I told my parents about Swedish Death cleaning about 5 years ago, and they were so offended 😂. Recently I helped my mum clear out her 89-year-old brother's house as his partner passed away and he needed to go into full-time care (dementia) my poor 78-year-old mother finally realised everything I had said in the past. She could not understand all of the stuff he had kept. It was a lot! Like a borderline hoarder but things hidden in the house, he kept every card and letter (thousands) of we counted over 5000 DVDs, for example. In the end, we culled down to only about enough stuff to fit a studio apartment, and I took a handful of family heirlooms. But I said no to everything else. I am now almost 40 and just trying to figure out how hubby and I navigate young kids and goals, haha.
We have a lot of friends who are in their late 70s and 80s. None of them are able to travel anymore. My observation is that the "Go-Go years" fade away fast after you turn 65. Whether the limitation is money, medical issues, work, caring for a loved one, or having too much stuff (acting as a boat anchor), we need to reprioritize to break free and see the world while we can. The assisted living facility will come sooner than you think.
You are so right! Stress level reduction with a minimalist mindset - at 65 yrs, sold home furnished & moved onto vanlife fulltime 5 yrs ago. Experiences over stuff for sure!
I love the idea of "Swedish Death Cleaning" At 81 it makes a lot of sense to me. My 77 year old wife and I may not take up your lifestyle, but you are rapidly becoming people we are listening to.
A friend narrowed her clothing down to necessities. Now her policy is: for every new item of clothing she buys, she has to discard or donate an equivalent from something she owns.
I’ve been following that policy for decades and it’s great. It forces me to assess whether i really need or want certain clothing items. Minimizes clutter too.
Trying to clean stuff out! About to start scanning years of photographs, then will mail the originals to family. I just sold a cement bird bath that we haven't put water in for YEARS! Hubby wasn't happy. He said "I liked that". I wonder if he'd even notice it was gone if I hadn't told him ;-)
Fascinating to prioritize "experiences over things"'. It was liberating when we let go of a storage unit. Btw, I'm envious that you don't ever have to purchase consumables like toilet paper, paper towels, and napkins.
I did this once when we moved to Hawaii. Now, I realize I like some creature comforts, but we do have a plan. However, I love board gaming and putting all my games in a suitcase is daunting.
Take the boards and only the pieces and dice that you need to play each game. For example if you like monopoly and checkers just use one of the checkers for your game pieces. Also don't take the money. You can keep track of your money on a piece of paper. So many ways you could par down games. Another thing is you could just take a couple until your tired of playing them and then trade with friends or donate and buy a few different ones at a thrift store.
Yes, it is all just stuff. I have lost everything, all of it, more than once through life events some beyond my control, some by poor choices and I have rebuilt from each loss. Now, I am gearing up to travel more before and after retirement Pictures can be digitally kept on a cloud. Some of my books are painful to let go as some are harder to replace. Again, it is just stuff. Your channel is particularly helpful for me to plan for retirement in the next 5 years. I am too close to securing a state retirement to simply walk away now. Again, your videos are paramount for planning travelling full-time or nearly so. Thank you and may peace and grace be with you both.
I have been peeled to your videos wondering if this is something that would be feasible for my husband and myself. Can you do a video on your potential plans when you can no longer physically do the travel life? Or maybe you just get tired of it. Would you rent or buy etc? If you have done this video please just direct me to it. Thank you for being so transparent. By the way my husband was born 12/18 and I was born 12/20 so I feel you with the birthdays/Christmas. Target is unfortunately way more than a 63 dollar haul lol.
I love your videos! A typical Target run for me is about $250. I have a question: do you ever have that “there’s no place like home” feeling? We just finished a 4 night cruise and had a blast, but as we were driving up to our house we experienced that emotion and I am worried that I would miss that if we become full time travelers. Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you so much for all of your content. It is very informative and inspiring!
How do you two handle hobbies as nomads in retirement? I have many hobbies with its corresponding hobby gear. For example my backpacking, camping, music gear. I'm retired and a full time nomad that wants to be creative and learn new skills as I age. For this reason, I currently have a storage unit just for my hobby gear.
