Time is the most essential thing in life. In North America, we’re taught that you work hard until you’re around 60, 65 or 70 years old and then reap the rewards of retirement afterwards.
Doesn’t that seem unusual to start living your life during an age when one’s body and mind are no longer at the optimal state? It simply might not be possible to do that epic trek you’ve been dreaming about, or that scuba diving certification you’ve wanted to complete.
We receive a lot of emails and are frequently asked questions in our Facebook group about this exact topic. people either want to find travel jobs and work abroad, or they simply want to retire early and not work any longer.
The trend among our emails is that you (our readers) want to really start living – sooner rather than later. Thankfully, these days it’s possible.
Note: this short article is implied to be inspiring and useful. I realize that it might not possible for everyone to quit their conventional jobs and lifestyle due to various personal (or medical) circumstances. But, I’m assuming that because you’re reading this post that you’re interested to find out much more and are considering it! I hope that for those of you who are already considering a life of travel, you find some answers in this post.
It’s normal to be nervous and have some doubts and fears about changing your lifestyle to include much more travel, but count on me, it’s possible.
Going against the grain and living unconventionally is what we’re all about and in this short article I’m going to answer numerous of your logistical questions and address your issues about turning travel into a lifestyle – including moving, living and working abroad.
These are real questions and doubts that are taken directly from emails we’ve received, or that we’ve been asked on our social media accounts.
“Here I am, contemplating this big change but I’m a bit of a planner and I want to do things right. how do I start?”
This is the most common question we receive, and it’s a fair point. people are interested in pursuing a freedom filled lifestyle, but they have no idea where to start.
In our experience, the first step is really wanting a new life and breaking down any mental blockages you may have surrounding the change. know that if you take the plunge and are following your true path in life, everything will work out and fall into place.
You’ll need to decide where you want to travel / live – this will depend on your budget and things you’re searching for in a new home. sit down and think about what it is you want from your new life. Do you want to be near the water? In an exciting city? would you like mountains nearby?
There are various visa totally free countries and digital nomad hot spots if you’re planning on working abroad and be surrounded by other entrepreneurs. If you don’t have a job yet, and are travelling off of savings, there are lots of low-cost destinations you could check out first while you look for work, in fact, you can even live and travel for a year on as little as $5,000.
Take some time to properly plan, research and save money before departing. Then, purchase a flight ticket.
Once you have a destination in mind and have done some sufficient planning and saving, you then need to start working towards minimalism – by this I mean, purging your stuff and not purchasing anything else.
Our moving day in China – that’s all we owned!
Sell things of value and give the rest away. Go room by room in your house, item by item, and decide whether or not you really need it anymore – chances are, you don’t. figure out what you’re bringing with you and put the rest into storage. Ideally, you have pals or family with a basement or room in their garage where you can store your items for free.
Once you’ve decreased your possessions, planned, packed and saved, there’s nothing left to do but say goodbye (see you soon) to pals and family and jump on a flight to your new life!
Of course, this is a very brief summary of what needs to be done in purchase to relocation abroad. There are some other helpful articles of ours below.
Related Posts:
Following Your personal Legend: A Roadmap to Happiness
My Realization of The law Of Attraction and positive Thought
Taking The leap into A Life Without Chores
Our digital Nomad lifestyle – Answering Your money Questions
How much money Do You need to quit Your job and become a digital Nomad?
How To quit Your job and Travel: The supreme Beginner’s Guide
5 digital Nomad spots Where You Can live for half The Cost
“I think we’re too old to start working abroad, we’re in our 50’s”
Our site attracts a broad variety of ages. This past month, 20.87% of our readers were between the ages of 45 – 65+, implying you’re not alone if you have this question and you’re reading this blog! There are various people in your age bracket who are considering retiring early, becoming semi-retired and working abroad, or at the very least, taking off for a year or so to give it a try.
The dream in Canada used to be “Freedom 55” implying that if you worked hard, and invested smartly, you could retire by the age of 55. In truth, very few people are able to retire so early, but the Internet and travel jobs are slowly making this dream become a reality again.
Depending on what your current profession is, you could try to do it remotely. These days, work doesn’t have to be a place and there are various jobs that can actually be done either from your home, from a cafe in Rome, or from a beachfront vacation home in Thailand.
The point is, if you have one of those careers, speak to your boss or management about taking your work on the road.
Vibing with new, like-minded pals – all of us work on the road
There are some inspiring people in our turn travel into A lifestyle Facebook group who have done this and even though they were expecting a firm “no” from management, it turned into a “yes”.
“Little by little I’m showing my management that I’m just as or much more productive when I can work remotely! This year I’ve taken my work to Barcelona and Belize but only worked half days in both because I wanted some getaway time too.”
On a personal note, one of our parents actually lives full-time in Mexico and is semi-retired, doing their same job, but remotely from an oceanfront “office”…aka, their deck! how remarkable is that?
You’ll never know if working remotely is possible if you don’t ask.
For those who are interested in working abroad while doing a different job from the one you currently do, you are never too old to learn new things.
