Brian, here is a suggestion for you. You mentioned in your videos that sometimes you have to get your monthly haircut in a place where no one speaks English. I have traveled to 110 countries and I have been in the same situation. I carry four photos of my best haircut on my smartphone - showing the front, sides, and back of my head. That way I can just show the photos to the barber (even if he does not speak English) and I get a great haircut. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Y’all are great. Thank you so very much for your honest, clean, well edited videos and travels. My wife & I have been watching y’all for all of 2024 and you have helped us decide that it’s time for us to start our world travels. Safe travels to y’all.
Appreciate your honesty Guys, Some retired youtubers just hide minuses of their travel life to justify their decision. They are like : yea>>. that is great lifestyle, we never tired, we go go go... But in reality you see how exhausted they are always on the go with heavy backpacks in their 60ties with nowhere to go to chill and relax as they sold their properties, planning to spend money on lifelong travel, but getting tired of this lifestyle after couple of years (missing family, growing without them, loneliness, uncertainty, declining health, absense of normal stable routine with exercise and healthy eating and more.... I Love travel, but I always Love to come back home and relax for several months before next travel :-) sleep in my own bed, cook my favorite food, see my family and much more.
Yes, there is definitely something to coming home to your own bed and your favorites. A life of full-time travel isn't for everyone, it's not always easy. But we are going to love it and do it as long as it fits. Thanks for watching - Cheers!!
I’m 55 and watching the ads and liking videos and subscribing for you. Ha. I didn’t know anything about slow travel until I stumbled upon your videos while researching our upcoming 2 week Europe trip. I already have my wife saying she doesn’t want another house for a long time after we sell this one in 3 Years when my daughter graduates.
Haha.... Thank you so much ❤️. It's a wonderful lifestyle and a wonderful slow paced way to see the world on a budget. Thanks so subbing and following along 😊
Hey B&C. You all helped me convince my wife that we could retire early and move to Valencia, Spain. We moved four months ago, and we are loving it. If you come back to Valencia, we’ll be thrilled to buy you a drink. 0:00 ❤
That's so wonderful! Happy to hear you're loving it in Valencia, such a beautiful city! We would love a cold one when if we make it back there - Cheers!!
I'm really enjoying your Q&A videos. Regarding "stay in" days -- I'm starting to go easier on myself when it comes to this. The facts are: I still work remotely, I'm single, I have a pet, and I'm almost 50. Even slow travel is tiring because I have to do every single thing myself (chores, shopping, cleaning litter box, etc, etc.). I was in Mexico for 4 years and have been in Portugal for 76 days so far. In the grand scheme of things I barely scratched the surface of sight-seeing in either country. Definitely no energy to care about what other people expect LOL! Next is France and I have grand plans, but I'm not going to be hard on myself if I don't get to everything on my list. Just being able to spend extended time there will be exciting for me. Happy New Year guys! 🍾
We agree that staying in a place for an extended time is exciting. We have started taking the attitude that if we really missed something then we can always come back. Thank you for your insights and for watching our channel! Happy New Year!! 🍻
You also will absolutely LOVE Croatia, if you go back to that "region"! Don't miss it. Beautiful coasts, beautiful nature and beautiful towns/villages.
Your comment about it being expensive in Australia is spot on... Our cost of living is pretty horrible (although your inhalers will still be cheap Brian). But, to balance that expensive flight over, plan a 5 month time in Oceana (as opposed to Australia), have a look at some of the Pacific nations in addition to AU and NZ. Vanuatu, Fiji, Noumea, and so on. Many of them can be pretty cost efficient, and they are amazing places to visit. This might make your trip a bit more cost effective.
OH my gosh, so many comments I want to make. My guess on your three budget place locations: 3-Poland, 2-Romania, 1-Turkey. I made a trip to New Zealand several years ago, awesome place. I made a work trip to Japan, found Tokyo fascinating, the way largest city in the world functions so well with that many people was amazing. I'm a bit of an animal rescue guy and one of the things I wanted to see was a statue that the Japanese people had erected to a dog (Akita, I believe; there's a Richard Gere movie about the story) that used to accompany it's owner to the train station and greet him when he returned, then one day the owner died at work (a professor, I think) and for ten years, the dog reportedly went down to see if the professor ad returned. The statue was erected to honor the dog's great loyalty. I was not optimistic I'd be able to find the statue, Tokyo being about 60X60 miles. When I asked our local office manager if he knew, he got up and walked over to his window and pointed down at the street and said, "right there." Less tan a block away at the Shibuya train station. Anyway, long irrelevant story but I did enjoy Japan. If I make the leap and retire to Greece, I'll buy you a couple of souvlaki's if you're in town; if not and you travel the U.S., come down to Texas and I'll buy you some barbecue or some tacos. 😀 As always, very helpful video; I'm looking forward to the phone one.
@@BrianandCarrie I think travel with one another every day 24 hours a day in tight quarters will bring you together or tear you apart. You give every indication that you are well bonded and connected. Kudos to you.
We're one year into slomad life and also Trusted House Sitters. Regarding AU & NZ you should definitely consider THS sitting. Because of the remote location and foreign travel expense many residents travel on extended vacations, so there are lots of one month plus house sit opportunities in those two counties. March/April 2023 we did a four week Melbourne & one week Sydney pet sit. The Melbourne sit was a beautiful house 200 yards from the beach, and in close proximity to downtown(CBD). When we return, it will be for a longer period, stringing together several long duration house sits across eastern AU and NZ.
We also decided to do part time and return home for 3 months. We just recently applied for the New Zealand Retirement Visa. I would just alert those on Medicare that the Kaiser Medicare advantage plan provides emergency and urgent care around the world. Coupled with Chase Reserve credit card travel coverage including evacuation and transport you have most of the medical end of things covered plus the lounges.
Just wrapping up 2 weeks traveling to visit family. More exhausting than any travel. I realized down time is necessary for me. Staying with family doesn't allow much alone time during the holidays.
We find this as well. We love coming home and visiting family, but it can be hard because we get so much out of our daily routine. Happy and safe travels!
I think I would get bored quickly of thinking of interesting videos, shooting, editing and then answering so many questions - seems like a never ending treadmill of crushing tedium. Well done for carrying on under great adversity!
My husband just clued me in to your channel a few days ago and I'm loving your advice and your channel. We've organized quite a good bit of DIY overseas travel over the years but always with our 3 kids in tow and usually for just 2-3 week trips. Kids are now grown and we are doing a few pricier tour group trips while hubby is still working but are starting to think about what retirement will look like, roughly 4 years down the road now for us. Slower travel will definitely be a part of it so it's great to have examples of how to make that work. Thanks for doing what you are doing and enjoy your 2024 travels :-).
Slow travel is definitely the best option for us. We just get too tired of moving around all the time. Thank you for watching our channel and taking the time to comment. We are happy that your husband clued you in!! 😃
Great Video! We travel full-Time as well and it was great hear someone else talk about things like ‘down days’, ‘extended time together’, etc… reality vs most TH-cam travel channels. Thank you for being fun, honest, & informative in your videos. Enjoy your Journey
Loved both these videos. Such insightful information of actual life on the road. You answered so many of my questions and I look forward to your future videos with information and your courses. And travels of course. You're viewers asked so many pertinate questions that I also wondered about. Happy New Year and Happy Trails 🎉
Thanks for the Q/A videos Brian and Carrie. We watched both and always learning something new from travelers. 2024 is almost here, enjoy your stay in the US. Happy New Year, ❤🎉hope you get to travel more, create life long memories visiting new places. All the best!
When you return to the states, you have mentioned you "switch out your clothing", or if you are traveling to a cold climate you will "pack different clothing", you "choose to drive when you are back in the States instead of walk", etc. Where are you keeping these items, clothes, car, etc? Do you have rental storage, leaving stuff at your parent/adult child's home?
Great questions. We leave some bins of clothes with family. As for a car, we sometimes borrow one and the other time we use one that is provided at a house sit we are doing. You may find some of our Q and A videos helpful as well. Cheers!!!
Another great video. We got weighed for the first time at the gate by TAP at Lisbon and had to pay 125 euro per bag to check them. Ruined an otherwise cheap fare.
