Ten years ago, at 60 years old, I retired from my job as a Physical Therapist in Florida after working for 20 years. Then I started traveling seven times a year out of the United states, going to Europe, Middle East and Asia. That was the best decision I made in my life.
How wonderful for you, Charley! You figured it out! We have been SO happy to be on the road full time, but for someone who may want to keep a home base, what you did is terrific. There is so much of the world we still want to explore! Thank you so much for watching! -Judy Here's a link to our full series of destination videos in case you want to watch any of our travel videos: 🎥 Destination videos-Where we've been and what to see there: :ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF2OYZTcetBlx-SMkML1H5nR.html
We did exactly what you guys did… we quit our jobs at 51 and 53, sold it all and are nomads. Best life decision ever. We also make content as part of our journey. Thanks for the upload.
Thanks for watching, Jay and Sarah. We wish you many happy adventures and the best of luck with your channel. We wish we had started traveling full time at your age, but we are glad we didn't wait any longer! -Judy
I traveled with my husband for 7 years around the world, and then we took a permanent residence in France. It's been 18 wonderful years in France. It is coming to an end because my husband, age 99, died 7 months ago. I want to travel the world again, but I am concerned about traveling as a widow. .I am 78. Travel insurance stops at age 79. I am healthy. I take No medications. I wonder if I should just risk paying for my health care no matter what happens without insurance.
We are so sorry about the loss of your husband. It has to be very hard, but your desire to travel again is possible. I have never used this company, but I am seeing that it's possible to get a policy for over 80. I'm also seeing places that offer an over-80 rider. If you're able to afford health insurance, I think you should get it. Our policy has a high deductible, but it does cover us for catastrophic events. If you have an emergency, most countries will fix you up, but if you need to be evacuated or transported, those costs can get pretty high. It's wonderful that you are in good health and don't need medications. We hope that lasts for the foreseeable future for you and that you resume your world travels and enjoy this next phase of your life. I'm sure there will be so many people you encounter who will be inspired by what you are doing! -Judy 🩺 Travel insurance if you're over 80: www.gocompare.com/travel-insurance/over-80s/
@agnesm9528 I'll let @ParisianThinker weigh in, but you will have to get a long-stay visa to live in France for more than three consecutive months if you are not a citizen of the EU, and that requires you to show proof of income, among other things. Of course, you can follow the Schengen rules and stay 90/180 days so technically you can be there for 90 days, leave for 90 and go back in. We haven't traveled there extensively enough to give you informed opinions of best places to live (although we currently are in Colmar, France right now!). -Judy 🎥 The Schengen 90/180 Rule Explained in 60 Seconds: ua-cam.com/users/shorts3VhQ-jbMRAs
You are an inspiration for me, as long as you can travel, dont ever stop. Im sorry for you lost❤ life is happening right now as we speak, so go for it, and just be careful, and have fun❤🎉
Hi Juan, We completely agree. However, our corporate jobs didn't allow a lot of time for us to be away. In 2022 when I wanted to take a two-week vacation, I was by my boss that I should be very grateful to be allowed to take off that much time at once. I was working in a place with unlimited PTO. The second vacation I tried to take (with a new boss, but the same company), I was told that if I wanted to be approved for the time, I needed to bring my laptop and get work done in the mornings and evenings. Corporate America doesn't do a great job of giving people time off to "travel as they go." -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie you are correct. ✅ I am a school teacher by profession and I am blessed to have summer, winter, spring and many holidays off work. Life is too short and living in peace is imperative. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with others.
Hi Juan, Teaching is a noble and challenging profession. You deserve every bit of time off that you can get! We so agree about life being too short! -Judy
Your story is truly inspirational. I have a whole career and terrified to give it up out of fear of not having enough money to take care of myself when I'm older but working is exhausting now . I don't have the energy to enjoy life. I love to travel and dream of staying in various countries for months at a time. I'm 58 and trying to figure it all out. Your video has some thought provoking ideas, thank you.
Hi Maia, It's a normal fear to be worried about not having enough money. We don't have a huge stockpile of cash, either. But I guess we were more terrified of a life unlived. Thank you for sharing so vulnerably with us about your struggles. Kevin and I have been together for over 45 years. If something were to happen to one or the other of us, who knows if we will want to travel without the other. We knew that physically we could travel now, our family situation isn't perfect, but we knew it could work. I guess we worried more about having regrets. It's not an easy thing to sort out, so we wish you courage as you consider your options and think things through. Also, this Saturday, we share 5 "secrets" that are rarely talked about regarding full-time travel, which may be helpful to you. -Judy 🎥Why We're Never Returning to Live in the US in Retirement: ua-cam.com/video/xeTdMPRgkWM/v-deo.htmlsi=75dBTUPsSgBneEkl
Stu and I also took the less conventional path to retirement in 2012, when he was 60 & me 50. We gave everything away, rented out our house and hit the road and travelled the world as full time house sitters. Like you, we only travel with a carry-on and backpack each. The road less travelled has given us the opportunity to be local-tourists all over the world and we’ve got to try-on life experiences we’d otherwise never have - from cattle farming to running horse agistments, luxury penthouse living to council housing flats, we’ve done it all! We decided to retire from our retirement in 2022 and did our last and 150th house sit in early 2023. We’re now looking forward to the next chapter 🎉 Enjoy your travels, stay safe and above all, keep a good sense of humour when things go wrong, for they will!
Wow That's so impressive! What interesting experiences you both have had-you truly embraced an unconventional but fascinating path! 150 house sits is incredible! We wish you all the best as this next phase unfolds for you. We'd love to know what you do next, but I'm sure you'll find it satisfying with the attitude you both seem to have. We agree about how necessary it is to have a sense of humor. Have you seen our episode on our Top 5 Mistakes While Traveling? It should give you a few chuckles! -Judy 🎥 Our Top 5 Travel Mistakes: ua-cam.com/video/GnIQKrEupoU/v-deo.html
Oh, thank you for your kind words 🙏🏼 Yes, we did see that episode and did have a giggle! We’ve loved all our ‘mistakes’; sometimes you make the right decision, other times you make the decision right!
Hi @catherine8332, The word we used was "ageism," which is basically being passed over for a job because you will cost too much and a company thinks someone younger can do the same job more cheaply, or for some reason there's a feeling that someone younger will be more relatable. -Judy
I’ve been watching you guys for months and this is the most animated and cogent and passionate I’ve seen you guys! Clearly you believe in what you’re doing and your desire to spread the word is palpable. Also great ideas unique from all the other slow travel vids. I think being comfortable with not every single thing being known is so important; that’s what I’m feeling from you guys. This vid was so enjoyable. Thanks!
Thank you so much for your kind words, Catherine! And you sum it up well; we are comfortable not having all the answers but instead trusting ourselves and the universe that if we are doing the right things and keep open minds, things will work out. That's not the same as being a Pollyanna and not having an awareness of the challenges you might face or being completely irresponsible. But thinking unconventionally has worked well for us our entire lives! -Judy
Wonderful video with great advice, and I could not agree more! My husband and I both had decent jobs and although we did not live super frugally, we made saving via our 401-Ks and paying off debt a priority. My husband hadan unexpected health problem at age 48 that was a giant wake-up call for us. We decided that we would retire no later than 55 with whatever we had saved and would build our lifestyle around that. We actually retired even a little earlier than planned. That was 11 years ago and we have never looked back. Sure, we could have kept working and had a lot more money, but money doesnt but time! Do whatever it is you want to do now, because world events and life events could change everything overnight.
Hi Linda, Yes, we too had some unexpected expenses in caring for my father for many years who couldn't live on his own without our financial support. We bought a larger home so he could eventually live with us when his health declined, but we couldn't have imagined doing anything differently. For many years I was a stay-at-home mother and we made a lot of financial sacrifices to do it. But when I eventually went back to work, I didn't see myself ever wanting to stop working...until my work changed and I got seriously burnt out during the long hours I worked during the pandemic. Kevin's father died at 61 and my adopted mother died at 56, so we knew that no tomorrows were ever guaranteed to us. Choosing our health over continuing to acquire more wealth was one of the wisest things we have ever done. I'm sorry that your husband suferent some health issues at such a young age. That must have been terrifying, but it sounds like it helped you to reprioritize your lives. Finding my birth family helped me to reprioritize as well, and I am so grateful! Thank you so much for watching and sharing about your life! -Judy
A huge factor that helped me decide to pursue happiness instead of more money after losing my job 3 months ago (30 years at the same company) was an online retirement planner. It helped me realize even with pessimistic assumptions I shouldn't have to ever work again and can retire at 55. Just got back from a month-long motorbike trip in Vietnam and planning for Thailand in a few months!
Way to turn lemons into lemonade! Be safe on that motorbike, but have an amazing time in Thailand. We have some videos from there and Chiang Mai if you plan to spend any time there. It's unnerving to lose your job after 30 years, which does exemplify how little most companies care about your many years of loyal service, but I'm so glad that you ended up winning despite it all. -Judy 🎥 Thailand video series: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF3cqPH8_O_WDVYgoT13KJRq.html
@@FindingGinaMarie I'm not sure what our route will be so I'm definitely saving your Thailand link. Ha yes, we are all just numbers for our employers. You're right about safety. I'm getting full bike gear this time! Thanks for the detailed reply.
Hey there! My husband and I feel like we can really relate to you. Nick just celebrated his 51st birthday, and I'm 47, but I've always had this mindset ever since we moved to the US. I've been feeling like a prisoner of my own life circumstances for so long, and I feel stuck. I believe there's so much more to life than what we've created up to this point. When I was listening to you and you started talking about the medical aspect, I thought to myself, "Just go to Serbia," and then, a few minutes later, when you mentioned SRBIJA, I almost fell out of my chair laughing 😊. That is my home country.
Thank you so much for watching, @zkmarija. Serbia is a beautiful country and we are glad to have visited and appreciate all the great medical care Kevin received there. A link to our Serbia episodes are below, but of course, we couldn't explore as much as we'd like, so we definitely would like to return. As far as being a prisoner of your own life, we absolutely understand. But I think that having an awareness is the first step towards change, especially since we only get to live one life on this huge planet of ours. We wish you all the best! -Judy
This hit home. I too am feeling very stuck at 50 and my husband and I already plan to retire early but with two teenagers we're like still going because we want them to launch successfully...still around 4 years to go for that and pay off the mortgage but it's so draining...been working my entire life since I was 15! Been laid off 2 times and i'm working now looking for the end of the 9-5! :(
@@Darkslide99 Thanks for watching! Could you consider an online side hustle that might lift your spirits and which might possibly bring you enough income in a year or two to quit your full-time job? And could you possibly downsize versus keeping the house you're currently in? Just some ideas to be thinking unconventionally when you're feeling boxed in by your circumstances. -Judy
I retired early and wanted to travel. The longest travel is one month and I was ready to get home. I prefer doing multiple trips lasting three weeks at the most. That's my preference.
We understand! Even as full-time travelers, we take some down days where we aren't over scheduled or are tired from sightseeing. You have to work with what works for you. It sounds like you have figured it out, which is great! Thanks for watching and sharing your views. -Judy
This is what we do. We are gone 50% of the year but like a home base. We downsized our home base and live simply but like the home base. There are so many options in retirement. Glad you like your choice. ❤
Hi, my husband and I retired 1.5yr ago at 58/59. We always thought 62/61 was the age we were striving to reach…in looking back we could have retired at 56/55 but we feared the unknown…once we put our plans in motion we didn’t look back and retirement life is amazing…we have been traveling none stop and enjoying life. Your video is wonderful and educational…I tell people all the time to educate themselves on retirement because it it still reachable for those individuals who are focused and know what it means to life below your means and a penny saved today completes a dollar tomorrow.
You two are so lucky you’re both on the same page! I don’t think that happens too often. I’m single so can do whatever I want, but wouldn’t mind finding someone on my same page with how I want to spend the rest of my life!
Hi Anne, We are extremely grateful that we are so well aligned and we don't take that for granted at all. I love that you aren't allowing your single status to hold you back, because it absolutely shouldn't. I think someone interested in having new experiences and following their dreams is likely to attract others looking for the same things! Best of luck to you! -Judy
It happens more often then you think. First you ha e to find your direct opposite then your strengths double,and you'll never be lonely. Been married to my mate for 45 years and we still love just us,the kids can find us.
Congratulations on so many happy years together, James! We met in 1979 and were married in 1983 (so almost 41 years of marriage). My mother always used to say that we practically raised each other! We are so happy to hear that you found your soulmate. Having each other is a precious gift! -Judy
Hi Patrick! We are very glad to have you here. We have a friend from PR, and although we haven't visited yet, it is on our bucket list. We hope that it is doable for you because we think it's an absolutely incredible way to live. Perhaps it's not for everyone, but for us the upsides far outweigh the downsides. We have a full series linked below about and for full-time travelers. We'll pull out one video that we think is especially useful, but we think it all could be helpful for you. If you have specific concerns, we'd love to help you walk through them and answer whatever we can. -Judy 🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html RESOURCES: 🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html 🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html 🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads): 📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads DOWNSIZING 🎥 Downsizing for Retirement or Full-Time Travel Series: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF2xRusfMEQvN-5LZZqdnQIf.html ✅ Downsizing Prep Worksheet: findingginamarie.com/request-downsizing-prep-worksheet
It makes all the difference that you have each other many of us have lost our travel partners due to death or divorce. I am traveling alone because I can’t find anyone who can afford to travel or their desire to travel or good health to travel. So do this early in life if you can. I go for one to two weeks at a time. I’m not afraid to travel alone as long as I have it carefully planned. People know where I am. I love my Friends and I want to be near them most of the time.
Hi @janiekcarney5482, Thank you for your encouragement and the reminder that tomorrow isn't guaranteed to any of us. We think people need to be very careful with the "later," "someday," and "when x,y,z, then..." mindset, so hearing that you aren't afraid to travel solo is music to our ears. -Judy
I’m so pleased to have found your channel! The trending travel channels are seemingly saturated with invincible Gen Z’ers with different interests than mine. Your practical, slow approach to travel and emphasis on healthcare fills a void in this arena of travel documentaries. I look forward to watching the rest of your episodes. Please consider creating videos (if you haven’t already) about the best way to exchange currency, strategies for the basics (what are the first things you do after you arrive, from discovering transportation to grocery shopping to laundry to dental and healthcare). I imagine they’re different almost every time. How did you know Japan has inexpensive glasses or the quality of care in Serbia? Thank you and I look forward to more videos!
Hi Sharon, We are delighted that you found us! Thank you for the video suggestions. We have talked about exchanging currency in some of our destination videos, but we've not focused on it as a topic for a video (yet!). Some of the basics are covered somewhat in this old, old video that I'll link below about a day in the life of a full-time traveler. I'll also include additional resources I think you'll find helpful. As far as eyeglasses in Japan, we knew we needed to get new glasses because the film covering our lenses in ours had worn down in a few spots. We took a chance that Japan might have good medical tourism for vision, and it does. There is a lot of myopia in Japan! The thing to know is that when you get an eye exam there, it's primarily focused on getting the prescription right, not so much about eye health. So we were disappointed that despite a lot of high-tech equipment, they didn't really check for glaucoma or dilate our eyes like we've had done in the US. For a more robust checkup, you need to schedule an appointment with an ophthalmologist. We had health checkups in Thailand, but the hospital we used did a very perfunctory eye exam that wasn't what we hoped it would be, so that would be something you'd want to arrange separately. The surgery Kevin had in Serbia was very needed, so we didn't have a ton of options. We were in Vienna when the issue arose, but we didn't have time to stay for a surgery since we didn't have enough Schengen days available. However, we did a search for medical tourism, saw that there were good hospitals and clinics, notified our healthcare provider for permission, and then used one of their recommendations. The treatment itself, the speed of getting an initial appointment and then getting scheduled for surgery was unbelievably prompt, and the care overall was outstanding. Thanks for these great ideas and questions. -Judy 🎥 Full Time Nomad Life-What do we do all day: ua-cam.com/video/q3kSQMptyEU/v-deo.html 🎥 Medical checkups in Thailand: ua-cam.com/video/pypr82ddWG8/v-deo.html ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: 🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html 🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html 🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads): 📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
Thank you. Love watching people do what they love. We were frugal as can be and now have more money than we will ever need unless something catastrophic happens. We just can't bite the bullet and sell our home and don't want to rent it. Our home is in a beautiful area about 25 miles south of where you were in S.F. so we also have perfect weather. Our costs are so low living in a very expensive area. We do travel a lot but so love walking back into our home. Enjoy you both!
Hi Anne, we hope you have taken steps to retire even if you aren't full-time travelers. We know that it can be hard for people who have lived their lives frugally to spend the fruits of their labors when they have enough funds. We are ecstatic despite some of our circumstances to have stepped out and do what we love. Thank you so much for watching and for taking the time to share your life with us. Of course, you do not need to sell your home or rent it if it continues to bring you joy! We know that full-time travel isn't for everyone, and many people who do it still keep a home base. -Judy
@@RosaArdon-mz7py Hopefully @annethall will weigh in. We are living outside of the US in part because we aren't aware of those low cost areas! -Judy 🎥 Why We'll Never Live in the US Again: ua-cam.com/video/xeTdMPRgkWM/v-deo.html
Thank you so much for this video! I’m absolutely miserable in corporate America, and have been seriously contemplating quitting to become a full time traveler. I am a single mom, so I have to be careful in my decisions, but I have made steps towards this goal and am beyond excited to see what the future holds.
Hi Heather, We can relate. We loved our jobs until we didn't and then it was very hard to even consider starting over anywhere else. We're excited that you have identified a goal and are taking steps to move towards it! We share a lot on our website and on our channel geared to full-time travelers. You might want to look at our playlists and our articles for "Nomads." Reach out any time if you have questions! Thank you so much for watching and sharing with us. -Judy
Hi @carlo6912, You're absolutely right, but that's where thinking differently is so important. Identifying that your life is not making you happy (or is unfulfilling) is the first step. Once you recognize it, you can work towards coming up with creative solutions so you take back control of your life. -Judy
I am only young, but have already started to feel stuck at the cooperate job, not able to take actual long time off to travel SLOW (which I think is important and enjoyable). Watching your videos solidify my goal of early retirement and at the same time very comforting/ pleasing to see how you been doing it for 2 years and still enjoying. Thanks for sharing
Hi Gi, Thank you so much for watching. You might enjoy our video from last week that talks about our five secrets about full-time travel that might give you some additional encouragement and peace of mind. And truly, nearly two years in and we are enjoying our lives SO MUCH with zero regrets! You definitely can take actions now to set you up for success, especially by reducing your consumerism, which can be hard, but gives you money for traveling! There are so many ways a young person can build financial security through side hustles and remote work. Think unconventionally and best of luck! -Judy 🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
I loved the ideas you folks are spreading. You actually showed me how to think differently about retiring. My take away is ‘minimalism’ shunning the love of ‘material’ world. Happiness doesn’t come from wanting to be happy; it is an outcome of going out there , indulging in activities and working on things you like.
Thank you so much for watching and for letting us know this, @Ultraraju! We know that there's a "formula" that many people use in the US: go to college, get a good paying job, put 10% of your income or more into savings and investments, work for 30 years or more, retire at 70. That doesn't work for everyone, and that's perfectly fine. There is NO ONE WAY to live or to retire! I really believe that more people need to think independently and do what works to make them happy. Of course, you need to be responsible, but at the same time, there is such a thing as playing it too safe. Life can be over in a blink and we don't ever want to wake up one day and discover that our best days were behind us, but we spent them working and grinding for in corporate America. And yes, we spent too much of our money on material things that do not matter. It's part of what makes America work the way it does; it's a hamster wheel that encourages you to work long hours to pay for stuff that you don't need but are required to work more hours so you can buy them! We have never been more grateful to be freed up from that way of living. But it is very hard to escape when your neighbors are driving flashy cars and have new tech or the latest fashions, etc. We have discovered that we need so much less than we thought we did in order to be happy. We still spend a good amount of money, but it's on experiences that bring us lasting joy and rich memories. -Judy
This was a great and informative video so thank you for that. I would love to hear some content on the trials and tribulations of slow travel. What are some of the pitfalls to avoid etc. We just recently found your channel and have added it to the many others that we follow. We currently spend about two months a year abroad but aspire to travel much more for much longer in the not too distant future so your content is proving valuable, thanks again!