If you’re a native English speaker, maybe instruct English online, or actually relocation to another country to teach. You can find teaching jobs in China if you’re interested (and qualified), and if you’re from Canada or the USA, you can become a VIPKID teacher online.
If you’re savvy with technology or if you are prepared to learn, the possibilities are endless. You can become an online trainer recommending people on a topic that you’re knowledgable about. You could edit videos for “vloggers”, run social media accounts, do some copywriting, get paid to write online with freelance gigs, design logos, become a virtual assistant, or start a travel blog and work for yourself.
If you are bilingual, you could also consider some translation work and editing.
Truthfully, there are too numerous travel jobs to list. Click here for more.
If you’re someone who wants to retire early (and not work abroad), if you have the implies to do so, opt for it. Sure, you’ll probably take a hit on your retirement funds, but as I said in the beginning of this post, time is your many important asset!
Consider the cost of living in your home country vs. the cost of living abroad in a less expensive destination. You’ll probably find that you can live a better life for half the price if you relocation abroad and live off of your retirement earnings, and still have some funds left over. Click here for a list of destinations that offer a inexpensive of living.
Another option is to find a house sitting job / pet sitting job and delight in living abroad as a local, while receiving totally free accommodation.
Related Posts:
How To find house sitting jobs and receive totally free Accommodation
101 best travel jobs – Make money Abroad
Get Paid to Travel: 11 jobs That Pay You to Explore
How To become a VIPKID teacher and earn $22/Hour Online
The supreme guide To An early Retirement
“How do I deal with travel / expat insurance?”
As Canadians who are non-residents of Canada, we don’t receive health insurance from our country anymore. We need to purchase “expat insurance”, and the costs vary depending on where in the world we are.
If we’re in the USA or Mexico, the cost is higher. As an example, for $500K coverage, for a one month policy, we paid $94.85 USD ($123 CAD) each. If we’re anywhere else in the world, the costs are less, but of course, health insurance costs depend on how old you are and any previous health conditions. We choose Allianz travel insurance for our expat insurance.
If you still have healthcare coverage in your home country, you can get travel insurance through the popular world Nomads insurance company.
Or, read our extensive short article about the best international travel insurance options for you.
“How do I find long-term accommodation abroad?”
Finding accommodation abroad is simpler than you think. We’ve rented amazing villas in Canggu Bali and Koh Samui; apartments in Buenos Aires, Sliema, San Pancho and Yangzhou; and even a lakefront casa on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala.
When you’re living and working abroad, you’ll many likely want to stay somewhere long-term, rather than bouncing around every couple of nights. There are numerous ways to book long-term accommodation these days, here are our favourites:
Airbnb
This is one of the best booking platforms to find apartments, houses, villas and distinct accommodations for rent. With real reviews from customers, and a protected booking platform to help deal with any issues you may have, it really is the best.
Owners usually offer a decreased rate for long stays of 1 month or more, and you can also chat directly to the owner through Airbnb to work out any extra discounts.
You can get an Airbnb discount coupon for $25 off your first booking – bonus! If you book directly through the platform and choose owners with high ratings, you won’t have any issues. However, it’s essential to be aware that there are some Airbnb scams online.
We’ve used Airbnb for a couple of long-term stays, and also for various short stays of 1 week or less and we love it.
Working abroad from our pool vacation home in Koh Samui, Thailand. Booked on Airbnb
Facebook Groups
This is fast becoming a way to find accommodations around the world. If you know where you’ll be moving to, all you need to do is go onto Facebook and search for expat and accommodation groups.
Here’s an example:
I typed in “Canggu accommodation” and that’s what showed up. Of course, you can change your search terms to include words like “community”, “expat”, “housing”, “for rent”, etc. just be aware that when booking through an individual rather than a company like Airbnb, there’s no recourse if something goes wrong.
When booking through a company or individual on Facebook, I recommend to always see the place in person before committing. While you’re checking out the places in person, you can stay in a hotel, guesthouse, or apartment. We always book with Booking.com or Airbnb.
Google Searches
Google always has the answer! As an example, if you’re planning on living in Malta, do a Google search for things like:
“Apartment rentals in Malta”
“Short term house rentals in Malta”
“1 bedroom house in Malta”
“Apartment Rental agency in Malta”
The first few search results will many likely be sites like Airbnb, Expedia and Booking.com, but after that you ought to see some local real estate agencies. in some cases the agents will charge a fee, so make sure you get all of the information up front.
We loved our house in Malta!
Through Friends, bloggers and other Expats
If you know someone who is living where you plan to move, or they’ve lived there in the past, ask them about apartments for rent. much more typically than not, they’ll know of a manager or will have a contact for you.
House Sitting
This has to be the supreme way to find long-term accommodations. With house sitting jobs, you usually have to take care of an animal (dog, cat, fish, etc.), but not always. When people go away for a month, 6 months, a year, in numerous cases they can’t bring their furry pals with them, or they simply don’t want to.