming in around what we are doing anyway. Surprisingly, we are now in a position where we can fund some of our travel from our UA-cam earnings which certainly help preserve some of our savings 😊
@@earlyretirementwanderlust That's great news - well done both of you! Really looking forward to seeing what you're up to over the spring & summer months.
You will have your silver play button soon.
I had to look up what that was!! We are truly surprised at how quick the channel has grown to reached the 10k mark!
Congratulations on your 10000 subscribers and we’ll done on your Q1 achievements. I think it’s good to be relaxed if you don’t hit an objective. Looking forward to seeing your garden progress - that’s on my priority list for Q2. I’m also in Yorkshire and wish the rain would stop for a bit so I can make a start.
Thank you 😊 Luckily it is not a big garden so hopefully we will only need a couple of weeks of reasonable weather!! We did have a bit of a reprieve in the weather last week and have managed to get in a few hikes between the rain showers!
I am retiring next week and your content is inspiring and motivating. Thank you x
Wonderful! Enjoy your last week at work 😊 It was a very strange feeling knowing we were never going back to the schools we had been at for 15+ years! We have never looked back
Wife and i retire early 2025 , excellent advice from your videos thank you , great content 👍😊
Thank you and hope all your retirement plans go well 😊
You are very inspiring and I am now a subscriber. In a similar vein to your quarterly planning, I am watching Kate Kaden who is doing the 12 week year with her followers and that is very interesting too. Best wishes.
Thank you ☺️ such kind words.
I thought you guys did great on this style of video ❤ You both have really lit a fire in me for pushing for early retirement for my husband. Our initial aim was 58 which is 5 years away, I am really questioning our big expenses and whether they align with our goals. We have just bought a camper and have had some weekends away, we are looking forward to doing more travel in it. Also thank you for outlying how you budget, I love money talk haha
Thank you! We are now living on less than a quarter of our joint earnings but are so much happier. It helps that we are mortgage free and own the van outright so we have no massive outgoings. Ideally we would have retired at 55 when we can access our teachers pension- but life kind of got in the way! Having our campervan in the last few years of working was a real life changer for us as it gave us the freedom to get away as much as we wanted - which was every weekend. We find having a cash budget keeps us on track as we have to justify to ourselves why we need more and it makes me count the pennies in the supermarket so we don’t put too many things not on our list in the trolley!! Good luck x
@@earlyretirementwanderlust we are debt free and save about 40% of our income, I like the idea of cash, it is so easy to tap your card. I am looking forward to reading your blog.
So pleased you've achieved over 10,000 subscribers, you're amazing. Being an aspiring early retiree for 2025, your videos are so enjoyable to watch and motivational. I look forward to having quality time to look after my health. Looking forward to seeing you in the Dolomites, we did a hut tour there in the mid-90s. I'm not sure we will take our campervan and dog abroad, there's so much to explore in the UK, but, never say never,. Good luck with the bike maintenance and the yoga😊 I love reading for pleasure just need more leisure time to enjoy this treat. 🚐😀❤️
Thank you ☺️ we do really value the time we now have to look after ourselves and our health - good luck with you retirement plans - it’s not too far off! We are looking forward to the Dolomites and Slovenia and are avidly researching places to go and things to see. You are right the UK has so many beautiful places to go. One of our trips later in the year is to the Orkneys and the Shetlands which we are so excited about. The Yorkshire Dales are also stunning with lots to explore 😊🚐
Much more relaxed video, well done guys.
Thank you 😊 we are definitely getting used to speaking to a camera now!
I love your videos and think the 10k subs is well deserved. I’ve been watching since the beginning and have learned so much from you guys! Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much! We are really enjoying the whole process of producing the videos so I am glad you are enjoying watching them! 😊
Congratulations on all your milestones. Maybe see you in Cornwall as we live there (West Cornwall) and I work in the only city there 😊
What a lovely part of the country you live in - we have got the wild guide to Cornwall and Devon and plan on just following the sun and the recommendations. (I will also pack the waterproofs) 🚐
You're both naturals in front of the camera. Love your vlogs. ❤
Many thanks. It's definitely a steep learning curve, but we are feeling a little easier in front of the camera these days.
Have a good one, R&J
Happy 10,000 subs! What a lot you have done. It does feel like you are working as hard at your retirement as you did your careers! I’ve done ‘Hippy’ eventually, it is blissful. I was confused about your trips to the Alps. So you have driven there and back twice in the last 3 months??? We are older than you but I don’t think we could have even done that at 53!😮
Thank you ☺️. 🤣 we are busy - but the difference being we are doing things we love with the people we like! We did drive out twice 😬 we did 4 weeks in January then came home for February - we don’t like being away too long from Richards mum between visits and we wanted to preserve Schengen days for our summer trip. Then we had 3 weeks in March to make the most of the ski season pass we had bought. I’m not sure we would split the trip again as it is a lot of driving - or possibly I could send Richard back from Geneva for a few days which would be cheaper and easier 🤣🤣
@@earlyretirementwanderlust Hats off to you!