We are so glad you found us! We would love to pull together this video for you! Thank you so much for the suggestion. We have a free community forum called La Famiglia you might want to consider joining if you're not already there. We are very active members there! -Judy ✅ La Famiglia FREE Community Forum: findingginamarie.com/join Below are links to some of our content that might be helpful for you as well. 🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html 🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html 🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads): 📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
No she is right some friends are only for the time you share ,once that's over the friendship is over not all friendships are meant to be long lasting and inn the process you enjoyed the time you shared
Hi @g.williams7740, Thanks for watching and for sharing your own experiences. We have made lovely, strong friendships over the course of our working careers, but only a fraction of those people are ones we'd continue to see, and some are spread all over the world as we've moved or they have. But we continue to stay in touch with many of them by text or email or social media. But they aren't friendships that we have to maintain in person. However, we're more likely to discover that we'll be somewhere in the world where they happen to be traveling and then meet up. Those are wonderful surprises! -Judy
What an incredible journey, so far! Hats off to following your heart and taking the leap. I'm still loving everything you all are sharing through the channel, and wish you both the best! 🎉
Thank you, David! We appreciate your kind words very much! It's been beyond wonderful for us. Whether it was wise or prudent, the jury is still out, but once we decided to take the leap, we didn't spend much time questioning ourselves or overthinking it. We truly believe that if there's a will, there's a way, and we're so glad that we have remained flexible and open minded about what we're doing and living this lifestyle. -Judy
My original retirement plan was to retire at 62, work part-time, and save money. However, high prices for everything have severely affected my plan. I'm concerned if people who went through the 2008 financial crisis had an easier time than I am having now. The stock market is worrying me as my income has decreased, and I fear I won't have enough savings for retirement since I can't contribute as much as before.
I’m 77 and still working full time. I do enjoy my work, it provides me with purpose and has secured my financial future. Most people are too eager to retire as early as possible. Even if you do retire early, best to get a part time job for the reasons cited above, as well as following many if not all of the suggestions in this video.
Hi @MarcyLoccy: Thanks for watching. We thought we'd continue working longer, but our jobs had changed more than we'd liked and when we stepped back, we realized that we weren't living our best life and didn't want to die or have mobility issues before we got to retirement. Retiring early isn't for everyone, and being content creators is a time-consuming job, but we love it and get so much out of it. It doesn't pay anywhere close to our expenses and is a far cry from our tech jobs, but it is rewarding and fulfilling. -Judy 🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html 🎥 Life is Short...An Emotional Pause: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html
Love this video. We are so conditioned in the United States to think there is only one path to retirement, when in reality there are so many alternative ways to live and enjoy life. We are so glad you shared your experience.
Thank you so much for watching, Steph and Chris! We didn't give ourselves a lot of time to overthink things or change our minds, and we don't regret it one bit! Mostly, we didn't want to be people who talked about it and never took action. So glad you are living your dreams, too! -Judy
This is a very well done! You're doing a great job with the channel, but also with your journey and experiences and lifestyle!! Keep up the great work and hopefully some day our paths will cross!!
Thank you so much, Dan! We appreciate your kind words and encouragement! It means the world to us! Please let us know if you will be nearby us, we would absolutely love to meet up! -Judy
I needed to see this video!!! Thank you for sharing!!😊😃😁 I’m Retiring in 2 weeks at the YOUNG age of 64+ years!!! I will have my 40th work Anniversary on my last day!!🎉
Hi Rosie! We are so excited for you! Forty years at one company is a real rarity these days. I hope you have been with a company that has treated you well. But now is YOUR TIME! Do you have plans for your retirement, or are you just excited to see what each new day brings?! We have a full series about downsizing for retirement if that's at all something you're interested in. -Judy 🎥 Downsizing for Retirement or Full-Time Travel Series: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF2xRusfMEQvN-5LZZqdnQIf.html
Wow, Heather! Thank you for the huge compliment! Not sure if you have thought about full-time or extended travel, but if so, our episode this week is all about some rarely talked about ideas that you might not have heard before. -Judy 🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
A couple of practical questions: (1) How do you do your taxes when you’re traveling around the world. What is your permanent address if you have sold your house?, and (2) Do you keep a US bank account and withdraw cash at ATMs? What if you have a banking issue and you have to come back to the US in person to solve it? Thank you. We’re seriously considering to follow your lead!
Hi @VictorUribe-bj5wg We don't have a home anywhere, but we use our last known address in California. Our mail goes to a virtual mailbox in North Carolina, but that's not considered our residency address. We do our taxes online using an app and they are fairly straightforward. We do keep a few different US bank accounts and we withdraw cash at ATMs with no issues. We recently got a Charles Schwab card that will refund our non-network ATM fees, which has been a nice benefit. We don't have all our money in one place, so if there's an issue, we should be fine to use a different account. We transfer what we need in our Schwab account versus keeping all our money there. Below are links to a bunch of our ongoing resources for full-time travelers. -Judy 🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html 🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html 🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads): 📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
LOVE IT! Thank you! Expect to join you two traveling the world soon! One thing holding both of us back is ... we like our jobs/careers. One of us is an expert in their very specialized niche... Took us a long time to get to where we are and will kinda suck when we leave it all behind... we have a good life now.... BUT we know we are in the last quarter of life and if we want to see the world need to get busy before we CAN'T!!!! This is holding us back.. a little... we will retire in 2 - 3 years.
Thank you so much, John! We will eagerly look forward to seeing you on the road in a few years. I do know about loving your job. There have been places in my career that I never wanted to leave. But my priorities were out of kilter. I had devoted so much time to my career and didn't focus enough on the other aspects of my life. You may have had a different experience. But one day I literally woke up and questioned if I would be happy if I had a health problem and couldn't do all the things I wanted to. Enjoy this in between time and perhaps consider some downsizing so when you're ready, you're ready! -Judy 🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html 🎥 Life is Short...An Emotional Pause: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html 🎥 Our Hard-Earned Advice for Downsizing | Downsizing for Full-Time Travel and Retirement: ua-cam.com/video/fSXUQS00agA/v-deo.html ✅ Downsizing Prep Worksheet: findingginamarie.com/request-downsizing-prep-worksheet
@@FindingGinaMarie Thank you Judy! Yeah.... Health concerns are driving us to realize our best day is today ... we want to be healthy enough to hike and go on safari and see the world... We will get there... thank you the helpful resources!!! Looking forward to your next vlog... HEY! Did you hire a financial planner?
@@johncarter8539 Thank you so much for your encouragement, John! We have an episode coming out today as part of our downsizing process so you can build momentum with quick wins! We did NOT hire a financial planner. One might have laughed in our face and told us that we need to work several more years. We've spent our lives living contrary to some of the common advice and it seems to have worked out fairly well for us. We are thinking about retirement more unconventionally, which is one of the many reasons we have a UA-cam channel and a blog. We're willing to continue to "work," but we are doing it on our terms that allow us to travel and experience life in a way that we couldn't while we had our corporate jobs. -Judy
@@johncarter8539 We spend a good amount of time on it, especially with the extra bonus episodes we've been doing on Tuesdays. Our non-location videos where we're talking in our Airbnb take about 7 hours to edit and it takes another three hours or so to talk through what an episode should look like once we are set on a topic. Editing our travel videos takes longer because of all the voiceover and images we pile into them. Editing alone for them takes 11-20 hours, but we're getting better at editing, so that's now closer to 11-14 hours apiece. Planning and filming takes probably another three or four hours. Fortunately, we each have our roles, so while Kevin is deep in editing, I'm answering comments, working on our website articles, newsletters, commenting in our La Famiglia forum, and planning our activities and upcoming travel locations. That's why for us spending a month somewhere is almost required so that we still have time to enjoy the places where we are visiting. It's a lot of work, but so much fun and it's all very fulfilling for us creatively. Also, while we are choosing to do all this, we would so much rather be working this way than in our corporate jobs. For us the tradeoff is a no-brainer. -Judy 📝 Why Our Channel is Called "Finding Gina Marie": findingginamarie.com/articles/why-the-name-finding-gina-marie
Thank you both! Big challenge for my wife and I is: 1. Safe locations - I’ve been fascinated in going to Mexico, but my wife is scared of dangerous parts of countries with crime 2. We have kids, so deciding when to start slow travel- is it when the youngest child goes to college?
Hi Jeremiah, We are heading to Mexico City for the first time in March 2025. If you live in the US, the statistics for crime are much worse than many other parts of the world, especially when you consider gun violence. Linked below are some interesting statistics. You could start out primarily visiting the countries she's most comfortable in and then expanding. Kevin was pretty uncomfortable going to Egypt, but once we had that experience under our belts, we felt on top of the world. We're currently here in Argentina and just planned our 2025 schedule through the end of March to be in South America, Central America, and then Mexico City. Afterwards we'll be in Europe for five months and then head to New Zealand and Melbourne, Australia. If you mix it up, it will be much easier. As far as when the best time is, sheesh, that's really dependent on your family situation. Some people make the choice to travel with their kids. I think that's a hard thing to do, BUT if you can swing it, it's an amazing way to teach your children about the world, how to have empathy, and history and politics can truly come alive because you learn from other perspectives besides your home country. We didn't prioritize it with our kids, but we wish we had. Our daughter is pretty social, but she had a hard time adjusting to college and being out on her own. She didn't know anyone at that school and it was tough for her. It took her a few years to find her rhythm. We moved from Houston to San Francisco when she was in her third year of college, and she missed having our home base to come back to during breaks (she went to Texas colleges). Your children may have more independence and may not need you, but that was our experience. When we started traveling, she was 29 and it was still a little hard for her. The upside is that she adores travel and she's met up with us in Japan and Italy and just spent a month in Bali (without us!). Our sons are home bodies and more independent, so it's a little easier with them, but we wish they were interested in meeting up with us on our travels. As it is, we only are back in the US once per year. They're all 31, 33, and 35 now, so they don't need the same level of hand holding. You know your own children best. I hope this helps! -Judy 🔗 2024 Safest Cities Ranked: ceoworld.biz/2024/01/27/revealed-safest-cities-in-the-world-2024/ 🔗 Ranking of Safest Cities: www.reddit.com/r/argentina/comments/1goepgx/safest_american_cities_argentina_and_canada_shine/
We LOVE not having a car. We are in the US for three weeks and except for our time in San Francisco, we've been stuck driving and we haven't enjoyed it one bit. We don't drive internationally at all, so Kevin is my hero for the 1200 miles he's driven while we've been here (with two more days to go). We wish Americans weren't so in love with their cars because it would be so much easier if the US were set up better for trains. It took us longer to drive from Houston to Austin than it did from going across South Korea from Busan to Seoul. It's crazy! -Judy
How wonderful for you, Deb! You might want to really think about what type of travel you have in mind for that year. We originally thought we'd move around quite a bit faster than we ended up doing. For our initial plans during our first month of travel, we thought we'd see probably seven different cities. But we ended up scaling wayyyy back, and it was so much better for us. Below is a link to an article we wrote that talks about slow travel. The downside is that you won't see nearly as much this way, but your experiences may be richer. It will help for you to get a sense of whether you have the energy and money for fast travel or need to slow it down. At one point we opted to fast travel for a bit, and Kevin's reaction below speaks volumes. Your situation may be different if you're not running a UA-cam channel or doing other work, though. -Judy 🐢 Slow Travel and Why We Do It: findingginamarie.com/articles/slow-travel-and-why-we-do-it 🎥 Slow Travel or No Travel: ua-cam.com/video/LrLGJ-X6I4A/v-deo.html
Kevin especially has been a rebel like that, Erin, and after 45 years together, some of that has rubbed off on me! it is very empowering to break the rules and create a new way of doing things regardless of what naysayers tell you is possible or not! -Judy
Not everyone is interested in travel and would rather rock on their front porch of a property they own. That I find is a generational thing, especially those who really worked to own something. I try really hard not to be attached to a home because my memories are with me or pictures. My husband is a cautious traveler, but I’d like to travel the world. I’m 59 and he’s 62 and our health is good now and I want to travel why we can.
Yes, Liz, that is very true for some people. And even if they're not rocking, some people just want to be surrounded by their stuff which has very happy memories for them. We get it, but we'd rather have those memories compressed into photographs that we take with us everywhere, and for us it's enough to do that, just as you've said. We have an article on helping couples to travel more comfortably together when their styles aren't fully aligned. We also think traveling while you can is wise. Mobility or memory issues and a myriad of other things can happen and then travel becomes much harder. Thanks for watching. -Judy 📝 Navigating Love and Travel: findingginamarie.com/articles/what-if-your-spouse-doesnt-want-to-travel-full-time 🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html
We are sort of doing the same! We are in the second boat. We started our journey 4.5 years ago and we are targeting retiring in 4 years. We love the message, new subscribers here!
Thank you so much for watching and for subscribing! Good luck with your growing channel and achieving your retirement goals! It certainly helps when people can plan ahead for it like you are doing. We have a full series regarding full-time travel if that's at all something you plan to do in your retirement. I'll link it below (as well as our downsizing series, which might be useful regardless of whether you will be traveling or not!). -Judy 🎥 Downsizing for Retirement or Full-Time Travel Series: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF2xRusfMEQvN-5LZZqdnQIf.html 🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html 🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html 🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads): 📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
Thank you so much, Lisa, for your kind words. We don't take our relationship for granted at all. We met when I was 14 and Kevin was 16, and we know how rare it is to remain together for 40 years of marriage. We actually have a few articles on our website for couples who aren't as fully aligned on full-time travel. But it makes it so much easier to be in lockstep! Thank you so much for watching! -Judy 📝 Navigating Full-Time Travel as a Couple: findingginamarie.com/articles/what-if-your-spouse-doesnt-want-to-travel-full-time 📝 How to Reduce Stress for Anxious Travelers: findingginamarie.com/articles/how-to-reduce-stress-for-anxious-travelers
As a former expat, that loves to travel, I have questions. The global travel healthcare is a great tip, because that was one of my first questions. Does Cigna require you to have an end date as a traveler ? A US residence or address? Do you use a strictly online bank? How does that work? What about banking? Do you just charge everything or get cash when you arrive? Mail? What about your phone and internet? Do you use a new sim card in every country? An eSIM? Some visas need to be applied for from the US if you want to visit, do you visit consulates ? There are nitty gritty, everyday things that we take for granted in the US and take time to do when you arrive somewhere new. Doing it every 1~3 months sounds exhausting. Who does your taxes?
Hi Kathy, Happy to answer all of these! You might want to watch our video from last Saturday which addresses some things that aren't talked about a whole lot, but we think it's pretty useful (5 Secrets for Full-Time Travelers). We'll put all our links at the end. CIGNA does not require you to have an end date as a traveler or a US residence or address. We got our policy when we were in Athens, Greece in January 2023 and renewed it again this year. They need whatever address you want to give them, but all of their communication happens via email. The physical address we gave was our Airbnb that we were in at the time. We use a regular US bank and it works like most banks. We're actually looking into a Charles Schwab account for our ATM withdrawals since they will refund the charges for using a non-bank ATM. We don't pay a ton of fees in the grand scheme of things, but if you don't mind moving money around a bit, Charles Schwab can help. Whenever we can, we prefer to pay with our card so we don't have to carry around a wad of cash, but there are some countries/places in the world where cash is king and they don't have an easy way for you to pay by card. So if we know that's what we'll encounter, we do get cash (Egypt, some of the smaller restaurants in Japan, Cambodia, parts of Sicily all require having cash on hand). We have an entire article about our virtual mailbox, which will scan envelopes for us and then if we want more information, they'll scan the contents, deposit checks, and forward pieces of mail to us or to others if we need them to. Our "homesickness" video talks about why we've kept our T-Mobile plan and pay extra for an international roaming plan versus switching to eSIMs. We pay for enough data that allows us to work remotely from everywhere, but you may need less, and T-Mobile has smaller data packages you can buy. Any visas we've needed to get we've been able to either do in person on arrival (Egypt) or at the airport (Australia-I do NOT recommend this!) or through an eVisa (Vietnam, Cambodia) or through the immigration office when we were extending our stay (Thailand). There aren't a ton of countries we want to visit that require you to physically be in the US in order to get a visa, but if that were the case, we'd see if we could visit an embassy where we currently are or else plan to be back in the US in order to apply. We try to visit the US once per year in order to see family and friends anyway, so we don't see that as a huge problem. I'm not sure what you mean by "doing all this every 1-3 months sounds exhausting." If you mean moving every month, it's actually quite fun. Every new city brings a new adventure. We have enough time to establish some routines so not everything is new, but enough is new that we never get bored and always are excited to see what's next. As far as taxes, since we aren't expats, they're not overly complicated and we're able to do them ourselves. You didn't ask, but I've also attached a link to a video about voting while living abroad as well as a playlist of videos for people preparing for full-time travel and also those who already are on the road (and articles from our website we think are very useful). Hope all this helps! -Judy @garysue95 FYI. 🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html 📝 How to Stay Connected to Your Mail While Traveling the World: findingginamarie.com/articles/how-to-stay-connected-to-your-mail-while-traveling-the-world 📝 Why we have an international data plan on T-Mobile versus an eSIM: findingginamarie.com/articles/homesickness-overwhelm-and-travel-challenges-life-as-a-full-time-traveler 📝 Voting While Living Abroad (As a US Citizen): findingginamarie.com/articles/voting-while-living-abroad-as-a-us-citizen 🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html 🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html 🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads): 📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
I can answer for online banking. WISE accounts works wonderfully well. Easy to transfer from your USA bank account to WISE account. Then you have WISE ATM card to use other places and eligible to use in other countries. Very reasonable charges and dollar to other currencies conversion is very nicely priced. This is most reasonable and practical I found to use outside USA, especially in Asian countries.
Hi @@sarbjitgrewal9724, and thanks for weighing in. Why do you need to use a Wise account? A Schwab account will waive any fees that are incurred using an ATM that isn't connected to your US bank (unlimited) and allows unlimited free withdrawals than a Wise card, which I've been hearing has been a bit problematic, including in Japan. We have a Wise card that we do not use because you're only allowed two free withdrawals per month with a maximum of $350 and then you have to pay additional fees. So far, Schwab seems like a better option. Am I missing something? -Judy wise.com/help/articles/2935769/how-much-does-it-cost-to-withdraw-cash
We are so glad to hear this! We build on this episode and discuss some things not a lot of people talk about in the episode linked below. We hope you find it helpful as well. Thank you so much for watching and for leaving us this comment! -Judy 🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
My husband and I also want to retire early and travel the world like you guys do. I wish, I wish with all my heart...😊We travel whenever we can but not as often as we would like to. Best of luck!
Where there's a will, there's a way, Elle! You might find our latest video useful where we discuss some secrets about full-time travel that people rarely talk about. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your goals. In 2019 we took three international trips versus our usual two, and it made me realize that the travel bug had bitten us hard. After two years of lockdown, our desire to travel hit with a vengeance. We have no regrets, even though our path was fairly unconventional. -Judy 🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
Thank you so much for watching and for your kind comment! Italy was very refreshing and very hard to leave. The best part is that as full-time travelers we can always return! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie So true! By the way, I see that in your travel videos you both give examples of typical costs of accommodations, meals, coffee, etc. Would you consider doing a video on your average monthly cost of slow travel (including planes, trains, etc)? I think it would be helpful to those of us considering slow travel to compare costs and lifestyle to you both. I totally understand if there are expenses you’d like to keep private like charity, but those could always be omitted. Thanks!
Hi Anthony, yes, we would consider doing this. Each month varies and while we have a budget, we don't consider ourselves "budget travelers" per se. We can include all transportation costs, but we recognize that where we are traveling from might vary in price considerably from what the cost might be for someone traveling from a different part of the world. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie That makes sense! I don’t think we are wanting to be budget travelers either. Your lifestyle seems pretty similar to what would be realistic for us. I think there might be a “non-budget, yet budget-minded traveler” niche you could appeal to.