Wow!! We started carry-on only after our checked bags cost 75 each to get them home from Greece. We will have to pay at the gate someday but have been lucky so far. Thank you for watching! Cheers!!🍻
Leaving Faro for amsterdam on Transavia was going to be charged €30 for overweight check in. Had 4 bottles of wine in luggage. Wasnt going to pay €30 for overweight of two of the bottles that cost me less than €5 each. Left two behind. Discovered a week later a home that cheap Portuguese wine only tastes good in Portugal. At home, it just tastes like cheap wine. Bahaha. Lesson learned??? Leave the wine buy the shoes
@@robertmcfarlane4151 ... The wine in Portugal was VERY GOOD.... But it's all about ambiance when it comes to wine...cheap or otherwise. I had some wonderful house wine in amsterdam hotel couldn't believe how good it was but.... Mehhhhh when I found the label at home.
Part II was worth the wait. Insightful answers to inquiring minds around the world. You educated me about TH-cam, however I doubt I would be looking to be a vlogger anyway. Good to hear that Australia/New Zealand is on your radar. Same with Japan. The baggage weight is an interesting question. As someone who obtains boarding passes from home, and don't check a bag, I am rarely weighing the bag. However the size thing has come up in North America. Frontier last week out of Buffalo was the first airline for me to cancel a flight (Tuesday) and not offer a flight out until Friday. Shocking. I cancelled a Florida trip as a result. A risk of discount airlines. Cheers to both, safe and happy travels into 2024.
UHG!! Those are the ugly truths of travel! Fortunately for us, we can roll with it because there is no real-time crunch. Thank you for all the support in 2023 and Happy New Year!! 🍻
Frontier did that to us too. They did reimburse us though for the extra money we had to pay to book another flight on Delta. We were stuck at the airport for several hours though.
Love it! You two guys are like soulmates, love watching Brian commenting about Carrie, and the way Carrie handles it 🤣. Too bad that people in Spain weren’t that welcoming. But you guys aren’t the first ones saying that…next to Portugal known for the friendly locals. I still want to visit Spain, but I guess other friendlier neighbouring countries will deserve and enjoy my hard-earned euros. 😊
Thanks for the honesty and that you care about your curious subscribers. I wish you a lot of joy and happiness during your trips. Did you drink enough beers this year or would you wish to taste more? 🙂
Full time treveler myself as of Oct, currently in Vietnam. Love the Q&A vids! I'm still fine tuning my travel routine, so the vids are a big help with that. Here's a question for you....What's something unexpected that you've found hard to get while traveling? Mine is microwave popcorn in SE Asia lol.
I (Brian) haven't had any problems really, but Carrie has to take some cosmetics with her. For the most part, we just switch to whatever they have but sometimes they just don't have it, peanut butter comes to mind. Happy New Year and safe travels! Cheers!!🍻
BTW, we have encountered two other airlines that have made us check our bags: TAP and Iceland Air. The gate agent for TAP took our bags. They were delayed for three days. We had AirTags so we knew where they were, but there was no one answered the phone to get a status. Finally got a call in Spanish. Fortunately we were taking a Spanish class and the instructor talked with the agent. Iceland Air not only weighed the suite cases, but also put the the suitcases in the sizer. Two were just slightly bulging and had to be checked. Not a fan of Iceland Air anyway. Agree that hard case is the way to go.
That must have been so frustrating. Thankfully, our bags have always fit in the area they check size - the hard side really helps. Good to know about those other airlines, we will know if we ever do fly with them. Thanks for watching - Cheers!!
I'm so happy to hear that you’ll make it to Australia one day. If you plan to visit Western Australia (highly recommended but we don't have 🐨 here but we do have Quokkas ❤), please get in touch as we have a self-contained spare room you're welcome to use. I travel over to the East to visit my daughter. I have three homesits lined up for 2024 so that definitely helps to keep the costs down. She lives in a studio apartment with her husband so sharing with them isn't an option. I've one night booked in a nearby youth hostel, just to try it out. Enjoy your time with your families in the US! 🎉
We will be very excited to finally get to Australia! We use Trusted House Sitters for our homestays and there are many in Australia to choose from. Is there a better option that you would recommend? Homestays help us keep the costs down significantly. We have a link to it on our website if you are interested and it is free to sign up. If and when you want to apply for a stay, there is a fee. Thank you so much for watching and commenting!! ❤ www.brianandcarrietravels.com/
Just found your channel. Really enjoying the content. Most watched on tv where I cannot comment. Needed to throw a comment for YT. Between this and another channel similar recently discovered we are opening our eyes to Asia. Embarrassed to say we are travel agents but we rarely book Asia. At similar ages and empty nest, we’re ready to explore more. Biggest hold is our amazing doodle 🐶. Thanks again. Keep it going. Ahh. Checking flights now to Vietnam.
We held off on Asia for a while, it just made us a bit nervous from all we had heard of the hectic style of living. We experienced so little of that and found the people to be the kindest we'd met. So happy we went and can't wait to return. Vietnam was wonderful!!
A lot of ground was covered in the pair of videos. Thanks for taking the time to knock them out. Looking forward to the future videos you alluded to. Budgeting $2.5K monthly ($30K annually) seems modest enough to allow for a nest egg to continue to grow, and still have a lot of fun. Tip of the cap on your ability to do carry on only. My camera kit takes up my entire personal item bag, and I can't imagine getting everything else into a carry on. I only put clothes into my cheap check bag with the idea that if it goes missing, it's only shirts and pants. Have yet to lose one but I suppose it is just a matter of time. 😐 I look at the check fee as payment to keep everything else away from airline staff.
Thank you! We have downgraded our camera gear for that very reason. We are adding the DJI mics for sound quality, but they are small, and I can pack them away. I'll just take one less T-shirt. 😀 Thank you again for watching and commenting!! Cheers!!🍻
Thank you for your time and posting. I am glad you two encourage and reinforce in many of your videos about being courteous in other countries. I wish more vloggers would do this. One reason many Americans are not so welcomed. Question. Could you please show the size of your luggage and could you mention what brand you like? Maybe shows how you pack. Thank you. Luckily, my SS is low enough that I don't get taxed and my VA disability income is non-taxable. :)
I had dental work (crowns, permanent bridge, root canal) done in mexico, and was very satisfied, looking forward to the Antalya dental vid. P.S. Your videos are the best ive found so far, very practical and informative. Need to do a deep dive binge watch😊 Hoping, after hip replacement recovery to slow travel nine months, then return to the US to babysit my two great nieces in the summers. Thanks so much for your awesome videos, which will definitely make travel time easier. Thinking of starting a TH-cam of my own called Tia's Travels😊
Thank you so much for all of your comments and insights, Tia! You should try the TH-cam game! It's fun!! Here is a link to the dental video. th-cam.com/video/gNDb4SxNeWo/w-d-xo.html
Unfortunate you had to check, but thankfully didn't have to pay extra. It's just so hard to know and we find has more to do with the staff for that flight.
I was surprised to hear you aren't moving to another country. I know originally it sounded like your plan. I know feelings change once you are in the thick of it. We sold everything and traveled the 48 for about 2 1/2 years. We planned to RV for 5 years or more and then buy a place we really enjoyed on our travels. That plan changed. It's sometimes hard, if you have elderly parents and lots of family. We had to come back to northern Nevada about 4 times when older family members were ill. But, it was from the east and not from another country which would be more difficult. We would just lose whatever we paid on a month's stay and would drive quickly across the country. That was ok because family comes first. We did eventually settle down again but not in Nevada. We are on the Oregon coast, and that's not too far from family. Plus, they love coming to visit from high desert to the ocean across the street. Take care. Kathleen
Hi, Kathleen. We love the Oregon Coast! You picked a great spot. For now, we enjoy seeing new places and looking forward to exploring many more. Our parents are elderly as well. We can get home within 48 to 72 hrs. no matter where we are in the world if or when we need to. Thank you for watching and commenting! Cheers!!🍻
Must say, your honesty and real life expressions make this a true delight to view and receive pointers. Can't wait to see you travel in my area. Crete awaiting your arrival. Stay safe, healthy and happy.
Do you have any countries that you will not consider traveling to? What are the reasons you would not visit a particular country? Do you try to visit all of your destinations in the warm seasons?
The countries we would not plan to visit mostly have to do with safety concerns or just a lack of interest. We do try to visit in warmer months since we pack carry-on only and don't have much room for warm gear. There will come a point though where we want to do a stretch of winter areas ☺
Thanks for all the great info. We are from St Louis, MO and also love to travel. You have given us some great ideas and yes the US has many beautiful places to see as well ❤❤❤ We did our first repositioning cruise in October from Barcelona to FL and really enjoyed it.
