The Truth About Full-Time Travel 

Those were a few of our misadventures on the road. What about you? We'd love to hear your travel horror stories...

GREAT video! I'm new to the nomadic lifestyle, having sold my house and car and donating almost everything else back in August. I've started my journey in Turkey, so it was great to see so many references to Turkey in your video. This video addressed a lot of the issues I've become aware of in my short time so far as a nomad. The planning issue really resonated with me, since I am actively planning travel in SE Asia in the first half of 2023. What I've decided to do is only work on the planning for future trips on the weekends. I've found in retirement that the weekends are the time when things are the busiest, so I tend to not visit sites, museums, do grocery shopping, etc. on the weekends. Instead, I do those things during the week. So that frees up the weekends to spend time inside the apartment and do trip planning, reading, etc. It seems to be working for me so far. I hope you keep on making videos like this one. They are really helpful! Happy travels!

Wow girls, this is one of the best videos I’ve seen on your channel. You’re so brave to share the realities behind the instagram moments that almost everybody hides. Great to see you’re learning, defining your lifestyle and helping us on our way to reach our goals in life.

U can slow down the travel to 6-12 months at each place to decrease the stress of planning and packing.

We just finished six months of travelling around the world and I also found researching the next place took up a lot of time, along with deciding what accommodation to book and booking flights and trains etc. As good as it was being away, we appreciated being home for nearly three weeks before setting off again. Looking forward to seeing what your new plans are 😊

We cannot believe we've been travelling full time for over a year now:)We also return to Toronto to see our adult kids and attend medical appointments etc. (and because we want to keep our Ontario health Insurance)but we agree that it's also nice to be surrounded by familiar things for a while. I write this sitting in our camper van on Manitoulin Island where I am visiting my sister and nieces. Next we plan to drive back down to Mexico where we purchased a little condo and spend the winter. I've found that having different ways of travel have been the best for us. Sometimes we take planes and stay in airbnb's, sometimes we drive and stay at hotels or campsites. We started housesitting (this is our strategy for staying in Toronto) and are working that in as well. Our only real horror story was when we had just arrived in Mexico and locked ourselves out of our Airbnb in our swimsuits and no phones. Thankfully, we'd made friends with our neighbours who helped us. I am much more careful now!

I agree about the loneliness! During my 6-month trip around the world this year, I got SO lonely. My channel is small, so I never had a chance to meet any subscribers. I did make a couple of friends in Thailand by reaching out to my favorite RU-vidrs and meeting them, which helped. But 6 months was enough, I'm happy to be home. I'll be going on shorter trips in the future (like 1 month at a time).

I love this honest kind of video. My plan is to travel the world with my wife too. But I feel that will be an issue too, she loves talking to other human beings 😂... so I think we should build a small house in a land we own in Puerto Rico where our entire family lives. And we should go back there at least 3 times a year. Thanks for sharing. these are my favorite kind of honest videos! 🔥

Gabe the traveler.. he has his own blanket that he travels with. Sometimes, you want the place you lay your head to smell and feel familiar… maybe that’s an options for making a place feel like home anywhere you are.

After 3 years we haven't gotten to the burnout stage yet. But we do miss the comforts of our own home when we get sick.

Interesting video - looking forward to your next trip! I am a planner both by personality profession, so I (mostly) enjoy it, but it can be very time-consuming and stressful at times. A couple tips that you probably already know, but may help others: 1) Create a travel planner or outline that can be re-used for all destinations. This would contain the categories of all the things you need to research (visas, vaccinations, insurance, weather, currency, sim cards, local transportation, nearest clinic/hospital, etc.) 2) If you have a partner, divide the tasks up, based on each person's likes and strengths. For example, I'm the detail guy so I get the boring stuff. My wife focuses on flights, accommodations, things to do.

As always a fantastic, relatable video! Much of what you mentioned was totally why we shifted back to having a homebase! I found that as much as I LOVE the travel, I love it so much more when I know I'll be in my super dark bedroom with the softest bed in the world waiting for me at the end of a month long trip! But then, we always say we make decisions for now! It's great to adjust as you go-nothing is set in stone. So glad to hear your mom is OK!

Thank you 🙏- love your videos and can’t wait to get going! Thank you for being so open and honest it is so very appreciated ❤

Great video! We can relate to everything you talked about. We had a similar medical emergency in Argentina that we weren't prepared for, and we understand the amount of planning needed for this type of lifestyle. We look forward to following your adventures in South America!