We are still technically residents of California. Our driver's licenses still are California and we remain eligible to vote in California in our old precinct. At some point it may make sense for us to switch to someplace like Texas, which is where two of our children live, but most states require you to be a resident for tax purposes by spending 183 days or more in that state. Florida and South Dakota have fewer restrictions and are commonly used for expats, but we aren't particularly enamored by either of those. We'd prefer to pay a little more in taxes and support California's economy. I'm also linking an article that might be helpful regarding voting when you are living abroad, which I think might be helpful for you. -Judy 📝 Voting While Living Abroad (As a US Citizen): findingginamarie.com/articles/voting-while-living-abroad-as-a-us-citizen
To your question, my main obstacle is that I've seen partnered traveling work really well to manage culture shock, safety, and just fun to have a buddy time, whereas almost no one covers solo travel for women unless they are very privileged/wealthy, want to stay in expat bubbles, or have a lot of health privilege and nothing medical to work around. I've also seen people who don't need deep relationships be very happy traveling but those of us who do need deep relationships not be happy traveling. I really appreciate your touching on some of these things today and I'll check out your website to learn more about how to connect. It's refreshing to hear someone not just say "oh youll end up with (useless) FB friends and you can text people the rest of your life" when that's not neurocognitively valid for mental health. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing with us. We wish we could help more directly, but it's hard for travel couples to offer useful advice to solo travelers when that's not how we travel. Of course, there are plenty of independent couples who do their own thing and we'd love to have more solo women join our La Famiglia forum and share what works for them so that we could be part of the conversation and understand more about the challenges they face and learn for ourselves-because let's face it, there's a likelihood that travel couples will lose a spouse and find themselves as a solo. We have found solo travelers on tours and have met up with them afterwards for coffee and it's possible to even try to arrange a separate meetup post tour. I still talk regularly to a woman I met from the US when we traveled to Egypt. It's also been a nice perk of having a UA-cam channel that we've been able to meet up with our viewers. It can be a lot of work, but there's certainly a gap in content that you could fill if you wanted to start your own channel targeted to the viewers you want to connect with who struggle with the same issues as you. Also, you might want to understand exactly what these deep relationships look like in your mind so that you can foster them when you find them in your travels. We'd love to hear what that means for you as well. These suggestions might sound trite, so forgive me if they aren't helpful. I do still make time for phone calls with family members despite the time zone differences (and those can even be FaceTime). I also started sending mailed greeting cards because I found that text messages don't cut it for me, either. ♥️ -Judy 🎥 Preserving Relationships from a Distance with Mailed Cards: findingginamarie.com/articles/sending-mailed-cards-with-a-twist
We are so glad you clicked on our video, Gynine! We are thrilled to have you here. We are going to be adding more of these types of episodes to our channel, so if there's something you'd like to know, we'd be happy to try to answer it for you. We have two different playlists that might be helpful and a link to our ever-growing articles list for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads). -Judy 🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html 🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html 📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
Thanks for taking the time to create and post this video. It has made me think! For me the biggest worries for traveling is available money and health insurance. At 71 with preexisting conditions there aren't many companies that will cover me and / or my wife. Your video will help inspire me to begin thinking outside the box. Again thank you!!
Hi Jim, Thank you so much for watching. Preexisting conditions are challenging for sure-I previously had basal cell carcinoma, which is excluded from my health coverage. However, the out-of-pocket costs for some things are significantly cheaper outside of the US. For instance, I needed a prescription in the US and the pharmacy gave me a coupon to use that made the cost of it $800 versus $1200, BUT I paid €81 in France for the same prescription! It cost $250 in Thailand. Kevin's hernia surgery in Serbia cost €1800 out of pocket, compared to probably close to $10K in the US. If you're able to survive more comfortably by living in a country outside the US, even if you aren't able to work due to poor health, it still might be a reasonable tradeoff. But if your cost of living is low and your Medicare/Medicaid coverage is serving you, I can see that living in the US is a safer bet. Here's a link to last week's video where we shared our 5 secrets for traveling full time that aren't talked about often enough. Hopefully that and our episode of why we don't anticipate living in the US again are helpful to you. Best of luck! -Judy 🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html 🎥 Why we won't live in the US again: ua-cam.com/video/xeTdMPRgkWM/v-deo.html
Hi Norma, Here's our full article about our healthcare, as well as a link to all our videos and blog articles that should help you a ton. If you have any specific questions, don't hesitate to let us know! -Judy 📝 Peace of Mind Abroad: Choosing the Right Health Insurance as Retired Travelers: findingginamarie.com/articles/choosing-the-right-health-insurance-as-retired-travelers ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: 🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html 🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html 🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads): 📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads 🎥 Our Hard-Earned Advice for Downsizing | Downsizing for Full-Time Travel and Retirement: ua-cam.com/video/fSXUQS00agA/v-deo.html 🎥 Downsizing for Retirement or Full-Time Travel Series: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF2xRusfMEQvN-5LZZqdnQIf.html ✅ Downsizing Prep Worksheet: findingginamarie.com/request-downsizing-prep-worksheet
Hi @JRspeaking, Thank you so much for watching and for writing! We think you might also enjoy our 5 secrets that are rarely talked about regarding full-time travel if that's something you've ever thought about doing. -Judy 🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
Thanks for the video. My wife and I retired early and travel full-time as well, We followed the FIRE path but it was not sacrificing any of our life to save money. We did/had basically what everyone else did, but made some intentional adjustments to spend a lot less doing them, We also found that most of the things that made (and still make) us happy were unrelated to spending a lot of money. Cheers!.
Hi Justin, congratulations to you both. We had only heard of FIRE in the last few years. I'm not sure what rock we were living under to have missed it. It's wonderful when you can be happy without having to acquire a bunch of stuff. How early did you retire and what are your goals for full-time travel? There is so much of the world we still want to see! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Hi Judy, we definitely acquired a bunch of stuff along the way, but we often bought used items and avoided the typical upgrade cycle (e.g., cars, cell phones, houses). Early furniture we bought in 1990 we still had 33 years later when we downsized everything. I have a blog piece about how frugality doesn't mean deprivation if you are interested. I retired in 2000 at 52 and my wife retired at 52 in 2002. We downsized completely and started traveling full-time over a year ago. As far as goals for full-time travel, we slow travel (usually a month in each city). We are in Japan now for the Kumano Kodo through hike and will be in Asia through January. We love through hiking and plan to do the Lycian Way, Camino Frances, and another through hike in the UK (we already did Hadrian's Wall) in 2025. So far it is a great retirement! Cheers, Justin
Hi Melody, No we don't. Here's an entire article comparing costs. For our ages and for traveling full time and requiring healthcare on the road, Safety Wing isn't the best price for us. Safety Wing has a cheaper Nomad Insurance, but that's not the same as their Nomad *Health* Insurance (they're very different plans). Since this is the only type of coverage we have, it's important to have full healthcare coverage. -Judy 📝 Peace of Mind Abroad: Choosing the Right Health Insurance as Retired Travelers: findingginamarie.com/articles/choosing-the-right-health-insurance-as-retired-travelers
Thanks for watching! We drove approximately 1400 miles during the three weeks we were in the US. Insane! Kevin said if we visit again before the next 12 months is up, it will be too soon, based exclusively on the driving situation. We have a lot of family in Houston and Austin and they're very spread out. It's one of the reasons we were so burned out and opted not to bring a car with us to San Francisco. There are not many places in the US where you don't need a car, unfortunately. -Judy
Thank you so much for sharing these insights. They are quite different from what I have heard thus far. Also, your responses to comments have been so thoughtful and caring. I look forward to your continual sharing. The best of luck with your channel and future travels. Blessings🌺
Thank you so much for your very kind words, Anna! We know that there are a lot of people who take the usual route, but that doesn't have to be everyone's plan. We aren't saying to make rash decisions, but if you're willing to think through the process and find a way that works for you, more power to you. We have zero regrets and we are making it all work! Our responses to comments may be a little time consuming, but we love hearing from our viewers, and we feel if they are taking time out of their day to connect with us, then we want to do our very best in our responses! It is so sweet of you to notice! -Judy
Hi Muhammad, We like that philosophy. It's amazing to us how happy we are. And even when things aren't going perfectly, we still pinch ourselves and say, well, at least we are dealing with this issue in Paris (or whatever place we're in) versus dealing with it at home! -Judy
Hi @ephitsmarqz6398! We wish you all the best so you can do that, too! Our video from this past Saturday may be helpful. We discuss some things that aren't often talked about regarding full-time travel that we think you will want to know. Also, we have a full series of videos regarding preparing for full-time travel and also life as full-time travelers. We realize that you might not be doing what we are after retirement, but it may be good food for thought. Thanks for watching! -Judy 🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html 🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html 🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html 🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads): 📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
Thank you so much for watching, Rosa! You might be interested in the two other videos we put together about health versus wealth regarding when the right time is to retire. -Judy 🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html 🎥 Life is Short...An Emotional Pause: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html
We are so glad to hear this, Helen! It's an exciting place to be! Let us know if you need any help, encouragement, or anything else. I can't recall if you've seen any of our other episodes, but these might be helpful if you don't already know about them. -Judy 🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html 🎥 Life is Short...An Emotional Pause: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html 🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html 🎥 Our Hard-Earned Advice for Downsizing | Downsizing for Full-Time Travel and Retirement: ua-cam.com/video/fSXUQS00agA/v-deo.html ✅ Downsizing Prep Worksheet: findingginamarie.com/request-downsizing-prep-worksheet
Hi Michel, yes, we do. We have a virtual mailbox we use. Here’s an article I wrote that tells you all about it and why we chose it. Thanks for watching! -Judy 📝 How to Stay Connected to Your Mail While Traveling the World: findingginamarie.com/articles/how-to-stay-connected-to-your-mail-while-traveling-the-world
Hi Greg, but you both are so young! We have the same regrets, but we started so much later than you have. It's a balancing act to want to see everything all at once while also wanting to take time and savor every moment. We spent seven months in Asia between October and April and I can see how we barely scratched the surface. Safe travels! -Judy
Thank you for your kind words, Jack. While it might feel a bit scary initially, we have zero regrets. We hope you are living your best life and enjoying it to the fullest. Life is too short to wait until retiring at 70 and hoping all the stars will align. -Judy
I am 54 and my wife is 52. We have been investing and saving for early retirement for many years. We plan to walk away from work in 2025. No debt for the last 15 years, No love for our work, kids are grown, no pension or golden handcuffs of any kind. We stopped putting money into 401k and IRAs a few years back since we need cash sooner than 59.5. My only worry is healthcare as we will not have any or just a major medical plan if we purchase one? We plan to slow travel and just see what happens next?
Congratulations to you both! We are using a CIGNA global health policy for full-time travelers. At 59 and 61 (our last renewal), we pay an annual price of $5700 that covers both of us for a year. It is more of a catastrophic plan since we have a high $3K deductible, so we pay for a lot of the basic things out of pocket. But it offers a lot for the peace of mind it offers. It costs significantly more to have a plan that covers extended care in the US (ours limits us to no more than 90 days per year in the US). We have found that we don't need to have all the answers all at once. We may not keep this plan forever and always keep our eyes and ears open for things that can work better for us. So we are fully aligned with you and that you "just see what happens next." We've found that everything has evolved the more we live this lifestyle! -Judy
Thank you so much, BW! While it was wonderful for us to spend time with family and friends over the last three weeks in the US, we are currently en route to France. Living on the road feels more like home than the US does these days! -Judy
Hi Charm, Good for you both! It's an incredible way to live! And we feel the same about enjoying life while you can and as much as you can. I'm linking some of our ongoing lists of resources that might be helpful for whenever you're ready to launch. -Judy 🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html 🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html 🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads): 📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
I just turned 58 and really want to retire early and slow travel. What's stopping me from doing it is our pets. We have 2 cats and a dog so if you have any advice I would love to hear it. I love my pets to pieces so I won't give them up so now I guess I'm just waiting for them to live their lives so I can start living mine.
Thanks so much for watching. It's hard when you have pets. It certainly depends on their temperaments. Do they like to travel? This couple has traveled with two dogs for several years. You might want to watch some of their content: ourfreedomyears.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-traveling-with-a-dog/ It may take more planning and cost a bit more, and you might have to think unconventionally like we did to figure out a way to make it work. You might consider traveling from a small home base in Europe so that you can be closer to some of the places you want to see and the distances won't need to be as far flung. Having a vehicle in Europe will allow you to bypass some of the extra work of understanding airlines and trains guidelines, but it's possible to work around them, too. We wish you all the best with your furry friends. We think it's possible to have a life of travel and also have your pets with you. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Thank you for responding to my comment on an older video of yours! Travelling with a dog would be easy but with cats, not so much as how would you travel with a litter box and kitty litter? I guess we just need to wait for them to live their lives. Wishing you all the best on your travels! I just finished watching your Hotels vs. AirBnB video. Who knew there were so many AirBnB haters out there! Just ignore the haters and do what works best for you! Merry Christmas!
Sadly, you might be right. When I looked a little deeper without really concerning ourselves with a litter box and kitty litter (which you can buy along the way), I learned that most cats are very territorial and probably wouldn't enjoy the commute to a new place and also likely wouldn't be happy establishing themselves in a new place even for a few months at a time. As far as Airbnbs, thanks very much. I agree that there are a lot of haters, and I disagree with them. I don't think they'd exist if hotels didn't leave a gap in the market, but chain hotels are typically run to cater to wealthy shareholders, not necessarily caring about how well they cater to a non-business traveler who might only travel a few times per year. VRBO and booking.com also follow a similar model, but Airbnb gets all the hate. Is it perfect, no, but we couldn't travel the way we do without them, so we have a lot more positives to say about them than negatives! Thanks so much for your kind words of encouragement! -Judy
Hi John, Thanks so much for watching! We don't regret what we did even a bit. If anything, we regret not doing it sooner. But the timing ended up being perfect for us. We wish you all the best. It's a great life! Here are some other videos to possibly inspire you or to give you some inkling of what you might expect. -Judy 🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html 🎥 Life is Short...An Emotional Pause: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: 🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html 🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html 🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads): 📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
This was super informative! My wife and I are nesters by nature so this would be hard for us - and we love having pets and that would be difficult to give up. But, we love traveling and could see being based somewhere (maybe US) and traveling for a month at a time.
Thank you so much for watching, James! A lot of people use Housesitters.com for lodging even when they don't need to save money because many of the people using the platform need people willing to care for their pets! The more we thought about traveling full time, the more excited we got, but we know it isn't for everyone, especially if you like having your stuff around you. But at a minimum, we hope this is encouraging you, if you need it, to think about how you can live unconventionally and think outside the box. Traveling for a month at a time is a great idea! -Judy
The biggest obstacle for me is math. I don't know where to start to figure how much is enough to full time travel. We are currently planning to move to Mexico when we retire. Full traveling looks like much more fun..
Hi Jamie, We aren't necessarily spending more to travel full time than we would if we had kept our home in retirement (or even downsized). We know couples who are living on $2000-$3000 per month total and they are doing everything they want to do. Traveling slower to get discounted stays and spending time in cheaper countries all will offset your budget and help you when you are staying in more expensive countries. We spend a bit more than that, but it all depends on your level of comfort, willingness to cook versus eating out, and what you're willing to spend on excursions (but that's the same as an entertainment budget if you weren't traveling). We typically stay in Airbnbs to get monthly discounts, but some people stay in hostels, or enhance their budget by doing housesitting and getting free stays in some places. It is all about thinking outside the box! You might find our 5 secrets episode helpful if you want to understand more about this lifestyle. I'll link it below. -Judy 🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
@@FindingGinaMarie thank you, that is helpful. I will watch the linked videos also. It seems like you have a wonderful retirement. We have a little beach house we won't get rid of and I suppose that gives my husband a place to keep books. I never would have dreamed you could travel full time on that amount.
We still are working on how to share a more thorough accounting of our budget, because those prices don't include things like our Internet, VPN, virtual mailbox service, and AppleTV. But in the grand scheme of things, those are small numbers compared to what we sometimes spend on food! We were grateful that we could cook some of our meals in Madrid, because we found it to be an expensive city. We did get a great price on the Airbnb, though, especially compared to other options there! -Judy
How interesting it is to observe the sad reality of certain average people in the USA/Canada, they dream of knowing the world and not returning to their life full of dissatisfaction.
@castanju: Our lives weren't dissatisfying in any way. We loved our lives. We had a great apartment, were reasonably near to family, and had loads of friends. But we have a spirit of adventure and wanted to explore the world. I am working towards Italian dual citizenship and actually do want to understand the world views from angles outside of the US. And we won't return to the US because it's an expensive country to live in. There are a lot of good reasons to live outside the US, and we're enjoying it immensely. -Judy
Pets. I have pets and they are my major obstacle to traveling full time. I also want to at least work part time and will like my husband to also work part time, so he doesn't get bored when I am working :) The other two obstacles are having aging parents and having a complex financial situation. I have some debt to pay off before I begin full time travel. Hopefully, it all works out for the best.
Hi @JoseReyes-ov2tu, We understand about pets and aging parents. Kevin originally was thinking he would keep his job, but once we started traveling, he lost interest in that very quickly! Debt is no fun, so yes, if you're able to put your extra money towards paying that off, you will have so much more mental as well as financial freedom. We wish you all the best with your future plans! -Judy
I have visited 35 countries on four continents, in many of which I spent more than a month at a time. I have also lived in four countries. As much as I love to travel, I wouldn't want to do it full time. I like the idea of keeping a home base, not only because I want a place I can go back to when I need a break but also for tax reasons (I'm going to spare you the details). I am married but I always travel alone. Solo travel scares a lot of people but it's a great way to see the world and learn about people, cultures, customs etc. I find that I talk to locals a lot more when I'm alone than I would if I were traveling with a partner. And there is obviously no better way to learn a language. 😉
Hi @AnimaLibera, We realize that this lifestyle isn't for everyone and while not having a home base is freeing to us, we know that's not the right choice for everyone. BUT it's a great option for people who want to travel, but who don't have the budget to do it on top of having a home base. We couldn't have retired early had we kept a home base as well. Good for you for not being intimidated by traveling solo and for opening yourself up to rich experiences and conversations with locals. Thank you so much for sharing what works for you and for inspiring others who may have a partner who doesn't love to travel or for singles who think solo travel is too hard. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Thanks so much for your comment, Nicole, and for watching! Also, good luck with your UA-cam channel; we were in the Amalfi Coast in June and had a great time introducing it to our daughter! -Judy
I'm new here, what are your names? Just watched your video today and can relate with your thoughts. We moved to Europe about 18 months ago. Love it! We travel when and where we want. We do have a residence in Portugal as our home base. We needed a place to call home. We too have learned a lot and must also adapt to many differences when living outside the US. We enjoy and accept that challenge. We feel ALIVE! JP Porto
@@JP7onEarth We are Judy and Kevin. You may have skipped past our intro where we introduce ourselves. Our channel is called Finding Gina Marie because I met my birth mother just days before the pandemic had us all on lockdown. The name on my original birth certificate was Gina Marie, and I was named after her. Finding her changed our priorities and knowing that I could acquire Italian dual citizenship helped to launch us on our full-time travel journey. We started our channel because our reunion story was so incredible. Despite being a secret from the majority of her family for 56 years, they embraced me and my family with open arms. You can watch our series called Finding Family if you're interested in it. How wonderful for you to be living in Europe. We had considered Lisbon and Porto for living as expats, but in the process of discerning where to live, we ended up deciding to travel full time instead and not have a home base. Very cool that you are in Porto! We agree with feeling alive. There is rarely a dull moment in our lives these days. We have to actually plan them! Thank you so much for watching and for sharing about yourselves! -Judy 🎥 Finding Family intro videos: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1QI_-Q6b-zspHSRhbyiu6_.html
@@FindingGinaMarie i read lots of responses and just found your names. 🤣🤣Thanks for responding. We too moved from the SF Bay Area. Japan is next for us. JP Porto
@@JP7onEarth What a small world! We loved San Francisco, but it was too expensive of a place for us to retire in. We spend 40+ days in Japan, so you might want to check out our series from there. We loved it and hope you will, too! -Judy 🎥 Japan travel series: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0V4Brx4J0uWJdQENFZKWBT.html
Love your videos, I’m also looking to kick off my nomadic retirement in 4 years time, so thank you for sharing your experiences! Who’s (or what) Gina Marie btw? And I’m curious, do you carry your entire wardrobe for different season in your suitcase or do you have a home base to store away clothes for say your winter wear during summer?
Hi Rennie, We are so glad you found us! I'll put a link below about how we came up with our channel name. As far as clothing, we do not have a home base, so we don't swap out clothes anywhere. We typically travel in three seasons, so that we don't need a heavy winter coat or gloves or a hat. But on the occasions that we do need them, we'll go to a discount store in the area we're in and buy one and hold onto it until we think there'll be a stretch where we no longer need it. We have found that holding onto "just in case" items makes our bags too heavy and then we have to pay extra costs to either check our luggage because so many discount airlines have weight restrictions. We typically also almost exclusively wear Merino wool clothes in order to avoid having to wash them as often, they're temperature regulating, they wear well, and have so many other benefits. Thanks so much for watching! -Judy 📝 Why Our Channel is Called "Finding Gina Marie": findingginamarie.com/articles/why-the-name-finding-gina-marie 🎥 What we're Packing in 2024: ua-cam.com/video/yD-45hCjQl0/v-deo.html 🎥 Avoid Airline Carry-On Fees | What We Pack for World Travel 2024: ua-cam.com/video/UiPkHF6jzWo/v-deo.html ⚙️ GEAR LIST: findingGinaMarie.com/gear
Thank you for letting us know that it was useful. Since most people talk about how they saved their entire lives in order to live like we are, we thought it would be useful to share what we did differently and how it's working out for us. -Judy
Just watched your video. Thank you for the great tips. Holding me back on doing slow travel is my home mortgage and of course my possessions i have to give away. I still plan to work remotely even part time
Hi Grace, We get the whole mortgage problem, which is why we sold everything so we wouldn't have to deal with those expenses or responsibilities. But we know not everyone wants to give up their home base. And technically, we're working remotely as well, even though it's for ourselves. UA-cam is time consuming, but more rewarding than we ever imagined it could be. Thanks so much for watching. -Judy
We are thinking of traveling full time. My concern is I get anxiety in the stress of planning. Where are we going next are things lined up etc. how do you get beyond this stress and not so end your whole time in one place worrying about the next.
