Please tell us about your travels.

I’ve now been abroad for six consecutive years alternating between teaching English in Korea and backpacking around Asia and the Americas.  I decided to go abroad for the first time after I became an ESL tutor on campus as a university student.  I became close friends with my students and the seeds of teaching and travelling abroad were firmly planted around this time.

Where are you now?

I’m currently in a transitional phase visiting family at home in Fredericton, Canada. I’m considering teaching English in a country other than South Korea and I’m also considering backpacking for half or a full year. I will have more clarity on the issue sometime in the New Year.

What are your most and least favourite countries and why?

My two favourite countries that I’ve visited are India and Argentina. India is just an incredible country that has no rivals in terms of diversity. I’ve never felt more stimulated travelling than I have while exploring India. Argentina is an amazing country with wonderful food, scenery and diverse landscape. The two countries I didn’t enjoy quite as much as others were Ecuador and Brunei. In Ecuador, I witnessed some violent events and security issues at the time. While in Brunei, I found it expensive and somewhat under-stimulating compared to other nearby countries in SE Asia.

Have you had any major problems on your travels?

I’ve been quite lucky in that I’ve never had anything debilitating happen to me on the road. My worst experience was an infection I developed while travelling in Malaysia that landed me in the hospital for several days. I’ve had my iPod stolen and a few other minor things. I’ve been lucky enough to never have any big ticket items (such as my camera or netbook) stolen.

What do you estimate your expenses are when you travel?

I’ve generally been able to travel on roughly $1000 a month. When I’m backpacking in Asia my budget is typically between $800 to $1000 a month and in South America I’ve expanded it slightly to $1000 to $1200. Certain countries stand out for one reason or another. When I was backpacking in India I only spent $600 a month whereas when I was in Argentina my budget stretched to $1500. I think generally speaking a frugal backpacker can enjoy travelling in developing countries for $1000 a month. I’ve only done limited travel in North America and I’ve never set foot in Europe. I know $1000 a month would not cut it in those regions.

How long do you plan on continuing this lifestyle?

I see myself continuing on with my nomadic ways for the indefinite future.  I haven’t even come close to scratching the itch I have to explore most of the world.  I feel my life overseas is now more of a lifestyle than a temporary phase.  I’m excited about what’s around the corner.

How was teaching English in Korea?

When I was tutoring English in University the majority of my students were from South Korea.  They encouraged me to consider trying teaching English after I finished my degree and the idea really grew on me over time.  In hindsight, it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life.  I’ve had really good experiences in Korea and I now consider it my home away from home.  I’ve found over time that my skills as a teacher have improved and I’ve always found the students to be a joy to teach.  Korea has a lot to offer in terms of culture, food and interesting destinations to explore.

What is the quality of life of an English teacher in Korea?

The quality of a life for an English teacher is generally very high provided they’ve secured a reputable job.  A typical contract includes return airfare, a free apartment, severance bonuses and low tax rate.  A teacher is typically left with a lot of disposable income after payday.  If a teacher is frugal and lives like a local, there is a potential to save between 50-75% of their salary each month.  Overall, in larger cities there is a vibrant expat community with plenty of opportunities to enjoy a variety of different activities.  One of the true highlights of living in Korea is the diverse cuisine.  Some of my favourite dishes are as spicy as any I’ve tried in Asia.

What are the typical salaries for English teachers in Korea in US dollars?

The average salary for a starting teacher would be anywhere between $1700 to $2200 per month with a free apartment, depending on experience, qualifications and the level which one is teaching (private, public, university). For more experienced teachers the average salary would be between $2100 to $2500. Finally, for those who are working at a prestigious university, large company or doing research or development the sky is the limit. I’ve heard of individuals pulling in between $5000 to 10,000 but this is very rare and only for those who have advanced qualifications such as a Masters degree and lots of experience teaching in Korea.

Would you teach English again?

I would definitely teach English overseas again.  I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to experience a new culture, travel and save money.  Unlike backpacking, it offers one the opportunity to feel as though they are part of the local community.  The one tip I would suggest is to carefully research your potential school before signing any contract.  Although there are excellent schools, the ESL industry is also rife with dodgy operators who have little concern for the welfare of their teachers or students.

Please tell us about your blog.

I launched Nomadic Samuel on July 1, 2011.  Although my website is relatively new, I’ve been fervently taking photos and videos for several years.  My blog is largely based on travel photos and videos, although I do write about quirky travel stories, destinations, ESL tips and photography tips.  In 2012, I will have completed all of my youtube projects which will allow me to spend a lot more time writing.  Eventually I would like to earn a full-time income from my travel blog and travel related projects.  It’s a work in progress and something that I’ll be pursuing with a lot of intensity over the next few years until it becomes a reality.

NomadicSamuel.com is quite popular for only starting in July, can you share how you have attracted so much interest in such a short time?

I’m very flattered and humbled by how well my website and other travel related projects have done in a short period of time. I think a few factors have helped contribute to the success of my website. Firstly, I’ve been overseas for six consecutive years and I’ve accumulated a wealth of different experiences over that period of time. Secondly, I’ve become quite an avid photographer over the last several years. One of the advantages of not having a blog (until recently) was that I was out taking a lot of photos just about every single day I was backpacking. Finally, I’ve been putting in a lot of effort into my materials (posting frequently on my site and my youtube channel) along with taking an advantage of opportunities to do interviews or guest posts on other sites.

What are some goals you have with your website?

Over the next couple of years I’d like to finish up projects I have on my youtube channel as well as continue to blog regularly on Nomadic Samuel. I have two new websites that I plan to eventually launch in the New Year related to travel photography and teaching English overseas (Travel Photography Tips & Teach English Travel Overseas). Eventually, I’d like to be on the road as a full-time digital nomad. I’m in the process of transitioning from teaching to a location independent lifestyle.

Links

Samuel Jeffery is the wizard behind the curtain pulling the strings of NomadicSamuel.com, a travel blog that is miles away from ordinary…dripping with sarcasm. As a long term vagabond (6 consecutive years on the road) Samuel is sharing his photos, videos & quirky travel stories along with photography tips, interviews, ESL tips, reviews and general travel advice as a way to vicariously experience what it is like to backpack or to plan your own journey of a lifetime.  Additionally, Samuel runs Travel Photography Tips and Teach English Travel Overseas.  Get in touch with Samuel by following him on his Facebook Fan Page , Twitter , StumbleUpon , Youtube & Google + .

Related posts:

1. Teach English in a Foreign Country, 10 Interviews with Experienced Teachers
2. Interview with Long-term Traveller, Roni Weiss
3. What is it like to Teach English in Korea? Interview: Linsday Nash

Please tell us about yourself.