I’m doing the slow traveling with my bicycle. Two months in Medellin and now I’m in Torremolinos I still have the same problem. I’ll ride for 50-70 miles and tell myself I’m going to rest the next day. Then I feel guilty of just sitting in an Air BnB so I end up walking 5-10 miles exploring. But I have lost 12kg
Staying active is important but you take it to a new level!! 😄 We have learned that downtime is a good thing but we still like to get in some exercise each day. Thank you for watching and safe travels! Cheers!!🍻
We are visiting Australia and New Zealand this year and decided to do so by doing a 1-1/2 month cruise or approximately 6 weeks of cruising without going into too many details its will cost us $12000 Cdn which is apprx $9K USA dollars which works out to $6000 US Dollars per month for a couple. We are adding this to our two month tour of South East Asia which starts on Jan 4th 2024 - I believe that's pretty reasonable If we balance that out with our South East Asia tour it should easy work out to $4000 a month
That's not a bad monthly average! Especially considering how many areas you will see, which would cost way beyond that to do individually. It's a really great way to see a lot of area ☺
We have not been to China yet. We will get there one day soon. We do not script our presentations, but we do have talking points. There are also things that come up that we hadn't previously thought of.
I love you guys and love your videos!❤ Very informative. 👏 Glad to see you two having fun, even though its a lot of work too.😊 I think that I would prefer slow travel for various reasons but especially so that we can get the opportunity to see the things we want to see without feeling rushed. I would prefer to schedule some "in home" times or at least near home times to reduce the stress level and rejuvenate. Slow travel sounds like the best of all worlds. And you are showing us how to do it. Thank you! Hope you had a nice time back in the states. Looking forward to more vicarious adventures with you. Sojourn on!
Hi, Paula. Thank you so much for watching and commenting. We have now tried both slow and fast travel and slow travel is the way to go for sure. We discussed the travel tags and really wish we had them at the time! So frustrating. 😠 They may be a purchase that we need to make. Thank you again for your support. Cheers!!🍻
You should consider getting the Capitol One Venture X card. You get unlimited lounge and priority pass lounge access. It’s a $395 annual fee but the credits more than pay for it.
I have a dumb insurance question for you. If health care and hospitalization is so cheap in other countries why do you even need the insurance? Just learned about your channel and I'm loving you two. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and adventures with us!
Safety Wings is travel and emergency medical and Cigna Global is health insurance for long term care. Safety Wings would be used in addition to what you have insurance back home.
@@BrianandCarrie thank you for the clarification. We hope to travel full time in March of 2025. Just started a TH-cam channel V8DR Productions.
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I think people appreciate if you say hello and thank you in their local language. It is off putting when someone comes up to you with straight English and the expectation the person will start talking to them in English. A little effort in the language department can take you a long way
I know this is a weird question but I see you wearing a jean jacket. We are regular world travels and about to embark on long term travel soon. I always want to bring my denim jacket but I end up deciding that it takes up too much space because it doesn’t pack down small. How are you making that work? Are you wearing it on the plane? Is it just an item you made work, this round based on the amount or bulk of other clothes you are carrying this leg of the journey. I always wish I had mine for the dress(es) or skirt(s) that I bring. I’m pretty basic but it sure is a dang good item. If you have time for a second question, do you choose more travel friendly fabrics, wrinkle resistant, items that take less space? I’m thinking of trying to shop for some more travel friendly clothing items but this seems to require online shopping, which can be very much hit or miss in fit and reality once you receive them.
Hi! I did carry my jean jacket for much of our travels. The key is, you wear it on all travel days. It worked fine doing it that way for me. I agree, it's a easy piece that goes with everything. I also found skirts that are the perfect material for packing, take up no room and don't wrinkle at all. You can see them on our what's in our bag page on our website: www.brianandcarrietravels.com/shop-2-1 Cheers!!
Hi Brian and Carrie, me and my husband are following you. We are originally from Romania, lived in Sweden for 34 years, and from next year we will travel (at least the first year) by motorhome in Europe. We have always loved to travel, we did visit 28 countries so far, including three week roadtrip in USA. So I know this will be our "thing", travel by motorhome most of the time, then Sweden, we have our son and his american (!) wife here, and of course, Romania. I have two questions: I watched for a time ago a video with you in Spain, and you said that the food at the restaurant was so expensive, so you maybe ate out once or twice. in one month? On the other hand, in Romania, you said the opposite: the food was very cheap and good, of course, and you ate almost out. And not to forget the beer:). In this video you say that you love Spain for the food? On markets, shops, or what? I don't think Spain has so much variety of food, we have been there several times. The second question is about the budget you mention in this video: you say 900 dollars/month and then several times 2500dollars/month. You mean both of you? But how much, is quite a difference? Well, if you have time to answer, ok, if not, it's not so important. Look forward to see the video about Romania, is has really amazing, unique places in Europe. Have fun! Best Diana and Laurentius
Hello and thank you for watching! It sounds like you have an amazing road trip ahead of you. We would love to do the same someday throughout the US. I think that we are referring to the farmer's markets in Spain. We didn't eat at restaurants, but we did shop at the markets. In Romania everything was less expensive, so it allowed us to eat out much more than we normally would. Our budget early on in our travels was $900 a month each, depending on where we are at. In Vietnam that would be more than enough, in Italy it wouldn't get us what we would need to be comfortable. We have made adjustments along the way and feel that $2500 a month as a couple is realistic balanced out over 12 months. Did you have the opportunity to see our Romania series? I believe there are 13 videos. Thank you again for watching! Cheers!!🍻
Hello Brian and Carrie. Fellow Washingtonian here! I'm also thinking of settling overseas or traveling around for a while, so I really appreciate your content and transparency. I also plan to sell everything before I go, but I'm concerned about being able to re-settle in the US if I need or want to. Housing prices are so high here and will probably continue to increase. What do you and Brian think about that? Do you have a housing fund set aside or would you just plan to rent? I'm concerned about being priced out and appreciate any thoughts you have on that.
That is a concern for sure. We were priced out of Bellingham, and we had full-time jobs!! 😂 We don't plan on getting back into the housing market when we decide to return. We owned homes for the better part of 30 years and the upkeep and expenses aren't something that we want to go back to. Thank you for watching!! Cheers!!🍻
The best Q&A I've seen in ages, well done for answering so many questions, so honestly. We recently took early retirement and have started doing the same as you. We would agree with over 90% of your answers. I was interested in the comment about UK and Aus being too expensive to visit. I totally agree. From our perspective as Brits also adopting the same travel regime we would also add USA and Canada to our list as too expensive at the moment to vist on a budget. Would you agree?
We would include the US and Canada on the too-expensive list. We wouldn't be able to afford to do what we are doing now and stay in the US. Health insurance alone would make it impossible. Thank you for watching and safe travels you two!!
That's good to know! It's hard to predict which ones will be checking. We've been very lucky so far and also know even if on occasion we do get stuck having to check our bags, the cost is still well below what it would cost to have to check all the time. Cheers!!
Our families and friends were not only supportive but excited for us. Our parents love it when we come home and stay with them for as long as possible 😃 so not owning a home has been great as well.
Hi Brian and Carrie, love your vlogs and we wait every Saturday for a new one❤ Thank you . Just wanted to know if you can share how much you spent in total traveling to anew country and back to US last years. I think in one of your videos you mention you keep your monthly budget to 2k /month plus 2.5k each for travel to usa. Appreciate your help. We are planning to start our journey sometime after August this year.
How do you deal with car and car insurance in the US? Do you keep a car and keep insurance throughout the year? I heard years ago that if you suspend car insurance, the next time you decide to get a car and insure it, insurers treat you like a new, inexperienced driver and the rate reflects it as well.
Most car insurance covers the car and liability no matter who is driving as long as it is short term. You can also buy car insurance for short term drivers. It is inexpensive.
@@BrianandCarrie Oh my word. My family was discussing this option at Christmas. Can’t wait to hear all about it. I was wondering how I would handle 7 sea days?! Love your content! Y’all are adorable.
This time we have two house sits that include a car. Besides that, we borrow a car from our parents. It is always an issue for us so great question. Thank you for watching!! Cheers!!🍻
Thanks for these Q&A videos. Very informative and I’m looking forward to the upcoming ones you have teased us with. I’ll buy you expensive beers when you are in Melbourne Australia!! Hope you are enjoying your time at home and look forward to more videos in 2024.