Hi Angela, We plan to cover this in an upcoming episode! We understand that planning can be stressful. It's also time consuming, which is one of the reasons that we like to stay in places for a month at a time. While we do some fast travel, we try not to do that too much because it requires more planning. We also don't plan the activities we'll do until we arrive somewhere (although there are times we do have to plan in advance when we know tickets might sell out, but that's not something we do very often). What works best for us is to plan several months in advance so we don't have to feel like we're constantly planning. We factor in any special events that we need to be in the US for since we try to be back once per year. Next we put down our bucket list places during the time of year that is most ideal (factoring in good weather, affordable prices, and fewer crowds as our priorities, so that's often the shoulder season) and then see if we can be in that area for a few months to offset the cost of traveling there. We try to balance expensive countries with cheap ones, too. We typically book long-haul flights early in the process, but we sometimes wait on the shorter flights. We book our accommodations early in the process, but we try to book places that are refundable so that we can have the freedom to pivot if we want to (hence why we don't book flights too far in advance for the shorter hops). We are happy to answer your additional questions if you have them, and we have a worksheet that we use in our planning process that's linked below. If you need any clarification or instructions on how to use it, please reach out! -Judy ✅ Travel Planning Spreadsheet: findingginamarie.com/request-planner
Thank you so much for watching. You might enjoy our 5 secrets episode that aired this past Saturday where we share about some topics that are rarely talked about, but which we think everyone considering full-time travel should know about. The episode is linked below. -Judy 🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
Hi Ronin, Thanks for watching. It's a lot of money, but we also believe in taking a hard look at health versus wealth. You don't get to take it with you and if there are things you are putting off on doing until you retire, you may find that you're not physically able to do them or that circumstances no longer allow for you to do them. We didn't want to put off travel only to have one of us die prematurely or have mobility issues or some other tragic situation. Kevin's father died at age 60, just a few months before he retired. -Judy 🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html 🎥 A Pause to share an Emotional Moment: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html
I believe you soooo made the right choice to do the traveling - while you're still young enough AND healthy. It's true, we never know what tomorrow may bring. Too many do the "someday when....." I hope you continue to have the most awesome adventures!!
Thank you so much for watching and for your thoughtful comment. We truly are loving our lives and have zero regrets. One of the drivers in making our decision was that we didn't want to just talk about changing our lives but we actually wanted to do it. We were fortunate that we were in a place in our lives to be able to make the change. We wish you well and hope you also are living your best life! -Judy
I really want to stop working because of high stress from work. I’m 58 and don’t have enough money saved. I’m scared to quit my job but I can do travel nursing because I’m a nurse. Still scared but you’re motivating me The barriers are certainly healthcare cause I have ongoing health issues need follow up regular doctor visits and testing
Hi Gina, Who's to say how much is enough? We share Kevin's concerns about dying young like his father at age 61 just when he was on the cusp of retirement. There are unconventional ways of earning money in order to live a life that is a little more stress free. I can appreciate how complicated things might be with your health issues, but there are places everywhere in the world with excellent healthcare that are much cheaper than in the U.S. We probably should have continued working as well, but we made the decision that we needed to live for ourselves and get out of corporate America. We still are working, but on UA-cam. It's allowing us to travel and have incredible experiences while also bringing in some income. Of course, it all takes time, but there has never been a better time to find an online side gig that grows into something more. For us, we needed to leave our expensive lives in San Francisco in order to be able to do what we're doing, but it has been a million percent worth it for us. We wish you all the best! -Judy 🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html 🎥 Life is Short...An Emotional Pause: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html
Hi Sabrina Thank you so much for watching. We are so glad we got to visit Taiwan. We wish there hadn't been an earthquake there when we were, but we had such a good visit otherwise! -Judy
Hi Kristi, We wrote an article awhile back that might apply to your situation. We'd love to know if it helps in any way or if there are additional questions we should address. Here's a link to it -Judy 📝 Navigating Love and Travel: A Couple's Q&A Guide to Full-Time Adventure!: findingginamarie.com/articles/what-if-your-spouse-doesnt-want-to-travel-full-time
Same…my husband wants to work til 70 I’m ready at 62. I’m not a consumer of “stuff”. When he buys, I donate something..lol .The pandemic changed everything. I’m right now at 60 getting my dual citizenship so I can travel at length. He better get on board soon 😊
@@Positivecuriosity46 LOL. I love this so much! Your husband might benefit from watching our Health versus Wealth video, which I've linked below. A good companion video is where Kevin gets real about his father dying at 61 just as he was about to retire. Where will you be a dual citizen? I'm working on mine for Italy but it is an excruciatingly slow process and despite hiring "experts" to help us, they've made mistakes that has cost us time. We'd love to hear how everything progresses for you! -Judy 🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html 🎥 A Pause to Share an Emotional Moment: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html
@@FindingGinaMarie The process is going slow, but I am starting early. My husband, also named Kevin, has his dual citizenship with Ireland and I will be getting mine with Poland. I will certainly share this video with him. Thank you for the great video. 😊
@@Positivecuriosity46 My Kevin is jealous of your Kevin's Irish dual citizenship. He's once removed from being eligible himself. We loved Kraków and would love to spend more time exploring Poland! Kevin loves your can-do attitude as well! Thank you so much for your kind words! -Judy
I just discovered your channel & I love it! ❤We’ve been married for 28 years & we have traveled to many countries but I’m encouraging my hubby to retire early so we can travel the world. He’s 58 years young. Any suggestions on retiring earlier than the conventional 65?
Hi Jessica, We are so glad you found us and are very glad to have you following along as we share our travels and retirement experiences. Congratulations on 28 years of marriage! I was 58 and Kevin was 60 when we started traveling, so we tried to convey what we did to retire early. We probably should have continued working a bit longer to be in better financial shape, but we felt that the financial aspect was only one part of the puzzle to work out (health is the other issue to weigh, even if you're currently very healthy). There are plenty of ways to travel less expensively especially in the type of accommodations you stay in and the countries you visit, there's resources like Trusted House Sitters, House Carers, etc. to offset some of the accommodations costs, being willing to cook versus eating out for every meal. I guess what would help me better to understand is knowing what the obstacles are. If they're all financial, we chose to start a UA-cam channel to bridge our gap financially, and there are plenty of online activities to bring in extra income. We talked through how willing we each would be to re-enter the workforce if necessary, what alternative skills could we build and use that would prevent us from working in corporate roles again. We don't have a home base in the US so that all the money we have can go towards our travel experiences. Let us know if you have specific questions and we can try to provide deeper answers. I'll add a few other resources that might be able to help as well. -Judy RESOURCES: 🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html 🎥 Life is Short...An Emotional Pause: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html 🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html 🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html 🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html 🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads): 📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
Hi Rebecca, We hope you can find some unconventional ways to make this work for yourself. If it helps, we didn't have our future fully mapped out, but we had a dream and were willing to figure some things out on the fly, which is really outside a lot of people's comfort zone. But it's been a ride beyond our wildest dreams so far, and we want it to be the same for you as well. We wish you all the best! And when you finally get on the road, we'd love to hear about it. You've got a great UA-cam channel; we just subscribed We've been to Sydney before we were full-time travelers and have been working hard to figure out how to get back there again-probably to Melbourne this time. We're hoping we can make it happen in 2025, along with New Zealand. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie thank you for your reply and for subscribing. I appreciate that. I too have the dream and I know I don’t want the ‘typical plan’ that society dictates is the way to do life. I am 50. I too keep thinking I have a window of opportunity to go see the world before I get Grandkids or my parents (now mid to late 70’s) need me here full time to care for them. I don’t want to wait until retirement age and hope I’m healthy enough to do travel then. I just need a way to earn money from anywhere, especially until my UA-cam and all the revenue streams from that starts coming in but even then I need other income. At the moment I’m living in my parents caravan as owners of the house we were in decided to sell. So we sold all our belonging and I’m now in limbo. Kids have all left home..so now is the perfect time to go do slow travel starting in Asia but money is the big issue. Or lack there of. Any tips? I hope you make it back to Australia. Be sure to visit Brisbane. If I’m here when you get here I’m happy to show you around 😊
Hi Rebecca, Housesitters.com allows you to stay in someone's home for free while you take care of their pets or house while they are traveling. We know many people who love and use it. The membership cost is nominal. You can build up credibility by doing house sits in your own country or a nearby city while incurring only nominal travel expenses. We talk about a few other programs in this episode that are worth looking into. Especially in Southeast Asia you can stay in affordable hostels and food is fairly inexpensive. With your background, could you consider hosting a group of travelers somewhere and coordinating travel for them and you travel free with them? There are tons of people who could use help with their social media if that's something you're good at. Places like Fiverr and Upwork allow you to work from anywhere, and you aren't limited to $5 jobs, despite the name! People make real money on those platforms. It helps if you have some savings that you can tap into while you're building your businesses, of course. Even giving yourself a year of saving every dime you earn can go a long way. We use points from credit cards to offset a few of our big flight costs, but those only go so far for us. If you are solid and strict with paying off your cards each month, you can earn enough bonuses for a few free flights. Southeast Asia allows you to travel by bus through several countries if you can be comfortable with that slower means of transportation. We wish you all the best with thinking unconventionally and making it happen! And we will reach out for travel suggestions when we make our way to Brisbane! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie funny you say all that. I registered with trusted housesitters just last week and have a local sit over Christmas, so that’s a start. I do know my way around social media but not sure I’m good enough to get paid to do it, I’m sure there are people way better at it than me. I have accumulated enough frequent flyer points to get me to UK…so saving those in the hope I can use those at some point. I have started advertising group travel on my UA-cam videos (trovatrip) for 2025 so hopefully I get some interest. Thanks so much for ideas and help. I can’t wait to start living the life I want! Yes be sure to reach out to me when you plan to visit :)
Hi Rebecca, Good luck with Trusted Housesitters! You may think you're not good enough to get paid to do social media, but you might surprise yourself. Also, we've heard of people who have been willing to work for free for a short period of time to prove themselves or to build their social media resume (e.g., "I will do X amount of work and you give me a written recommendation I can use for upcoming paid work with other clients.") And as a woman, I will say that we often think we need to have so much more experience than a man thinks they need in order to do a job, so don't sell yourself short. Good luck! -Judy
Hi @higherpowertravel, It takes a while to get comfortable, and there can sometimes be several takes and Kevin is a great editor. We have done over 130 episodes, so it does get easier over time. I just watched your WE LEFT THE USA & Why you SHOULDN'T! video and we can somewhat relate. We went through this entire process ourselves, but opted to travel full time instead of becoming expats. We wish you all the best on growing your channel. You are great on camera and it looks like you have good editing skills. Give your channel some time. Best of luck! -Judy 🎥 You don’t have to be an EXPAT to leave the US!: ua-cam.com/video/ZeKxy_zxbZE/v-deo.html
@@FindingGinaMarie Thank you for watching and I'm a new fan of yours as well! I actually pay a friends son to edit- I have no patience for that! I'd love to travel full time but my wife isn't quite ready for that, at least at this point. So for now 8 months in Portugal per year is where we are - thus the many videos about our experience here. Thanks so much for your encouragement and inspiration and we have very similar mindsets. All the best!
Your friend's son is doing a great job! And eight months is a pretty significant amount of time to live abroad, especially if you have an affordable place to stay in the US for those months that isn't a drain on your finances for the rest of the year. Take good care! -Judy
Love you guys so much and wish you well in your adventures. You are a great example from me, a way younger viewer 😅. Thanks for sharing your experience. 🙏🏼
Hi Joe, Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to write to us. Our daughter is 31 and she is so much less interested in accumulating stuff and working a 9-5 job than we were at her age. We thought we needed to be tied down and own a home, but we realized later than we would have liked that our lives could have been so much richer with less stuff and different priorities. We didn't travel internationally until our kids were in college, which was such a bummer looking back on it all. Best of luck to you always! -Judy
Thanks for sharing your experience. Very inspiring. If I had a travel partner I’d be gone tomorrow. Being single and 69, it’s a bit scary. I haven’t traveled that much especially by myself. The world gets so complicated. Retirement in the US I don’t think is an option.
You are not alone with those concerns! But it doesn't have to derail you or prevent you from living your best life. We follow someone online who suffers from extreme anxiety and her coping strategy is to just "do it scared." We love that philosophy. There are kind people everywhere that will help you if you struggle at times. We've made some silly and embarrassing mistakes over the years (linked below), but it is the perspective that you adopt that makes all the difference. It's certainly not a lifestyle for everyone, but if it's really something on your heart to do, then by all means give it a chance. In our latest video (linked below) we share some ideas that may give you some comfort. -Judy 🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html 🎥 Our 5 Biggest Travel Mistakes… and how to avoid them: ua-cam.com/video/GnIQKrEupoU/v-deo.html
You don't need to travel full time like we are in order to retire early. This works for us because we can't afford to live in our home in San Francisco, have no where else in the US that's more affordable and walkable that we'd want to live, and bonus: we love traveling. But we didn't want to keep working and grinding for corporations that don't appreciate us and us end up have only crumbs left over when we could finally afford to retire. Our lifestyle is significantly cheaper than the way we had been living in the US. Thanks so much for watching and for sharing your feelings. -Judy 🎥 Why We'll Never Live in the US Again: ua-cam.com/video/xeTdMPRgkWM/v-deo.html 🎥 Downsizing for Retirement or Full-Time Travel Series: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF2xRusfMEQvN-5LZZqdnQIf.html ✅ Downsizing Prep Worksheet: findingginamarie.com/request-downsizing-prep-worksheet
Agree on all counts. Have a home, a left over from family life which I will sell and bank. Modest savings as a part timer for last 20 years, but at 70 and a long time widower, I now have a good Social Security which easily covers all living costs. My guess is that older couples on double SS, or SS on the horizon, can easily live without extra income, but given political and budget issues in US still good to have a financial plan B, which for me includes moving out of the US.
Hi Peter, We agree that it's always nice to have some sort of backup plan regarding your finances. My mother and father were comfortable with double SS, but he couldn't afford to live on his own after she passed away at the young age of 56. We were in a position to help supplement his income, but not all families are able to do that. We know that life would be very different but doable and still comfortable were we to live in another part of the world. Europe is easy but a bit more expensive, but Southeast Asia is extremely cheap, but culturally more different. But by traveling and being more understanding and tolerant of cultures outside of the US, you can live among kind and welcoming people and still afford to live. Thanks for watching.-Judy
If you're referring to the surgery Kevin had done in Serbia, we paid cash and figured we'd get reimbursed afterwards, but we didn't hit the plan deductible (the cost was $2K and our deductible was $3K). It is unfortunate that private health insurance gets priority (and this turned out to be a private hospital). BUT the cost of healthcare in other parts of the world is significantly cheaper than it is in the US for a variety of reasons. It's one of the reasons we don't expect to live in the US again unless circumstances require it (my birth mother needing me as a caregiver or potentially grand babies that we don't want to be far away from). We do wish that people treated healthcare as a right versus a privilege and didn't feel the need to have it be a profit center in the way it is in the US. -Judy
Thanks so much for watching, Scott! "Plan" means multiple things! By mid January 2024 we had pretty much decided everywhere we'd be for the year (country, city, neighborhood) and had accommodations booked for nearly all of the cities we'd be in. We had a few one-offs where we knew what country, but hadn't finalized accommodations or exact timing (Morocco, since we'll be there around 40 days and weren't locked into our cities yet and Brazil since we were going back and forth about which city to visit. BUT we knew we wanted to be in South America for the winter and early 2025). Our London to US flight last year was booked 2.5 months in advance, US to Japan flight in 2023 was three months in advance, our South Korea to Italy flight in 2024 was 3 months in advance, our recent Madrid to the US flight was 7 months in advance, the hop from the US to France was also 7 months in advance. We're yet to book our flight to Buenos Aires yet, so we need to get on the stick. It's closing in on 2.5 months right now! When we have life events like my mother's 80th birthday this past July, we book pretty early. But some of those other flights weren't scheduled early because we knew that our plans would be in a state of flux and we don't like having a bunch of flight credits hanging around, since we don't have airline loyalty. We have a wish list of places, factor in things like birthdays (where do we want to spend our birthdays), take into account weather and pricing for the areas we want to be and see how it all comes together. My London birthday trip was a last-minute scheduling change, our trip to Japan was supposed to be in May 2024, but we decided to start our Asia adventures there instead. Ditto for Buenos Aires. Originally we were supposed to be in Sardinia in November, but a few months back we got literal and physical cold feet and decided we wanted to be warm, so we shifted our plans to start in South America a month earlier than we thought we would. We've known since January 2024 that we'd be in Brazil for December. We're going to be spending a lot of time while we're in Albania beginning next week fleshing out our South America travel (through the end of February and possibly March). We have already been playing around with our wish list for 2025 for several months already. Malta is for sure on the list for spring, Sardinia will be in May, we would *really* like to get to South Africa possibly in the summer, and Kevin has been hoping to get to New Zealand and Melbourne, Australia in the winter. Our big issue is when we're going to be back in the US. We're leaning towards November 2025, but that will be more than a year since our last visit. Those US trips put a monkey wrench in things at times because it makes sense for them to be part of our big pivots, but it may be hard for us to do all four big locations in one year-South America to Europe, Europe to South Africa, a visit to the US, and travel to Oceana. We'll be crunching numbers to see what's possible. I hope that wasn't too complicated of an answer for you to what was probably a much simpler question! -Judy P.S. In some situations we need to pay for our accommodations in full when we book them and since our location is very important to us, we tend to book those first (we know in advance what flights will look like). Whenever possible we take advantage of Airbnb allowing us to split the payment (at no cost or interest) or book reservations that don't require a deposit. But it can be a burden at times to outlay cash for a year in advance for everything, so we tend to wait a little bit longer for flights for that reason as well, but that is a secondary reason to not wanting lingering flight credits if we change our minds.
Ten years ago, at 60 years old, I retired from my job as a Physical Therapist in Florida after working for 20 years. Then I started traveling seven times a year out of the United states, going to Europe, Middle East and Asia. That was the best decision I made in my life.
How wonderful for you, Charley! You figured it out! We have been SO happy to be on the road full time, but for someone who may want to keep a home base, what you did is terrific. There is so much of the world we still want to explore! Thank you so much for watching! -Judy
Here's a link to our full series of destination videos in case you want to watch any of our travel videos:
🎥 Destination videos-Where we've been and what to see there: :ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF2OYZTcetBlx-SMkML1H5nR.html
We did exactly what you guys did… we quit our jobs at 51 and 53, sold it all and are nomads. Best life decision ever. We also make content as part of our journey. Thanks for the upload.
Thanks for watching, Jay and Sarah. We wish you many happy adventures and the best of luck with your channel. We wish we had started traveling full time at your age, but we are glad we didn't wait any longer! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie absolutely
I traveled with my husband for 7 years around the world, and then we took a permanent residence in France. It's been 18 wonderful years in France. It is coming to an end because my husband, age 99, died 7 months ago. I want to travel the world again, but I am concerned about traveling as a widow. .I am 78. Travel insurance stops at age 79. I am healthy. I take No medications. I wonder if I should just risk paying for my health care no matter what happens without insurance.
We are so sorry about the loss of your husband. It has to be very hard, but your desire to travel again is possible. I have never used this company, but I am seeing that it's possible to get a policy for over 80. I'm also seeing places that offer an over-80 rider. If you're able to afford health insurance, I think you should get it. Our policy has a high deductible, but it does cover us for catastrophic events. If you have an emergency, most countries will fix you up, but if you need to be evacuated or transported, those costs can get pretty high. It's wonderful that you are in good health and don't need medications. We hope that lasts for the foreseeable future for you and that you resume your world travels and enjoy this next phase of your life. I'm sure there will be so many people you encounter who will be inspired by what you are doing! -Judy
🩺 Travel insurance if you're over 80: www.gocompare.com/travel-insurance/over-80s/
I am single, 62, and considering living in France for 6 months. Which part would you suggest please.?
@agnesm9528 I'll let @ParisianThinker weigh in, but you will have to get a long-stay visa to live in France for more than three consecutive months if you are not a citizen of the EU, and that requires you to show proof of income, among other things. Of course, you can follow the Schengen rules and stay 90/180 days so technically you can be there for 90 days, leave for 90 and go back in. We haven't traveled there extensively enough to give you informed opinions of best places to live (although we currently are in Colmar, France right now!). -Judy
🎥 The Schengen 90/180 Rule Explained in 60 Seconds: ua-cam.com/users/shorts3VhQ-jbMRAs
@@agnesm9528
You are an inspiration for me, as long as you can travel, dont ever stop. Im sorry for you lost❤ life is happening right now as we speak, so go for it, and just be careful, and have fun❤🎉
It’s better to travel as you go… don’t wait until retirement.