I am 29 years old and hail from Cleveland, Ohio, USA. I studied electrical engineering, worked for an oil services company in the Middle East, then went to Spain to get an MBA (Masters in Business Administration), and then accomplished my “dream”… working in renewable energy in Scandinavia!

What was the driving impetus to quit everything to travel?

The quality of life in Scandinavia was amazing. I lived in Denmark and life was good and easy. But it just wasn’t for me. I found myself full of anxiety and stress. I’d feel pressure in my neck, my eye would twitch, and I kept getting sick. My body was rejecting the life I presented it and I had to figure out what my ideal life really was. I outline the series of events culminating in my decision to quit working in my Corporate Tool To Nomadic Idealist series.

Please tell us about your website, HappinessPlunge.com?

I call the process of self-discovery, formulating a new life, and then going after it without looking back The Happiness Plunge. You have to take the time to plan something sustainable and perfect for you and then dive headfirst into this new life.

In my case, I left behind the comfort of a six-figure corporate life to take the road less traveled. It felt like a bungee jump without the cable, yet I wasn’t nervous nor concerned whether it would work. Everything felt right and I still can’t imagine doing anything else right now.

I started the site to share my ideas about happiness initially. Then once I “took the plunge” and quit my job, I started serving as a case study for my philosophies. I don’t advocate that people pursue my nomadic life. I advocate people pursue their perfect life.

The more people out there pursuing the right life for them, the better this world will be. If I can inspire a few other people to take the plunge, and then they inspire a few people, then there will be a lot of happy and positive people out there doing amazing things, probably making the world a better place!

What is the Happy Nomad Tour?

The Happy Nomad Tour is the fun label I’ve given my Happiness Plunge. I’m a nomad, happily traveling around the world. As of mid-December 2011 I’ve been to Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and I’ll be in Venezuela for Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Each place I go I volunteer with the goal of leaving it a bit better than how I found it. Most travelers look to take from a place, I look to give. You can see the planned Happy Nomad Tour route here.

Travelling to rural locations must pose some problems for personal supplies, internet, etc. How has it been so far?

The more rural the location, the more amazing the experience has been so far. In Panama and El Salvador I was pretty off the grid (literally and figuratively) and it was so amazing to see how they live, what they believe, and what they think of the outside world. In Honduras I helped people off the grid connect to it using 21st Century technology – a truly amazing and rewarding experience.

In terms of personal supplies, I have minimal requirements: toothpaste, toothbrush, floss, nail clippers.. not much else. So it’s no problem to keep stocked up on supplies. The internet can definitely be a problem at times and going days without it can put a strain on me. To some extent I can prepare things offline, but even with text and pictures ready, it still takes a long time to put a post together once I get online. In some places I’ve used internet cafes, regular cafes, hotel lobbies, USB modems, and even the Panama Canal watching area to get connected and keep things up to date. I am grateful to take what I can get when it’s available.

When I’m in a remote site, I live as the locals do. I eat their food, bathe their way, use the bathroom their way, etc. It’s true immersion and I love it!

How has the experience of volunteering and connecting with locals been so far?

Every experience has taught me something, made me step outside my comfort zone, and made me appreciate their way of life. In other words, it’s been amazing! I don’t want it to end as this world has so many solutions to offer in a time when cultures seem to be converging and losing distinctness.

How do you find the volunteer organizations and how do you do it for free?

I’ll be posting a series of articles about what goes on the scenes behind The Happy Nomad Tour on my website soon. I don’t want to spoil that, so stay tuned. But yes, it’s a lot of work doing it the way I do it and keeping the volunteering free!

Are you earning an income while traveling?

As of right now, I have no income at all. So no, not yet.

I don’t have any ads on my site and there are only a few affiliate links sprinkled here and there. Right now I’d say I don’t want to load my site with ads to earn an income. In time, I’d love for it to be a community of people taking the plunge, supporting each other and sharing their experiences. Let’s see.

In 2012, I’ll start looking for income opportunities. I’d love to speak at business schools to encourage their students to think outside the box and pursue their passions since I was in their shoes not too long ago and I’m doing something totally different with my MBA.

Can you give us a rough break down of your monthly living expenses?

I don’t have a budget, but I’m frugal by nature. Again, the behind the scenes post is coming covering this topic, but when you eliminate (or as I say, outsource) housing, you can really keep costs down.

Can you please tell us some administrative details about your banking, health insurance, credit cards, etc.

I use SydBank from Denmark. I never transferred my money to my U.S. bank account, though I have one there too for emergencies. Sometimes I have to try multiple ATMs to get one to work with my Danish card. Apparently, many ATMs don’t like the chip in European debit/credit cards. Only in Colombia did I give up and use my U.S. account, but I was in a rush. I’m sure it would have worked somewhere.

I use a Chase British Airways credit card since it offers 0% surcharges on foreign purchases (though I don’t think I’ve used it abroad yet though) and it gave me a very valuable 100,000 frequent flier miles.

I use worldnomads.com for my health insurance. Luckily, besides a tooth filling and a stomach bug in Honduras, I’ve been pretty healthy.

Do you travel with a lot of possessions?

You can see my gear here. It seems like a long list, but it’s really not much stuff at all. I don’t feel like I need anything less, nor more. I can fit everything inside the big green backpack, but I usually carry the small one with my electronics separately. For some reason separating them feels more comfortable.

How long do you plan to continue the Happy Nomad Tour?

Initially, I said I’d travel for two years. If I do travel for two years, then I’m already more than 1/6 through the journey and I still can’t wrap my head around how fast time is passing by!

So yes, it could easily extend longer, but it depends on money too. I’m giving myself a year to figure out how to make things sustainable given the little amount of money I need.

What are some of the downsides of constant travel?

I’ve become accustomed to a lot of things I never thought I would, but one of the biggest things is stretches of days/weeks without a good night’s sleep. I just arrived in Colombia and I swear the neighbor of the place where I’m staying (I’m couchsurfing) is running an illegal night club next door complete with loud pounding music until 3am.

I have had maybe five hot showers since I left Honduras two months ago.

Another downside is always needing to think ahead and plan where to go in the future, where to stay, where to volunteer, etc. If I were stationary, this would be eliminated, but each new place offers so much new inspiration that I don’t mind

I speak Spanish, so I’ve been fine in Latin America. I have a feeling, though, that once I get to Asia I’ll quickly tire of the language barrier. In the past, it was always short trips and I was in the comfort of the touristy area where many people spoke English.

Do you have any advice for people considering volunteer work abroad or long term travel?

Know yourself. Know your limitations, your perceived level of comfort, etc. Do your homework and find your fit.

Don’t expect long-term travel to be easy. It’s not. You have to constantly be on guard, planning, and cognizant.