Traveling has been great for me this last 4 months but I agree about going back to your home town for a break helps rejuvenate your desire for travel. Being able to find the things you need easily and seeing family is needed. Love the videos

Hi Stephanie and Gillian: I really enjoy ALL your videos, and your total honesty. My husband and I are retired nomads and have been traveling full time since Nov 2014 (6 years on our boat and now 2 years via planes). We truly love it and can't imagine doing anything else. Our current nomad approach is one country at a time for a full 3 months (US citizens from Chicago, San Diego and Miami Beach / Schengen rules of 90 days in 90 days out). We also stay in Airbnb's and always take advantage of the incredible 1 month discounts. We have a list of "must haves" for each stay which always includes a great kitchen, as we try to eat in about 3/4 of the time. We tend to select large cities with good public transportation and we also LOVE to be in walkable neighborhoods. My husband loves to cook, and I do all the travel planning. We tend to select Airbnb's close to the largest outdoor markets and grocery stores. Life is good! Have fun with your future travels and I hope our paths cross someday :) Pam

Loved this one! Totally relate to pretty much all of them 😅 especially feeling like jumping around Airbnb’s and maybe feeling a little too nomadic! Looking forward to seeing what’s next for you two!

I appreciate your candor. I always enjoy your videos. Thank you.

I love your videos. This a great one. Thank you!

We loved this video! We related to it so much. Even tho my husband and I have only been traveling full time for 7 weeks now (seems so short) and have plans to travel for ame entire year, we have felt the same stresses about planning the next place and being in the moment. I’m so glad we’re not alone and there’s other people out there with similar struggles.

Such a great video. We moved to Portugal and have been here for a year and a half. I have experienced loneliness as a couple and am working on that. We do not travel full-time, but we travel a lot and spend so much time planning! Right now we are slowing down travel, after we complete the next trips we already have planned, and also reflecting on our life changes and travel to make adjustments to improve our quality of life and happiness. I am looking back and thinking through the magical moments of travel and trying to travel in a way that will recreate those types of memories and feelings.

Girl, you’re my future me. I am already close to FIRE and you are answering a lot of my questions and doubts. I hope you know how valuable you are.

Your videos are always inspirational and interesting to watch. And especially this one, thanks for sharing and being so honest about full time travel. It gave me a lot of food for thoughts. Looking forward to your new plan! All the best❤🎉🎉

Great video. Thanks for sharing your experiences/reality from travel over the past three years. It’s very helpful. ✈️🌏

Well, the newsletter brought me here to a video I've seen already seen before but enjoyed again. 😊❤

I find that i need space in between trips. Especially travelling with a cat. he is good natured and easy but he weighs 12 lbs. We just came back from 4 months in Vancouver and as a zine editor i wanted to take part in a zine fair this year. I missed Canzine Toronto as it was in October and it took forever for the organizers of ExpoZine in Montreal to announce if it was happening or not. So when Canzine Ottawa was announced for November 6, i registered, despite the fact we were flying home on November 3. We travel a lot from our home near Quebec City to Vancouver BC and forth, and that trip involves taking a taxi, a city bus, a 4 hour train ride, a 5-6 hour flight, a 30 minute subway ride, and another city bus each way. Yes, my cat is a hero LOL. We arrived yesterday at 5 PM and despite having all of today to rest, i am NOT ready to leave again tomorrow at 6AM, even if that is just a 4 day stay, i was looking forward to goin gback to Ottawa for the first time since 1997, and my our AirBnB host was super nice and accomodating to my cat and me. I decided to cancel and take the time to land and be home. I'm 45 years old and it's hard to keep up still living like you're 22. I don't have the energy right now and i am late in editing my videos, i am hoping to rebook this trip at some point. ExpoZine IS happening in Montreal in 3 weeks so we are going there and will be recharging until then :)

Traveling with four legged family is going to add to the planning exponentially. I wander around with just my backpack. I'm not fussy about my surroundings and can sleep through almost anything, so I wind up doing a combination of hostels and airbnbs. And I'm flexible - if something happens I can pack the backpack and go somewhere else. I also bought a small apartment in México to use as a base. Travel. Back to the apartment. Travel. Back to the apartment. That really helps with the burn out! Great video! Thanks!

Always fun to listen and watch you two! I look forward to the next chapter of your travel. Thank you for sharing your world with ours. I enjoy the planning process, but I spend hours and my husband never has an interest until something does not pan out the way he wanted it. I say come and look and let me know if this looks good to you..and he has no interest...then when we are getting up at 4am to catch a 7am flight...he has an opinion...LOL

You two are lovely, I really like how real you both keep it!

Loneliness as a slow traveler has been an unexpected challenge. It is difficult to meet people, especially with only limited foreign language skills. Even if you stay somewhere for a couple of months (this is how we are traveling), it is not likely that you'll be invited into someone's circle of friends. Returning home for a couple of months has been a way to satisfy that need.