Hi Juan, We completely agree. However, our corporate jobs didn't allow a lot of time for us to be away. In 2022 when I wanted to take a two-week vacation, I was by my boss that I should be very grateful to be allowed to take off that much time at once. I was working in a place with unlimited PTO. The second vacation I tried to take (with a new boss, but the same company), I was told that if I wanted to be approved for the time, I needed to bring my laptop and get work done in the mornings and evenings.
Corporate America doesn't do a great job of giving people time off to "travel as they go." -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie you are correct. ✅ I am a school teacher by profession and I am blessed to have summer, winter, spring and many holidays off work. Life is too short and living in peace is imperative. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with others.
Hi Juan, Teaching is a noble and challenging profession. You deserve every bit of time off that you can get! We so agree about life being too short! -Judy
I completely agreed with what you said
I started traveling 2 big trips a year for the pass 10 years
Was so wonderful
@@JuanGarcia-ep2yh😮😅😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😅⁶
Your story is truly inspirational. I have a whole career and terrified to give it up out of fear of not having enough money to take care of myself when I'm older but working is exhausting now . I don't have the energy to enjoy life. I love to travel and dream of staying in various countries for months at a time. I'm 58 and trying to figure it all out. Your video has some thought provoking ideas, thank you.
Hi Maia, It's a normal fear to be worried about not having enough money. We don't have a huge stockpile of cash, either. But I guess we were more terrified of a life unlived. Thank you for sharing so vulnerably with us about your struggles. Kevin and I have been together for over 45 years. If something were to happen to one or the other of us, who knows if we will want to travel without the other. We knew that physically we could travel now, our family situation isn't perfect, but we knew it could work. I guess we worried more about having regrets. It's not an easy thing to sort out, so we wish you courage as you consider your options and think things through.
Also, this Saturday, we share 5 "secrets" that are rarely talked about regarding full-time travel, which may be helpful to you. -Judy
🎥Why We're Never Returning to Live in the US in Retirement: ua-cam.com/video/xeTdMPRgkWM/v-deo.htmlsi=75dBTUPsSgBneEkl
Stu and I also took the less conventional path to retirement in 2012, when he was 60 & me 50.
We gave everything away, rented out our house and hit the road and travelled the world as full time house sitters. Like you, we only travel with a carry-on and backpack each.
The road less travelled has given us the opportunity to be local-tourists all over the world and we’ve got to try-on life experiences we’d otherwise never have - from cattle farming to running horse agistments, luxury penthouse living to council housing flats, we’ve done it all!
We decided to retire from our retirement in 2022 and did our last and 150th house sit in early 2023.
We’re now looking forward to the next chapter 🎉
Enjoy your travels, stay safe and above all, keep a good sense of humour when things go wrong, for they will!
Wow That's so impressive! What interesting experiences you both have had-you truly embraced an unconventional but fascinating path! 150 house sits is incredible! We wish you all the best as this next phase unfolds for you. We'd love to know what you do next, but I'm sure you'll find it satisfying with the attitude you both seem to have. We agree about how necessary it is to have a sense of humor. Have you seen our episode on our Top 5 Mistakes While Traveling? It should give you a few chuckles! -Judy
🎥 Our Top 5 Travel Mistakes: ua-cam.com/video/GnIQKrEupoU/v-deo.html
Oh, thank you for your kind words 🙏🏼
Yes, we did see that episode and did have a giggle! We’ve loved all our ‘mistakes’; sometimes you make the right decision, other times you make the decision right!
I learned a new word today, agistment. 😁 what an interesting retirement and I love the “retiring from retirement”
@@catherine8332 😊
Hi @catherine8332, The word we used was "ageism," which is basically being passed over for a job because you will cost too much and a company thinks someone younger can do the same job more cheaply, or for some reason there's a feeling that someone younger will be more relatable. -Judy
I’ve been watching you guys for months and this is the most animated and cogent and passionate I’ve seen you guys! Clearly you believe in what you’re doing and your desire to spread the word is palpable.
Also great ideas unique from all the other slow travel vids.
I think being comfortable with not every single thing being known is so important; that’s what I’m feeling from you guys.
This vid was so enjoyable. Thanks!
Thank you so much for your kind words, Catherine! And you sum it up well; we are comfortable not having all the answers but instead trusting ourselves and the universe that if we are doing the right things and keep open minds, things will work out. That's not the same as being a Pollyanna and not having an awareness of the challenges you might face or being completely irresponsible. But thinking unconventionally has worked well for us our entire lives! -Judy
Wonderful video with great advice, and I could not agree more! My husband and I both had decent jobs and although we did not live super frugally, we made saving via our 401-Ks and paying off debt a priority. My husband hadan unexpected health problem at age 48 that was a giant wake-up call for us. We decided that we would retire no later than 55 with whatever we had saved and would build our lifestyle around that. We actually retired even a little earlier than planned. That was 11 years ago and we have never looked back. Sure, we could have kept working and had a lot more money, but money doesnt but time! Do whatever it is you want to do now, because world events and life events could change everything overnight.
Hi Linda, Yes, we too had some unexpected expenses in caring for my father for many years who couldn't live on his own without our financial support. We bought a larger home so he could eventually live with us when his health declined, but we couldn't have imagined doing anything differently. For many years I was a stay-at-home mother and we made a lot of financial sacrifices to do it. But when I eventually went back to work, I didn't see myself ever wanting to stop working...until my work changed and I got seriously burnt out during the long hours I worked during the pandemic. Kevin's father died at 61 and my adopted mother died at 56, so we knew that no tomorrows were ever guaranteed to us. Choosing our health over continuing to acquire more wealth was one of the wisest things we have ever done. I'm sorry that your husband suferent some health issues at such a young age. That must have been terrifying, but it sounds like it helped you to reprioritize your lives. Finding my birth family helped me to reprioritize as well, and I am so grateful! Thank you so much for watching and sharing about your life! -Judy
A huge factor that helped me decide to pursue happiness instead of more money after losing my job 3 months ago (30 years at the same company) was an online retirement planner. It helped me realize even with pessimistic assumptions I shouldn't have to ever work again and can retire at 55. Just got back from a month-long motorbike trip in Vietnam and planning for Thailand in a few months!
Way to turn lemons into lemonade! Be safe on that motorbike, but have an amazing time in Thailand. We have some videos from there and Chiang Mai if you plan to spend any time there. It's unnerving to lose your job after 30 years, which does exemplify how little most companies care about your many years of loyal service, but I'm so glad that you ended up winning despite it all. -Judy
🎥 Thailand video series: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF3cqPH8_O_WDVYgoT13KJRq.html
That’s so awesome! Way to own your own dreams 🙌🏼🤗❤️
@@FindingGinaMarie I'm not sure what our route will be so I'm definitely saving your Thailand link. Ha yes, we are all just numbers for our employers.
You're right about safety. I'm getting full bike gear this time! Thanks for the detailed reply.
@@all4fitz So glad to hear this (regarding your safety gear)! -Judy
Hey there! My husband and I feel like we can really relate to you. Nick just celebrated his 51st birthday, and I'm 47, but I've always had this mindset ever since we moved to the US. I've been feeling like a prisoner of my own life circumstances for so long, and I feel stuck. I believe there's so much more to life than what we've created up to this point. When I was listening to you and you started talking about the medical aspect, I thought to myself, "Just go to Serbia," and then, a few minutes later, when you mentioned SRBIJA, I almost fell out of my chair laughing 😊. That is my home country.
Thank you so much for watching, @zkmarija. Serbia is a beautiful country and we are glad to have visited and appreciate all the great medical care Kevin received there. A link to our Serbia episodes are below, but of course, we couldn't explore as much as we'd like, so we definitely would like to return. As far as being a prisoner of your own life, we absolutely understand. But I think that having an awareness is the first step towards change, especially since we only get to live one life on this huge planet of ours. We wish you all the best! -Judy
This hit home. I too am feeling very stuck at 50 and my husband and I already plan to retire early but with two teenagers we're like still going because we want them to launch successfully...still around 4 years to go for that and pay off the mortgage but it's so draining...been working my entire life since I was 15! Been laid off 2 times and i'm working now looking for the end of the 9-5! :(
@@Darkslide99 Thanks for watching! Could you consider an online side hustle that might lift your spirits and which might possibly bring you enough income in a year or two to quit your full-time job? And could you possibly downsize versus keeping the house you're currently in? Just some ideas to be thinking unconventionally when you're feeling boxed in by your circumstances. -Judy
I retired early and wanted to travel. The longest travel is one month and I was ready to get home. I prefer doing multiple trips lasting three weeks at the most. That's my preference.
We understand! Even as full-time travelers, we take some down days where we aren't over scheduled or are tired from sightseeing. You have to work with what works for you. It sounds like you have figured it out, which is great! Thanks for watching and sharing your views. -Judy
This is what we do. We are gone 50% of the year but like a home base. We downsized our home base and live simply but like the home base. There are so many options in retirement. Glad you like your choice. ❤
Hi, my husband and I retired 1.5yr ago at 58/59. We always thought 62/61 was the age we were striving to reach…in looking back we could have retired at 56/55 but we feared the unknown…once we put our plans in motion we didn’t look back and retirement life is amazing…we have been traveling none stop and enjoying life. Your video is wonderful and educational…I tell people all the time to educate themselves on retirement because it it still reachable for those individuals who are focused and know what it means to life below your means and a penny saved today completes a dollar tomorrow.
Thank you so much for watching, Roxie, and for sharing your wisdom and a bit of your story with us! -Judy
You two are so lucky you’re both on the same page! I don’t think that happens too often. I’m single so can do whatever I want, but wouldn’t mind finding someone on my same page with how I want to spend the rest of my life!
Hi Anne, We are extremely grateful that we are so well aligned and we don't take that for granted at all. I love that you aren't allowing your single status to hold you back, because it absolutely shouldn't. I think someone interested in having new experiences and following their dreams is likely to attract others looking for the same things! Best of luck to you! -Judy
It happens more often then you think. First you ha e to find your direct opposite then your strengths double,and you'll never be lonely.
Been married to my mate for 45 years and we still love just us,the kids can find us.
Congratulations on so many happy years together, James! We met in 1979 and were married in 1983 (so almost 41 years of marriage). My mother always used to say that we practically raised each other! We are so happy to hear that you found your soulmate. Having each other is a precious gift! -Judy
Greetings from Puerto Rico!
Love your way of traveling!
Started following you to see if this would be doable for us!
Hi Patrick! We are very glad to have you here. We have a friend from PR, and although we haven't visited yet, it is on our bucket list. We hope that it is doable for you because we think it's an absolutely incredible way to live. Perhaps it's not for everyone, but for us the upsides far outweigh the downsides. We have a full series linked below about and for full-time travelers. We'll pull out one video that we think is especially useful, but we think it all could be helpful for you. If you have specific concerns, we'd love to help you walk through them and answer whatever we can. -Judy
🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
RESOURCES:
🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html
🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html
🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads):
📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
DOWNSIZING
🎥 Downsizing for Retirement or Full-Time Travel Series: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF2xRusfMEQvN-5LZZqdnQIf.html
✅ Downsizing Prep Worksheet: findingginamarie.com/request-downsizing-prep-worksheet
It makes all the difference that you have each other many of us have lost our travel partners due to death or divorce. I am traveling alone because I can’t find anyone who can afford to travel or their desire to travel or good health to travel. So do this early in life if you can. I go for one to two weeks at a time. I’m not afraid to travel alone as long as I have it carefully planned. People know where I am. I love my Friends and I want to be near them most of the time.
Hi @janiekcarney5482, Thank you for your encouragement and the reminder that tomorrow isn't guaranteed to any of us. We think people need to be very careful with the "later," "someday," and "when x,y,z, then..." mindset, so hearing that you aren't afraid to travel solo is music to our ears. -Judy
I’m so pleased to have found your channel! The trending travel channels are seemingly saturated with invincible Gen Z’ers with different interests than mine. Your practical, slow approach to travel and emphasis on healthcare fills a void in this arena of travel documentaries. I look forward to watching the rest of your episodes.
Please consider creating videos (if you haven’t already) about the best way to exchange currency, strategies for the basics (what are the first things you do after you arrive, from discovering transportation to grocery shopping to laundry to dental and healthcare). I imagine they’re different almost every time. How did you know Japan has inexpensive glasses or the quality of care in Serbia? Thank you and I look forward to more videos!
Hi Sharon, We are delighted that you found us! Thank you for the video suggestions. We have talked about exchanging currency in some of our destination videos, but we've not focused on it as a topic for a video (yet!). Some of the basics are covered somewhat in this old, old video that I'll link below about a day in the life of a full-time traveler. I'll also include additional resources I think you'll find helpful.
As far as eyeglasses in Japan, we knew we needed to get new glasses because the film covering our lenses in ours had worn down in a few spots. We took a chance that Japan might have good medical tourism for vision, and it does. There is a lot of myopia in Japan! The thing to know is that when you get an eye exam there, it's primarily focused on getting the prescription right, not so much about eye health. So we were disappointed that despite a lot of high-tech equipment, they didn't really check for glaucoma or dilate our eyes like we've had done in the US. For a more robust checkup, you need to schedule an appointment with an ophthalmologist. We had health checkups in Thailand, but the hospital we used did a very perfunctory eye exam that wasn't what we hoped it would be, so that would be something you'd want to arrange separately.
The surgery Kevin had in Serbia was very needed, so we didn't have a ton of options. We were in Vienna when the issue arose, but we didn't have time to stay for a surgery since we didn't have enough Schengen days available. However, we did a search for medical tourism, saw that there were good hospitals and clinics, notified our healthcare provider for permission, and then used one of their recommendations. The treatment itself, the speed of getting an initial appointment and then getting scheduled for surgery was unbelievably prompt, and the care overall was outstanding. Thanks for these great ideas and questions. -Judy
🎥 Full Time Nomad Life-What do we do all day: ua-cam.com/video/q3kSQMptyEU/v-deo.html
🎥 Medical checkups in Thailand: ua-cam.com/video/pypr82ddWG8/v-deo.html
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html
🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html
🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads):
📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
Thank you. Love watching people do what they love. We were frugal as can be and now have more money than we will ever need unless something catastrophic happens. We just can't bite the bullet and sell our home and don't want to rent it. Our home is in a beautiful area about 25 miles south of where you were in S.F. so we also have perfect weather. Our costs are so low living in a very expensive area. We do travel a lot but so love walking back into our home. Enjoy you both!
Hi Anne, we hope you have taken steps to retire even if you aren't full-time travelers. We know that it can be hard for people who have lived their lives frugally to spend the fruits of their labors when they have enough funds. We are ecstatic despite some of our circumstances to have stepped out and do what we love. Thank you so much for watching and for taking the time to share your life with us. Of course, you do not need to sell your home or rent it if it continues to bring you joy! We know that full-time travel isn't for everyone, and many people who do it still keep a home base. -Judy
Where is low cost living in CA , I’m trying to relocate.
@@RosaArdon-mz7py Hopefully @annethall will weigh in. We are living outside of the US in part because we aren't aware of those low cost areas! -Judy
🎥 Why We'll Never Live in the US Again: ua-cam.com/video/xeTdMPRgkWM/v-deo.html
Thank you so much for this video! I’m absolutely miserable in corporate America, and have been seriously contemplating quitting to become a full time traveler. I am a single mom, so I have to be careful in my decisions, but I have made steps towards this goal and am beyond excited to see what the future holds.
Hi Heather, We can relate. We loved our jobs until we didn't and then it was very hard to even consider starting over anywhere else. We're excited that you have identified a goal and are taking steps to move towards it! We share a lot on our website and on our channel geared to full-time travelers. You might want to look at our playlists and our articles for "Nomads." Reach out any time if you have questions! Thank you so much for watching and sharing with us. -Judy
Millions feel just like you but feel trapped.
Hi @carlo6912, You're absolutely right, but that's where thinking differently is so important. Identifying that your life is not making you happy (or is unfulfilling) is the first step. Once you recognize it, you can work towards coming up with creative solutions so you take back control of your life. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie appreciate the kind words, thank you.
I am only young, but have already started to feel stuck at the cooperate job, not able to take actual long time off to travel SLOW (which I think is important and enjoyable). Watching your videos solidify my goal of early retirement and at the same time very comforting/ pleasing to see how you been doing it for 2 years and still enjoying. Thanks for sharing
Hi Gi, Thank you so much for watching. You might enjoy our video from last week that talks about our five secrets about full-time travel that might give you some additional encouragement and peace of mind. And truly, nearly two years in and we are enjoying our lives SO MUCH with zero regrets! You definitely can take actions now to set you up for success, especially by reducing your consumerism, which can be hard, but gives you money for traveling! There are so many ways a young person can build financial security through side hustles and remote work. Think unconventionally and best of luck! -Judy
🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
I loved the ideas you folks are spreading. You actually showed me how to think differently about retiring. My take away is ‘minimalism’ shunning the love of ‘material’ world. Happiness doesn’t come from wanting to be happy; it is an outcome of going out there , indulging in activities and working on things you like.
Thank you so much for watching and for letting us know this, @Ultraraju! We know that there's a "formula" that many people use in the US: go to college, get a good paying job, put 10% of your income or more into savings and investments, work for 30 years or more, retire at 70. That doesn't work for everyone, and that's perfectly fine. There is NO ONE WAY to live or to retire! I really believe that more people need to think independently and do what works to make them happy. Of course, you need to be responsible, but at the same time, there is such a thing as playing it too safe. Life can be over in a blink and we don't ever want to wake up one day and discover that our best days were behind us, but we spent them working and grinding for in corporate America. And yes, we spent too much of our money on material things that do not matter. It's part of what makes America work the way it does; it's a hamster wheel that encourages you to work long hours to pay for stuff that you don't need but are required to work more hours so you can buy them! We have never been more grateful to be freed up from that way of living. But it is very hard to escape when your neighbors are driving flashy cars and have new tech or the latest fashions, etc. We have discovered that we need so much less than we thought we did in order to be happy. We still spend a good amount of money, but it's on experiences that bring us lasting joy and rich memories. -Judy
This was a great and informative video so thank you for that. I would love to hear some content on the trials and tribulations of slow travel. What are some of the pitfalls to avoid etc. We just recently found your channel and have added it to the many others that we follow. We currently spend about two months a year abroad but aspire to travel much more for much longer in the not too distant future so your content is proving valuable, thanks again!
We are so glad you found us! We would love to pull together this video for you! Thank you so much for the suggestion. We have a free community forum called La Famiglia you might want to consider joining if you're not already there. We are very active members there! -Judy
✅ La Famiglia FREE Community Forum: findingginamarie.com/join
Below are links to some of our content that might be helpful for you as well.
🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html
🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html
🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads):
📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
No she is right some friends are only for the time you share ,once that's over the friendship is over not all friendships are meant to be long lasting and inn the process you enjoyed the time you shared
Hi @g.williams7740, Thanks for watching and for sharing your own experiences. We have made lovely, strong friendships over the course of our working careers, but only a fraction of those people are ones we'd continue to see, and some are spread all over the world as we've moved or they have. But we continue to stay in touch with many of them by text or email or social media. But they aren't friendships that we have to maintain in person. However, we're more likely to discover that we'll be somewhere in the world where they happen to be traveling and then meet up. Those are wonderful surprises! -Judy
What an incredible journey, so far! Hats off to following your heart and taking the leap. I'm still loving everything you all are sharing through the channel, and wish you both the best! 🎉
Thank you, David! We appreciate your kind words very much! It's been beyond wonderful for us. Whether it was wise or prudent, the jury is still out, but once we decided to take the leap, we didn't spend much time questioning ourselves or overthinking it. We truly believe that if there's a will, there's a way, and we're so glad that we have remained flexible and open minded about what we're doing and living this lifestyle. -Judy
My original retirement plan was to retire at 62, work part-time, and save money. However, high prices for everything have severely affected my plan. I'm concerned if people who went through the 2008 financial crisis had an easier time than I am having now. The stock market is worrying me as my income has decreased, and I fear I won't have enough savings for retirement since I can't contribute as much as before.
I’m 77 and still working full time. I do enjoy my work, it provides me with purpose and has secured my financial future. Most people are too eager to retire as early as possible. Even if you do retire early, best to get a part time job for the reasons cited above, as well as following many if not all of the suggestions in this video.
Hi @MarcyLoccy: Thanks for watching. We thought we'd continue working longer, but our jobs had changed more than we'd liked and when we stepped back, we realized that we weren't living our best life and didn't want to die or have mobility issues before we got to retirement. Retiring early isn't for everyone, and being content creators is a time-consuming job, but we love it and get so much out of it. It doesn't pay anywhere close to our expenses and is a far cry from our tech jobs, but it is rewarding and fulfilling. -Judy
🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html
🎥 Life is Short...An Emotional Pause: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html
Love this video. We are so conditioned in the United States to think there is only one path to retirement, when in reality there are so many alternative ways to live and enjoy life. We are so glad you shared your experience.
