Why We Chose Slow Long-Term Travel Instead of a Permanent Expat Move
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ธ.ค. 2023
- When we first started our early retirement, we thought we wanted to travel full-time and maybe even take up residence in a new country as expats. But as we thought about it more, we realized that's not exactly what we wanted. We still wanted to travel long-term, but we didn't want to give up our residency in our home country. This video is all about how we balance our long-term travels while maintaining our home country residency in Canada.
For our full blog on our trips, visit www.chrisandemilie.ca/
#earlyretirement #longtermtravel
Slowly travel the world, it's the best move I made ...nothing better than getting up in the morning and doing exactly what you want...
One of the main disadvantages of keeping your home country residence-Canada in this case-is that you are stuck with super-high taxes for services that are sub-sub-par, and that's just one huge issue, there are many more. But leaving your home country is a difficult decision that only a minority can and will go through. Maybe long-term travel is a tempting option for those that can't/won't leave their home country.
Love this idea! We are now travelling very similar to this. You get a much better experience and feel of the culture.
Slow travel is where it’s at. I spent an entire month in Peru. Loved it. So proud of y’all. Another thing is possibly get a reliable property manager for renting out your property if that resonates with you. I think that you are on to something great here.
We loved our time in Peru as well! Such a beautiful country with so much to see.
Great tip on renting out the space! Our area has a high-demand for rentals, so it could work well for us.
Thank you for sharing this video, it so makes sense and explains the way my partner and I travel. Not wanting to sell all of our belongings and begin full time travel, we appreciate slow travel for most of the year and returning home to the east coast of the US to enjoy time with family and friends.
I’m retiring in January and planning to do the same. Travel half the year and enjoy home, family, volunteering the other part of the year
We hope you have amazing adventures!
OMG I just pitched this to my hubs. Although we have some years to prep, he doesn’t want to give up his workshop- and that we could “snow bird” to a different country every year. So glad I found your vid. I will binge more this weekend ❤
Exactly!! It’s such a great balance!
That sounds like the best of both worlds ~travel & family! I’m looking to travel soon but will miss my family tremendously. The idea of spending a month in one place sounds like a great idea. Thanks for sharing! Safe travels 🙂
We wish you lots of amazing adventures and hope you get to see your family in between your travels! Thanks for watching!
You're keeping life interesting with limits you control
Well done
I have a camper Truck, so in summer, starting from Oct, load my motorcycles on board and one week a month I travel the Nth Island of NZ, base camping and exploring. Feb, March, head to the Sth Island of NZ and do the same. June I travel to see family in Perth in Australia, July Aug is spent in S, E, Asia. Then back to perth briefly, then back home to NZ, all so I can miss NZ winter. Its a great life and not particularly expensive
That sounds fantastic! We did some car camping through Australia and New Zealand a few years ago and loved it. Especially on the big open desert roads in the middle of Australia!
We sold or gave away everything about 3 years ago to travel full time! Although like you, we make sure to be in Canada long enough to keep our health insurance active. We just spent 6 months in Vancouver (Yaletown) and had a fantastic time there! Now we’re in Cartagena, Colombia for 3 months. After that we will head to Athens for 3 months before returning to Canada. We prefer to slow travel…and I mean really slow lol. We no longer have a home base anywhere, and usually just stay in Airbnbs. Our family is mostly back in the Toronto area, so that is where we spend some time while in Canada. We’ve subscribed so that we can follow along on your adventures :)
Thanks for sharing! We spent a month in Athens a couple of years ago and loved it. The food and culture are amazing. We were so fascinated by the history and being able to see the Acropolis from pretty much everywhere in the city. We hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Cartagena and have a wonderful time in Athens!
My wife and I fell in love with Cartagena. We've stayed for at most 1 month and I look forward to the day when we can explore Colombia 3 months at a time. It is coming quickly. Congrats.
Yup,
I’m doing an 7mos slow travel then come back to the states during football season and holiday season (sept-Jan)..
Love it! Hope you're having a wonderful time!