Don’t expect to see results from your volunteering efforts. Change takes time, and realize that what you think might be helping could actually be harmful. Instead, don’t try to measure your volunteering efforts. And if you do, measure it differently!

Links
HappinessPlunge.com – Adam Pervez’s website
Follow HappinessPlunge on Twitter
HappinessPlunge on Facebook

Related posts:

1. Interview with Rising Star, Adam Baker of ManVsDebt
2. Volunteer Global, Interview with Sarah Van Auken
3. Interview with World Traveler, Robert Fitzsimmons

I  Made a Mistake

JetSetCitizen is not a very good name for this website. The idea of jet setting to exotic locales, while exciting and romantic, is definitely not the message I want to promote. My idea of a JetSetCitizen is more about being a global citizen and the personal responsibility that requires. Really experiencing foreign cultures and connecting with people around the world can be transformative and enlightening, if you let it.

Travel is Not a Competition

Travelling for the sake of getting passport stamps or crossing items off a bucket list are just other manifestations of our rampant consumerism. Some travellers compete by how many countries they have been to or attempt to regale in tales of how authentic or exotic their experiences are. How different is that from trying to one-up your neighbor’s latest purchase? Instead of keeping up with the Joneses, many of us are keeping up with the Indiana Joneses.

Maximize Profit or Maximize Good

We have been sold the idea that we have to produce and consume more to ‘advance.’ The strength of an economy is measured by growth in total production, whereas other measures like happiness, health, social relationships, clean air, wildlife, access to water and countless other factors that make life worth living, are ignored.

So much of what we do seems focused on making as much money as possible. Look at the late night commercials for ab machines, fake antique coins, replica jewelry and countless other falsely advertised products. Sure it is possible to profit by selling get rich quick schemes, promising easy weight loss, or marketing over-priced affiliate programs, but is that really how we want to spend our lives?

All of us on this planet, particularly those of us fortunate enough to come from developed countries, are a cost to the planet. We consume, waste and destroy to live and entertain ourselves. The impact of our individual environmental and societal footprint varies by our life choices, but definitely all of us are a drain to the ecosystem in some form or another. We can choose to live a self-centered life and take as much as we can for ourselves, or we can find ways to give back.

An Excellent Life

I have been thinking about these issues for a long time. The search for more meaning is a big reason why my wife and I sold everything to live a nomadic lifestyle, but the real inspiration for this post is this video of Dwight Turner and his work helping urban refugees in Bangkok, Thailand. I am not going to summarize the video, just watch it. It is only a few minutes of your time. Better yet, visit his website and watch it there. You might just be inspired to click the donate button on that page to give a few dollars and have a major impact on the lives of a family you will never meet.

Food for Thought

At the end of every single day ask your self this question:

Did I give more than I took today?

If you are answering”no” for too many days in a row, maybe it is time to change what you are doing?

Related posts:

1. What is Jet Set Citizen About?
2. JetSetCitizen Interview 1: Trevor Stefiuk- Musician in Australia
3. How Do You Measure Success?

Please tell us about yourselves.

We are a British couple who’ve been together since we were 18 (we’re now 30). Our first backpacking trip together was around Europe when we were 19 and we’ve continued to travel ever since. Simon has worked his way through varied careers as a musician (the highlight was playing at the Glastonbury Festival), legal caseworker to help asylum seekers stay in the UK, and web designer. I worked for a community arts organisation working with refugees to organise arts projects and events including an annual multi-cultural festival attended by 10,000 people.

How did you decide to embark on a nomadic lifestyle of long term travel?

Although we had taken one month backpacking trips around Europe and I spent three months volunteering in Sri Lanka after university, I always knew that I wanted to do a year-long round the world trip and after working for a few years I was keen to head off. It took a bit of effort to convince Simon but as soon as we set off at the end of 2007 he was hooked. We spent an amazing year travelling around Asia, Australia, the South Pacific and the US and had more incredible experiences that year than we had in the previous ten.

Returning to the UK was hard and we struggled to fit back into the dull routine of working 9-5. We had been back a few months when I discovered the world of digital nomads – people who could work and live anywhere in the world. This seemed perfect for us, especially as Simon was developing his web design career at the time (after designing websites for fun for 10 years) – an ideal location independent job. It was a natural step for us and wasn’t really a difficult decision to make. We decided to save as much as we could in nine months (as we were already experienced at saving for our previous trip we managed to save 75% of our income, sell everything we own and then hit the road. We left England with a one way flight to Rio de Janeiro on 1st March 2010.

What countries have you visited so far?

On our first trip we visited Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, the Cook Islands and the US.

This time we spent our first year travelling mostly overland in South America: Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and Colombia; then Panama and Costa Rica. From there we moved on to the US, Canada, England, Hong Kong, Japan and now Thailand.

What are your most and least favourite countries so far?

Our favourite country is India. It’s a country of extremes, vibrant, colourful, challenging but never boring. We also loved the food and as vegetarians it’s one of the few places in the world where we can eat local food without worrying that it contains meat.

Our least favourite is New Zealand, which is a bit controversial as most people love it. For us it was too much like England and it didn’t help that we were there during the winter and it rained constantly, so we couldn’t do a lot of the outdoor activities that it’s famous for. That said, least favourite is relative and we still enjoyed snowboarding and heli-hiking on a glacier.

Can you give us a rough break down of monthly living expenses?

Our living expenses vary widely – when we are house sitting and have free accommodation we spend very little, but then other months can be expensive when we are travelling around places like Japan and have to buy international flights. During our first year in South America we averaged £1500 a month for the two of us. Our second year so far is working out at £2000 a month on average as we have travelled to more expensive places like the US, Canada and Japan, and we’ve spent a lot on international flights. As we don’t plan our travels very far in advance we buy one way tickets and these often aren’t much cheaper than returns so flights have been a big expense this year.

We have shared detailed breakdowns on our blog of our travel expenses in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay; Bolivia and Peru; and Japan.

These days we don’t travel that frugally, although we are flashpackers rather than luxury travellers. We always stay in private en-suite rooms, and as we spend a lot of time working in them we can be quite fussy. We also spend quite a lot of money on food, but we don’t drink very much. After a few months travelling we often need a break from moving around to get some work done so we rent apartments for a few months. We usually end up choosing quite luxurious places as we want somewhere comfortable to work. These cost anywhere from $650 a month in Thailand, $800 in Argentina up to $1200 in Colombia.

Can you please tell us some administrative details about your banking, health insurance, credit cards, etc.?

As UK citizens we don’t need health insurance but we do have travel insurance which covers medical emergencies while we are travelling. We manage all our finances through online banking and access our money by withdrawing cash using debit cards at ATMs. We also have a few credit cards for emergencies. It’s important to have a number of different cards in case one gets stolen (which has happened to us). We also carry a few hundred US dollars just in case.

