HOW THIS BOOMER couple TRAVELED THE world FOR A YEAR
Posted: 9/18/17 | September 18th, 2017
As a solo backpacker, there are specific areas of travel I’m not yet an professional in. Fortunately, there are lots of experts in our neighborhood who can share their travel experiences with us! Lately, there’s been a growing pattern among boomers taking sabbaticals, early retirements, as well as buying vans as well as just stating “Screw it! Laten we gaan!” when the youngsters move out.
More as well as more of my emails come from boomers looking for advice — not young college kids. It’s an incredible trend. So, today I wished to share an interview with Esther as well as Peter. They’re couple from Canada traveling the world on a year-long sabbatical. They share their advice on health and wellness issues, budgeting, as well as much more!
Nomadic Matt: Hi Esther! thanks for doing this interview. Vertel ons over jezelf!
Esther: I am an elementary institution primary who has taken a self-funded leave for one year. I remarried a few years ago, as well as my husband, Peter, is my travel partner. I celebrated my 52nd birthday at the Pyramids of Giza, as well as Peter celebrated his 58th at a range show in Bangkok. We phone call North Delta (a suburb of Vancouver) home.
How did you get into travel?
I believe it occurred in stages. When I was still in elementary school, my parents bought me a desk that had a map of the world on the top. I utilized to gaze at that as well as dream of all the incredible locations there are to check out in the world. Then, when I was thirteen, my parents bought a time-share. This enabled our household to travel to Mexico as well as Hawaii, which were my very first tropical experiences. I liked the seems as well as smells as well as the exotic feel of it.
As a university trainee I examined languages in both Freiburg, Germany, as well as Bordeaux, France.
During those two years I traveled in Europe, as well as I believe that is when the travel bug truly bit me. I have yet to recuperate from that bite!
Waar was je?
Before this round-the-world tour, I had already traveled extensively in Europe, Mexico, Hawaii, Cuba, China, as well as Canada. since August 2016, my hubby as well as I have visited Holland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Sri Lanka, India, as well as Nepal, as well as we are currently in Thailand.
We still have three or four months of traveling ahead of us, as well as the present plan is to check out Southeast Asia, however we are available to other possibilities, too. Ironically, as we travel, my listing of locations to go to is growing longer rather than getting shorter!
What’s been the biggest lesson so far?
The biggest lesson I’ve discovered is that the world is simultaneously little as well as big. By this I mean that it is little sufficient to explore. It is big, however, in that there is an abundance of whatever we need to sustain ourselves. If we were to put aside politics as well as borders as well as just focus on ensuring that we distribute the riches of the world, there would, I honestly believe, be more than sufficient of whatever for everyone.
Living out of a carry-on suitcase has taught me that we really “need” extremely little.
What’s your primary piece of advice for new travelers?
Plan, plan, as well as plan some more. It is not only necessary however exciting! then be prepared to abandon your carefully made plans for unforeseen chances that will arise. This trip we decided to forego a part of Eastern Europe to serve as team on a sailboat in the Dodecanese Islands, as well as we blew our budget plan to sail down the Nile on a dahabiya (passenger boat). We don’t regret those decisions one bit.
A second piece of advice would be to document your journey. I am not normally one to journal, however I do while traveling, as well as it is tremendous to look back on even now. We likewise are sharing our travel adventures with blogging as well as social media. I am positive that the digital as well as difficult copies will ended up being treasured memories when the trip is over.
How do you travel on a budget?
We basically draw from three pots of money: my salary, Peter’s pension as well as cost savings for the trip, as well as the earnings from renting our house. We are fortunate that all three sources of earnings are available in monthly, which makes it simple to budget. We likewise have cost savings to dip into should the requirement arise, however so far we haven’t had to.
We look for budget plan accommodation. Hotels.com is where I do most of our bookings; since I compose evaluations of our stays, I get a portion off subsequent stays as well as a free night for each ten paid nights. We have likewise utilized Airbnb on occasion.
We have been fortunate to spend a long time with my relatives in Austria as well as likewise with many Couchsurfing hosts. I hesitate to put either of thesein the budget plan classification though, since we don’t utilize these to save money however rather since it is such an enriching experience. We have been fortunate to have had wonderful holds in the past eight months.