Thank you so much for watching, Steph and Chris! We didn't give ourselves a lot of time to overthink things or change our minds, and we don't regret it one bit! Mostly, we didn't want to be people who talked about it and never took action. So glad you are living your dreams, too! -Judy
This is a very well done! You're doing a great job with the channel, but also with your journey and experiences and lifestyle!! Keep up the great work and hopefully some day our paths will cross!!
Thank you so much, Dan! We appreciate your kind words and encouragement! It means the world to us! Please let us know if you will be nearby us, we would absolutely love to meet up! -Judy
I needed to see this video!!!
Thank you for sharing!!😊😃😁
I’m Retiring in 2 weeks at the YOUNG age of 64+ years!!!
I will have my 40th work Anniversary on my last day!!🎉
Hi Rosie! We are so excited for you! Forty years at one company is a real rarity these days. I hope you have been with a company that has treated you well. But now is YOUR TIME! Do you have plans for your retirement, or are you just excited to see what each new day brings?! We have a full series about downsizing for retirement if that's at all something you're interested in. -Judy
🎥 Downsizing for Retirement or Full-Time Travel Series: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF2xRusfMEQvN-5LZZqdnQIf.html
This is one of the best expat/slow travel videos I have seen. Thank you.
Wow, Heather! Thank you for the huge compliment! Not sure if you have thought about full-time or extended travel, but if so, our episode this week is all about some rarely talked about ideas that you might not have heard before. -Judy
🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
A couple of practical questions: (1) How do you do your taxes when you’re traveling around the world. What is your permanent address if you have sold your house?, and (2) Do you keep a US bank account and withdraw cash at ATMs? What if you have a banking issue and you have to come back to the US in person to solve it?
Thank you. We’re seriously considering to follow your lead!
Hi @VictorUribe-bj5wg We don't have a home anywhere, but we use our last known address in California. Our mail goes to a virtual mailbox in North Carolina, but that's not considered our residency address. We do our taxes online using an app and they are fairly straightforward. We do keep a few different US bank accounts and we withdraw cash at ATMs with no issues. We recently got a Charles Schwab card that will refund our non-network ATM fees, which has been a nice benefit. We don't have all our money in one place, so if there's an issue, we should be fine to use a different account. We transfer what we need in our Schwab account versus keeping all our money there. Below are links to a bunch of our ongoing resources for full-time travelers. -Judy
🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html
🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html
🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads):
📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
VERY helpful video! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Lynette, thank you so much for watching! -Judy
LOVE IT! Thank you! Expect to join you two traveling the world soon! One thing holding both of us back is ... we like our jobs/careers. One of us is an expert in their very specialized niche... Took us a long time to get to where we are and will kinda suck when we leave it all behind... we have a good life now.... BUT we know we are in the last quarter of life and if we want to see the world need to get busy before we CAN'T!!!! This is holding us back.. a little... we will retire in 2 - 3 years.
Thank you so much, John! We will eagerly look forward to seeing you on the road in a few years. I do know about loving your job. There have been places in my career that I never wanted to leave. But my priorities were out of kilter. I had devoted so much time to my career and didn't focus enough on the other aspects of my life. You may have had a different experience. But one day I literally woke up and questioned if I would be happy if I had a health problem and couldn't do all the things I wanted to. Enjoy this in between time and perhaps consider some downsizing so when you're ready, you're ready! -Judy
🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html
🎥 Life is Short...An Emotional Pause: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html
🎥 Our Hard-Earned Advice for Downsizing | Downsizing for Full-Time Travel and Retirement: ua-cam.com/video/fSXUQS00agA/v-deo.html
✅ Downsizing Prep Worksheet: findingginamarie.com/request-downsizing-prep-worksheet
@@FindingGinaMarie Thank you Judy! Yeah.... Health concerns are driving us to realize our best day is today ... we want to be healthy enough to hike and go on safari and see the world... We will get there... thank you the helpful resources!!! Looking forward to your next vlog... HEY! Did you hire a financial planner?
@@johncarter8539 Thank you so much for your encouragement, John! We have an episode coming out today as part of our downsizing process so you can build momentum with quick wins! We did NOT hire a financial planner. One might have laughed in our face and told us that we need to work several more years. We've spent our lives living contrary to some of the common advice and it seems to have worked out fairly well for us. We are thinking about retirement more unconventionally, which is one of the many reasons we have a UA-cam channel and a blog. We're willing to continue to "work," but we are doing it on our terms that allow us to travel and experience life in a way that we couldn't while we had our corporate jobs. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie I love it! Thank you Gina. Curious, how many hours a week do you two spend on your UA-cam work?
Love your website.
@@johncarter8539 We spend a good amount of time on it, especially with the extra bonus episodes we've been doing on Tuesdays. Our non-location videos where we're talking in our Airbnb take about 7 hours to edit and it takes another three hours or so to talk through what an episode should look like once we are set on a topic. Editing our travel videos takes longer because of all the voiceover and images we pile into them. Editing alone for them takes 11-20 hours, but we're getting better at editing, so that's now closer to 11-14 hours apiece. Planning and filming takes probably another three or four hours. Fortunately, we each have our roles, so while Kevin is deep in editing, I'm answering comments, working on our website articles, newsletters, commenting in our La Famiglia forum, and planning our activities and upcoming travel locations. That's why for us spending a month somewhere is almost required so that we still have time to enjoy the places where we are visiting. It's a lot of work, but so much fun and it's all very fulfilling for us creatively. Also, while we are choosing to do all this, we would so much rather be working this way than in our corporate jobs. For us the tradeoff is a no-brainer. -Judy
📝 Why Our Channel is Called "Finding Gina Marie": findingginamarie.com/articles/why-the-name-finding-gina-marie
Thank you both! Big challenge for my wife and I is:
1. Safe locations - I’ve been fascinated in going to Mexico, but my wife is scared of dangerous parts of countries with crime
2. We have kids, so deciding when to start slow travel- is it when the youngest child goes to college?
Hi Jeremiah, We are heading to Mexico City for the first time in March 2025. If you live in the US, the statistics for crime are much worse than many other parts of the world, especially when you consider gun violence. Linked below are some interesting statistics. You could start out primarily visiting the countries she's most comfortable in and then expanding. Kevin was pretty uncomfortable going to Egypt, but once we had that experience under our belts, we felt on top of the world. We're currently here in Argentina and just planned our 2025 schedule through the end of March to be in South America, Central America, and then Mexico City. Afterwards we'll be in Europe for five months and then head to New Zealand and Melbourne, Australia. If you mix it up, it will be much easier.
As far as when the best time is, sheesh, that's really dependent on your family situation. Some people make the choice to travel with their kids. I think that's a hard thing to do, BUT if you can swing it, it's an amazing way to teach your children about the world, how to have empathy, and history and politics can truly come alive because you learn from other perspectives besides your home country. We didn't prioritize it with our kids, but we wish we had.
Our daughter is pretty social, but she had a hard time adjusting to college and being out on her own. She didn't know anyone at that school and it was tough for her. It took her a few years to find her rhythm. We moved from Houston to San Francisco when she was in her third year of college, and she missed having our home base to come back to during breaks (she went to Texas colleges). Your children may have more independence and may not need you, but that was our experience. When we started traveling, she was 29 and it was still a little hard for her. The upside is that she adores travel and she's met up with us in Japan and Italy and just spent a month in Bali (without us!). Our sons are home bodies and more independent, so it's a little easier with them, but we wish they were interested in meeting up with us on our travels. As it is, we only are back in the US once per year. They're all 31, 33, and 35 now, so they don't need the same level of hand holding. You know your own children best.
I hope this helps! -Judy
🔗 2024 Safest Cities Ranked: ceoworld.biz/2024/01/27/revealed-safest-cities-in-the-world-2024/
🔗 Ranking of Safest Cities: www.reddit.com/r/argentina/comments/1goepgx/safest_american_cities_argentina_and_canada_shine/
You are awesome! Living car free is such a great lifehack!
We LOVE not having a car. We are in the US for three weeks and except for our time in San Francisco, we've been stuck driving and we haven't enjoyed it one bit. We don't drive internationally at all, so Kevin is my hero for the 1200 miles he's driven while we've been here (with two more days to go). We wish Americans weren't so in love with their cars because it would be so much easier if the US were set up better for trains. It took us longer to drive from Houston to Austin than it did from going across South Korea from Busan to Seoul. It's crazy! -Judy
I've retired early... Next year I will be ready to become a slowmad. I'm looking forward to it!
How wonderful for you, Renate! That is so cool! It really is a great life! -Judy
Thanks again for a great video. We start our full retirement in 3 years and plan for 1 year of travel.
How wonderful for you, Deb! You might want to really think about what type of travel you have in mind for that year. We originally thought we'd move around quite a bit faster than we ended up doing. For our initial plans during our first month of travel, we thought we'd see probably seven different cities. But we ended up scaling wayyyy back, and it was so much better for us. Below is a link to an article we wrote that talks about slow travel. The downside is that you won't see nearly as much this way, but your experiences may be richer. It will help for you to get a sense of whether you have the energy and money for fast travel or need to slow it down. At one point we opted to fast travel for a bit, and Kevin's reaction below speaks volumes. Your situation may be different if you're not running a UA-cam channel or doing other work, though. -Judy
🐢 Slow Travel and Why We Do It: findingginamarie.com/articles/slow-travel-and-why-we-do-it
🎥 Slow Travel or No Travel: ua-cam.com/video/LrLGJ-X6I4A/v-deo.html
Love your perspective. Cheers to breaking the rules or at least having an out of the box retirement!
Kevin especially has been a rebel like that, Erin, and after 45 years together, some of that has rubbed off on me! it is very empowering to break the rules and create a new way of doing things regardless of what naysayers tell you is possible or not! -Judy
Thanks so much!!!
I want to do that
God bless you for sharing
I’m not scared anymore
We wish you all the best, Marta. If you have any questions, feel free to let us know and we'll do our best to help you out. -Judy
Awesome and inspiring!! Thank you and best wishes!!
Thank you so much for watching, Joan. We appreciate your kind words very much! -Judy
Not everyone is interested in travel and would rather rock on their front porch of a property they own. That I find is a generational thing, especially those who really worked to own something. I try really hard not to be attached to a home because my memories are with me or pictures. My husband is a cautious traveler, but I’d like to travel the world. I’m 59 and he’s 62 and our health is good now and I want to travel why we can.
Yes, Liz, that is very true for some people. And even if they're not rocking, some people just want to be surrounded by their stuff which has very happy memories for them. We get it, but we'd rather have those memories compressed into photographs that we take with us everywhere, and for us it's enough to do that, just as you've said. We have an article on helping couples to travel more comfortably together when their styles aren't fully aligned. We also think traveling while you can is wise. Mobility or memory issues and a myriad of other things can happen and then travel becomes much harder. Thanks for watching. -Judy
📝 Navigating Love and Travel: findingginamarie.com/articles/what-if-your-spouse-doesnt-want-to-travel-full-time
🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html
We are sort of doing the same! We are in the second boat. We started our journey 4.5 years ago and we are targeting retiring in 4 years. We love the message, new subscribers here!
Thank you so much for watching and for subscribing! Good luck with your growing channel and achieving your retirement goals! It certainly helps when people can plan ahead for it like you are doing. We have a full series regarding full-time travel if that's at all something you plan to do in your retirement. I'll link it below (as well as our downsizing series, which might be useful regardless of whether you will be traveling or not!). -Judy
🎥 Downsizing for Retirement or Full-Time Travel Series: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF2xRusfMEQvN-5LZZqdnQIf.html
🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html
🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html
🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads):
📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
@@FindingGinaMarie Thanks for the tips!
You guys are awesome! You are so lucky to have each other with great health and both willing to live this lifestyle! Great tips- to- 😀👍
Thank you so much, Lisa, for your kind words. We don't take our relationship for granted at all. We met when I was 14 and Kevin was 16, and we know how rare it is to remain together for 40 years of marriage. We actually have a few articles on our website for couples who aren't as fully aligned on full-time travel. But it makes it so much easier to be in lockstep! Thank you so much for watching! -Judy
📝 Navigating Full-Time Travel as a Couple: findingginamarie.com/articles/what-if-your-spouse-doesnt-want-to-travel-full-time
📝 How to Reduce Stress for Anxious Travelers: findingginamarie.com/articles/how-to-reduce-stress-for-anxious-travelers
As a former expat, that loves to travel, I have questions. The global travel healthcare is a great tip, because that was one of my first questions. Does Cigna require you to have an end date as a traveler ? A US residence or address? Do you use a strictly online bank? How does that work? What about banking? Do you just charge everything or get cash when you arrive? Mail? What about your phone and internet? Do you use a new sim card in every country? An eSIM? Some visas need to be applied for from the US if you want to visit, do you visit consulates ? There are nitty gritty, everyday things that we take for granted in the US and take time to do when you arrive somewhere new. Doing it every 1~3 months sounds exhausting. Who does your taxes?
Same questions
Hi Kathy, Happy to answer all of these! You might want to watch our video from last Saturday which addresses some things that aren't talked about a whole lot, but we think it's pretty useful (5 Secrets for Full-Time Travelers). We'll put all our links at the end.
CIGNA does not require you to have an end date as a traveler or a US residence or address. We got our policy when we were in Athens, Greece in January 2023 and renewed it again this year. They need whatever address you want to give them, but all of their communication happens via email. The physical address we gave was our Airbnb that we were in at the time.
We use a regular US bank and it works like most banks. We're actually looking into a Charles Schwab account for our ATM withdrawals since they will refund the charges for using a non-bank ATM. We don't pay a ton of fees in the grand scheme of things, but if you don't mind moving money around a bit, Charles Schwab can help. Whenever we can, we prefer to pay with our card so we don't have to carry around a wad of cash, but there are some countries/places in the world where cash is king and they don't have an easy way for you to pay by card. So if we know that's what we'll encounter, we do get cash (Egypt, some of the smaller restaurants in Japan, Cambodia, parts of Sicily all require having cash on hand).
We have an entire article about our virtual mailbox, which will scan envelopes for us and then if we want more information, they'll scan the contents, deposit checks, and forward pieces of mail to us or to others if we need them to.
Our "homesickness" video talks about why we've kept our T-Mobile plan and pay extra for an international roaming plan versus switching to eSIMs. We pay for enough data that allows us to work remotely from everywhere, but you may need less, and T-Mobile has smaller data packages you can buy.
Any visas we've needed to get we've been able to either do in person on arrival (Egypt) or at the airport (Australia-I do NOT recommend this!) or through an eVisa (Vietnam, Cambodia) or through the immigration office when we were extending our stay (Thailand). There aren't a ton of countries we want to visit that require you to physically be in the US in order to get a visa, but if that were the case, we'd see if we could visit an embassy where we currently are or else plan to be back in the US in order to apply. We try to visit the US once per year in order to see family and friends anyway, so we don't see that as a huge problem.
I'm not sure what you mean by "doing all this every 1-3 months sounds exhausting." If you mean moving every month, it's actually quite fun. Every new city brings a new adventure. We have enough time to establish some routines so not everything is new, but enough is new that we never get bored and always are excited to see what's next.
As far as taxes, since we aren't expats, they're not overly complicated and we're able to do them ourselves.
You didn't ask, but I've also attached a link to a video about voting while living abroad as well as a playlist of videos for people preparing for full-time travel and also those who already are on the road (and articles from our website we think are very useful). Hope all this helps! -Judy
@garysue95 FYI.
🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
📝 How to Stay Connected to Your Mail While Traveling the World: findingginamarie.com/articles/how-to-stay-connected-to-your-mail-while-traveling-the-world
📝 Why we have an international data plan on T-Mobile versus an eSIM: findingginamarie.com/articles/homesickness-overwhelm-and-travel-challenges-life-as-a-full-time-traveler
📝 Voting While Living Abroad (As a US Citizen): findingginamarie.com/articles/voting-while-living-abroad-as-a-us-citizen
🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html
🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html
🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads):
📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
@garysue95: I copied you in on the response, so you should also be able to see my answer. Let me know if not! -Judy
I can answer for online banking. WISE accounts works wonderfully well. Easy to transfer from your USA bank account to WISE account. Then you have WISE ATM card to use other places and eligible to use in other countries. Very reasonable charges and dollar to other currencies conversion is very nicely priced. This is most reasonable and practical I found to use outside USA, especially in Asian countries.
Hi @@sarbjitgrewal9724, and thanks for weighing in. Why do you need to use a Wise account? A Schwab account will waive any fees that are incurred using an ATM that isn't connected to your US bank (unlimited) and allows unlimited free withdrawals than a Wise card, which I've been hearing has been a bit problematic, including in Japan. We have a Wise card that we do not use because you're only allowed two free withdrawals per month with a maximum of $350 and then you have to pay additional fees. So far, Schwab seems like a better option. Am I missing something? -Judy
wise.com/help/articles/2935769/how-much-does-it-cost-to-withdraw-cash
Love your video. Super thorough, and it covers all my concerns. Very helpful
We are so glad to hear this! We build on this episode and discuss some things not a lot of people talk about in the episode linked below. We hope you find it helpful as well. Thank you so much for watching and for leaving us this comment! -Judy
🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
My husband and I also want to retire early and travel the world like you guys do. I wish, I wish with all my heart...😊We travel whenever we can but not as often as we would like to. Best of luck!
Where there's a will, there's a way, Elle! You might find our latest video useful where we discuss some secrets about full-time travel that people rarely talk about. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your goals. In 2019 we took three international trips versus our usual two, and it made me realize that the travel bug had bitten us hard. After two years of lockdown, our desire to travel hit with a vengeance. We have no regrets, even though our path was fairly unconventional. -Judy
🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
You’re both looking so healthy and happy! Hope your stay in Italy was refreshing.
Thank you so much for watching and for your kind comment! Italy was very refreshing and very hard to leave. The best part is that as full-time travelers we can always return! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie So true!
By the way, I see that in your travel videos you both give examples of typical costs of accommodations, meals, coffee, etc. Would you consider doing a video on your average monthly cost of slow travel (including planes, trains, etc)? I think it would be helpful to those of us considering slow travel to compare costs and lifestyle to you both.
I totally understand if there are expenses you’d like to keep private like charity, but those could always be omitted.
Thanks!
Hi Anthony, yes, we would consider doing this. Each month varies and while we have a budget, we don't consider ourselves "budget travelers" per se. We can include all transportation costs, but we recognize that where we are traveling from might vary in price considerably from what the cost might be for someone traveling from a different part of the world. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie That makes sense! I don’t think we are wanting to be budget travelers either. Your lifestyle seems pretty similar to what would be realistic for us. I think there might be a “non-budget, yet budget-minded traveler” niche you could appeal to.
We hope so, too, Anthony! -Judy
Would you mind letting us know how you decided to file state income tax and which stated you picked after moving out of USA? Thanks ❤
We are still technically residents of California. Our driver's licenses still are California and we remain eligible to vote in California in our old precinct. At some point it may make sense for us to switch to someplace like Texas, which is where two of our children live, but most states require you to be a resident for tax purposes by spending 183 days or more in that state. Florida and South Dakota have fewer restrictions and are commonly used for expats, but we aren't particularly enamored by either of those. We'd prefer to pay a little more in taxes and support California's economy.
I'm also linking an article that might be helpful regarding voting when you are living abroad, which I think might be helpful for you. -Judy
📝 Voting While Living Abroad (As a US Citizen): findingginamarie.com/articles/voting-while-living-abroad-as-a-us-citizen
Great video and ideas for lodging options. Thanks.
Thank you so much for watching and for letting us know that some of our ideas were useful for you, Christine! -Judy
Great tips and conversation. Inspiring!
Thanks so much for watching and for taking the time to leave us this kind note, Claude. We really appreciate it! -Judy
To your question, my main obstacle is that I've seen partnered traveling work really well to manage culture shock, safety, and just fun to have a buddy time, whereas almost no one covers solo travel for women unless they are very privileged/wealthy, want to stay in expat bubbles, or have a lot of health privilege and nothing medical to work around. I've also seen people who don't need deep relationships be very happy traveling but those of us who do need deep relationships not be happy traveling. I really appreciate your touching on some of these things today and I'll check out your website to learn more about how to connect. It's refreshing to hear someone not just say "oh youll end up with (useless) FB friends and you can text people the rest of your life" when that's not neurocognitively valid for mental health. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing with us. We wish we could help more directly, but it's hard for travel couples to offer useful advice to solo travelers when that's not how we travel. Of course, there are plenty of independent couples who do their own thing and we'd love to have more solo women join our La Famiglia forum and share what works for them so that we could be part of the conversation and understand more about the challenges they face and learn for ourselves-because let's face it, there's a likelihood that travel couples will lose a spouse and find themselves as a solo.