Although we don’t have a home base it’s impossible to manage without an address so we use a relative’s address where our banking and tax related mail gets sent.

Do you return to the UK often?

We’ve been back to the UK once in 20 months for a friend’s wedding and to visit family. We don’t know when we’ll next go back, it’ll depend if a visit works out with our travel plans. While we were there we stayed with various family members.

We sold almost everything we owned before we left and don’t have anything in storage. We keep two small boxes at Simon’s mum’s house with some documents and photo albums.

Do you still own a house there?

Unfortunately we do still own a house in the UK, which we are desperately trying to get rid of. The market is awful at the moment so we haven’t been able to sell it, so we’ve just put it on the rental market. We don’t like having the tie, and there’s always the worry that something will go wrong with the house (ours is over 100 years old) and it’ll cost us a lot to fix it. Dealing with the house from abroad is a bit of a pain, and we are lucky to have a friend and relative nearby who have helped us out a lot. If we find a tenant then we’ll have the estate agent manage it for us. Ideally we’ll rent it out for six months and try selling it again next year.

Do you travel with a lot of possessions?

We travel with a carry-on size backpack each plus a travel guitar. We love travelling with just carry on luggage – we save time at airports and always have our bags with us on planes and buses. It’s also much easier not having to lug a big backpack around when looking for accommodation. You can see exactly what we travel with on our packing list post. People are fascinated by that and it has been our most popular post for the 20 months we’ve been running the blog.

What are the essential items you must travel with?

Really the only essential item for us is a laptop, which we need to work on. Simon has a Macbook Pro and I have an Asus EeePC netbook (although I have my eye on a Macbook Air). I also love my Kindle – being able to travel with hundreds of books on a device smaller than a paperback is amazing.

Have you had any serious travel problems?

Not really. Simon got pick-pocketed in Costa Rica but he only lost $30 and one of our debit cards (which we had a backup for). We tend not to keep too much in the wallet we use daily just in case it gets stolen. On travel days our passport, cards and money are in money belts and our backpacks are lockable so it prevents anyone being able to get to the laptops easily.

How do you earn an income now?

Our main source of income is Line-In the WordPress web design and development business that Simon runs. We only started monetising the Never Ending Voyage blog three months ago and now have some income from that and another travel website I run, from selling links, advertising and affiliate products. I’ve been surprised at how lucrative it can be and although those sites are making about £900 a month at the moment, I have no idea how long it will last.

We aren’t currently making quite enough to cover our expenses (we saved up before we left to give ourselves a cushion) but to be honest we haven’t tried that hard, and have often been distracted by travel. We aren’t particularly good business people, and Simon loves what he does so much that he tends to over deliver way more than clients have paid him for. It turns out being a perfectionist isn’t so good for business!

Ultimately client work isn’t scalable so we are currently settled in Chiang Mai, Thailand for three months to develop some products to sell including Premium WordPress Themes. We aim to have income coming in from multiple sources.

What are some of the downsides of a location independent lifestyle?

Sometimes we get tired of moving around and we miss home comforts like a couch, a comfy bed and having a kitchen. That never makes us want to return to the UK though, instead we just rent an apartment for a few months or look for a house sitting opportunity. After a few months of comfort we get itchy feet and are ready to hit the road again.

Our biggest challenge has been building a business as we don’t have any experience with that.

Is it difficult to travel as a couple?

We don’t find it difficult at all and argue less on the road than we did at home when we were stressed with work and commuting. We rarely have any time apart, and that’s not a problem for us, although it is nice to have an apartment with two rooms so that I can sleep if Simon’s working late!

Do you plan on settling down in one country as a home base?

We have no plans to settle down permanently. There isn’t one place in the world that we want to commit to, although we’d be quite happy to spend a few months each year in San Francisco. The world’s a big place and there are still too many places we want to visit. Even if we begin to travel more slowly we are still addicted to the freedom of this lifestyle.

Do you have any advice for people considering long term traveling?

Do it! Get control of your finances, cut down your unnecessary spending and start saving now. It’s important to set a start date for your trip, even if it’s two or three years from now. It gives you something to work towards and helps keep you motivated while you save.

Links
Neverendingvoyage.com
Follow @nevendingvoyage on Twitter
Follow on  Facebook

Related posts:

1. Interview with Digital Nomad, James Clark
2. Chiang Mai – The Digital Nomad Capital of the World
3. Interview with Entrepreneur and Digital Nomad Corbett Barr

Please tell us a little about your background?

I was born and raised in the United States. I sort of grew up on the road. You might say that I inherited the gypsy blood from my father. Most of my adult life, I lived in the state of Maine. That is where I raised my two kids. For about fifty years, I was in school. That’s the truth! I was either a student, a classroom teacher, or a principal of an elementary school. No matter which category, I have been on the school schedule for most of my life. I made a decision not too long after my youngest graduated from college to retire early. I was fifty-four years old. I actually still enjoyed my career as an educator at that point, but I had a strong urge to free myself up from routine responsibilities and roam the planet. It was a powerful desire. My pension from the state of Maine, although modest, not only funds my travels, but my husband’s travels as well.

What was the impetus to retire early?

No major trauma of any kind served as the driving force behind my decision to retire early. Mostly, it was a measure of self awareness that came into play and helped me to define what I wanted to do when I finally grew up. All that I knew for sure was that I wanted two things. I wanted to experience a level of freedom from convention and certain self-imposed feelings of responsibility. I also wanted to find out what it would be like to live all over the world. I wasn’t interested in tourism, particularly. I was drawn to the quieter aspects of living in a community and having as many new cultural and natural experiences as possible.

How did you get started in house sitting?

Quite by accident, most would say. I had never heard of anyone house sitting in the way I planned on doing it. Before I got the idea to become an international house sitter, I had thought of house sitting more as a local business endeavor where someone might take care of homes in the town where they lived. So in the beginning, I traveled for almost a year, outside of the United States, by renting holiday houses and apartments. The hitch was that I usually rented those places for longer stretches, up to ninety days. That would qualify me for massive reductions in price. It was after that first year that I stumbled across house sitting on an international level. I actually found out about it online, but I have to believe that for me, personally, it wasn’t a fluke but rather the universe delivering an answer to my powerful desires.

Where have you house sat so far?

I have taken care of houses in Prague, multiple places in Mexico, England, Spain, the isle of Saba in the Dutch Antilles, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and more. I have even taken care of a 57-foot boat in Baja California. I have lived in Malta, Italy, and Ireland multiple times as well. I return regularly to Spain as a house sitter. I return regularly to Ireland and Mexico as well. Usually, I only take assignments for no less than three weeks and no more than ninety days. I am not opposed to recycled assignments.