You're very welcome - we are so happy you find them informative ☺. We look forward to visiting Melbourne at some point and would love a cold one. Cheers 🍻
We use our credit cards for most transactions and only take out small amounts of cash as needed. We use what we have before we leave. There are currency exchange kiosks at the airports if you need to exchange money. 🍻
Hello, Brian and Carrie. My wife and I are loving your videos. We are actually where you were a couple of years ago - just about to embark on the global nomad life and your videos have been incredibly helpful in our planning. We are targeting departure from the States at the end of February. We know you have a logistics video planned in the near future, but we're trying to zero in on our cell plan and we think we have it narrowed to T-Mobile or Verizon (needing two-factor authentication). Do you use one of those or any brief tips you can share? Thanks so much.
So happy you're enjoying our videos and finding them helpful ☺. We will have a video coming out in about a month covering all the ins and outs. As far as phone coverage, we use google voice. It's best if you set it up before leaving the states, you can also port your number over if you wish, which is what we did. This way, no matter what Sim card you use, this is how you will text and call and it's free to use. There are some hiccups you may encounter as far as dual authentication, but we've worked through those. Many places now offer email verification or the google authentication app.
Thanks for these Q&A videos! They are very helpful even to us domestic travelers. BTW, my wife bought me an Osprey backpack based on Brian's recommendation. I love it!
You're very welcome, we are happy you find them helpful ☺. The Osprey backpack is such a perfect size and works for everything. Thanks so much for watching. Cheers!!
Another great video! Question, on your budget you mentioned $1100 and than later in the video $2500 a month, was the $1100 per person budget? May have missed something. Thanks keep up with the great videos ❤
Very interesting Q&A. We are learning a lot from you. I think you mentioned dental expenses. We did a dental tourism visit to Playa Del Carmen in Nov 2023 that worked out well. The savings paid for our 3 week trip! Any plans on Mexico travel for you?
We had planned on Mexico for this spring but have pushed it back. We will be going back to Turkey in late Feb to finish with the dental work. We will also be traveling to Greece in March and April! Thank you for watching our channel!! Cheers!!🍻
Thank you for a great video. We travel for the winter gone 5 months. This year it has just been Azores, Madeira, Tenerife, Costa Del Sol and Albufeira will be our last 2 months before we finally make it home in April. At the end we are ready to put out feet up at home. Do you ever get that feeling that you need your own space that you can call home?
great content! One thing I may have missed but is the $2,500/month budget including all expenses including health insurance, plane tickets, etc. or is that budget just day-to-day living expenses like rent, food, local transportation, etc.?
Hi guys, I really enjoyed the q&a videos. I have a question. When you do finally decide to move back to the states and after travelling there, will you buy a home? Is this something you have budgeted for, set money aside for or will you rent? Happy and safe travels. ❤Zeljka
We will not be moving back to the US full time for several years but we know that we will not be buying a home. We have each been home owners for 30+ years and have no interest. We will rent when the time comes. Thank you for watching and supporting our channel! Cheers!
Thumbs up, guys! Great discussion! I'm glad that you're also considering Japan. It's one on my top 5 countries on my favorite countries list. I was there in summers of 2017/2018/2019 and had a fabulous time traveling solo all over. Plus, I like hot weather. LOL! Lucky you to spend Thanksgiving with family in Seville, Spain. That is one of my favorite cities. I adore that city and the vibes there. Great that you will eventually add New Zealand and Australia. I was there, over different years, in the mid-90s and had a great time. In N.Z., I stayed with Kiwi friends on the South Island, 6 miles outside of Balclutha, on their 3,000 sheep farm and in Australia stayed at an Australian friend and her and husband's house outside of Adelaide, but also did other parts on my own in both Australia and N.Z. I met both the Kiwi friends and the Australian friend, different years, on a train in Europe and we kept in touch and wrote to each other for up to around 15 years before we saw each other again when I flew to see them and was in N.Z. twice and Australia once. I think you'll really love N.Z. and Australia. I've spent the most time in N.Z. Absolutely beautiful country. I think your budget will be fine in N.Z. Maybe stay somewhere like Dunedin on the South Island. And maybe spend half of your time on South Island and the other half on North Island. I've spent time on both. Greetings from Los Angeles
Brian, here is a suggestion for you. You mentioned in your videos that sometimes you have to get your monthly haircut in a place where no one speaks English. I have traveled to 110 countries and I have been in the same situation. I carry four photos of my best haircut on my smartphone - showing the front, sides, and back of my head. That way I can just show the photos to the barber (even if he does not speak English) and I get a great haircut. A picture is worth a thousand words.
That's a great idea, Robert! Thank you!!
Y’all are great. Thank you so very much for your honest, clean, well edited videos and travels. My wife & I have been watching y’all for all of 2024 and you have helped us decide that it’s time for us to start our world travels. Safe travels to y’all.
Thanks so much for watching ❤️
Appreciate your honesty Guys,
Some retired youtubers just hide minuses of their travel life to justify their decision. They are like : yea>>. that is great lifestyle, we never tired, we go go go... But in reality you see how exhausted they are always on the go with heavy backpacks in their 60ties with nowhere to go to chill and relax as they sold their properties, planning to spend money on lifelong travel, but getting tired of this lifestyle after couple of years (missing family, growing without them, loneliness, uncertainty, declining health, absense of normal stable routine with exercise and healthy eating and more....
I Love travel, but I always Love to come back home and relax for several months before next travel :-) sleep in my own bed, cook my favorite food, see my family and much more.
Yes, there is definitely something to coming home to your own bed and your favorites. A life of full-time travel isn't for everyone, it's not always easy. But we are going to love it and do it as long as it fits. Thanks for watching - Cheers!!
I’m 55 and watching the ads and liking videos and subscribing for you. Ha. I didn’t know anything about slow travel until I stumbled upon your videos while researching our upcoming 2 week Europe trip. I already have my wife saying she doesn’t want another house for a long time after we sell this one in 3 Years when my daughter graduates.
Haha.... Thank you so much ❤️. It's a wonderful lifestyle and a wonderful slow paced way to see the world on a budget. Thanks so subbing and following along 😊
Hey B&C. You all helped me convince my wife that we could retire early and move to Valencia, Spain. We moved four months ago, and we are loving it. If you come back to Valencia, we’ll be thrilled to buy you a drink. 0:00 ❤
That's so wonderful! Happy to hear you're loving it in Valencia, such a beautiful city! We would love a cold one when if we make it back there - Cheers!!
I'm really enjoying your Q&A videos. Regarding "stay in" days -- I'm starting to go easier on myself when it comes to this. The facts are: I still work remotely, I'm single, I have a pet, and I'm almost 50. Even slow travel is tiring because I have to do every single thing myself (chores, shopping, cleaning litter box, etc, etc.). I was in Mexico for 4 years and have been in Portugal for 76 days so far. In the grand scheme of things I barely scratched the surface of sight-seeing in either country. Definitely no energy to care about what other people expect LOL! Next is France and I have grand plans, but I'm not going to be hard on myself if I don't get to everything on my list. Just being able to spend extended time there will be exciting for me. Happy New Year guys! 🍾
We agree that staying in a place for an extended time is exciting. We have started taking the attitude that if we really missed something then we can always come back. Thank you for your insights and for watching our channel! Happy New Year!! 🍻
You also will absolutely LOVE Croatia, if you go back to that "region"! Don't miss it. Beautiful coasts, beautiful nature and beautiful towns/villages.
Your comment about it being expensive in Australia is spot on... Our cost of living is pretty horrible (although your inhalers will still be cheap Brian). But, to balance that expensive flight over, plan a 5 month time in Oceana (as opposed to Australia), have a look at some of the Pacific nations in addition to AU and NZ. Vanuatu, Fiji, Noumea, and so on. Many of them can be pretty cost efficient, and they are amazing places to visit. This might make your trip a bit more cost effective.
That's a great tip, thank you! We do want to make it over that way and this would be a great way to balance cost. Cheers!!
@@BrianandCarrie Went to Vanuatu in '95, absolutely beautiful, super nice people too. :)
OH my gosh, so many comments I want to make. My guess on your three budget place locations: 3-Poland, 2-Romania, 1-Turkey. I made a trip to New Zealand several years ago, awesome place. I made a work trip to Japan, found Tokyo fascinating, the way largest city in the world functions so well with that many people was amazing. I'm a bit of an animal rescue guy and one of the things I wanted to see was a statue that the Japanese people had erected to a dog (Akita, I believe; there's a Richard Gere movie about the story) that used to accompany it's owner to the train station and greet him when he returned, then one day the owner died at work (a professor, I think) and for ten years, the dog reportedly went down to see if the professor ad returned. The statue was erected to honor the dog's great loyalty. I was not optimistic I'd be able to find the statue, Tokyo being about 60X60 miles. When I asked our local office manager if he knew, he got up and walked over to his window and pointed down at the street and said, "right there." Less tan a block away at the Shibuya train station. Anyway, long irrelevant story but I did enjoy Japan. If I make the leap and retire to Greece, I'll buy you a couple of souvlaki's if you're in town; if not and you travel the U.S., come down to Texas and I'll buy you some barbecue or some tacos. 😀 As always, very helpful video; I'm looking forward to the phone one.