I find this very appealing. The problem is that I’m a musician, and I need at least one guitar. It’s hard for me to imagine having only one guitar. I’m thinking about stashing guitars with various friends and relatives.
I love you guys!!! Your logic is ringing bells for me!!! I'm planning my exodus and have to try living in a hotel for a while and let someone else maintain all the stuff!! I cant recall you guys visiting Latin America but I hope to bump into you someday in these international streets!! Best wishes!!!
Addicted to your videos! Full time retirement travel is my dream. Didn't think DH was...but he seems to be getting onboard. As we contemplate this--curious, how much luggage do each of you have as you travel about? I have done a month in Europe on a small carry on & backpack, but long term? No sure.
Great video guys. I got the IHG card from your link, and we are now padding our points balance with our utilities and our necessary items. Our hope is to spend a few months in the winter away. We are reducing our stuff on ebay to put away for our future trips. We downsized to our cabin 7 years ago, so we have an affordable home to age in place, and it's easy to close up and go. Our summers here are fabulous, so no need to be away from the Homestead for those months. In late 60s travel is awesome but we want to have the security too.
Thank you for these videos really helping prep for early retirement. We’ve sizeddown a bunch but now I feel ready to let go of more. We do have two small dogs that will be our travel companions oat of the time. We do board them for train trips for now. When they grow older they will come too
What advice do you have for musicians? I own several instruments and don't know how to travel without at least one guitar. I guess I'll always have a storage unit. Everything else can go but I worked too hard to get rid of my music gear.
Have you ever made a video showing what is in your carry on and backpacks? If not could you make one? I would love to see how you survive on so little.
I’m about to be divorced. I find this appealing, but I’m in the process of the opposite - furnishing an apartment, as I don’t want to increase the amount of change, so I’m keeping my job and location for another year or two. Also, I find it a bit intimidating to do this kind of thing solo.
Ok guys, sometimes you must go from cold to hot to cold climates….u pack jackets, etc and drag warm clothes with you if the next stop is Bangkok ? Or do you just buy new clothes a lot ? Thx
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experiences.. I guess it is work in progress, seems difficult to me to break the habit of wanting to buy things while travelling😅. I have started with low buy no buy in training myself for next year early retirement. We won't be fulltime travellers, more like frequent travellers.
We really enjoy your videos and the content. These are all things that we are working towards. We were just curious whether or not you guys had a mortgage, or did you own your home free and clear?
Thanks for showing how one can actually do this and flip that mindset. Which would you to say would be your choice of traveling? 🤔 If you didn't have a time schedule or could plan for it... Planes Trains Repositioning Cruises We don't talk about Target spending in our house...😢😮😊 💰😉 You're absolutely right those my wife or I go in for 1 thing and an hour later and $50- $100 poorer...😢😅
Another great video. I am like that now small suitcase and a back pack. Moving away from a computer to a tablet because most of what I do is in the cloud anyway. If I need a computer there are lots of internet cafes around. I am looking at dollar cost averaging for IHG points . Wish I had known about them before. So glad I found your channel. Thanks again!
Your videos are so inspiring and well done! It’s so impressive how you managed to accomplish getting rid of the majority of your stuff so you can travel full time. I’m making baby steps but it’s so daunting as I look around at all the items one accumulates with a home. I am going to keep at it though and hopefully will be done before I’m too old to go anywhere lol!
Thanks for another interesting video! I only discovered you two last week and I've already watched a bunch. My situation has similarities and differences to yours. I'm single, 59, love my work, and I have had everything paid off for a couple of years. Like you, I chose to work in a field that didn't pay the most money I could have earned. Unlike you, I have lived in one of the more pricier parts of the country. I learned years ago that I liked spending time abroad. I have NEVER taken an overseas vacation. All of my travel has been for work. But, I have spent extended amounts of time in Europe and Asia and I knew long ago that I wanted to spend a lot of my retirement time there. Unlike you two, I think I want to have a home base in the U.S.. I own a condo in the city that I plan to sell and turn into 1-2 smaller condos that make better rental properties. I also own this small, mixed-use property in a rural town about 3 hours away. It's cheap and paid for. (I bought it for $30K and the property taxes are $189 a year.) I plan to work for another 11 years because I love what I do. At this point, I have no debt and everything I save will go into retirement and savings. At the same time, I look at what you two do and it is brilliant. Between my Social Security (which I begin to qualify for in 2.5 years) and a bit of passive income on the side, I think I'll be able to pull off the same basic scenario you guys do. It really helps to have folks like you who generously share your experience and knowledge. Much appreciated!