What budget plan tips do you have for other travelers?
Track every cent you spend. While Peter tracks things digitally utilizing an app called Andromoney, I try to keep a running overall in my head. frequently my overall is method off, as it is simple to fail to remember a taxi ride, a cup of coffee, a snack at a roadside stand. We go over our $150 [Canadian] for the two of us some days, knowing we requirement to make it up on others.
Your hubby has some health and wellness issues. exactly how do you handle that on the road?
While we have been planning this round-the-world trip for a few years, our resolve ended up being higher when Peter had a stroke two years ago. He worked difficult to recover, however it was a reminder that life is uncertain as well as that we don’t understand exactly how many days or years any type of of us have ahead of us, so we should fill them doing what we love.
We delayed our trip by one year while Peter worked on recovering. Originally, we organized on driving around Iceland so we might hike to the natural hot springs. Peter’s high blood pressure as well as hot springs aren’t a great combination, so instead we decided to indication up for a bike as well as barge tour in Holland.
His medical condition likewise triggered us to believe carefully about which travel insurance coverage would cover pre-existing conditions. Peter packed a year’s worth of medication as well as his blood pressure cuff, as well as he monitors his blood pressure regularly. Additionally, I have a poor hip, as well as the physician has told me I will ultimately need a hip replacement. We aim to online a healthy, mainly vegetarian way of life while traveling, however it is difficult in many countries.
Between the two of us, we are mindful of our physical limitations as well as that some activities we may have undertaken in our twenties just aren’t for us now. That is the truth of growing older (for us at least). We are still able to do all of the activities we enjoy…just scaled back a bit.
Have you had to see any type of doctors on the road? Was getting a year’s worth of medicine difficult?
I had a truly poor chilly while in Sri Lanka over Christmas so we went to the hospital. The hospital go to as well as medications were only $25 USD.
I likewise had to have a physician make a home contact us to the hotel while in India because of vertigo triggered by a buildup of water in the ear, as well as he charged $23 USD for the home phone call as well as medication.
For both of these medical interventions, we paid money since it wasn’t sufficient to send to our medical insurance.
As far of the year’s worth medication, with the Canadian medical plan you can only purchase six months’ worth, so the other half was out of pocket. Apparently, we might have chosen up these medications cheaply in some countries however discovered that out as well late. I am not sure we would want to have counted on that though since we discover that even trying to get infant aspirin in the right dosage can be a challenge.
Do you satisfy a great deal of travelers your age on the road? Zo ja, hoe?
This has been tricky. most of the travellers our age are on group tours so they don’t tend to seek to broaden their circle of friends. I make a point to begin conversations with people anywhere as well as whenever I can. Hostel as well as hotel lobbies are frequently great areas to link with people.
The most considerable meetings have definitely been with Couchsurfing. When looking for a host, I don’t focus as well much on the age, as our age bracket makes up a little portion of the Couchsurfing world.
Besides, I can enjoy the business of somebody regardless of their age. connecting with younger people has likewise been fantastic as well as is rather rejuvenating. We have definitely made friendships on the road that I am positive will endure.
Do you discover being older travelers makes it harder to discover Couchsurfing hosts? A great deal of older travelers concern that the site is “just for young people”.
I don’t believe our age has been an problem at all with Couchsurfing. If you make it remove that the Couchsurfing will be mutually satisfying, then age should not be an issue.
I’d state more than 50% of the “surfers” are younger than us as well as we have had wonderful experiences. Actually, I believe that a great deal of the younger Couchsurfers take a great deal without providing back by either not holding themselves or just being a guest that sees it as a free hotel room. So being young might sometimes be viewed as a downside in discovering a host, in my mind.
What’s one error you’ve made that you might have avoided?
Today we were robbed by our cabbie. My hubby had been to the bank earlier in the day. Gebruikelijk,We hebben het geld tussen ons opgesplitst en ook op sommige truclocaties opgeborgen om niet al ons geld op één plek te hebben. Vandaag hadden we haast, heet en moe, evenals we het zouden doen toen we terugkwamen in het hotel. Het was een perfecte storm.