That is such a great story! Thank you for sharing, Tokyo is on our list. And thank you so much for the continued support, Doug, and GO DAWGS!!! 😀
You spelled "Hook Em, Horns!" wrong. 😀
😂😂It should be a great game! I am a big Sark fan!!
The look on Carrie's face @6:56 on the "driving each other crazy" question 😅
😂😂
@@BrianandCarrie I think travel with one another every day 24 hours a day in tight quarters will bring you together or tear you apart. You give every indication that you are well bonded and connected. Kudos to you.
Thank you, Robert. We feel very lucky!!
We're one year into slomad life and also Trusted House Sitters. Regarding AU & NZ you should definitely consider THS sitting. Because of the remote location and foreign travel expense many residents travel on extended vacations, so there are lots of one month plus house sit opportunities in those two counties. March/April 2023 we did a four week Melbourne & one week Sydney pet sit. The Melbourne sit was a beautiful house 200 yards from the beach, and in close proximity to downtown(CBD). When we return, it will be for a longer period, stringing together several long duration house sits across eastern AU and NZ.
This is good to know! We probably couldn't afford to go unless we did a house sit. Thank you for the info and safe travels!!
Cheers!!🍻
That is completely true. Wellington is desperate from house sitters over xmas and yes July/August many people are in Europe for extended periods.
Your honesty in answering the questions is a breath of fresh air. Well done, you guys are amazing.
Thank you for watching, David!
Cheers!!🍻
maybe do over the shoulder course on picking a place, booking, researching, the who process
Great idea, it's one on my list to do 😊
I would LOVE that! I bet Carrie is a great travel planner.
We also decided to do part time and return home for 3 months. We just recently applied for the New Zealand Retirement Visa. I would just alert those on Medicare that the Kaiser Medicare advantage plan provides emergency and urgent care around the world. Coupled with Chase Reserve credit card travel coverage including evacuation and transport you have most of the medical end of things covered plus the lounges.
That's great information - thank you for sharing! Cheers 🍻
Great tip! That's why I read the comments. TY
Just wrapping up 2 weeks traveling to visit family. More exhausting than any travel. I realized down time is necessary for me. Staying with family doesn't allow much alone time during the holidays.
We find this as well. We love coming home and visiting family, but it can be hard because we get so much out of our daily routine. Happy and safe travels!
If you want to meet locals, you might consider joining Rotary. I’ve been to rotary meetings all over the world.
That is a great idea!! Thank you!
Cheers!!🍻
I think I would get bored quickly of thinking of interesting videos, shooting, editing and then answering so many questions - seems like a never ending treadmill of crushing tedium. Well done for carrying on under great adversity!
It does seem like work at times, but we do enjoy the process. Thank you for noticing! 😀
You two are so likeable! I watch at 1.25x which allows me to binge a couple at a time. Enjoying your perspectives on your adventures
Thats so funny!! 😂 How do we sound at 1.25x? 😂😂
@@BrianandCarrie Waaay too fast!😂
My husband just clued me in to your channel a few days ago and I'm loving your advice and your channel. We've organized quite a good bit of DIY overseas travel over the years but always with our 3 kids in tow and usually for just 2-3 week trips. Kids are now grown and we are doing a few pricier tour group trips while hubby is still working but are starting to think about what retirement will look like, roughly 4 years down the road now for us. Slower travel will definitely be a part of it so it's great to have examples of how to make that work. Thanks for doing what you are doing and enjoy your 2024 travels :-).
Slow travel is definitely the best option for us. We just get too tired of moving around all the time. Thank you for watching our channel and taking the time to comment. We are happy that your husband clued you in!! 😃
Great Video! We travel full-Time as well and it was great hear someone else talk about things like ‘down days’, ‘extended time together’, etc… reality vs most TH-cam travel channels. Thank you for being fun, honest, & informative in your videos. Enjoy your Journey
Thank you, Thomas for the kind words and for watching our channel! We very much appreciate the support!
Cheers!
Loved both these videos. Such insightful information of actual life on the road. You answered so many of my questions and I look forward to your future videos with information and your courses. And travels of course. You're viewers asked so many pertinate questions that I also wondered about. Happy New Year and Happy Trails 🎉
Thank you so much for watching!!! Happy New Year to you and yours!!
Cheers!!🍻
Thanks for the Q/A videos Brian and Carrie. We watched both and always learning something new from travelers. 2024 is almost here, enjoy your stay in the US. Happy New Year, ❤🎉hope you get to travel more, create life long memories visiting new places. All the best!
Thank you!! We have big plans for 2024!! Happy New Year to you as well!
Cheers!!🍻
When you return to the states, you have mentioned you "switch out your clothing", or if you are traveling to a cold climate you will "pack different clothing", you "choose to drive when you are back in the States instead of walk", etc. Where are you keeping these items, clothes, car, etc? Do you have rental storage, leaving stuff at your parent/adult child's home?
Great questions.
We leave some bins of clothes with family. As for a car, we sometimes borrow one and the other time we use one that is provided at a house sit we are doing.
You may find some of our Q and A videos helpful as well. Cheers!!!
Another great video. We got weighed for the first time at the gate by TAP at Lisbon and had to pay 125 euro per bag to check them. Ruined an otherwise cheap fare.
Wow!! We started carry-on only after our checked bags cost 75 each to get them home from Greece. We will have to pay at the gate someday but have been lucky so far. Thank you for watching!
Cheers!!🍻
Leaving Faro for amsterdam on Transavia was going to be charged €30 for overweight check in. Had 4 bottles of wine in luggage. Wasnt going to pay €30 for overweight of two of the bottles that cost me less than €5 each. Left two behind. Discovered a week later a home that cheap Portuguese wine only tastes good in Portugal. At home, it just tastes like cheap wine. Bahaha. Lesson learned??? Leave the wine buy the shoes
TAP baggage fees and limitations are insane.
@@upcycledcopycat8389 Comment about cheap Portugese wine made me laugh!! The wine there, especially vino verde was very tasty. Point duly noted.
@@robertmcfarlane4151 ... The wine in Portugal was VERY GOOD.... But it's all about ambiance when it comes to wine...cheap or otherwise. I had some wonderful house wine in amsterdam hotel couldn't believe how good it was but.... Mehhhhh when I found the label at home.
Someone suggested putting air tags in luggage in case it gets lost.
Part II was worth the wait. Insightful answers to inquiring minds around the world. You educated me about TH-cam, however I doubt I would be looking to be a vlogger anyway. Good to hear that Australia/New Zealand is on your radar. Same with Japan. The baggage weight is an interesting question. As someone who obtains boarding passes from home, and don't check a bag, I am rarely weighing the bag. However the size thing has come up in North America. Frontier last week out of Buffalo was the first airline for me to cancel a flight (Tuesday) and not offer a flight out until Friday. Shocking. I cancelled a Florida trip as a result. A risk of discount airlines. Cheers to both, safe and happy travels into 2024.
UHG!! Those are the ugly truths of travel! Fortunately for us, we can roll with it because there is no real-time crunch. Thank you for all the support in 2023 and Happy New Year!! 🍻
Frontier did that to us too. They did reimburse us though for the extra money we had to pay to book another flight on Delta. We were stuck at the airport for several hours though.
Love it! You two guys are like soulmates, love watching Brian commenting about Carrie, and the way Carrie handles it 🤣. Too bad that people in Spain weren’t that welcoming. But you guys aren’t the first ones saying that…next to Portugal known for the friendly locals. I still want to visit Spain, but I guess other friendlier neighbouring countries will deserve and enjoy my hard-earned euros. 😊
Thank you for watching. Spain in beautiful and worth visiting. Just don't expect a warm welcome! 😀
Yeah, that April 2025 cruise 🚢 from Japan to Seattle is on my hope list ❤💪
WooHoo part 2!