We have found solo travelers on tours and have met up with them afterwards for coffee and it's possible to even try to arrange a separate meetup post tour. I still talk regularly to a woman I met from the US when we traveled to Egypt. It's also been a nice perk of having a UA-cam channel that we've been able to meet up with our viewers. It can be a lot of work, but there's certainly a gap in content that you could fill if you wanted to start your own channel targeted to the viewers you want to connect with who struggle with the same issues as you. Also, you might want to understand exactly what these deep relationships look like in your mind so that you can foster them when you find them in your travels. We'd love to hear what that means for you as well. These suggestions might sound trite, so forgive me if they aren't helpful. I do still make time for phone calls with family members despite the time zone differences (and those can even be FaceTime). I also started sending mailed greeting cards because I found that text messages don't cut it for me, either. ♥️ -Judy
🎥 Preserving Relationships from a Distance with Mailed Cards: findingginamarie.com/articles/sending-mailed-cards-with-a-twist
❤LOVE this video!! Just found your channel - Thank you for giving me some hope today!!
We are so glad you clicked on our video, Gynine! We are thrilled to have you here. We are going to be adding more of these types of episodes to our channel, so if there's something you'd like to know, we'd be happy to try to answer it for you. We have two different playlists that might be helpful and a link to our ever-growing articles list for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads). -Judy
🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html
🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html
📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
Thanks for taking the time to create and post this video. It has made me think! For me the biggest worries for traveling is available money and health insurance. At 71 with preexisting conditions there aren't many companies that will cover me and / or my wife. Your video will help inspire me to begin thinking outside the box. Again thank you!!
Hi Jim, Thank you so much for watching. Preexisting conditions are challenging for sure-I previously had basal cell carcinoma, which is excluded from my health coverage. However, the out-of-pocket costs for some things are significantly cheaper outside of the US. For instance, I needed a prescription in the US and the pharmacy gave me a coupon to use that made the cost of it $800 versus $1200, BUT I paid €81 in France for the same prescription! It cost $250 in Thailand. Kevin's hernia surgery in Serbia cost €1800 out of pocket, compared to probably close to $10K in the US. If you're able to survive more comfortably by living in a country outside the US, even if you aren't able to work due to poor health, it still might be a reasonable tradeoff. But if your cost of living is low and your Medicare/Medicaid coverage is serving you, I can see that living in the US is a safer bet. Here's a link to last week's video where we shared our 5 secrets for traveling full time that aren't talked about often enough. Hopefully that and our episode of why we don't anticipate living in the US again are helpful to you. Best of luck! -Judy
🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
🎥 Why we won't live in the US again: ua-cam.com/video/xeTdMPRgkWM/v-deo.html
So good! Thanks!
Thank you for watching, Sherrie! -Judy
Would you please put a link to the Global Healthcare?
We are very interested in traveling or becoming expats.
Hi Norma, Here's our full article about our healthcare, as well as a link to all our videos and blog articles that should help you a ton. If you have any specific questions, don't hesitate to let us know! -Judy
📝 Peace of Mind Abroad: Choosing the Right Health Insurance as Retired Travelers: findingginamarie.com/articles/choosing-the-right-health-insurance-as-retired-travelers
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html
🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html
🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads):
📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
🎥 Our Hard-Earned Advice for Downsizing | Downsizing for Full-Time Travel and Retirement: ua-cam.com/video/fSXUQS00agA/v-deo.html
🎥 Downsizing for Retirement or Full-Time Travel Series: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF2xRusfMEQvN-5LZZqdnQIf.html
✅ Downsizing Prep Worksheet: findingginamarie.com/request-downsizing-prep-worksheet
What great information. So glad I found your channel.
Hi @JRspeaking, Thank you so much for watching and for writing! We think you might also enjoy our 5 secrets that are rarely talked about regarding full-time travel if that's something you've ever thought about doing. -Judy
🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
Thanks!
Thanks so much for watching, Kathryn! -Judy
Thanks for the video. My wife and I retired early and travel full-time as well, We followed the FIRE path but it was not sacrificing any of our life to save money. We did/had basically what everyone else did, but made some intentional adjustments to spend a lot less doing them, We also found that most of the things that made (and still make) us happy were unrelated to spending a lot of money. Cheers!.
Hi Justin, congratulations to you both. We had only heard of FIRE in the last few years. I'm not sure what rock we were living under to have missed it. It's wonderful when you can be happy without having to acquire a bunch of stuff. How early did you retire and what are your goals for full-time travel? There is so much of the world we still want to see! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Hi Judy, we definitely acquired a bunch of stuff along the way, but we often bought used items and avoided the typical upgrade cycle (e.g., cars, cell phones, houses). Early furniture we bought in 1990 we still had 33 years later when we downsized everything. I have a blog piece about how frugality doesn't mean deprivation if you are interested. I retired in 2000 at 52 and my wife retired at 52 in 2002. We downsized completely and started traveling full-time over a year ago. As far as goals for full-time travel, we slow travel (usually a month in each city). We are in Japan now for the Kumano Kodo through hike and will be in Asia through January. We love through hiking and plan to do the Lycian Way, Camino Frances, and another through hike in the UK (we already did Hadrian's Wall) in 2025. So far it is a great retirement! Cheers, Justin
We did a long bus tour along Hadrian's Wall, but hiking along it sounds much better. Enjoy your travels! -Judy
do you use safety wing for health insurance?
Hi Melody, No we don't. Here's an entire article comparing costs. For our ages and for traveling full time and requiring healthcare on the road, Safety Wing isn't the best price for us. Safety Wing has a cheaper Nomad Insurance, but that's not the same as their Nomad *Health* Insurance (they're very different plans). Since this is the only type of coverage we have, it's important to have full healthcare coverage. -Judy
📝 Peace of Mind Abroad: Choosing the Right Health Insurance as Retired Travelers: findingginamarie.com/articles/choosing-the-right-health-insurance-as-retired-travelers
Great information!
Thank you so much for watching, Stacie! -Judy
Excellent video. I agree that cars are an "essential evil" in most parts of the US. The costs to maintain them really holds us back...great info guys!
Thanks for watching! We drove approximately 1400 miles during the three weeks we were in the US. Insane! Kevin said if we visit again before the next 12 months is up, it will be too soon, based exclusively on the driving situation. We have a lot of family in Houston and Austin and they're very spread out. It's one of the reasons we were so burned out and opted not to bring a car with us to San Francisco. There are not many places in the US where you don't need a car, unfortunately. -Judy
Thank you so much for sharing these insights. They are quite different from what I have heard thus far.
Also, your responses to comments have been so thoughtful and caring. I look forward to your continual sharing. The best of luck with your channel and future travels. Blessings🌺
Thank you so much for your very kind words, Anna! We know that there are a lot of people who take the usual route, but that doesn't have to be everyone's plan. We aren't saying to make rash decisions, but if you're willing to think through the process and find a way that works for you, more power to you. We have zero regrets and we are making it all work! Our responses to comments may be a little time consuming, but we love hearing from our viewers, and we feel if they are taking time out of their day to connect with us, then we want to do our very best in our responses! It is so sweet of you to notice! -Judy
Yes(we have one life to live).
The wisdom say:don’t let your day be equal to yesterday.Keep inform us⭐️
Hi Muhammad, We like that philosophy. It's amazing to us how happy we are. And even when things aren't going perfectly, we still pinch ourselves and say, well, at least we are dealing with this issue in Paris (or whatever place we're in) versus dealing with it at home! -Judy
Thank you and I can’t wait for us to retire and travel.
Hi @ephitsmarqz6398! We wish you all the best so you can do that, too! Our video from this past Saturday may be helpful. We discuss some things that aren't often talked about regarding full-time travel that we think you will want to know. Also, we have a full series of videos regarding preparing for full-time travel and also life as full-time travelers. We realize that you might not be doing what we are after retirement, but it may be good food for thought. Thanks for watching! -Judy
🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html
🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html
🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads):
📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
Thank you for this video it was very thoughtful 😊❤
Thank you so much for watching, Rosa! You might be interested in the two other videos we put together about health versus wealth regarding when the right time is to retire. -Judy
🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html
🎥 Life is Short...An Emotional Pause: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html
Thank you for sharing your experience- this is where I am in my life now. You gave me lots of inspiration! ❤️🙏
We are so glad to hear this, Helen! It's an exciting place to be! Let us know if you need any help, encouragement, or anything else. I can't recall if you've seen any of our other episodes, but these might be helpful if you don't already know about them. -Judy
🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html
🎥 Life is Short...An Emotional Pause: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html
🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
🎥 Our Hard-Earned Advice for Downsizing | Downsizing for Full-Time Travel and Retirement: ua-cam.com/video/fSXUQS00agA/v-deo.html
✅ Downsizing Prep Worksheet: findingginamarie.com/request-downsizing-prep-worksheet
Thank you so much for watching, Helen! -Judy
Do you keep an adresse in USA to touch base for your finances or so ever ?
Hi Michel, yes, we do. We have a virtual mailbox we use. Here’s an article I wrote that tells you all about it and why we chose it. Thanks for watching! -Judy
📝 How to Stay Connected to Your Mail While Traveling the World: findingginamarie.com/articles/how-to-stay-connected-to-your-mail-while-traveling-the-world
Great info and presentation, thanks. I have done this with my wife for 12+ years, mainly based in Asia. My only regret: not doing it sooner.
Hi Greg, but you both are so young! We have the same regrets, but we started so much later than you have. It's a balancing act to want to see everything all at once while also wanting to take time and savor every moment. We spent seven months in Asia between October and April and I can see how we barely scratched the surface. Safe travels! -Judy
you guys are awesome. Thank you for posting this
Thank you for your kind words, Jack. While it might feel a bit scary initially, we have zero regrets. We hope you are living your best life and enjoying it to the fullest. Life is too short to wait until retiring at 70 and hoping all the stars will align. -Judy
I am 54 and my wife is 52. We have been investing and saving for early retirement for many years. We plan to walk away from work in 2025. No debt for the last 15 years, No love for our work, kids are grown, no pension or golden handcuffs of any kind. We stopped putting money into 401k and IRAs a few years back since we need cash sooner than 59.5.
My only worry is healthcare as we will not have any or just a major medical plan if we purchase one?
We plan to slow travel and just see what happens next?
Congratulations to you both! We are using a CIGNA global health policy for full-time travelers. At 59 and 61 (our last renewal), we pay an annual price of $5700 that covers both of us for a year. It is more of a catastrophic plan since we have a high $3K deductible, so we pay for a lot of the basic things out of pocket. But it offers a lot for the peace of mind it offers. It costs significantly more to have a plan that covers extended care in the US (ours limits us to no more than 90 days per year in the US).
We have found that we don't need to have all the answers all at once. We may not keep this plan forever and always keep our eyes and ears open for things that can work better for us. So we are fully aligned with you and that you "just see what happens next." We've found that everything has evolved the more we live this lifestyle! -Judy
I completely agree! Love, love love your videos!
Thank you so much, BW! While it was wonderful for us to spend time with family and friends over the last three weeks in the US, we are currently en route to France. Living on the road feels more like home than the US does these days! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie I feel that!
Yes!! That’s what my husband and I planning to do guy’s, enjoy life while you can . ❤
Hi Charm, Good for you both! It's an incredible way to live! And we feel the same about enjoying life while you can and as much as you can. I'm linking some of our ongoing lists of resources that might be helpful for whenever you're ready to launch. -Judy
🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html
🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html
🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads):
📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
I just turned 58 and really want to retire early and slow travel. What's stopping me from doing it is our pets. We have 2 cats and a dog so if you have any advice I would love to hear it. I love my pets to pieces so I won't give them up so now I guess I'm just waiting for them to live their lives so I can start living mine.
Thanks so much for watching. It's hard when you have pets. It certainly depends on their temperaments. Do they like to travel? This couple has traveled with two dogs for several years. You might want to watch some of their content: ourfreedomyears.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-traveling-with-a-dog/
It may take more planning and cost a bit more, and you might have to think unconventionally like we did to figure out a way to make it work. You might consider traveling from a small home base in Europe so that you can be closer to some of the places you want to see and the distances won't need to be as far flung. Having a vehicle in Europe will allow you to bypass some of the extra work of understanding airlines and trains guidelines, but it's possible to work around them, too. We wish you all the best with your furry friends. We think it's possible to have a life of travel and also have your pets with you. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Thank you for responding to my comment on an older video of yours! Travelling with a dog would be easy but with cats, not so much as how would you travel with a litter box and kitty litter? I guess we just need to wait for them to live their lives. Wishing you all the best on your travels! I just finished watching your Hotels vs. AirBnB video. Who knew there were so many AirBnB haters out there! Just ignore the haters and do what works best for you! Merry Christmas!
Sadly, you might be right. When I looked a little deeper without really concerning ourselves with a litter box and kitty litter (which you can buy along the way), I learned that most cats are very territorial and probably wouldn't enjoy the commute to a new place and also likely wouldn't be happy establishing themselves in a new place even for a few months at a time.
As far as Airbnbs, thanks very much. I agree that there are a lot of haters, and I disagree with them. I don't think they'd exist if hotels didn't leave a gap in the market, but chain hotels are typically run to cater to wealthy shareholders, not necessarily caring about how well they cater to a non-business traveler who might only travel a few times per year. VRBO and booking.com also follow a similar model, but Airbnb gets all the hate. Is it perfect, no, but we couldn't travel the way we do without them, so we have a lot more positives to say about them than negatives! Thanks so much for your kind words of encouragement! -Judy
Thank you for sharing your story. I am waiting for my son to graduate high school but i think after that I am going
Hi John, Thanks so much for watching! We don't regret what we did even a bit. If anything, we regret not doing it sooner. But the timing ended up being perfect for us. We wish you all the best. It's a great life! Here are some other videos to possibly inspire you or to give you some inkling of what you might expect. -Judy
🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html
🎥 Life is Short...An Emotional Pause: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html
🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html
🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads):
📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
Good content. Just subscribed. i like Travel Smart I never thought of that .
Thank you so much for watching and for taking the time to leave this comment. It means a lot to hear it! -Judy
This was super informative! My wife and I are nesters by nature so this would be hard for us - and we love having pets and that would be difficult to give up. But, we love traveling and could see being based somewhere (maybe US) and traveling for a month at a time.
Thank you so much for watching, James! A lot of people use Housesitters.com for lodging even when they don't need to save money because many of the people using the platform need people willing to care for their pets! The more we thought about traveling full time, the more excited we got, but we know it isn't for everyone, especially if you like having your stuff around you. But at a minimum, we hope this is encouraging you, if you need it, to think about how you can live unconventionally and think outside the box. Traveling for a month at a time is a great idea! -Judy
The biggest obstacle for me is math. I don't know where to start to figure how much is enough to full time travel. We are currently planning to move to Mexico when we retire. Full traveling looks like much more fun..
Hi Jamie, We aren't necessarily spending more to travel full time than we would if we had kept our home in retirement (or even downsized). We know couples who are living on $2000-$3000 per month total and they are doing everything they want to do. Traveling slower to get discounted stays and spending time in cheaper countries all will offset your budget and help you when you are staying in more expensive countries. We spend a bit more than that, but it all depends on your level of comfort, willingness to cook versus eating out, and what you're willing to spend on excursions (but that's the same as an entertainment budget if you weren't traveling). We typically stay in Airbnbs to get monthly discounts, but some people stay in hostels, or enhance their budget by doing housesitting and getting free stays in some places. It is all about thinking outside the box! You might find our 5 secrets episode helpful if you want to understand more about this lifestyle. I'll link it below. -Judy
🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
@@FindingGinaMarie thank you, that is helpful. I will watch the linked videos also. It seems like you have a wonderful retirement. We have a little beach house we won't get rid of and I suppose that gives my husband a place to keep books. I never would have dreamed you could travel full time on that amount.
We still are working on how to share a more thorough accounting of our budget, because those prices don't include things like our Internet, VPN, virtual mailbox service, and AppleTV. But in the grand scheme of things, those are small numbers compared to what we sometimes spend on food! We were grateful that we could cook some of our meals in Madrid, because we found it to be an expensive city. We did get a great price on the Airbnb, though, especially compared to other options there! -Judy
How interesting it is to observe the sad reality of certain average people in the USA/Canada, they dream of knowing the world and not returning to their life full of dissatisfaction.
@castanju: Our lives weren't dissatisfying in any way. We loved our lives. We had a great apartment, were reasonably near to family, and had loads of friends. But we have a spirit of adventure and wanted to explore the world. I am working towards Italian dual citizenship and actually do want to understand the world views from angles outside of the US. And we won't return to the US because it's an expensive country to live in. There are a lot of good reasons to live outside the US, and we're enjoying it immensely. -Judy
Pets. I have pets and they are my major obstacle to traveling full time. I also want to at least work part time and will like my husband to also work part time, so he doesn't get bored when I am working :)
The other two obstacles are having aging parents and having a complex financial situation. I have some debt to pay off before I begin full time travel. Hopefully, it all works out for the best.
Hi @JoseReyes-ov2tu, We understand about pets and aging parents. Kevin originally was thinking he would keep his job, but once we started traveling, he lost interest in that very quickly! Debt is no fun, so yes, if you're able to put your extra money towards paying that off, you will have so much more mental as well as financial freedom. We wish you all the best with your future plans! -Judy
I have visited 35 countries on four continents, in many of which I spent more than a month at a time. I have also lived in four countries. As much as I love to travel, I wouldn't want to do it full time. I like the idea of keeping a home base, not only because I want a place I can go back to when I need a break but also for tax reasons (I'm going to spare you the details).
I am married but I always travel alone. Solo travel scares a lot of people but it's a great way to see the world and learn about people, cultures, customs etc. I find that I talk to locals a lot more when I'm alone than I would if I were traveling with a partner. And there is obviously no better way to learn a language. 😉
Hi @AnimaLibera, We realize that this lifestyle isn't for everyone and while not having a home base is freeing to us, we know that's not the right choice for everyone. BUT it's a great option for people who want to travel, but who don't have the budget to do it on top of having a home base. We couldn't have retired early had we kept a home base as well. Good for you for not being intimidated by traveling solo and for opening yourself up to rich experiences and conversations with locals. Thank you so much for sharing what works for you and for inspiring others who may have a partner who doesn't love to travel or for singles who think solo travel is too hard. Thanks for watching! -Judy
You guys are so so amazing! I loved watching this and seeing hope for my life/travel goal in the future! Cheers to being happy!
Thanks so much for your comment, Nicole, and for watching! Also, good luck with your UA-cam channel; we were in the Amalfi Coast in June and had a great time introducing it to our daughter! -Judy
I'm new here, what are your names? Just watched your video today and can relate with your thoughts. We moved to Europe about 18 months ago. Love it! We travel when and where we want. We do have a residence in Portugal as our home base. We needed a place to call home. We too have learned a lot and must also adapt to many differences when living outside the US. We enjoy and accept that challenge. We feel ALIVE! JP Porto
@@JP7onEarth We are Judy and Kevin. You may have skipped past our intro where we introduce ourselves. Our channel is called Finding Gina Marie because I met my birth mother just days before the pandemic had us all on lockdown. The name on my original birth certificate was Gina Marie, and I was named after her. Finding her changed our priorities and knowing that I could acquire Italian dual citizenship helped to launch us on our full-time travel journey. We started our channel because our reunion story was so incredible. Despite being a secret from the majority of her family for 56 years, they embraced me and my family with open arms. You can watch our series called Finding Family if you're interested in it.
How wonderful for you to be living in Europe. We had considered Lisbon and Porto for living as expats, but in the process of discerning where to live, we ended up deciding to travel full time instead and not have a home base. Very cool that you are in Porto! We agree with feeling alive. There is rarely a dull moment in our lives these days. We have to actually plan them! Thank you so much for watching and for sharing about yourselves! -Judy
🎥 Finding Family intro videos: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1QI_-Q6b-zspHSRhbyiu6_.html
@@FindingGinaMarie i read lots of responses and just found your names. 🤣🤣Thanks for responding. We too moved from the SF Bay Area. Japan is next for us. JP Porto
@@JP7onEarth What a small world! We loved San Francisco, but it was too expensive of a place for us to retire in. We spend 40+ days in Japan, so you might want to check out our series from there. We loved it and hope you will, too! -Judy
🎥 Japan travel series: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0V4Brx4J0uWJdQENFZKWBT.html
Love your videos, I’m also looking to kick off my nomadic retirement in 4 years time, so thank you for sharing your experiences! Who’s (or what) Gina Marie btw? And I’m curious, do you carry your entire wardrobe for different season in your suitcase or do you have a home base to store away clothes for say your winter wear during summer?