Contemplating a move overseas in the next few years but don’t know how to collapse my life into 2 suitcases. How does one go from 2800 sq ft to suitcases ??? Anxiety 😟
I think most responsible people own property and have it rented out. Or have the cash to be able to stay somewhere long term. I see a lot of people who sell up to buy caravan and travel, but that's silly, haha.
We are indoctrinated to pursue the American dream from the time we are born. Buy a house, buy new cars, buy, buy, buy... and when you run out of space to put your stuff, you rent a storage unit. It is difficult to turn off that impulse to buy stuff, and actually get rid of stuff instead. We are going to give it our best effort this year to prepare for full time travel in 2025.
Thank you for the video. I applaud your decision. This type of living is to drastic for me and my husband. As new retirees, we will travel more. Is this going to be how you live forever or a year by year decision?
I am curious how you envision your lives when you get too old to sustain the nomad lifestyle. Will you just go until you can't anymore, and then move into a furnished assisted living? In the United States, or somewhere else?
The visa thing is freaking me out: what if I'm on day 29 and my flight out is canceled. Do I get penalized or something? Plus I feel like l always have to move out of counties
How have your federal taxes changed over time? For example, you no longer have tax deductible interest payments on a mortgage or other potential tax credits or deductions? Do you end up paying more federal taxes now that you do not own a home?
We made two changes prior to this year's international travel. #1. We now have a global hotspot with inexpensive data. We're not using sim cards on our phones. Just texting and calls over WiFi. #2. We now have a VPN which makes it easier and safer to do online banking and video streaming. I'd love to know what other things might be helpful.
I told my parents about Swedish Death cleaning about 5 years ago, and they were so offended 😂. Recently I helped my mum clear out her 89-year-old brother's house as his partner passed away and he needed to go into full-time care (dementia) my poor 78-year-old mother finally realised everything I had said in the past. She could not understand all of the stuff he had kept. It was a lot! Like a borderline hoarder but things hidden in the house, he kept every card and letter (thousands) of we counted over 5000 DVDs, for example. In the end, we culled down to only about enough stuff to fit a studio apartment, and I took a handful of family heirlooms. But I said no to everything else. I am now almost 40 and just trying to figure out how hubby and I navigate young kids and goals, haha.
We have a lot of friends who are in their late 70s and 80s. None of them are able to travel anymore. My observation is that the "Go-Go years" fade away fast after you turn 65. Whether the limitation is money, medical issues, work, caring for a loved one, or having too much stuff (acting as a boat anchor), we need to reprioritize to break free and see the world while we can. The assisted living facility will come sooner than you think.
Interesting 65 - I’m hoping for 75 for gogo
@@davidsmiottawa I'm 66. I figure I've got 6 or 7 Go-Go years if I'm lucky.
You are so right! Stress level reduction with a minimalist mindset - at 65 yrs, sold home furnished & moved onto vanlife fulltime 5 yrs ago. Experiences over stuff for sure!
Wonderful!
I love the idea of "Swedish Death Cleaning" At 81 it makes a lot of sense to me. My 77 year old wife and I may not take up your lifestyle, but you are rapidly becoming people we are listening to.
A friend narrowed her clothing down to necessities. Now her policy is: for every new item of clothing she buys, she has to discard or donate an equivalent from something she owns.
That's what we do with anything that comes into the house. It's a journey!
I’ve been following that policy for decades and it’s great. It forces me to assess whether i really need or want certain clothing items. Minimizes clutter too.
Iv recently found your videos and i am stuck. Watching all of them. Im so reacy to pack and go. Happy Travels to you both. Your a great couple.