Hope you enjoy it 😊
Thanks for the honesty and that you care about your curious subscribers. I wish you a lot of joy and happiness during your trips. Did you drink enough beers this year or would you wish to taste more? 🙂
Thank you so much for watching 😊. We had some amazing beers from around the world, but there's always more to try. Excited to see what 2024 brings.
Another great video. I agree with everything you have said based on my travel experiences, not that I have travelled full time.
Thank you for watching!!
Cheers!🍻
Full time treveler myself as of Oct, currently in Vietnam. Love the Q&A vids! I'm still fine tuning my travel routine, so the vids are a big help with that.
Here's a question for you....What's something unexpected that you've found hard to get while traveling? Mine is microwave popcorn in SE Asia lol.
I (Brian) haven't had any problems really, but Carrie has to take some cosmetics with her. For the most part, we just switch to whatever they have but sometimes they just don't have it, peanut butter comes to mind. Happy New Year and safe travels!
Cheers!!🍻
Did y’all learn how do TH-cam on your own or did you use a course to learn how to do it and how to monetize faster?
We learned it on our own... It takes a lot of research and we're still learning 😊
BTW, we have encountered two other airlines that have made us check our bags: TAP and Iceland Air. The gate agent for TAP took our bags. They were delayed for three days. We had AirTags so we knew where they were, but there was no one answered the phone to get a status. Finally got a call in Spanish. Fortunately we were taking a Spanish class and the instructor talked with the agent. Iceland Air not only weighed the suite cases, but also put the the suitcases in the sizer. Two were just slightly bulging and had to be checked. Not a fan of Iceland Air anyway. Agree that hard case is the way to go.
That must have been so frustrating. Thankfully, our bags have always fit in the area they check size - the hard side really helps. Good to know about those other airlines, we will know if we ever do fly with them. Thanks for watching - Cheers!!
I'm so happy to hear that you’ll make it to Australia one day. If you plan to visit Western Australia (highly recommended but we don't have 🐨 here but we do have Quokkas ❤), please get in touch as we have a self-contained spare room you're welcome to use. I travel over to the East to visit my daughter. I have three homesits lined up for 2024 so that definitely helps to keep the costs down. She lives in a studio apartment with her husband so sharing with them isn't an option. I've one night booked in a nearby youth hostel, just to try it out. Enjoy your time with your families in the US! 🎉
We will be very excited to finally get to Australia! We use Trusted House Sitters for our homestays and there are many in Australia to choose from. Is there a better option that you would recommend? Homestays help us keep the costs down significantly. We have a link to it on our website if you are interested and it is free to sign up. If and when you want to apply for a stay, there is a fee. Thank you so much for watching and commenting!! ❤ www.brianandcarrietravels.com/
Just found your channel. Really enjoying the content. Most watched on tv where I cannot comment. Needed to throw a comment for YT. Between this and another channel similar recently discovered we are opening our eyes to Asia. Embarrassed to say we are travel agents but we rarely book Asia. At similar ages and empty nest, we’re ready to explore more. Biggest hold is our amazing doodle 🐶. Thanks again. Keep it going. Ahh. Checking flights now to Vietnam.
We held off on Asia for a while, it just made us a bit nervous from all we had heard of the hectic style of living. We experienced so little of that and found the people to be the kindest we'd met. So happy we went and can't wait to return. Vietnam was wonderful!!
+1 for offering a course with all this info. Pls sign me up! Looking forward to it Carrie 😊
Happy new year!
Great to hear, I'm really excited about completing this course. It's something we really wish we had available when planning to travel full time 😊
A lot of ground was covered in the pair of videos. Thanks for taking the time to knock them out. Looking forward to the future videos you alluded to. Budgeting $2.5K monthly ($30K annually) seems modest enough to allow for a nest egg to continue to grow, and still have a lot of fun.
Tip of the cap on your ability to do carry on only. My camera kit takes up my entire personal item bag, and I can't imagine getting everything else into a carry on. I only put clothes into my cheap check bag with the idea that if it goes missing, it's only shirts and pants. Have yet to lose one but I suppose it is just a matter of time. 😐 I look at the check fee as payment to keep everything else away from airline staff.
Thank you! We have downgraded our camera gear for that very reason. We are adding the DJI mics for sound quality, but they are small, and I can pack them away. I'll just take one less T-shirt. 😀 Thank you again for watching and commenting!!
Cheers!!🍻
Thank you for your time and posting. I am glad you two encourage and reinforce in many of your videos about being courteous in other countries. I wish more vloggers would do this. One reason many Americans are not so welcomed. Question. Could you please show the size of your luggage and could you mention what brand you like? Maybe shows how you pack. Thank you. Luckily, my SS is low enough that I don't get taxed and my VA disability income is non-taxable. :)
It is always best to be courteous, even to Americans. 😀 We have done a couple of packing videos, we show how we pack and what we use for luggage.
You’re a great speaky Englisher, Brian. 😂
2 great videos. Thanks!
Happy you enjoyed them ☺️
Would you do a demonstration/ full tutorial on how you edit your videos please?
That would be something that I would not be that informative on unfortunately. There are a lot of very good video on TH-cam that I relied on myself.
@@BrianandCarrie your videos are amazing!
@@BrianandCarrieI’m learning a lot from you lot, and it’s nice learning all these things from other travellers, that’s why I asked.
I had dental work (crowns, permanent bridge, root canal) done in mexico, and was very satisfied, looking forward to the Antalya dental vid. P.S. Your videos are the best ive found so far, very practical and informative. Need to do a deep dive binge watch😊 Hoping, after hip replacement recovery to slow travel nine months, then return to the US to babysit my two great nieces in the summers. Thanks so much for your awesome videos, which will definitely make travel time easier. Thinking of starting a TH-cam of my own called Tia's Travels😊
Thank you so much for all of your comments and insights, Tia! You should try the TH-cam game! It's fun!! Here is a link to the dental video.
th-cam.com/video/gNDb4SxNeWo/w-d-xo.html
@@BrianandCarrie Thank you!❣️
I just got weighed on air Asia going from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket. They did not charge me but I had to check it
Unfortunate you had to check, but thankfully didn't have to pay extra. It's just so hard to know and we find has more to do with the staff for that flight.
I was surprised to hear you aren't moving to another country. I know originally it sounded like your plan. I know feelings change once you are in the thick of it. We sold everything and traveled the 48 for about 2 1/2 years. We planned to RV for 5 years or more and then buy a place we really enjoyed on our travels. That plan changed. It's sometimes hard, if you have elderly parents and lots of family. We had to come back to northern Nevada about 4 times when older family members were ill. But, it was from the east and not from another country which would be more difficult. We would just lose whatever we paid on a month's stay and would drive quickly across the country. That was ok because family comes first. We did eventually settle down again but not in Nevada. We are on the Oregon coast, and that's not too far from family. Plus, they love coming to visit from high desert to the ocean across the street. Take care. Kathleen
Hi, Kathleen. We love the Oregon Coast! You picked a great spot. For now, we enjoy seeing new places and looking forward to exploring many more. Our parents are elderly as well. We can get home within 48 to 72 hrs. no matter where we are in the world if or when we need to. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Cheers!!🍻
Must say, your honesty and real life expressions make this a true delight to view and receive pointers. Can't wait to see you travel in my area. Crete awaiting your arrival. Stay safe, healthy and happy.
Thank you so much for the kind words!! Crete is on our list, and it could be a possibility soon! ❤
@@BrianandCarrie hope I get to meet you both. I travelled for three years before settling here. Enjoy, see you soon.
About how long the video is, i enjoyed it just like many others do. Anyone can leave at any time and come back.
Thank you, appreciate you watching and following along.
Thank you so much for these lovely Q and A videos.
You are so welcome! Thank you for watching 😊
What brand of luggage do you travel with and can you talk about how that has changed over your time traveling
Hi! We use Away luggage and have for the past 2 years - we love it!
Do we need to watch the whole commercials for you to be paid? If so, I'll start watching the commercials😊
You do not! 😁 But thank you...
Do you have any countries that you will not consider traveling to? What are the reasons you would not visit a particular country? Do you try to visit all of your destinations in the warm seasons?
The countries we would not plan to visit mostly have to do with safety concerns or just a lack of interest. We do try to visit in warmer months since we pack carry-on only and don't have much room for warm gear. There will come a point though where we want to do a stretch of winter areas ☺
Thanks for all the great info. We are from St Louis, MO and also love to travel. You have given us some great ideas and yes the US has many beautiful places to see as well ❤❤❤
We did our first repositioning cruise in October from Barcelona to FL and really enjoyed it.