Totally agree with you. We also didn't want to become full time expats, and possibly lose our Canadian pension and medical benefits. We have gone the 180 day (6 month) long term travel for the past 15 years. So far we have visited 84 countries at a more leisurely pace. We don't rent an apartment while away, but make a deal with a local hotel for a longer 2 week or one month stay, at considerably less than a standard day rate. Best trip so far was a 6 month tent camping trip through 38 countries in Europe where we leased a Renault car, (cheaper than renting a car). Bought our camping gear at a Decathlon sporting goods store in Nice, France. Stayed at great campgrounds all over Europe from Turkey to Norway and all points in between including St. Petersburg, Russia.. Bought our snacks and food at local stores and markets, and made up picnic lunches overlooking some fantastic places. Then coming back to our patio home here on the Island refreshed and re-invigorated. Another trip was for 5 months through 9 SE Asian countries.
That sounds amazing. We'd love to do a road trip through Europe at some point too. Thanks for sharing!
You don’t lose Canadian pensions by leaving
Doesn't it get expensive hopping on planes constantly tho?
@@yumyumkitty2104 not really, you normally only need one flight to get to the area you are staying in and then you can use bus or train to move between countries.
Keep an RV in your home country. Park it in secure storage near the airport when heading overseas. If equipped with a solar panel it will keep your truck battery charged.
As an Australian I agree. For many Americans, they are actually being driven out by their health care costs. Also the real estate market is similar here - overpriced and thus scary to leave forever. No gun culture. We have Chris Hemsworth, you have Ryan Gosling. And so on. I think two enhancements could be - putting your home on Airbnb (perhaps not allowed in your building) when away, and doing Trusted Housesitters when away. The latter would work well if you wanted to come 'downunder' for instance (where renting is relatively expensive and our dollars are about the same).
We have a similar lifestyle but are based in Australia. Not sure about Canada, but we have a cell phone company here (Vodafone) that offers global roaming with almost unlimited data for about $4.50 CAD per day. It's very convenient keeping my phone number and being able to easily authenticate anywhere in the world.
It’s a great way to live!
We recently found out our Canadian phone plans let us receive texts for free anywhere in the world. But otherwise we stick to local providers as it’s a lot less expensive than paying for global roaming every day.
We do about seven months of slow travel and return home for four-five months and do the something similar to the “snowbird” approach in that we chase the summers in both hemispheres. Perhaps more expensive, but since we downsized, we only pay half what we use to for housing and no maintenance or other non recoverable costs (property taxes, insurance, etc.).
It's so funny to me this video popped up when it did. My wife and I were just discussing the same exact method of travel. We are not convinced yet we are ready for the full-time expat thing, and we've travelled enough to know that some things you fall in love with, after a few months can drive you crazy. So, we have gone to many places we would love to expat in but are not 100% sure yet it would really do for the long term. So, until we do find that spot (if ever) I'd love to just go to these places, take our time, and really acclimate in. It really seems like the best way to move about. Also, a lot of other countries really don't make it easy for people to stay long term. You get 90 days and maybe an extension and that's it. The visas sound easy to get for retirement or remote work, but they really are not as easy as they seem. It can be done but you want to be certain when you do it that you really like the place.
Makes sense! When you’re somewhere temporarily things don’t bother you in the same way as they might if it was a permanent residence. And becoming a permanent resident is a lot of work. If we end up moving somewhere permanently we want to make sure it’s worth it! Hope you have wonderful travels this coming year!
Yes, with long term visa issues to EU, this is the best option
Thank you for a very helpful video! Do you sublet when you are away? I also live in Vancouver but I’m not sure I can afford to keep the apartment (rental) while I’m away for 6 months though I hate to give it up…….
THIS is what my wife & I are planning! We will retire at 60 (6 years), sale our house, & move into our condo (currently renting & paying off that mortgage. We know things in life can change - & we wanted a "home base." BUT - we want to "live" in places & not just do the whirlwind travel. It's good to hear of others doing something similar. Are there any clubs, etc that you have found that share travel info like you have - or provide info on locations? Thanks again!
Amazing!!
For sharing travel info, I usually search for Facebook groups for expats, full-time travelers, and digital nomads in the city/area I’m planning on visiting. In larger cities, the groups also usually have events like trivia nights where we can go and meet other people.
@@ChrisAndEmilie Thank you SO much! We are enjoying your videos! SO INFORMATIVE! We are doing a viking cruise to South America this Christmas & will see Buenos Aries, Iguazu Falls, Montevideo, etc - so your videos have us extra excited. We are learning from you....that the $ we are spending now for speed/convenience of Viking trips for NOW is fine - our time is more valuable than the $. Plus, we're "shopping" places we might want to visit in depth in later years. When we retire, our $ will be less, but we'll have TIME to do the research (which honestly sounds fun) & most importantly LIVE in the places we'll visit! Thanks again! We love the idea of slow travel - & we love your videos!