Awesome! Thank you!
Trying to clean stuff out! About to start scanning years of photographs, then will mail the originals to family. I just sold a cement bird bath that we haven't put water in for YEARS! Hubby wasn't happy. He said "I liked that". I wonder if he'd even notice it was gone if I hadn't told him ;-)
Fascinating to prioritize "experiences over things"'. It was liberating when we let go of a storage unit. Btw, I'm envious that you don't ever have to purchase consumables like toilet paper, paper towels, and napkins.
That really does add up!
I am in the process of downsizing & decluttering to move abroad. I want to get rid of at least 90% of the things I own.
got rid of 80% toys, down to 1 rubbermaid tote now
Very interesting and thought provoking video. It left me wondering how do you manage an address to pay taxes, hold a drivers license, passport, etc.
I did this once when we moved to Hawaii. Now, I realize I like some creature comforts, but we do have a plan. However, I love board gaming and putting all my games in a suitcase is daunting.
Those are hard to pack!
Take the boards and only the pieces and dice that you need to play each game. For example if you like monopoly and checkers just use one of the checkers for your game pieces. Also don't take the money. You can keep track of your money on a piece of paper. So many ways you could par down games. Another thing is you could just take a couple until your tired of playing them and then trade with friends or donate and buy a few different ones at a thrift store.
Yes, it is all just stuff. I have lost everything, all of it, more than once through life events some beyond my control, some by poor choices and I have rebuilt from each loss. Now, I am gearing up to travel more before and after retirement Pictures can be digitally kept on a cloud. Some of my books are painful to let go as some are harder to replace. Again, it is just stuff. Your channel is particularly helpful for me to plan for retirement in the next 5 years. I am too close to securing a state retirement to simply walk away now. Again, your videos are paramount for planning travelling full-time or nearly so. Thank you and may peace and grace be with you both.
I have been peeled to your videos wondering if this is something that would be feasible for my husband and myself. Can you do a video on your potential plans when you can no longer physically do the travel life? Or maybe you just get tired of it. Would you rent or buy etc? If you have done this video please just direct me to it. Thank you for being so transparent. By the way my husband was born 12/18 and I was born 12/20 so I feel you with the birthdays/Christmas. Target is unfortunately way more than a 63 dollar haul lol.
Great idea for a video!
Thanks and thanks for the idea!
I luv this thinking but my hubby is married to his stuff😢
My Christmas things are going to be hard to part with. Been collecting over 30 years
I love your videos! A typical Target run for me is about $250. I have a question: do you ever have that “there’s no place like home” feeling? We just finished a 4 night cruise and had a blast, but as we were driving up to our house we experienced that emotion and I am worried that I would miss that if we become full time travelers. Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you so much for all of your content. It is very informative and inspiring!
We get that feeling when we return back to familiar cities. So it's similar, but different all at once.
Needs vs wants - Clear demarcation helps with minimalist lifestyle. You guys are a great inspiration
How do you two handle hobbies as nomads in retirement? I have many hobbies with its corresponding hobby gear. For example my backpacking, camping, music gear. I'm retired and a full time nomad that wants to be creative and learn new skills as I age. For this reason, I currently have a storage unit just for my hobby gear.
Our main hobby is photography, and we carry lots of cameras!
I find this very appealing. The problem is that I’m a musician, and I need at least one guitar. It’s hard for me to imagine having only one guitar. I’m thinking about stashing guitars with various friends and relatives.
I love you guys!!! Your logic is ringing bells for me!!! I'm planning my exodus and have to try living in a hotel for a while and let someone else maintain all the stuff!! I cant recall you guys visiting Latin America but I hope to bump into you someday in these international streets!! Best wishes!!!
We do go there, hopefully be back soon!
Do you have a video about health / travel insurance? Thanks!
You guys are cool. Keep up the good work.
Thank you!
Addicted to your videos! Full time retirement travel is my dream. Didn't think DH was...but he seems to be getting onboard.
As we contemplate this--curious, how much luggage do each of you have as you travel about? I have done a month in Europe on a small carry on & backpack, but long term? No sure.
