Early-retirement wannabe

Simon11

 Very interesting reading your plan over the last 10 years and what you plan to do going forward!

I have been very lucky to be able to live abroad while working, so spent 6 months working out in Asia and over two years working in America. Every month, we would be jumping on a plane to explore a new destination as well as visiting places around the world while working.

When we finished our jobs in America (I was cheeky to be working while travelling on half pay!), we spent three months driving across America to see the last bits before traveling to Cuba, China and south East Asia for two months. It was absolutely fantastic, however we were definitely enjoyed returning home after. It is worth preparing now mentally to be able to live out of a suitcase for a long period of time, be constantly having the energy to plan your next accommodation, booking the next attraction and sorting travel plans ect At the end of the trip, we joined a 4 week fully organised tour and it was amazing to finally be able to sit back and relax!

With your plans to travel for two years without a 'home', I would personally have run a mile with a plan like that after our experience or have split it into three months chucks of travelling before returning to the UK for a few weeks to see family and friends.

Simon11

Further looking at your plans, I would seriously consider dumping the idea of Mount Rushmore and stick on a trip along the west coast. We originally planned to visit every state in the US, but found a strip of states to the right of the mountain region (Dakotas, to Oklahoma) had very little to do and the scenery is very bland with very long drives, so we dropped that idea. Mount Rushmore is actually quite a disappointment and it takes a few days just to get there for nothing really.

Cuba definitely worth doing but there are limited flights to there (we flew via Miami)

hugheskevi

Simon11 said:

It is worth preparing now mentally to be able to live out of a suitcase for a long period of time, be constantly having the energy to plan your next accommodation, booking the next attraction and sorting travel plans ect At the end of the trip, we joined a 4 week fully organised tour and it was amazing to finally be able to sit back and relax!

With your plans to travel for two years without a 'home', I would personally have run a mile with a plan like that after our experience or have split it into three months chucks of travelling before returning to the UK for a few weeks to see family and friends.

I agree, I wouldn't do something like this without a lot of prior traveling experience. Fortunately this won't be my first time of extended travel, in the past I have

• Lived in Sydney, Australia, on a working holiday visa for just under a year
• Did a 10 month Trans-Africa trip, traveling from Morocco to Cape Town
• Traveled overland from London to Bangkok via trans-Siberian railway over a 3 month period
• Went from London to Singapore overland via India and Tibet over a 6 month period
• Traveled overland from the east coast of Africa (Tanzania) to the west coast (Cameroon) via Angola over a 3 month period

Altogether, I've spent about 3 and a quarter years traveling outside of Europe. The longest I spent continuously on the road was 13 months, stretching from December 2005 to February 2007. That was constantly on the move, spending a maximum of 6 nights in any place. I was exhausted after that, and severely jaded with travel - I loved spending a full month after that doing very little aside from running, swimming and gaming and just enjoying having things like washing machines readily available.

However, this will be the first big trip for my wife, so that is more of a lottery as to how she will respond. For this trip, I will be traveling at a slower pace, deliberately stopping for a few days here and there to do very little in some places. Sightseeing will not be intensive, just seeing one thing most days. Evenings will be kept free to relax and I will aim to have finished activities (including driving) by 5pm each day. We will also be taking a lot of electronic gear and hiring cars, staying in AirBnbs and suchlike to make it less exhausting and more like normal living.

Even so, I wonder if we will make the full two years. I did initially have a plan for 3 years, which I didn't think we would manage. As a minimum I want this to be my longest trip though, so at least 13 months.

Simon11 said:

Further looking at your plans, I would seriously consider dumping the idea of Mount Rushmore and stick on a trip along the west coast. We originally planned to visit every state in the US, but found a strip of states to the right of the mountain region (Dakotas, to Oklahoma) had very little to do and the scenery is very bland with very long drives, so we dropped that idea. Mount Rushmore is actually quite a disappointment and it takes a few days just to get there for nothing really.

Cuba definitely worth doing but there are limited flights to there (we flew via Miami)

Mount Rushmore has been taken out of plans for southbound journey, it was just too far a diversion (about 700 miles extra) to fit in. Sadly due to the 3 month rules in ESTA combined with time in Canada counting toward the 3 month limit, we do have a bit of time pressure for getting through the States.

I'm hoping to do most of the Caribbean by flying into Miami from Rio on the way back north, then island-hopping by boat around to St Lucia then flying on to New York. Although the southbound trip will be overland, the northbound trip will have a lot more flying in it.

jennystarpepper

@hugheskevi 1 Year will be here very soon, congratulations.

If you plan to keep a diary or a blog please let us know, (can't remember if you have mentioned doing this).

As someone has just mentioned about Mount Rushmore being a bit of a let down, I found this with Milford Sound Vs Niagara Falls, both are very different but for me Niagara was a bit more spectacular and whilst the drive down to Milford was really great, the Sound it's self was disappointing, (for me anyway).

hugheskevi

jennystarpepper said:

If you plan to keep a diary or a blog please let us know, (can't remember if you have mentioned doing this).

I plan to create a YouTube account, and upload footage twice a week. It will mainly be as an interesting diary for ourselves for future viewing, but I'll make it a public channel and put a link on here, sometime in late September or early October. I've been learning about video creation for a while now, so hopefully it won't be too amateurish!

As someone has just mentioned about Mount Rushmore being a bit of a let down, I found this with Milford Sound Vs Niagara Falls, both are very different but for me Niagara was a bit more spectacular and whilst the drive down to Milford was really great, the Sound it's self was disappointing, (for me anyway).

I had a very interesting experience at Milford Sound. I spent a couple of days there, with the weather on the first day being great and I went out on a kayak. That was all very pleasant, but I agree, not very spectacular. The second day was very wet, and I got the bus back with many people who had just come there on a day trip. There was much complaining about how unlucky they had been with the weather - yet due to the rain there were many waterfalls that aren't there in dry conditions all around the area. It was far better being there than it would be on a dry day. A valuable lesson to appreciate what you have, and not be concerned with what you haven't got.

jennystarpepper

Will look forward to it, thank you.

MallyGirl

I saw my only wild penguin (so far) in Milford Sound - I agree that the drive from Queens Town was better than the boat trip.

Anonymous101

MallyGirl said:

I saw my only wild penguin (so far) in Milford Sound - I agree that the drive from Queens Town was better than the boat trip.

Yes its a fantastic drive. We rented a car between the 4 of us and took our time both ways making several stops. Highly recommended.

cfw1994

Simon11 said:

Further looking at your plans, I would seriously consider dumping the idea of Mount Rushmore and stick on a trip along the west coast. We originally planned to visit every state in the US, but found a strip of states to the right of the mountain region (Dakotas, to Oklahoma) had very little to do and the scenery is very bland with very long drives, so we dropped that idea. Mount Rushmore is actually quite a disappointment and it takes a few days just to get there for nothing really.

Cuba definitely worth doing but there are limited flights to there (we flew via Miami)

My experience of Mt Rushmore was perhaps a little different.....I spend a summer working on a travelling funfair when around 18: we did the state fair at Rapid City nearby, which ended with a "midnight madness" - the fair staying open until midnight.   Packed up our stalls (pool tables in my case), then a bunch of us piled up to Mt Rushmore with an ice box of grain alcohol, fruit juice and had a great night.....woke up a few hours later, bleary eyed (we had crashed in the woods!) to visit the site, then back on the road!

Not something to repeat at my age now, but a helluva memory!

NedS

Enjoying reading the traveling tales

This week marks entitlement to a full state pension in the bag for me, fully paid up and ready for retirement. One step closer...