Great video with very useful information. Thank you.
What service do you use to make sure you get your text messages for authentication?
Great video, you make a lot of great points! One question: do you normally spend a full 6 months traveling all at once and then return home for a full 6 months, or do you take your 6 months of travel and spread it out over the year (like a month home, then a month traveling, then another month home, etc.). We are considering adjusting our travel/home balance and are curious about how often you alternate between the two.
It varies a bit from year to year. We usually travel “far away” for about 4-5 months, then come home for a couple of months, then do a road trip for a month or two in the US/Canada, then go home for another couple of months before doing another big trip.
That would be something to start doing like when iw as 30yo.
Fully agree this is smarter option. I will retire 10 years before my younger spouse, so no advantage to full expat life.
Awesome. I have been designing a similar strategy to implement in a couple of years. I'm curious what your average budget is per month for your time away from Canada. We are looking at Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and etc.
Our budgets really vary depending on where we're going. With the exception of things like airfare, our daily life is often cheaper when we travel than when we're in Canada. Europe can be really expensive if you're going to the major tourist centers though, so look for alternative places to visit too.
I’m starting my own business because working remote at a 9-6 isn’t convenient anymore. I prefer working from 11-7 or 4-5 hours one day and then 10-11 hours another. I plan to go to Central America or South America. I’ve lived in Asia and I’m welcome back there anytime. So this will be my plan this January and possibly February. Slightly scary to start a new business overseas but it’s certainly the right time. What are your favorite cities for internet 🛜 coverage? Taipei for sure and I’ve researched Santiago, Chile 🇨🇱 or Costa Rica 🇨🇷 but I’m curious if you found parts of Belieze that have the true Fiber they advertise or if it’s just being built..???
That sounds very exciting! I like to have a flexible schedule too. Internet speed and quality varies so much, depending not just on the city but the actual apartment/room where you're staying. For example, we had really poor internet in our apartment in Athens, but it was totally fine in the cafe across the street. So do what you can to check the speed and consistency of the speed before you book a place.
Good luck with your new business!!
It sounds extremely expensive. My homebase is New York City and maintaining an apartment or any kind of domicile no matter how small full-time is enough that I don’t have money to pay elsewhere. I don’t know how to solve that conundrum.
Maybe. They might be able to rent out their homebase with a reliable property manager. I know of people who keep their homebase and figured out a way to travel for like half or most of the year and then come back and enjoy their home in their domestic country.
I live in a coop, as this is the most common kind of apartment ownership in NYC (aside from homes.). Coops don’t allow you to sublet.
We sold our condo and live in a RV. We travel the world 10 months a year. Sri Lanka presently . We park the RV ata friends house when we’re gone. Try that
Thank you for your video, very helpful! Do you sublet your condo when you are gone for 6 months? I live in Vancouver as well but I’m renting so while I’d like to keep my apartment and slow travel 6 months I don’t think I can afford to carry the rent while I’m away.
Move to a cheaper city.
Hi, Thanks for the great information. Regarding your cell phone use, have you considered Google Fi? You would keep the same number nearly everywhere for about $65 a month I think, including data. I haven't quite gotten to retirement yet, but that is my plan. Thanks again.
Thanks for watching! We’ve looked at Google Fi, but it’s not cheap. We’re spending less than $10/month for data and calling with Claro in Argentina. And I just pay for a very basic package to keep my Canadian number. So in all, i’m spending a lot less than Google Fi.
Just be careful with your condo insurance coverage. Here in the states if you leave for more than a month your condo is no longer covered. You need a special insurance coverage which is really expensive. I am not sure if this is the case in Canada.
That's a great point. We did talk to our insurance company to make sure we maintained our coverage while we were away, and the rules vary by policy and location.
That’s one of the primary reasons I sold my house. Insurance coverage. Even if you have insurance, it’s a really bad idea leaving a stick house empty for several months at a time. Friends in the UK came home to discover GBP 250k worth of water damage.
How/where do you find your monthly accommodations?
I was going to ask the same question...lol
We don't have anything to sell.
I’m retiring in January and planning to do the same. Travel half the year and enjoy home, family, volunteering the other part of the year
Congratulations on your upcoming retirement! We hope you enjoy it!