Thank you so much for the effort and time you put into these videos. So informative and enjoyable. Regardless of how long you continue to travel full time, your videos and lifestyle are inspirational. Cappuccinos on us one day. Hopefully somewhere warm.

sorta new to your channel and have been binge watching (subscribed a while back but haven't really kept up)... figured out today we are in your same apartment in Tirana ..... we are "lurkers" who travel full time as well ..... faleminderit for all you do !

Hello G & S, thanks for the insights of slow traveling!. Enjoying your videos! Wishing that i could also take off someday and do some SLOW traveling like you guys!

We definitely splurge a bit on the Airbnbs. When it is going to be your home and not just a place to crash on a vacation, the comfort and amenities matter more.

Thank you for given honest feedback. Totally agree about the planning involved in travel. What tips do you have? Does longer stays help? Do you split up tasks? How do you decide on exact neighborhood for rental??

Boy can I relate. I had a minor fall that resulted in a very serious tibia plateau fracture in Thailand in January. Surgery, a plate/9 screws, one week in the hospital with barely any English spoken and 5 months of recovery there! Thank God for insurance, but still. I've been doing this for about 5 years and the burnout is REAL!

An excellent reveal on the realities of a full time travel lifestyle. Of course you move on every month so a great deal of planning is needed for each choice of location and Air BnB etc etc. Cheers from Canada

Another excellent video! It’s no joke how much time and mindspace future travels require of us. It’s a constant juggling act. On one hand, there are so many places we want to visit and won’t have time for all of them. On the other, we need lots of time in a place to accommodate all that planning and enjoying what there is to do. Like you in SA now, we have a busy 4 months in Asia in a few months. We have 3 months in SMA now and 2 2-month house sits on the back end so we’ll shift into “vacation” mode in Asia and enjoy the ride. 🙏🙏🙏 Something that’s recently surprised me…we’ve started telling our community where we’re heading in advance and inviting them to join us. I’ve put it out 3x and expected no one jump in. I was wrong…we have fantastic groups in Kuala Lumpur, Bali and on a transpacific cruise. All the work you’ve put into your videos and community means you have a fabulous gang of friends ready to meet you wherever you are.

So….what is the solution to not spending so much time planning. I retire the end of May and I’m a big planner so this is one of my fears.

Thanks for telling it like you feel it. I find travel to be hit and miss, and sometimes I'm glad to get home. Occasionally I've had a fantastic time, but on other occasions I felt really a long way from home. I went to Thailand for the first time and had a great time, met wonderful people and if I'd been rolling dice they would have come up 6's. Then my mum passed away and I was feeling sad, so I went to Thailand again hoping for a holiday to lift me out of the doldrums. But that trip, if I'd been rolling dice would have come up 1's and 2's. I was away for a month and glad to get back home. Nowadays I think I'm good for up to 2 weeks away, then I start to miss my comfy bed and all the comforts I've made for myself at home.

I was in Paris with my mom and daughter. My son had just left to go back to Rome where he was living. We were grabbing a Starbucks on our last morning there before going to the airport. Three 7-foot Somalian guys who appeared to be running from the police (given the sirens and flashing lights some distance behind them) ran by with a possibly stolen briefcase, and saw my then 14-year-old daughter. They followed us into a Starbucks and literally took my daughter and started pulling her away. I said she’s 14 and she isn’t going anywhere. They said if we can’t have the daughter then we will take the mother. I was eye level to their chests. I pulled my daughter behind me and got ready to fight like a Mother. The male Starbucks employees slid down behind the counter. My mother managed to distract them, and they finally left. This happened on a quiet Sunday morning in the 6th Arrondissement, one of the nicest areas in Paris. It occurred to me after this that I had no idea what 911 was in France. Please make sure you know the emergency number to call in every country you travel to.

Appreciate the honest reflections! We are in our countdown for Fall 2023 and are thinking about all those things you mentioned so its helpful to hear how things are actually going. There is another retired youtuber that doesnt book ahead- he books 1-2 weeks of accommodation then he walks around and finds a neighbourhood and place that he likes for the longer, 1-3 months. We might experiment to see which works better for us. Psychologically, planning and anticipation can be a positive part of the journey- maybe reserved for the evenings- before or after a fun day out where you are. I would do that to relax instead of netflix any day! ;) Because of your comments, we will probably be booking flights home more regularly. Thanks!

Thank you sharing your honest thoughts! I looooove your channel, but always felt like it’s not “slow” travel. It looked like you were always in a rush to your next destination. Have you considered staying longer in one spot?

Great video. Come to Ecuador! A great community here in Cuenca, gorgeous scenery all over, and you have a bed in my apartment if you wish.