Hi Rennie, We are so glad you found us! I'll put a link below about how we came up with our channel name. As far as clothing, we do not have a home base, so we don't swap out clothes anywhere. We typically travel in three seasons, so that we don't need a heavy winter coat or gloves or a hat. But on the occasions that we do need them, we'll go to a discount store in the area we're in and buy one and hold onto it until we think there'll be a stretch where we no longer need it. We have found that holding onto "just in case" items makes our bags too heavy and then we have to pay extra costs to either check our luggage because so many discount airlines have weight restrictions. We typically also almost exclusively wear Merino wool clothes in order to avoid having to wash them as often, they're temperature regulating, they wear well, and have so many other benefits. Thanks so much for watching! -Judy
📝 Why Our Channel is Called "Finding Gina Marie": findingginamarie.com/articles/why-the-name-finding-gina-marie
🎥 What we're Packing in 2024: ua-cam.com/video/yD-45hCjQl0/v-deo.html
🎥 Avoid Airline Carry-On Fees | What We Pack for World Travel 2024: ua-cam.com/video/UiPkHF6jzWo/v-deo.html
⚙️ GEAR LIST: findingGinaMarie.com/gear
Thank you for the information
Thank you for letting us know that it was useful. Since most people talk about how they saved their entire lives in order to live like we are, we thought it would be useful to share what we did differently and how it's working out for us. -Judy
Just watched your video. Thank you for the great tips. Holding me back on doing slow travel is my home mortgage and of course my possessions i have to give away. I still plan to work remotely even part time
Hi Grace, We get the whole mortgage problem, which is why we sold everything so we wouldn't have to deal with those expenses or responsibilities. But we know not everyone wants to give up their home base. And technically, we're working remotely as well, even though it's for ourselves. UA-cam is time consuming, but more rewarding than we ever imagined it could be. Thanks so much for watching. -Judy
We are thinking of traveling full time. My concern is I get anxiety in the stress of planning. Where are we going next are things lined up etc. how do you get beyond this stress and not so end your whole time in one place worrying about the next.
Hi Angela, We plan to cover this in an upcoming episode! We understand that planning can be stressful. It's also time consuming, which is one of the reasons that we like to stay in places for a month at a time. While we do some fast travel, we try not to do that too much because it requires more planning. We also don't plan the activities we'll do until we arrive somewhere (although there are times we do have to plan in advance when we know tickets might sell out, but that's not something we do very often). What works best for us is to plan several months in advance so we don't have to feel like we're constantly planning.
We factor in any special events that we need to be in the US for since we try to be back once per year. Next we put down our bucket list places during the time of year that is most ideal (factoring in good weather, affordable prices, and fewer crowds as our priorities, so that's often the shoulder season) and then see if we can be in that area for a few months to offset the cost of traveling there. We try to balance expensive countries with cheap ones, too. We typically book long-haul flights early in the process, but we sometimes wait on the shorter flights. We book our accommodations early in the process, but we try to book places that are refundable so that we can have the freedom to pivot if we want to (hence why we don't book flights too far in advance for the shorter hops).
We are happy to answer your additional questions if you have them, and we have a worksheet that we use in our planning process that's linked below. If you need any clarification or instructions on how to use it, please reach out! -Judy
✅ Travel Planning Spreadsheet: findingginamarie.com/request-planner
Thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you so much for watching. You might enjoy our 5 secrets episode that aired this past Saturday where we share about some topics that are rarely talked about, but which we think everyone considering full-time travel should know about. The episode is linked below. -Judy
🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
@@FindingGinaMarie thanks!
Love you two!
Thank you so much, Vickie! We appreciate it so much! -Judy
My biggest obstacle is the about $550k in annual comp that I would be walking away from.
Hi Ronin, Thanks for watching. It's a lot of money, but we also believe in taking a hard look at health versus wealth. You don't get to take it with you and if there are things you are putting off on doing until you retire, you may find that you're not physically able to do them or that circumstances no longer allow for you to do them. We didn't want to put off travel only to have one of us die prematurely or have mobility issues or some other tragic situation. Kevin's father died at age 60, just a few months before he retired. -Judy
🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html
🎥 A Pause to share an Emotional Moment: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html
I believe you soooo made the right choice to do the traveling - while you're still young enough AND healthy. It's true, we never know what tomorrow may bring. Too many do the "someday when....." I hope you continue to have the most awesome adventures!!
Thank you so much for watching and for your thoughtful comment. We truly are loving our lives and have zero regrets. One of the drivers in making our decision was that we didn't want to just talk about changing our lives but we actually wanted to do it. We were fortunate that we were in a place in our lives to be able to make the change. We wish you well and hope you also are living your best life! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Judy, thank you for the sweet words. I truly am happy you are able to fulfill your dream. You are truly an inspiration!
I really want to stop working because of high stress from work. I’m 58 and don’t have enough money saved. I’m scared to quit my job but I can do travel nursing because I’m a nurse. Still scared but you’re motivating me
The barriers are certainly healthcare cause I have ongoing health issues need follow up regular doctor visits and testing
Hi Gina, Who's to say how much is enough? We share Kevin's concerns about dying young like his father at age 61 just when he was on the cusp of retirement. There are unconventional ways of earning money in order to live a life that is a little more stress free. I can appreciate how complicated things might be with your health issues, but there are places everywhere in the world with excellent healthcare that are much cheaper than in the U.S. We probably should have continued working as well, but we made the decision that we needed to live for ourselves and get out of corporate America. We still are working, but on UA-cam. It's allowing us to travel and have incredible experiences while also bringing in some income. Of course, it all takes time, but there has never been a better time to find an online side gig that grows into something more. For us, we needed to leave our expensive lives in San Francisco in order to be able to do what we're doing, but it has been a million percent worth it for us. We wish you all the best! -Judy
🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html
🎥 Life is Short...An Emotional Pause: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html
You guys are inspirational ! Thank you!
Thank you for sharing! And glad to know you enjoyed the trip to Taiwan! Ha!
Hi Sabrina Thank you so much for watching. We are so glad we got to visit Taiwan. We wish there hadn't been an earthquake there when we were, but we had such a good visit otherwise! -Judy
My husband is standing in my way! Lol
Hi Kristi, We wrote an article awhile back that might apply to your situation. We'd love to know if it helps in any way or if there are additional questions we should address. Here's a link to it -Judy
📝 Navigating Love and Travel: A Couple's Q&A Guide to Full-Time Adventure!: findingginamarie.com/articles/what-if-your-spouse-doesnt-want-to-travel-full-time
Same…my husband wants to work til 70 I’m ready at 62. I’m not a consumer of “stuff”. When he buys, I donate something..lol .The pandemic changed everything. I’m right now at 60 getting my dual citizenship so I can travel at length. He better get on board soon 😊
@@Positivecuriosity46 LOL. I love this so much! Your husband might benefit from watching our Health versus Wealth video, which I've linked below. A good companion video is where Kevin gets real about his father dying at 61 just as he was about to retire. Where will you be a dual citizen? I'm working on mine for Italy but it is an excruciatingly slow process and despite hiring "experts" to help us, they've made mistakes that has cost us time. We'd love to hear how everything progresses for you! -Judy
🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html
🎥 A Pause to Share an Emotional Moment: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html
@@FindingGinaMarie The process is going slow, but I am starting early. My husband, also named Kevin, has his dual citizenship with Ireland and I will be getting mine with Poland. I will certainly share this video with him. Thank you for the great video. 😊
@@Positivecuriosity46 My Kevin is jealous of your Kevin's Irish dual citizenship. He's once removed from being eligible himself. We loved Kraków and would love to spend more time exploring Poland! Kevin loves your can-do attitude as well! Thank you so much for your kind words! -Judy
I just discovered your channel & I love it! ❤We’ve been married for 28 years & we have traveled to many countries but I’m encouraging my hubby to retire early so we can travel the world. He’s 58 years young. Any suggestions on retiring earlier than the conventional 65?
Hi Jessica, We are so glad you found us and are very glad to have you following along as we share our travels and retirement experiences. Congratulations on 28 years of marriage! I was 58 and Kevin was 60 when we started traveling, so we tried to convey what we did to retire early. We probably should have continued working a bit longer to be in better financial shape, but we felt that the financial aspect was only one part of the puzzle to work out (health is the other issue to weigh, even if you're currently very healthy). There are plenty of ways to travel less expensively especially in the type of accommodations you stay in and the countries you visit, there's resources like Trusted House Sitters, House Carers, etc. to offset some of the accommodations costs, being willing to cook versus eating out for every meal. I guess what would help me better to understand is knowing what the obstacles are. If they're all financial, we chose to start a UA-cam channel to bridge our gap financially, and there are plenty of online activities to bring in extra income. We talked through how willing we each would be to re-enter the workforce if necessary, what alternative skills could we build and use that would prevent us from working in corporate roles again. We don't have a home base in the US so that all the money we have can go towards our travel experiences. Let us know if you have specific questions and we can try to provide deeper answers. I'll add a few other resources that might be able to help as well. -Judy
RESOURCES:
🎥 Health versus Wealth: ua-cam.com/video/6avQGFbXa2I/v-deo.html
🎥 Life is Short...An Emotional Pause: ua-cam.com/video/YiEFHz1WWHI/v-deo.html
🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX.html
🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH.html
🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads):
📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads
I am trying to find a way to make this happen. Now an empty nester and ready to go and explore the world.
Hi Rebecca, We hope you can find some unconventional ways to make this work for yourself. If it helps, we didn't have our future fully mapped out, but we had a dream and were willing to figure some things out on the fly, which is really outside a lot of people's comfort zone. But it's been a ride beyond our wildest dreams so far, and we want it to be the same for you as well. We wish you all the best! And when you finally get on the road, we'd love to hear about it. You've got a great UA-cam channel; we just subscribed We've been to Sydney before we were full-time travelers and have been working hard to figure out how to get back there again-probably to Melbourne this time. We're hoping we can make it happen in 2025, along with New Zealand. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie thank you for your reply and for subscribing. I appreciate that. I too have the dream and I know I don’t want the ‘typical plan’ that society dictates is the way to do life. I am 50. I too keep thinking I have a window of opportunity to go see the world before I get Grandkids or my parents (now mid to late 70’s) need me here full time to care for them. I don’t want to wait until retirement age and hope I’m healthy enough to do travel then. I just need a way to earn money from anywhere, especially until my UA-cam and all the revenue streams from that starts coming in but even then I need other income. At the moment I’m living in my parents caravan as owners of the house we were in decided to sell. So we sold all our belonging and I’m now in limbo. Kids have all left home..so now is the perfect time to go do slow travel starting in Asia but money is the big issue. Or lack there of. Any tips?
I hope you make it back to Australia. Be sure to visit Brisbane. If I’m here when you get here I’m happy to show you around 😊
Hi Rebecca, Housesitters.com allows you to stay in someone's home for free while you take care of their pets or house while they are traveling. We know many people who love and use it. The membership cost is nominal. You can build up credibility by doing house sits in your own country or a nearby city while incurring only nominal travel expenses. We talk about a few other programs in this episode that are worth looking into. Especially in Southeast Asia you can stay in affordable hostels and food is fairly inexpensive. With your background, could you consider hosting a group of travelers somewhere and coordinating travel for them and you travel free with them? There are tons of people who could use help with their social media if that's something you're good at. Places like Fiverr and Upwork allow you to work from anywhere, and you aren't limited to $5 jobs, despite the name! People make real money on those platforms. It helps if you have some savings that you can tap into while you're building your businesses, of course. Even giving yourself a year of saving every dime you earn can go a long way. We use points from credit cards to offset a few of our big flight costs, but those only go so far for us. If you are solid and strict with paying off your cards each month, you can earn enough bonuses for a few free flights. Southeast Asia allows you to travel by bus through several countries if you can be comfortable with that slower means of transportation. We wish you all the best with thinking unconventionally and making it happen! And we will reach out for travel suggestions when we make our way to Brisbane! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie funny you say all that. I registered with trusted housesitters just last week and have a local sit over Christmas, so that’s a start. I do know my way around social media but not sure I’m good enough to get paid to do it, I’m sure there are people way better at it than me. I have accumulated enough frequent flyer points to get me to UK…so saving those in the hope I can use those at some point. I have started advertising group travel on my UA-cam videos (trovatrip) for 2025 so hopefully I get some interest. Thanks so much for ideas and help. I can’t wait to start living the life I want! Yes be sure to reach out to me when you plan to visit :)
Hi Rebecca, Good luck with Trusted Housesitters! You may think you're not good enough to get paid to do social media, but you might surprise yourself. Also, we've heard of people who have been willing to work for free for a short period of time to prove themselves or to build their social media resume (e.g., "I will do X amount of work and you give me a written recommendation I can use for upcoming paid work with other clients.") And as a woman, I will say that we often think we need to have so much more experience than a man thinks they need in order to do a job, so don't sell yourself short. Good luck! -Judy
Love your content. Wish my wife was as comfortable in front of the camera for our travel channel 😄
Hi @higherpowertravel, It takes a while to get comfortable, and there can sometimes be several takes and Kevin is a great editor. We have done over 130 episodes, so it does get easier over time. I just watched your WE LEFT THE USA & Why you SHOULDN'T! video and we can somewhat relate. We went through this entire process ourselves, but opted to travel full time instead of becoming expats. We wish you all the best on growing your channel. You are great on camera and it looks like you have good editing skills. Give your channel some time. Best of luck! -Judy
🎥 You don’t have to be an EXPAT to leave the US!: ua-cam.com/video/ZeKxy_zxbZE/v-deo.html
@@FindingGinaMarie Thank you for watching and I'm a new fan of yours as well! I actually pay a friends son to edit- I have no patience for that! I'd love to travel full time but my wife isn't quite ready for that, at least at this point. So for now 8 months in Portugal per year is where we are - thus the many videos about our experience here. Thanks so much for your encouragement and inspiration and we have very similar mindsets. All the best!
Your friend's son is doing a great job! And eight months is a pretty significant amount of time to live abroad, especially if you have an affordable place to stay in the US for those months that isn't a drain on your finances for the rest of the year. Take good care! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie indeed! Take care as well.
Love you guys so much and wish you well in your adventures. You are a great example from me, a way younger viewer 😅. Thanks for sharing your experience. 🙏🏼
Hi Joe, Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to write to us. Our daughter is 31 and she is so much less interested in accumulating stuff and working a 9-5 job than we were at her age. We thought we needed to be tied down and own a home, but we realized later than we would have liked that our lives could have been so much richer with less stuff and different priorities. We didn't travel internationally until our kids were in college, which was such a bummer looking back on it all. Best of luck to you always! -Judy
Thanks for sharing your experience. Very inspiring. If I had a travel partner I’d be gone tomorrow. Being single and 69, it’s a bit scary. I haven’t traveled that much especially by myself. The world gets so complicated. Retirement in the US I don’t think is an option.
You are not alone with those concerns! But it doesn't have to derail you or prevent you from living your best life. We follow someone online who suffers from extreme anxiety and her coping strategy is to just "do it scared." We love that philosophy. There are kind people everywhere that will help you if you struggle at times. We've made some silly and embarrassing mistakes over the years (linked below), but it is the perspective that you adopt that makes all the difference. It's certainly not a lifestyle for everyone, but if it's really something on your heart to do, then by all means give it a chance.
In our latest video (linked below) we share some ideas that may give you some comfort. -Judy
🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ua-cam.com/video/Oc4tZ4M1v0w/v-deo.html
🎥 Our 5 Biggest Travel Mistakes… and how to avoid them: ua-cam.com/video/GnIQKrEupoU/v-deo.html
wow I had no idea! 👋
Hi Dan, It's been an incredibly cool time! Thanks for watching. -Judy & Kevin
I want to retire early but have no desire to travel the world! I find traveling very stressful specially nowadays. I like in state roads trips.
You don't need to travel full time like we are in order to retire early. This works for us because we can't afford to live in our home in San Francisco, have no where else in the US that's more affordable and walkable that we'd want to live, and bonus: we love traveling. But we didn't want to keep working and grinding for corporations that don't appreciate us and us end up have only crumbs left over when we could finally afford to retire. Our lifestyle is significantly cheaper than the way we had been living in the US. Thanks so much for watching and for sharing your feelings. -Judy
🎥 Why We'll Never Live in the US Again: ua-cam.com/video/xeTdMPRgkWM/v-deo.html
🎥 Downsizing for Retirement or Full-Time Travel Series: ua-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF2xRusfMEQvN-5LZZqdnQIf.html
✅ Downsizing Prep Worksheet: findingginamarie.com/request-downsizing-prep-worksheet
Agree on all counts. Have a home, a left over from family life which I will sell and bank. Modest savings as a part timer for last 20 years, but at 70 and a long time widower, I now have a good Social Security which easily covers all living costs. My guess is that older couples on double SS, or SS on the horizon, can easily live without extra income, but given political and budget issues in US still good to have a financial plan B, which for me includes moving out of the US.
Hi Peter, We agree that it's always nice to have some sort of backup plan regarding your finances. My mother and father were comfortable with double SS, but he couldn't afford to live on his own after she passed away at the young age of 56. We were in a position to help supplement his income, but not all families are able to do that. We know that life would be very different but doable and still comfortable were we to live in another part of the world. Europe is easy but a bit more expensive, but Southeast Asia is extremely cheap, but culturally more different. But by traveling and being more understanding and tolerant of cultures outside of the US, you can live among kind and welcoming people and still afford to live. Thanks for watching.-Judy
They probably put you to the top of the list because you have great insurance.
If you're referring to the surgery Kevin had done in Serbia, we paid cash and figured we'd get reimbursed afterwards, but we didn't hit the plan deductible (the cost was $2K and our deductible was $3K). It is unfortunate that private health insurance gets priority (and this turned out to be a private hospital). BUT the cost of healthcare in other parts of the world is significantly cheaper than it is in the US for a variety of reasons. It's one of the reasons we don't expect to live in the US again unless circumstances require it (my birth mother needing me as a caregiver or potentially grand babies that we don't want to be far away from).
We do wish that people treated healthcare as a right versus a privilege and didn't feel the need to have it be a profit center in the way it is in the US. -Judy
What a great episode! How far ahead do you plan your locations, particularly the expensive big jumps.
Thanks so much for watching, Scott! "Plan" means multiple things! By mid January 2024 we had pretty much decided everywhere we'd be for the year (country, city, neighborhood) and had accommodations booked for nearly all of the cities we'd be in. We had a few one-offs where we knew what country, but hadn't finalized accommodations or exact timing (Morocco, since we'll be there around 40 days and weren't locked into our cities yet and Brazil since we were going back and forth about which city to visit. BUT we knew we wanted to be in South America for the winter and early 2025).
Our London to US flight last year was booked 2.5 months in advance, US to Japan flight in 2023 was three months in advance, our South Korea to Italy flight in 2024 was 3 months in advance, our recent Madrid to the US flight was 7 months in advance, the hop from the US to France was also 7 months in advance. We're yet to book our flight to Buenos Aires yet, so we need to get on the stick. It's closing in on 2.5 months right now!
When we have life events like my mother's 80th birthday this past July, we book pretty early. But some of those other flights weren't scheduled early because we knew that our plans would be in a state of flux and we don't like having a bunch of flight credits hanging around, since we don't have airline loyalty. We have a wish list of places, factor in things like birthdays (where do we want to spend our birthdays), take into account weather and pricing for the areas we want to be and see how it all comes together.
My London birthday trip was a last-minute scheduling change, our trip to Japan was supposed to be in May 2024, but we decided to start our Asia adventures there instead. Ditto for Buenos Aires. Originally we were supposed to be in Sardinia in November, but a few months back we got literal and physical cold feet and decided we wanted to be warm, so we shifted our plans to start in South America a month earlier than we thought we would. We've known since January 2024 that we'd be in Brazil for December.
We're going to be spending a lot of time while we're in Albania beginning next week fleshing out our South America travel (through the end of February and possibly March). We have already been playing around with our wish list for 2025 for several months already. Malta is for sure on the list for spring, Sardinia will be in May, we would *really* like to get to South Africa possibly in the summer, and Kevin has been hoping to get to New Zealand and Melbourne, Australia in the winter. Our big issue is when we're going to be back in the US. We're leaning towards November 2025, but that will be more than a year since our last visit. Those US trips put a monkey wrench in things at times because it makes sense for them to be part of our big pivots, but it may be hard for us to do all four big locations in one year-South America to Europe, Europe to South Africa, a visit to the US, and travel to Oceana. We'll be crunching numbers to see what's possible.
I hope that wasn't too complicated of an answer for you to what was probably a much simpler question! -Judy
P.S. In some situations we need to pay for our accommodations in full when we book them and since our location is very important to us, we tend to book those first (we know in advance what flights will look like). Whenever possible we take advantage of Airbnb allowing us to split the payment (at no cost or interest) or book reservations that don't require a deposit. But it can be a burden at times to outlay cash for a year in advance for everything, so we tend to wait a little bit longer for flights for that reason as well, but that is a secondary reason to not wanting lingering flight credits if we change our minds.
@@FindingGinaMarie perfect! Thanks for all the info!