Great video guys. I got the IHG card from your link, and we are now padding our points balance with our utilities and our necessary items. Our hope is to spend a few months in the winter away. We are reducing our stuff on ebay to put away for our future trips. We downsized to our cabin 7 years ago, so we have an affordable home to age in place, and it's easy to close up and go. Our summers here are fabulous, so no need to be away from the Homestead for those months. In late 60s travel is awesome but we want to have the security too.
Sounds awesome!
Thank you for these videos really helping prep for early retirement. We’ve sizeddown a bunch but now I feel ready to let go of more. We do have two small dogs that will be our travel companions oat of the time. We do board them for train trips for now. When they grow older they will come too
What advice do you have for musicians? I own several instruments and don't know how to travel without at least one guitar. I guess I'll always have a storage unit. Everything else can go but I worked too hard to get rid of my music gear.
Do you have a video about how you handle a home base, where you file taxes, mail and general things like that?
Have you ever made a video showing what is in your carry on and backpacks? If not could you make one? I would love to see how you survive on so little.
Yes, we did here: ua-cam.com/video/GYALlQjvNtY/v-deo.html
I’m about to be divorced. I find this appealing, but I’m in the process of the opposite - furnishing an apartment, as I don’t want to increase the amount of change, so I’m keeping my job and location for another year or two. Also, I find it a bit intimidating to do this kind of thing solo.
Ok guys, sometimes you must go from cold to hot to cold climates….u pack jackets, etc and drag warm clothes with you if the next stop is Bangkok ? Or do you just buy new clothes a lot ?
Thx
What do you do with things like a wedding album or any other things you have that are priceless
I got the smallest storage unit for just the basics.
Have a bin of sentimental items that you leave with friends or family.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experiences.. I guess it is work in progress, seems difficult to me to break the habit of wanting to buy things while travelling😅. I have started with low buy no buy in training myself for next year early retirement. We won't be fulltime travellers, more like frequent travellers.
We really enjoy your videos and the content. These are all things that we are working towards. We were just curious whether or not you guys had a mortgage, or did you own your home free and clear?
By the time we got to the last house we owned it.
Thanks for showing how one can actually do this and flip that mindset.
Which would you to say would be your choice of traveling? 🤔
If you didn't have a time schedule or could plan for it...
Planes
Trains
Repositioning Cruises
We don't talk about Target spending in our house...😢😮😊 💰😉 You're absolutely right those my wife or I go in for 1 thing and an hour later and $50- $100 poorer...😢😅
Makes me want to do this also.
Most people take more stuff to an all inclusive for a week!
Very true!
Another great video. I am like that now small suitcase and a back pack. Moving away from a computer to a tablet because most of what I do is in the cloud anyway. If I need a computer there are lots of internet cafes around. I am looking at dollar cost averaging for IHG points . Wish I had known about them before. So glad I found your channel. Thanks again!
Thanks for sharing!
Your videos are so inspiring and well done! It’s so impressive how you managed to accomplish getting rid of the majority of your stuff so you can travel full time. I’m making baby steps but it’s so daunting as I look around at all the items one accumulates with a home. I am going to keep at it though and hopefully will be done before I’m too old to go anywhere lol!
Thank you so much!! You can do it!
Would love to see what's in your suitcase and backpack. What do you carry?
It's all here: ua-cam.com/video/GYALlQjvNtY/v-deo.html
lol, yes Allie, $63 at Target made me laugh too :-)
What is your plan for when the go go years slow down?