Do you get paid to house sit?

I do not get paid. I use the bartering system. There are two things that I have discovered that make my new life possible. The first one is living without debts. The second one is bartering. For the price of an airline ticket, I can live in, let’s say Malta, for 90 days. That means that for roughly $900, I get to live in a beautiful region of the world, not as a tourist but as a community member for months on end. Only the painfully rich could afford to travel for three months. It would require thousands and thousands of dollars. Give me that money and I can do what I do for a year or more. You see, when you no longer have to pay for hotels, restaurant food and car rentals, you have a lot of money left in your pocket. I negotiate for amenities, however. I have had pools, the use of cars, maids, gardeners, tickets to the opera, keys to the wine cellar, a fully-stocked pantry and more. Money becomes much less important when all of your day to day needs are taken care of on a regular basis.

Do homeowners typically expect a lot of work to be done on their homes and yards?

Every assignment is different. That’s why I negotiate on an individual basis. I normally contract for two hours of hands-on tasks a day.

How long is the typical stay?

I prefer no less than 3 weeks and no more than 90 days. Most of the assignments that I have accepted have been in countries where I am allowed to stay for 90 days on my American passport. Except for England, Ireland and Mexico where it is possible for me stay up to six months. As a general rule, I house sit outside of the United States.

When you are house sitting, do you still have time for sight-seeing, work or other personal activities?

I definitely get to indulge myself in lots of local activities. I also will take day trips here and there, just as long as I can return at the end of the day to my assignment. After all, I have promised to remain on the premises while the home owner is gone.

Have you had any major problems while home-sitting?

No problems with owners, but then I have a specific method for selecting assignments. Most of my former clients have become friends of mine and many call me back for a repeat assignment.

I have had a few issues living abroad. I had my camera lifted on a tram in Prague. My husband lost his money belt in Malta, containing our passports and credit cards. Not true emergencies, after all. We reacted to them at the time as though they were though. We have become a lot more relaxed these days about occasional problems on the road. Most things work out in the end. However, our clients and the houses and pets that we cared for have been mostly very enjoyable.

Do you still maintain a house in the US?

We have done both. My first couple of years as an international house sitter, I still owned my home in Maine. It was not impossible to do both, but after I sold my house and 99% of all of my personal possessions, I traveled without ownership issues. That was great! It was kind of like being seventeen again with money in my pocket. When my granddaughter was born, I returned stateside and rented an apartment for a while. That is easy, too. You can just lock your apartment up and go away. No property responsibilities to drag you down!

Your website says you sold everything, does that mean you are living nomadically now?

I was living nomadically for a while and loved it. Each year has been different as my needs change. That is the beauty of being retired. There are a lot fewer rules in my life. I like living without tons of restrictions, even self-imposed ones. The fact of the matter is, there are lots of different models for traveling the way I do. I like to think that international house sitting can be a useful method of travel for all kinds of people, not just empty nesters and retirees. With a little imagination, it is encouraging what people can come up with in order to see their dreams manifested.

What do you do between house sitting gigs?

I sometimes rent holiday houses between gigs. For example, at the end of an assignment in England, I decided to return to Ireland, so I rented a holiday apartment in Killarney for two months.

You wrote a book on house-sitting, can you tell us about it?

Finding the Gypsy In Me – Tales of An International House Sitter, was published in August 2011. It can be purchased on Amazon as a Kindle book and paperback version.

I noticed that people always reacted with great interest to my adventures as an international house sitter. Most people had never heard of doing it, at least not the way I do it. They were fascinated! I usually had to drop what I was doing and explain how it worked. I loved watching their faces light up with awe. People tend to believe that only wealthy people could live the life that I have lived. When they find out that I am just an ordinary gal doing this on an ordinary income, they love it!

Yes, the book has really taken off! Lots of people are looking for creative routes to freedom these days.

Can you recommend websites to find house-sitting opportunities?

I recommend my own web site: findingthegypsyinme.com. It features my book, of course, but it has a broader theme. I want to explore creative paths to freedom. I have met loads of interesting people during my travels. These were ordinary people with ordinary incomes who found a way to live a life that they were truly intended to live. My blog is a continual exploration of this theme. I also list other recommended web sites and resources that may help people to sort through their choices, including finding house-sitting opportunities.

Can you offer any advice for people considering house-sitting for a vacation or as a more permanent way to travel?

Yeah, read my book! Gypsy is an equal mixture of inspirational storytelling and practical advice. I say in the book that by the time a person finishes reading it, they will know everything that I know. It really is full of a lot of information about how to go about being an international house sitter.

In general, stay out of debt. It will be much easier to create your own path to freedom if you are free of debt. Also, be able to articulate your dream. Make it specific. Picture yourself in the perfect location, doing the things that you are good at doing. I spent a lot of time defining that for myself. By the time I was ready to go, there was a part of me that had already arrived and was just waiting for me to catch up with it. I spend more time thinking about who I am becoming than I do about where I have been. That is where the magic lies.

Links
Finding the Gypsy in Me  – Teresa Roberts’ website
Teresa Roberts on YouTube
HouseCareers – House sitting opportunities around the world.

Related posts:

1. Interview with Bali Guest House Owner, Mike Henry
2. Interview with Author and Global Citizen, Maya Frost
3. Interview with Nomadic Entrepreneur and Author, Brian Armstrong

Please tell us a little about your background?

We are Australians who retired after a number of years in the Public Sector. I spent 40 years with the Australian Defence Department (20 in uniform and 20 as a civilian) and my wife worked for Veterans Affairs. We retired about 2 years ago and decided to head overseas.

Why Kuala Lumpur?

We started off on our travels to Asia and then caught up with our daughters in New York. We then moved on to Las Vegas, Memphis, Cancun and finally ended up in Kuala Lumpur. We had been to Asia a number of times during our working lives, but had no ties to Asia.
English is understood by nearly everyone in Malaysia. There is a great diversity of entertainment here, including theatres, bars and clubs. Unlike some other countries Malaysia actively encourages foreign residents to relocate here under the Malaysia My Second Home program (MM2H).

Are foreigners able to stay long term there?

As an Australian we are issued 90 day Visas on entry. You can leave the country after the 90 days and come back in.

Is Kuala Lumpur a good country to travel from?

Kuala Lumpur is the home of Air Asia and flights are very cheap. It is one of the benefits of being in Kuala Lumpur (KL). We have been to Singapore, Macau, Thailand, Indonesia and are off to Cambodia on Wednesday.

Do you have Malaysian health insurance or are you using travel insurance?

We are travelling on our international health policy without incident.

Can you give us a rough idea of your monthly living expenses in Kuala Lumpur?

I have attached some links on accommodation, cost of living etc.