This was an informative video. My daughter watches the videos with me. She said that you inspire her wants to travel like you both when she gets older. She is 12. She said that you both are a really cute couple. :)

What was your favorite country / city, if you had to choose 1 and what was your mother's hospital bill ( if you don't mind sharing )?

Hi Jillian and Stephanie, I've just started watching your videos. Do you mind sharing the location of the trail (in your video) you took in lake Como? Thank you . V

Thanks guys for all your information! My husband and I have been following your adventures for quite some time! You've been SOOO helpful. We have been here in Europe for a few weeks after selling our house and everything, resigning and moving overseas to travel. We have our goldendoodle here with us from the states and want to know what the regulations are to get our pup on the ferry over to Albania and then back into the EU after? Help! We can't seem to find these answers anywhere. We are in Italy and plan to hop over to albania and Croatia before we head into Greece in the spring. Thanks y'all!!

The question i was about to ask u answered before i finished typing it hahaha, but i am just curious how you are able to sustain it, financially, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Keep safe. Take care.

Making mistakes keeps the mind young and active

You just answered my biggest question: what to do in an emergency? thanks

Another awesome video, I was wondering are you keeping a tally for what its has costed you guys for the past 3 yrs? Maybe scale back to only travelling for 6-8mths a year. We are also from Toronto and we are going to start next year with three months of course in the winter and then return back to Toronto until September and venture off for either a month or two before the month of December. So this way we would be getting the best of both worlds while still staying in the loop with family and friends. Of course being from Canada we need to flock to warmer temperatures. Does this make me a snowbird? Maybe but we will be an adventurous snowbird not just parking our behinds in Florida. As to accommodations in Toronto will the prices are still ridiculously high north of a million but there's always smaller towns which are still also ridiculously high Maybe a home with an inlaw would work out it's a tough call for anyone living in this part of the world. Wish we could buy a home for 300-400K like they can in other parts of the world. Good luck always looking forward to your next adventure

Did you contact the nearest Canadian consulate when your mother broke her wrist? I wouldn't be surprised if there was one in Oaxaca, even if it was just an individual with consular status, but there would certainly have been one in Mexico City and perhaps Cancun. Consulates (unlike embassies) are there to help the citizens of the home country - in your case, Canada - when they have problems in other countries. They might have been able to help you communicate with the hospital staff and find an easier way to pay for the treatment.

My wife and I are retiring and our plan is to take 3-5 years and slow travel from Mexico to Argentina. She hopes to do another 2-3 years around SE Asia afterwards. I think we might be tired of travel by then but who knows. We are currently 55 and 60. Not sure if we will get burnout…time will tell.

I’m really interested in how you overcame planning for the next destination and not focusing on the one you’re in? I spend so much time planning a holiday let alone life on the road.

Great video about many of the things I've wondered about. It would be great if you did an indepth video on each issue and the way you overcame it. I haven't started traveling yet but I have worried about selling my house and not having a home base to come back to, especially because I live in an area where the housing costs are very expensive. What do you recommend for creating face-to-face connection with others in the countries and locations you're traveling to? Also, a video on how to pick a place to stay, the tools you used and the warning signs of a place that looks good on paper but should probably be passed by.

What about travel insurance? Do you buy it? Why or what not?

Travelling with dogs is beyond nuts 😞

Travel is hard. The longest I have traveled is 2 weeks. And certain countries get on my nerves more than others. I can only do a long trip in Mexico. Europe is 10 days maximum. Nothing better than sleeping in your own 🛏️ bed!

Question : What would happen if you are the one who need medical care? Do local hospital expect you to go to an ATM? So glad everything is fine with your mom!

Hi girls. I’ve loved your videos. I would get to where you are now a lot quicker. However, I am a Christian and would probably be able to plug into a local community. It’s pretty universal. I wonder what other ways one can plug in and gain instant community. Perhaps expat communities. Since they all are in the same boat and don’t have roots there.

Thanks for the honest video. Sounds like next year will be your last with full time travel.

I am sorry that your travel , making youtube video and writing blog etc becoming a stress as new job. Make me think of my FIRE process. Look like this human brain will never be settle down in any life-style.

Travel is fantastically overrated...I’ve discovered its basically humans wandering around spending LOTS of money looking at stone, water, soil and the skies. Humans have an urge to seek happiness and peace in other places. Travel doesn’t enlighten you, it doesn’t give you any higher knowledge, it doesn’t make you a more educated or better person, it merely occupies and distracts you. A holiday or even a day trip can top up your wanderlust a lot more efficiently than taking off to explore the world. The real magic lies within finding peace and happiness in the mundane. Trust me, the world is VERY “samey” unless you go live with tribes or discover an island you’ll realise we’re all humans with the same problems, some of just speak and eat differently. ..oh, and some places are hotter.