Uiteindelijk kreeg de cabbie ongeveer 3.000.000 dong ($ 180 USD) door verontwaardiging te veinzen en vervolgens veel kosten te pakken van de open portemonnee van mijn man. Niet wetende wat hij daarna ging doen, stapten we uit zijn taxi zodra hij op de ontgrendelingsknop drukte.
Hij handelde nogal irrationeel, dus we waren blij onszelf uit die omstandigheid te elimineren zonder hoger verlies. Het heeft ons een beetje gerammeld en ons eraan herinnerd om te voldoen aan alle gemeenschappelijke veiligheidsmaatregelen.
Welk advies heb je voor reizigers van je leeftijd?
GA NU! Veel mensen wachten met pensioen of het economische klimaat om te verbeteren of hun kinderen of kleinkinderen om ouder te zijn.
Er is altijd iets dat je tegenhoudt.
Onafhankelijk reizen wordt niet gemakkelijker naarmate de jaren verstrijken. Sommige mensen vinden het misschien een egoïstische verwennerij, maar misschien is dat niet zo slecht. We hebben tientallen jaren doorgebracht om onszelf te wijden aan het werken, het vergroten van kinderen en dromen over ‘op een dag’.
Het is oké om te kiezen dat die dag vandaag is – pak je tassen en ga!
Word het volgende succesverhaal
Een van mijn favoriete onderdelen over deze taak is het horen van de reisverhalen van mensen. Ze beïnvloeden me, hoe belangrijker ook, ze beïnvloeden je ook. Ik reis een specifieke methode, maar er zijn veel methoden om uw reizen te financieren en de wereld rond te reizen. Ik hoop dat deze verhalen je laten zien dat er meer dan één methode is om te reizen en dat het binnen je greep is om je reisdoelen te bereiken. Hier zijn hier meer voorbeelden van mensen die werk in het buitenland hebben ontdekt om hun reizen te financieren:
Hoe Jim een nieuwe handicap niet heeft laten wijzigen van zijn reizen
Hoe (en waarom) deze 72-jarige de wereld backpacet
Hoe huishoudens en senioren de informatie op deze website kunnen gebruiken
Hoe dit 70-jarige paar de gewoonte heeft om de wereld rond te reizen
Hoe u de wereld overreis op $ 50 per dag
Mijn New York Times, zeer populaire paperbackgids voor wereldreizen, leert je precies hoe je de kunst van het reizen kunt beheersen om ervoor te zorgen dat je van de gebaande paden komt, geld bespaart en een diepere reiservaring hebt. Het is uw A tot Z -planningsgids die de BBC de “Bijbel voor budgetplanreizigers” noemde.
Klik hier om meer te ontdekken en begin het vandaag te lezen!
Boek je reis: logistieke tips en trucs
Boek uw vlucht
Zoek een goedkope vlucht door Skyscanner te gebruiken. Het is mijn favoriete bladermotor, omdat deze zowel websites als luchtvaartmaatschappijen over de hele wereld doorzoekt, zodat je altijd begrijpt dat er geen steen ongemoeid blijft.
Boek uw accommodatie
U kunt uw hostel boeken met hostelworld. Als je ergens anders dan een hostel wilt blijven, gebruik dan Booking.com, omdat ze consequent de goedkoopste tarieven voor gasthouses en hotels retourneren.
Onthoud geen reisverzekering
De dekking van de reisverzekering beschermt u tegen ziekte, letsel, diefstal en annuleringen. Het is een uitgebreide beveiliging in situatie dat er iets misgaat. Ik ga nooit op reis zonder dat ik het in het verleden vele malen moest gebruiken. Mijn favoriete bedrijf dat de allerbeste service en waarde biedt, zijn:
Safetywing (het beste voor iedereen)
Verzeker mijn reis (voor die ouder dan 70)
MedJet (voor extra evacuatiedekking)
Klaar om uw reis te boeken?
Bekijk mijn resource -pagina voor het allerbeste bedrijf om te gebruiken wanneer u reist. Ik vermeld alle mensen die ik gebruik als ik reis. Ze zijn het allerbeste in de klas en je kunt niet fout gaan met behulp van ze tijdens je reis.