Do you still maintain a house back in Australia?

We maintain a home in Randwick, Sydney. We live off the rental proceeds.

What are the drawbacks of living in Malaysia?

Malaysia is a Muslim country and hence Pork is expensive.  Alcohol is also expensive; I miss a good Australian beer on tap.

Can you offer any advice or recommendations for people considering retirement abroad?

The internet is a great tool for research. No country is perfect, you just have to find the one closest to your expectations.

Related posts:

1. Retire Young and Travel the World, Interview with Wendy Justice
2. Can you Retire on $500 per month?
3. Retire Young in Costa Rica – Interview with Author Nadine Hays Pisani

Please tell us about your travels.

I first began traveling long-term in November 2010. Before I left for good, I took a “practice” trip in Mexico for 5 weeks to see if I’d like it, and to learn about any logistical problems that might pop up (mail, banking, internet, etc.). After that I flew into Guatemala and have been working my way South through Central America for the last 10 months.

What made you decide to begin a nomadic life?

There really wasn’t a single big reason, more like a combination of many. I was bored with my life. I moved around a lot, and it was something I actually looked forward to doing. I guess I just couldn’t stay in one place for too long before I started wondering what it would be like living somewhere else. I think I was just born with a nomadic gene.

Did you have a lot of savings when you started?

I dramatically cut down on unnecessary expenses to save for the trip, but I didn’t spend years saving up like some people do. I maybe saved for a year or so. The difference is I also spent 3 years building up a business in my spare time that could support me while I was traveling. I was aiming for a certain monthly income, not a certain savings amount.

You were living and working in Hawaii before, why did you leave?

I left Hawaii for the same reasons I left the beautiful mountains of Montana, and the amazing nightlife in Miami. I got sick of those places. I needed something new. It’s my nomadic gene working, I can’t control it. It’s one of the reasons I love constant travel so much. Every day is completely new and different.

Please tell us about your website?

My travel blog was created about 6 months prior to the start of my trip. I knew I wanted to record the many travel experiences I’d have for friends & family. I was hoping that others might find it interesting too, because I always loved reading other travel blogs. Eventually I’d like to turn my travel blog into another solid source of income, but my main goal with the site is to effectively share my experiences with others in the hopes that they’ll be inspired to take some risks and explore the world on their own.

Your videos are very high quality, do you think video is more effective than text on a blog?

At the moment I use 3 different cameras to record my adventures, and all of them record HD video. I wouldn’t consider them pro cameras, but all combined they aren’t cheap. Right now it’s about $5000 worth of camera gear. All the short films on the site are edited by me, but I have no formal training. I slowly taught myself (and still have a lot more to learn). I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to have video on a travel blog, but it certainly helps add a different dimension. My videos tend to focus on the visual experiences, I don’t talk much in them. Shooting & editing video is a TON of work, and if you don’t really enjoy it, it can be a nightmare. Luckily I enjoy it very much.

What did you do to build such a large online following?

At the moment I have over 13,000 followers on Twitter, and over 1400 fans on Facebook. One of my techniques for gathering new followers is to make it very easy for people to follow me. At the end of every blog post, I just ask people to follow if they enjoyed the story or photos. The process has to be easy & quick.

Do you make much money from your website?

I don’t make a ton of money from my travel blog yet. Maybe $300-$400 a month with some affiliate links & advertising. While I’d obviously like that to increase, I also don’t want my blog to become an ugly billboard that’s unpleasant to visit. I turn down advertisers all the time if I think their ads will degrade the experience for my readers.

How do you earn an income now?

The quick explanation is that I create membership websites. Customers pay for information or access to online courses about particular topics. The topics vary widely. I plan on writing a detailed blog post about this in the future. It’s taken me years to earn an income this way.

What are your approximate monthly living expenses?

I spend about $800-$1000 a month on living expenses while traveling. About 30% is for food, 30% for accommodation, 20% transportation, and 20% for entertainment. The breakdown can change depending where I am and what I’m doing though.

What do you dislike about always being on the road?

Generating meaningful friendships & relationships can be hard to when you’re always on the road. I plan on taking long breaks for a few months in one location every so often to help remedy that, but I’m not sure if it will work yet. I possibly see myself getting sick of the nomadic lifestyle sometime in the future. But for now, the benefits outweigh the costs.

Are you afraid of not being in the workforce for a long time?

I’m not a “career” kind of guy. I can always learn something new if I’m forced to, I think everyone can.

Have you had any serious problems on your travels?

Plenty of minor annoyances, like missed flights & buses, delayed baggage, broken cameras, cuts & sprains, etc. But so far no robberies, major accidents, illnesses, animal attacks, or things like that. I’ve had food poisoning only once in 10 months, and I drink local tap water most of the time.

How do you deal with administrative issues like banking, bills and health care?

I do my banking with Charles Schwab, a great bank for travel. They refund all your ATM fees no matter where you are. I have a catastrophic health insurance plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield in the United States that only covers major problems, and I use local doctors for other things. I also subscribe to a virtual mail-forwarding service called Earth Class Mail for cashing the occasional physical check and managing my mail.

Do you have any advice for people considering long-term traveling?

It may seem like there are too many obligations & obstacles stopping you from long-term travel, but I’ve learned that nothing is impossible. The only thing stopping you, is you. If you really want to travel, there’s always a way to make it happen. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy though.

To help conquer fears, I’d also like to recommend the following piece of advice from the philosopher Seneca:

“Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with course and rough dress, saying to yourself the while: Is this the condition that I feared?”

Links

ExpertVagabond.com
Follow Matthew  on Twitter
Matthew on Facebook

Related posts:

1. Interview with Digital Nomad, James Clark
2. Interview with Vagabond Johnny Ward
3. Interview with Successful Nomadic Entrepreneur, Dan Andrews

Please tell us about your travels.

My first trip abroad was a brief holiday to Hawaii which activated the travel bug. I took some annual leave holidays after that, but I found that even saving up 2 months of leave from work wasn’t enough time to explore in a time frame I wanted. My long term travels began in 1999 when I moved to London on a 2 year working holiday visa, where I used London as a home base for travels around Europe. So far my travels have taken me to over 40 countries across North America, Europe and Asia. I still have much of the world to see, but I am not in a hurry to tick off a list of countries.

What made you decide to begin a nomadic life?

I wouldn’t say that my nomadic lifestyle was a decision, rather it has been something that has evolved over time. My original goal was to become self employed doing a job I enjoy which I could do anywhere. At first I would travel for shorter trips, then the trips extended to the point where now I am traveling full time.

Do you have a home base somewhere that you return to?

At the moment I have no home base. When I first started out working for myself in 2003, I had a home base in Melbourne. I averaged around 6 months away and six months at home, while keeping the place I lived at. In 2010 I moved out of that house so I am now without a fixed address.