Thank you for watching! So glad that you found our channel and taking the time to comment. The support is very much appreciated. Safe travels!
I’m doing the slow traveling with my bicycle. Two months in Medellin and now I’m in Torremolinos I still have the same problem. I’ll ride for 50-70 miles and tell myself I’m going to rest the next day. Then I feel guilty of just sitting in an Air BnB so I end up walking 5-10 miles exploring. But I have lost 12kg
Staying active is important but you take it to a new level!! 😄 We have learned that downtime is a good thing but we still like to get in some exercise each day. Thank you for watching and safe travels!
Cheers!!🍻
Your videos just make me happy--thank you!
So happy to hear this. Thank you so much for watching 😊
We are visiting Australia and New Zealand this year and decided to do so by doing a 1-1/2 month cruise or approximately 6 weeks of cruising without going into too many details its will cost us $12000 Cdn which is apprx $9K USA dollars which works out to $6000 US Dollars per month for a couple. We are adding this to our two month tour of South East Asia which starts on Jan 4th 2024 - I believe that's pretty reasonable
If we balance that out with our South East Asia tour it should easy work out to $4000 a month
That's not a bad monthly average! Especially considering how many areas you will see, which would cost way beyond that to do individually. It's a really great way to see a lot of area ☺
Thanks for all the time to do this! The cool thing is when you get the same questions, which you will 😂, you can just refer them to these vids!
That will be something we do often!! 😂 Thank you for watching!!
Cheers!!🍻
Have you been to China? Do you scripted your presentations ? They are so relax and go smoothly . However you do it just keep it up!
We have not been to China yet. We will get there one day soon. We do not script our presentations, but we do have talking points. There are also things that come up that we hadn't previously thought of.
So very interesting and helpful. Thank you. -Elizabeth
Thanks so much for watching Elizabeth 😊
December is summer season in New Zealand if I'm not wrong.
That is correct!
Cheers!
❤ great video
Thank you!!
Cheers!!🍻
Do you have a spreadsheet for your travel plans?
We don't have one yet but plan to have one up on our website soon.
I love you guys and love your videos!❤ Very informative. 👏 Glad to see you two having fun, even though its a lot of work too.😊 I think that I would prefer slow travel for various reasons but especially so that we can get the opportunity to see the things we want to see without feeling rushed. I would prefer to schedule some "in home" times or at least near home times to reduce the stress level and rejuvenate. Slow travel sounds like the best of all worlds. And you are showing us how to do it. Thank you! Hope you had a nice time back in the states. Looking forward to more vicarious adventures with you. Sojourn on!
Hi, Paula. Thank you so much for watching and commenting. We have now tried both slow and fast travel and slow travel is the way to go for sure.
We discussed the travel tags and really wish we had them at the time! So frustrating. 😠 They may be a purchase that we need to make. Thank you again for your support.
Cheers!!🍻
You should consider getting the Capitol One Venture X card. You get unlimited lounge and priority pass lounge access. It’s a $395 annual fee but the credits more than pay for it.
We have considered the Venture X in the past. We should revisit the idea. Thank you for the reminder!
Cheers!!🍻
I have a dumb insurance question for you. If health care and hospitalization is so cheap in other countries why do you even need the insurance? Just learned about your channel and I'm loving you two. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and adventures with us!
Not a dumb question at all!! Our insurance covers major medical including cancer treatments. We are happy that you found our channel!!
Cheers!!🍻
Difference in Safety Wing vs Cigna Global insurance?
Safety Wings is travel and emergency medical and Cigna Global is health insurance for long term care. Safety Wings would be used in addition to what you have insurance back home.
@@BrianandCarrie thank you for the clarification. We hope to travel full time in March of 2025. Just started a TH-cam channel V8DR Productions.
I think people appreciate if you say hello and thank you in their local language. It is off putting when someone comes up to you with straight English and the expectation the person will start talking to them in English. A little effort in the language department can take you a long way
They do appreciate it! Even if you get it wrong the appreciate the effort.
I know this is a weird question but I see you wearing a jean jacket. We are regular world travels and about to embark on long term travel soon. I always want to bring my denim jacket but I end up deciding that it takes up too much space because it doesn’t pack down small. How are you making that work? Are you wearing it on the plane? Is it just an item you made work, this round based on the amount or bulk of other clothes you are carrying this leg of the journey. I always wish I had mine for the dress(es) or skirt(s) that I bring. I’m pretty basic but it sure is a dang good item.
If you have time for a second question, do you choose more travel friendly fabrics, wrinkle resistant, items that take less space? I’m thinking of trying to shop for some more travel friendly clothing items but this seems to require online shopping, which can be very much hit or miss in fit and reality once you receive them.
Hi! I did carry my jean jacket for much of our travels. The key is, you wear it on all travel days. It worked fine doing it that way for me. I agree, it's a easy piece that goes with everything. I also found skirts that are the perfect material for packing, take up no room and don't wrinkle at all. You can see them on our what's in our bag page on our website: www.brianandcarrietravels.com/shop-2-1
Cheers!!
what are your "go to" websites for doing the research on the various Countries?
There aren't any specific sites...I just google and find blogs and vlogs and then go from there. 😊
Hi Brian and Carrie, me and my husband are following you. We are originally from Romania, lived in Sweden for 34 years, and from next year we will travel (at least the first year) by motorhome in Europe. We have always loved to travel, we did visit 28 countries so far, including three week roadtrip in USA. So I know this will be our "thing", travel by motorhome most of the time, then Sweden, we have our son and his american (!) wife here, and of course, Romania. I have two questions: I watched for a time ago a video with you in Spain, and you said that the food at the restaurant was so expensive, so you maybe ate out once or twice. in one month? On the other hand, in Romania, you said the opposite: the food was very cheap and good, of course, and you ate almost out. And not to forget the beer:). In this video you say that you love Spain for the food? On markets, shops, or what? I don't think Spain has so much variety of food, we have been there several times. The second question is about the budget you mention in this video: you say 900 dollars/month and then several times 2500dollars/month. You mean both of you? But how much, is quite a difference? Well, if you have time to answer, ok, if not, it's not so important. Look forward to see the video about Romania, is has really amazing, unique places in Europe. Have fun! Best Diana and Laurentius
Hello and thank you for watching! It sounds like you have an amazing road trip ahead of you. We would love to do the same someday throughout the US.
I think that we are referring to the farmer's markets in Spain. We didn't eat at restaurants, but we did shop at the markets. In Romania everything was less expensive, so it allowed us to eat out much more than we normally would.
Our budget early on in our travels was $900 a month each, depending on where we are at. In Vietnam that would be more than enough, in Italy it wouldn't get us what we would need to be comfortable. We have made adjustments along the way and feel that $2500 a month as a couple is realistic balanced out over 12 months.
Did you have the opportunity to see our Romania series? I believe there are 13 videos.
Thank you again for watching!
Cheers!!🍻
Hello Brian and Carrie. Fellow Washingtonian here! I'm also thinking of settling overseas or traveling around for a while, so I really appreciate your content and transparency. I also plan to sell everything before I go, but I'm concerned about being able to re-settle in the US if I need or want to. Housing prices are so high here and will probably continue to increase. What do you and Brian think about that? Do you have a housing fund set aside or would you just plan to rent? I'm concerned about being priced out and appreciate any thoughts you have on that.
That is a concern for sure. We were priced out of Bellingham, and we had full-time jobs!! 😂 We don't plan on getting back into the housing market when we decide to return. We owned homes for the better part of 30 years and the upkeep and expenses aren't something that we want to go back to. Thank you for watching!!
Cheers!!🍻
Your recording has a lot of background noise. I just noticed it in this episode.
We are on a cruise ship. There was nothing we could do about it. 😃
@@BrianandCarrie I see. It does sound like roaming engine noise now you mentioned it.
Thankfully we found a place on the ship with no background music!
The best Q&A I've seen in ages, well done for answering so many questions, so honestly. We recently took early retirement and have started doing the same as you. We would agree with over 90% of your answers.
I was interested in the comment about UK and Aus being too expensive to visit. I totally agree. From our perspective as Brits also adopting the same travel regime we would also add USA and Canada to our list as too expensive at the moment to vist on a budget. Would you agree?
We would include the US and Canada on the too-expensive list. We wouldn't be able to afford to do what we are doing now and stay in the US. Health insurance alone would make it impossible. Thank you for watching and safe travels you two!!