I’ve been binge watching videos on FIRE and Geo Arbitrage (new ideas to me!) we retired aged 60 nearly 6 years ago…. and looking forward to our state pension in a few months! We’ve just signed up to Trusted Housesitters purely for the fun of it! We’ve been on some mega big trips 2-3 months at a time but we get tired being away from home so will now limit trips to 6/7 weeks….. as you age your needs/wants change… being adaptable is important.
Thanks for this Bonin. So exciting that state pension is looming- enjoy it when it arrives!
We love the idea of house sitting- we had never heard of a forum for this. We will definitely check it out for the future.
It is so true that our wants and needs will change over time- we are trying to remain flexible and open minded about the future.
Thanks again for the comment. Have a good one.
Richard & Jackie
Absolutely well deserved 10k !!! What video went viral?
Thank you ☺️ it was the video titled less is more about declutterring our house and lives
A successful first quarter and as you said where have those 3 months gone. Will keep an eye out for you in Slovenia in the summer.
Thank you - we are getting really excited doing the research for where to go - we loved the Triglav national park last time and based ourselves in Kranjska Dora at camping spin which was lovely. We are hoping to stay by both Bled and Bohinj lakes - where about are you going?
Heading to Kranjska Dora with the aim of climbing Triglav and also Lake Bohinj. Our first time in Slovenia so really looking forward to it especially as we had it planned for 2020 - then something happened.
The climb up Triglav looks epic...the Slovenian's really embrace it as a rite of passage! From what I recall there is a great mountain hut on the route that is quite legendary! Have a great time. R
I'm new to your channel, I'm 53 and loving your topics... maybe one of your goals could be to reduce your goals.... you have a lot ❤❤
I believe the book Essentialism by Greg McKeown discusses this.
It's what ever suits each individual really. Thanks for your videos 🧡🙏🧡
Thanks for watching our videos and welcome to our channel 😊 I think that although the targets seemed a lot most of them are based around our lifestyle anyway such as the 300, 000 steps and Everests. All of the targets feed towards to our primary goal of living a happy and fulfilled life with our family and us at the centre. Richard has added the book to his ever growing reading list - thanks for the recommendation x
For a multiday hike you could consider walking in the footsteps of the Romans along Hadrians wall which would also be a great video, the 400 year Roman history of Britain is under valued. Or you can just visit Vindolanda with the van…
The 2 things Richard loves - Roman history and hiking! You have planted a seed in his head now. On another note - our son is keen to drag Richard out to do the Pilgrams trail following Chaucers footsteps!
@@earlyretirementwanderlust next he’ll be doing the Camino de Santiago with UA-cam special series!
I think that the Dales Way will be fine for 2024...but there after...who knows what might happen if I like it...😂 R
Well done with the milestones.
Thank you 😊 it was not something we expected, particularly so soon!
@@earlyretirementwanderlust - it's the "teacher" in you. Organised, concise, delivered well. 38 years teaching done for me in less than 2 years. Walking .... running away.
You will have definitely done your ‘societal obligations’ which was another quote from Hippie the thru hiker which really resonated with us!
Great video guys and well done for reaching 10k subs. Would love to know more about Richard's 2 runs pw. How far do you go usually? Thanks
Thank you 😊 Richard has a couple of routes he takes from the house - all very much uphill for the first couple of km's!! He has built up to 5km (he is not interested in long distance running) slowly over time. If he is feeling good he might go a little bit further!
Where did those subs come from?! That's grown so quickly! Congratulations. It just goes to show there are lots of us in our 50's who have left the rat race.
The best thing that my in laws did was go into a home. Their social lives went through the roof! 🤣
We are truly stunned at how quickly the channel has grown - we never thought there would be so many people interested in our early retirement ramblings and van life adventures. Thanks for being one of our most consistent supporters 😊
Richards mum is really content in the home and has settled so well - which is a weight lifted from our minds and it is close to where we are so we can visit often. With her having dementia - its like she is making new friends everyday!
@@earlyretirementwanderlust it seems to have just taken off in the last few months. I am really pleased for you.
There are many of us in the same boat. I think Covid brought it all into focus. But once you pay off your mortgage you find freedom!
Dementia is a cruel disease. But at least Richard's Mum is happy
🙏
Just stumbled upon your channel today with your Minimalism Hacks video. Appreciate this one as it really helped me paused and reconsider my own quarterly goals. Thank you.
Awesome and Thank you!
Maybe one for Richard, I would like to see a video on your video workflow and editing.
Thanks for this Andrew- I will add it to our spreadsheet of ideas! We have chatted about this and would love to do a video like this...even though we feel that we are still stumbling through the whole process😂
All the best.
Richard & Jackie
Great video pop into Dorset Bridport on your Trip (7 miles from Devon 😎) @sandandslippers
Cheers - Are you back from your ski travels now? We have 3 weeks to explore and no plans as of yet!
@@earlyretirementwanderlust yes back Today 🤷🏼♂️ washing and unloading 😀
First to hit the like button 😂😂
🤣 thank you!