If you had to choose one country to live, what would it be?

Tough question! I think I will always call Australia home but lately I have been gravitating towards SE Asia whenever I want to stay put for a while. So out of that region I will nominate Thailand for its food, lifestyle, cost of living and good internet service.

How do you earn an income now?

I run a number of commercial travel websites which earn income from the following sources:

• Affiliate sales
• Google Adsense
• Direct Advertising

I have done web design and search engine optimization in the past for other sites, but currently I am working exclusively on my own sites.

Do you make much money from your website?

Without going into details, I make more money working for myself than when I was working for someone else, which is a satisfying feeling. I have had periods though where I wasn’t making much money at all. This is all part of the life of being self employed, a stress which is not for most people.

What is your approximate travel budget for a year?

I don’t really keep a travel budget as it is more of a living budget now. I am aware of my outgoings and I keep my expenses down by not paying for internet or staying in expensive accommodation. I recently kept track of my cost of living for a month for when I was living in Mexico as an example of how you can live well on a small budget. I spent $850 in one month while living in Playa del Carmen. This was a living budget, and not a travel budget, which has different considerations such as transportation and short term accommodation costs.

Are you getting tired of traveling?

I’m not tired of the traveling lifestyle, though I manage this by breaking up my travels with breaks in one place. As much as I love travel, I also love the work that I do as well, which is a good incentive to stay at a home base for a while rather than continuing on to the next destination.

Have you had any serious problems on your travels?

I have been denied entry to two countries in Europe for not having a visa (oops), been in a hotel fire and have had numerous flight delays and cancellations (I’m looking at you Eyjafjallajökull!) but nothing too serious (touch wood).

How do you deal with administrative issues like banking, bills and health care?

This is something that has evolved over time as well. Most of my banking is online now. I have opted out of paper statements and get e-statements instead. I have the occasional payment with cheques (yes some companies still use cheques!) so I have them sent to my parents who manage my banking as well as my quarterly business tax statements. I still maintain health care in Australia, and for travel insurance I am currently using World Nomads.

Do you have any advice for people considering long term traveling

Whether you are travelling as a working nomad or just taking a year off work to explore the world it is a good idea to start simplifying your life before you go. Get out of debt if possible and wind down any monthly standing payments like TV subscriptions. Get rid of unnecessary mail subscriptions and get anything that can be done online set up.

As for making a travel plan, I find you don’t really need one. Once you are on the road you will get into adventures that may take you destinations that weren’t on your original itinerary.

Links
Nomadic Notes - James Clark’s Blog
Follow James on Twitter
Nomadic Notes on Facebook

Related posts:

1. Chiang Mai – The Digital Nomad Capital of the World
2. Interview with Entrepreneur and Digital Nomad Corbett Barr
3. Interview with Digital Nomads from Never Ending Voyage

Benny Lewis shared this great video recently that puts this in perspective.

Instead of looking for the next mountain to climb or goal to cross off your bucket list, how about just enjoying what you are doing now?

Related posts:

1. Interview with Location Independent Irish Polyglot, Benny Lewis
2. Guaranteed Success and Happiness
3. What do you NOT want to do with your life?

Do you have to wait until you are 65 years old to retire? What would it take to quit your job and travel the world? How much money would you need and what would you do to prepare?  Wendy Justice answers those questions and offers some great advice in this interview.

How did you come to the decision to retire at age 50?

I wish that I could have retired earlier! It wasn’t until I was 50 that I felt that I had enough funds accumulated to afford relinquishing my full-time nursing job. Even then, I looked at it more as a sabbatical than a permanent lifestyle change. To me, working was always intended to be a means to an end – in this case, becoming a global traveler.

What did you do to prepare to retire?

I have always lived frugally. I don’t like being in debt, and that helped a lot when it became time to retire – my first piece of advice to someone considering this is don’t even think about it unless you’ve settled all your obligations first. The last year or two that my husband and I were working, we knew that retirement was right around the corner for us, so we avoided making any large purchases. We knew that this was something we were going to do and it was important enough to us that we never got the sense that we were sacrificing anything. The actual preparations were very time-consuming. We needed to decide which of our possessions we absolutely wanted to keep and got rid of everything that we could – we had huge yard sales! We shopped around for the best options for getting cash from abroad – all cash cards are not alike – and applied for ones that wouldn’t charge us for cash withdrawals or foreign transaction fees. I learned everything that I could to make our savings generate as much income as possible, and totally rebalanced our finances to maximize the return, while still keeping some of that money in growth-producing investments. We had to figure out what to do about our mail. We had to convert all of our business to online – banking and bills, that sort of thing. I scanned every document that I thought we could possibly need and saved it in my email, so that it would be accessible from anywhere in the world. There was a lot of preparation involved.

Please tell us about your travels.

My first real trip abroad (excluding Canada and Mexico) was to Germany in 1980, where I lived for 2 years. I returned to Europe in 2001, and by then, I had developed quite a taste for international travel. In 2003, we took a vacation to Thailand and Cambodia. It was wonderful – I had always wanted to see that part of the world. When our short vacation was finished, I was so sad! I promised myself that next time I took a vacation, it wouldn’t end until I was ready for it to end. So when we left our jobs in 2005, we had no obligation to return. We initially went to Hong Kong, with the idea that it would be our first stop on an around-the-world trip. We went to China, then to all the Southeast Asian countries. It is now 2011, and we are still busy exploring Southeast Asia! However, quite a few other countries still have my interest, and we hope to visit them in the next year or two – India, Nepal, Turkey and northern Africa are a but a few of the areas that we’d still like to see.

How long do you typically stay in one location?

Until it isn’t fun anymore! We stayed for 2 years in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and have been in Vietnam for almost 1 year now. We enjoyed living in Chiang Mai, Thailand, but tired of it after only 3 months. We stay in furnished apartments when we settle in an area, and pick up very few belongings along the way, so it’s easy to leave when the time comes. When we are on the road, we usually stay in a town for a week or so unless it is just a transfer point like Bangkok or Saigon.

Can you give us a rough idea of your yearly living expenses while traveling?

It differs greatly depending on where we are, of course. Vietnam is nice because the cost of living is very low here. We can live very comfortably for under US$1,000 per month. Kuala Lumpur was more expensive, but even there, we spent much less than we would have been able to had we stayed in the US. We’ve never lived anywhere in Southeast Asia that has cost us over US$1,500 per month to live a comfortable, middle-class life. One of the biggest expenses of a traveling lifestyle is the traveling itself – trains, planes, buses and boats can get expensive and you are never going to find the best deals, negotiate the best rates or really get a sense of where you are if you are only in a place for a few days. A young traveler we met in the mountains of China once shared his philosophy with us – “Always stay in a place for longer than it takes you to get there.” We think that is pretty good advice!