Air Canada has weighed and checked the size of my carry on twice and I ended up having checked them in,too strict
That's good to know! It's hard to predict which ones will be checking. We've been very lucky so far and also know even if on occasion we do get stuck having to check our bags, the cost is still well below what it would cost to have to check all the time. Cheers!!
Is there any emotional turmoil with relatives because of your lifestyle choice of full time traveling and not owning a home?
Our families and friends were not only supportive but excited for us. Our parents love it when we come home and stay with them for as long as possible 😃 so not owning a home has been great as well.
How you handle mail while you are traveling?
We will have a video in the next few weeks where we explain the options 😊
We love your q&a videos, it’s like talking to friends. Will you be doing a total cost for the year video? 🙏🏻🩵
Our cost for the year video will be out sometime in January. Thank you so much for watching and supporting our channel! ❤
Very informative vlog. Your efforts are appreciated.
Thank you, John for watching our channel!
Cheers!!🍻
I found the spain very friendly even if they didn't speak english
Hi Brian and Carrie, love your vlogs and we wait every Saturday for a new one❤ Thank you .
Just wanted to know if you can share how much you spent in total traveling to anew country and back to US last years. I think in one of your videos you mention you keep your monthly budget to 2k /month plus 2.5k each for travel to usa. Appreciate your help. We are planning to start our journey sometime after August this year.
Yes, perfect timing of your question as this Saturdays video is our complete cost breakdown for 2023 😊
How do you deal with car and car insurance in the US? Do you keep a car and keep insurance throughout the year? I heard years ago that if you suspend car insurance, the next time you decide to get a car and insure it, insurers treat you like a new, inexperienced driver and the rate reflects it as well.
Most car insurance covers the car and liability no matter who is driving as long as it is short term. You can also buy car insurance for short term drivers. It is inexpensive.
You’ve mentioned that you’re on a cruise, I’ve heard it twice, but I don’t know where you are cruising? What did I miss?
We did a repositioning cruise from Europe to Florida, to get home for the holidays. A video about the cruise will come out in a few weeks.
@@BrianandCarrie
Oh my word. My family was discussing this option at Christmas. Can’t wait to hear all about it. I was wondering how I would handle 7 sea days?! Love your content! Y’all are adorable.
Wondering when you are stateside, do you rent a car or your children lend you a car? How do you get around?
This time we have two house sits that include a car. Besides that, we borrow a car from our parents. It is always an issue for us so great question. Thank you for watching!!
Cheers!!🍻
Thanks for these Q&A videos. Very informative and I’m looking forward to the upcoming ones you have teased us with. I’ll buy you expensive beers when you are in Melbourne Australia!! Hope you are enjoying your time at home and look forward to more videos in 2024.
You're very welcome - we are so happy you find them informative ☺. We look forward to visiting Melbourne at some point and would love a cold one. Cheers 🍻
I’d be interested to know if you guys have Singapore on your list.
We have been to Singapore and had a great time! We did a video all about it last spring!
How you handle foreign currency issues? Do you stock up upon arrival then cash out on departure? Where do you go for exchange?
We use our credit cards for most transactions and only take out small amounts of cash as needed. We use what we have before we leave. There are currency exchange kiosks at the airports if you need to exchange money. 🍻
Hello, Brian and Carrie. My wife and I are loving your videos. We are actually where you were a couple of years ago - just about to embark on the global nomad life and your videos have been incredibly helpful in our planning. We are targeting departure from the States at the end of February. We know you have a logistics video planned in the near future, but we're trying to zero in on our cell plan and we think we have it narrowed to T-Mobile or Verizon (needing two-factor authentication). Do you use one of those or any brief tips you can share? Thanks so much.
So happy you're enjoying our videos and finding them helpful ☺. We will have a video coming out in about a month covering all the ins and outs. As far as phone coverage, we use google voice. It's best if you set it up before leaving the states, you can also port your number over if you wish, which is what we did. This way, no matter what Sim card you use, this is how you will text and call and it's free to use. There are some hiccups you may encounter as far as dual authentication, but we've worked through those. Many places now offer email verification or the google authentication app.
Excellent and very useful even for occasional travelers. What about jury duty?
Thank you! We would respond back that we are out of country. If it ended up we needed to return, than we would. Cheers!!
@@BrianandCarrie Thank you. I am from India living in the US. Hope to see you in India soon.
Loved the video. Thanks.
Thank you for watching, Shannon!
Thx u for answering my questions and all the other ones. Great video!
You're welcome!!
Still waiting on part three. 😂
Thanks for these Q&A videos! They are very helpful even to us domestic travelers. BTW, my wife bought me an Osprey backpack based on Brian's recommendation. I love it!
You're very welcome, we are happy you find them helpful ☺. The Osprey backpack is such a perfect size and works for everything. Thanks so much for watching. Cheers!!
Another great video! Question, on your budget you mentioned $1100 and than later in the video $2500 a month, was the $1100 per person budget? May have missed something. Thanks keep up with the great videos ❤
Hi, Melissa. That is $2500 a month as a couple. Thank you for watching! ❤
This is so helpful! Thank you so much for sharing your experience and journey!
So happy you found it helpful 😊. Happy New Year!!
Very interesting Q&A. We are learning a lot from you. I think you mentioned dental expenses. We did a dental tourism visit to Playa Del Carmen in Nov 2023 that worked out well. The savings paid for our 3 week trip! Any plans on Mexico travel for you?
We had planned on Mexico for this spring but have pushed it back. We will be going back to Turkey in late Feb to finish with the dental work. We will also be traveling to Greece in March and April! Thank you for watching our channel!!
Cheers!!🍻
Thank you for this very informative video! Happy New Year!
You are so welcome! Happy you enjoyed it ☺️
Thank you for a great video. We travel for the winter gone 5 months. This year it has just been Azores, Madeira, Tenerife, Costa Del Sol and Albufeira will be our last 2 months before we finally make it home in April. At the end we are ready to put out feet up at home. Do you ever get that feeling that you need your own space that you can call home?
Eventually we will but for now we are enjoying our travels. We do get some down time when we come home to see family. Thank you for watching!
Cheers!
Hi, I am learning a lot from your videos. How many contries have you visited so far?
In our travels so far we've been to 19
Both great Q&A videos, thanks heaps! Happy New Year 🎉 Looking forward to your 2024 adventures 😊
Thank you so much ♥. We are excited for 2024 and what it will bring - Cheers!!
great content! One thing I may have missed but is the $2,500/month budget including all expenses including health insurance, plane tickets, etc. or is that budget just day-to-day living expenses like rent, food, local transportation, etc.?
It includes all expenses including health insurance but not our flights. We will include flights in our yearly budget video.
Cheers!!🍻
Hi guys, I really enjoyed the q&a videos. I have a question. When you do finally decide to move back to the states and after travelling there, will you buy a home? Is this something you have budgeted for, set money aside for or will you rent?
Happy and safe travels.
❤Zeljka
We will not be moving back to the US full time for several years but we know that we will not be buying a home. We have each been home owners for 30+ years and have no interest. We will rent when the time comes. Thank you for watching and supporting our channel!
Cheers!
Thumbs up, guys! Great discussion!
I'm glad that you're also considering Japan. It's one on my top 5 countries on my favorite countries list. I was there in summers of 2017/2018/2019 and had a fabulous time traveling solo all over. Plus, I like hot weather. LOL!
Lucky you to spend Thanksgiving with family in Seville, Spain. That is one of my favorite cities. I adore that city and the vibes there.
Great that you will eventually add New Zealand and Australia. I was there, over different years, in the mid-90s and had a great time. In N.Z., I stayed with Kiwi friends on the South Island, 6 miles outside of Balclutha, on their 3,000 sheep farm and in Australia stayed at an Australian friend and her and husband's house outside of Adelaide, but also did other parts on my own in both Australia and N.Z.
I met both the Kiwi friends and the Australian friend, different years, on a train in Europe and we kept in touch and wrote to each other for up to around 15 years before we saw each other again when I flew to see them and was in N.Z. twice and Australia once.
I think you'll really love N.Z. and Australia. I've spent the most time in N.Z. Absolutely beautiful country. I think your budget will be fine in N.Z. Maybe stay somewhere like Dunedin on the South Island. And maybe spend half of your time on South Island and the other half on North Island. I've spent time on both.
Greetings from Los Angeles
Thank you once again for all your insights!! Happy New Year and safe travels!!
Cheers!!🍻
You're welcome. And Happy New Year to you, too!
Greetings from Los Angeles@@BrianandCarrie
Really enjoyed these question/answer vids! Nice job!
Thank you for watching and Happy New Year!!🍻