The Let's-Sell-Our-House- And-See-the-World Retirement

[Common Sense Party]

I'm 70 years old. My husband, Tim, is 66. For most of our lives, each of us lived and worked in California. Today, our home is wherever we and our 30-inch suitcases are.

In short, we're senior gypsies. In early 2011 we sold our house in California and moved the few objects we wanted to keep into a 10-by-15-foot storage unit. Since then, we have lived in furnished apartments and houses in Mexico, Argentina, Florida, Turkey, France, Italy and England. In the next couple of months, we will live in Ireland and Morocco before returning briefly to the U.S. for the holidays.

...

For us, giving up 2,500 square feet of gracious California living for a 500-square-foot apartment in Paris or Istanbul is more than a fair trade-off. In place of our heavy-duty gas stove, big-name pots and pans and enormous refrigerator, we now find ourselves using Barbie-size sinks, bar fridges and some pretty sketchy cookware. We share bathrooms with one sink and watch movies on a 13-inch computer screen.

At the same time, we enjoy lunches where the paté comes from heaven, drives through the luscious French countryside where even the cows are beautiful, and strolls along the Arno River in Italy for our after-dinner exercise.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443720204578004131575356160.html?mod=e2fb#project%3Dnxcover10222012_pg%26articleTabs%3Darticle


Pretty interesting idea.

Granted, you'd have to have some good savings to make it work, and you have to have money and insurance for long-term care for your later years when you're no longer healthy enough to live the nomadic life.

I doubt my wife'd go for it.

[Common Sense Party]

1. Does this appeal to anyone? (Assuming you could afford it, of course.) Why or why not?

[SheilaT]

2. I would love to try something like that.

I have had the good fortune to travel a fair amount, but my one regret is that I've never been able to live in another country. Not to mention the longest vacation has only ever been two weeks.

Being single makes it different. The great thing about being a couple is having the other person to travel with. I'm not feeling sorry for myself, just pointing out what it is. Yes, I know that there are women out there who fearlessly travel alone -- something I did when I was much younger myself.

I have given thought to trying to get a cruise ship job. Has anyone who reads this ever done that?

[Common Sense Party]

3. I lived in Argentina for a couple years when I was much younger, but I really haven't done

much traveling. I'd love to, and this idea really intrigues me.

While single, you could do this with a really good friend, couldn't you? (She'd have to be a REALLY good friend.) Strength in numbers...