Do you earn an income at all now?

Yes, I do. When we first started traveling, we would send travel journals to our friends and family. People really enjoyed receiving them, and more than one person suggested that we consider writing professionally. We submitted an article about our travels in Tibet to Escape Artist in 2007, and they published it and paid us for it – we were very excited! Since that time, we’ve sold a few articles to other publications, but mainly we write for Live and Invest Overseas, where I hold the title of Asia Correspondent. Now when we travel, it’s always a combination of adventure and business. I look at is as a part-time job, putting in maybe 20 hours a week, though that varies considerably. Working for them, I’m always in search of ideal retirement spots, so it satisfies my desire to travel and helps to support our lifestyle, too.

I am also available for consulting – both with Asian living/retiring and preparing to retire, on a fee-per-hour basis. If you’re interested, please email me at: WendyJustice (at mark) gmail (dot) com.

Can you share how much you earn from travel writing?

I was very fortunate to get into the Live and Invest Overseas publication network, as travel writers generally are a starving group and it is a very competitive business. Let’s just say now that we are making enough to support ourselves living abroad, but not enough to get rich. However, it works out well, as our savings can grow since we can supplement most of our living expenses through writing.

With all the writing you do, why don’t you have your own blog?

Good question, John. I guess I just haven’t gotten around to it yet! Almost everything I write gets published and it’s been adequate to support us, while still giving us enough free time to relax and explore and do the things that we enjoy doing. A blog might require more time than we want to invest at this point.

Does your husband work while you are traveling?

Yes, he’s the “man behind the scenes.” He’s my copy-editor and has a great eye for catching grammatical and content errors. He’s also great with a camera, so if I write an article, he does the photography to go along with it.

Do you have children?

I have an adult daughter. I think she thinks that I’m nuts. She is very rooted with her house and family, isn’t interested in traveling much further than 100 miles from her home and doesn’t understand why on earth I would choose to live this life!

Do you keep your investments and primary finances in your home country?

Yes, I maintain a US brokerage and bank accounts. I experimented once with a bank in Singapore, but wasn’t comfortable with the differences in banking rules. I go back to the US every year or two, although at this point, it feels more like a second home in a foreign country to me.

How do you deal with banking, health care, travel insurance, doctor visits, etc?

If I need cash, I use an ATM locally. I have a debit card from Fidelity that assesses no fees at all and reimburses any foreign ATM fees that I’m charged. Charles Schwab, incidentally, offers a similar debit card for their brokerage customers, and I believe that E-Trade does, as well. Health care costs are so much less in this part of the world. When we first started traveling, we took out a travel medical policy with AU$100 deductible. But it never paid for itself, even though the premiums were quite reasonable, because pretty much every time we received any medical care, the fees were less than the deductible. So now, we don’t have any health insurance at all. So far, had we taken a policy, the premium would not have paid for itself. I had an eye infection a few months back, and saw a specialist here in Vietnam who charged me US$2.00 and gave me appropriate care. Even in Kuala Lumpur, a visit to a western trained, English-speaking doctor costs less than US$10.00. If I was in the US and had a serious medical condition, I would prefer to fly to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore or Bangkok to receive treatment. Not only would I save thousands of dollars, (even with the airfare) but I think that the care that I would receive would be superior – and this from a nurse-manager retired from the US healthcare system! I would say the same for dental care, as well – it’s cheap and of a high standard.

Do you and your husband have any regrets of not continuing your careers?

In a word: no! This is the best thing that could have happened to us.

Do you feel retiring at 50 was too young or too old?

I know many people who work until they are in their mid-60s or older, then retire and before they have a chance to travel, tragedy strikes – an illness or infirmity. And they never realize their dreams. When the kids are grown, when social security begins, when I pay off my mortgage – there’s lots of reasons why people wait. But if you wait too long…If I could do it again, I’d retire earlier. If I need to, I’ll work when I’m old!

Will you settle down in one country someday?

I can’t answer that one yet. I’m a traveler. I love staying in one place for a few months, but then I get restless and want to go elsewhere. If I was to settle permanently, I’d consider Vietnam because it’s inexpensive and I love the Vietnamese people and Vietnamese food and can speak a bit of the language now. But then, another area may beckon… If I had medical issues, I’d like to be somewhere with better health care – Vietnam is still developing in that regard. In that case, I’d consider living in Thailand.

Can you offer any advice or recommendations for people considering early retirement and/or long term travel?

People have so often looked enviously at me and said, “I wish that I could do what you’re doing.” I know that few, if any of them will ever actually take that plunge. They think that they can’t afford it – they need a million dollars, or 5 million, or whatever. Few people realize how affordable it can really be to live this kind of lifestyle. You can definitely retire comfortably for well under a million dollars, assuming that you have no debts. If you invest wisely, two people should be able to make ends meet comfortably with a nest egg of US$500,000 – especially if you know that you’ll be getting social security or a pension at some point and you head to an area with a low cost of living. Keep in mind that “low cost of living” doesn’t mean living in a dirt-floor hut! In Vietnam, we can live a solidly middle-class lifestyle on a budget of about US$850 per month – that’s living in a serviced apartment a five minute walk from one of the prettiest beaches in the world, eating almost all of our meals out, renting our own transportation, everything. I’ve written quite a bit on this topic – for more information, please see the Live and Invest Overseas website at www.liveandinvestoverseas.com to view some of my top picks for retirement as well as some detailed budgets on various Asian destinations. I’ve also written several detailed reports on various Asian destinations – Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, Thailand; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Bali, Indonesia; Vientiane, Laos; Hanoi (and soon, Nha Trang and Hoi An), Vietnam. These feature-length reports were published in the Overseas Retirement Letter. If you’re interested, you can purchase them through the Live and Invest Overseas website. Finally, if retiring young is something that you really want to do, your determination will make it happen. You can come up with a dozen reasons why to postpone it, but in reality, the only thing really holding you back is yourself. We’ve met quite a few couples with young children who have moved to Asia. Some people drift around teaching English or working odd-jobs to support themselves. If you want it badly enough, you can make it happen.

Links to Articles by Wendy Justice
Perpetual Retirement (Why Would Someone Live Like This?)
Chiang Mai, Thailand (Super-Cheap Living)
Retire Young and Travel the World
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Retire to Malaysia $1,223 Per Month
Hua Hin, Thailand (Top Retirement Choice in Southeast Asia)
Vietnam (An Unexpected Welcome)

Related posts:

1. Retire in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2. Retire Young in Costa Rica – Interview with Author Nadine Hays Pisani
3. Everything You Need to Know to Travel Around the World: Interview with The Siracusas