Thanks for another interesting video! I only discovered you two last week and I've already watched a bunch. My situation has similarities and differences to yours. I'm single, 59, love my work, and I have had everything paid off for a couple of years. Like you, I chose to work in a field that didn't pay the most money I could have earned. Unlike you, I have lived in one of the more pricier parts of the country. I learned years ago that I liked spending time abroad. I have NEVER taken an overseas vacation. All of my travel has been for work. But, I have spent extended amounts of time in Europe and Asia and I knew long ago that I wanted to spend a lot of my retirement time there. Unlike you two, I think I want to have a home base in the U.S.. I own a condo in the city that I plan to sell and turn into 1-2 smaller condos that make better rental properties. I also own this small, mixed-use property in a rural town about 3 hours away. It's cheap and paid for. (I bought it for $30K and the property taxes are $189 a year.) I plan to work for another 11 years because I love what I do. At this point, I have no debt and everything I save will go into retirement and savings. At the same time, I look at what you two do and it is brilliant. Between my Social Security (which I begin to qualify for in 2.5 years) and a bit of passive income on the side, I think I'll be able to pull off the same basic scenario you guys do. It really helps to have folks like you who generously share your experience and knowledge. Much appreciated!
Contemplating a move overseas in the next few years but don’t know how to collapse my life into 2 suitcases. How does one go from 2800 sq ft to suitcases ??? Anxiety 😟
I always wonder about what happens when one gets older or possibly sick, and you need to stop traveling? Then no home base?? 😫
I think most responsible people own property and have it rented out. Or have the cash to be able to stay somewhere long term. I see a lot of people who sell up to buy caravan and travel, but that's silly, haha.
Got the Madam Blueberry reference! Stuff Mart Stuff Mart😅
We are indoctrinated to pursue the American dream from the time we are born. Buy a house, buy new cars, buy, buy, buy... and when you run out of space to put your stuff, you rent a storage unit. It is difficult to turn off that impulse to buy stuff, and actually get rid of stuff instead. We are going to give it our best effort this year to prepare for full time travel in 2025.
I could retire with all the crap
In my garage...which I now
Regret buying.
I love ❤️ the idea of getting of stuff
How can I find out how to get these points . At 82 i can do this now. Travel on all these points. Go to Bali again
Which type of camera do you guys use when doing your recordings, the video looks great! Thanks.
Thanks! It is a Nikon Zfc
What about gifts for your kids if they are not minimalists?
Can you park your car at the Atlanta train station… because we are planning to drive there from louisville? We are headed to National Harbor in MD😊
There is very little parking there. It is not advised.
@@GroundedLifeRetirementTravel I wonder if you can get to the train from the airport… may park there…
@@FoodiesVacations you could get close on the Marta but you'd have to Uber the last bit. The train station is horribly located.
@@GroundedLifeRetirementTravel Chicago is actually a closer drive… but I’m not sure if it will be a better parking situation
Shoutout to the friend I sent this video to a while ago. Robert in NYC.
What’s your plan for when you get older and really can’t travel that well?
Thank you for the video. I applaud your decision. This type of living is to drastic for me and my husband. As new retirees, we will travel more. Is this going to be how you live forever or a year by year decision?
What do you keep in your 2 suitcases and 2 backpacks?
What about safety? And what about your Family do you find it difficult to visit?
does purchasing IHG Ambassador entitles one for free breakfast?
No it doesnt
I am curious how you envision your lives when you get too old to sustain the nomad lifestyle. Will you just go until you can't anymore, and then move into a furnished assisted living? In the United States, or somewhere else?
The visa thing is freaking me out: what if I'm on day 29 and my flight out is canceled. Do I get penalized or something? Plus I feel like l always have to move out of counties
No, immigration understands events out of your control. You have to research visas and follow the rules but it’s not a big deal.
If I do Target for less than $150 it’s a good Target run. 🥴
😊
How have your federal taxes changed over time? For example, you no longer have tax deductible interest payments on a mortgage or other potential tax credits or deductions? Do you end up paying more federal taxes now that you do not own a home?
Look into the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, FEIE. Big tax savings as long as you stay out of the US 335 days a year.
how do you handle your finances pay bills collect income types of accounts you have?
This would be a great video topic!
@@DaveM-FFByou could probably split that into a couple of video topics...i can't wait to see them
Yes, it's pretty easy, we are thinking of doing a video on it soon!
We made two changes prior to this year's international travel. #1. We now have a global hotspot with inexpensive data. We're not using sim cards on our phones. Just texting and calls over WiFi. #2. We now have a VPN which makes it easier and safer to do online banking and video streaming. I'd love to know what other things might be helpful.