Ok so you have worked hard and long and are thinking of retiring early. You long and wish for the day that you can close the door to full time work and move onto all those projects that you’ve been contemplating on doing but just never seemed to have the time to really explore the opportunity.
But the reality has been that you’ve had to work to be able to pay for the trappings of modern society. Being trapped in the system paying for all those belongings you were tricked out of what you really wanted to do and that was to travel.
How do you make the transition from work to play and still have enough to live on?
It’s this very thought that scares a lot of people to just keep working and allowing their dreams to die before they to succumb to the same fate.
Our friends thoughts on what we are about to do are mixed, some are sceptical that we will ever get started some think that we won’t have enough money, some think we will have too much money and some are envious on how we are achieving what we are doing.
We started our plans 2 years ago after I had a motorcycle accident that changed and revolutionized our thoughts and way of life. We are well on our way to becoming free from the constraints that a “normal” work life balance brings. Just typing this I realize the there really isn’t a balance, most of us work 5-6 days per week and are spending more hours per week with our work colleges than with our loved ones. That’s not a balance that’s a compromise. It’s a “I’m too scared to give it all up to do what I really want”. What scares you is the fact that you have debt and can’t see your way clear of it to make the transition.
You have to have an exit plan, some mere strategy that says “once I reach a certain point I can leave my job”.
Here is how our exit strategy works for us
(without disclosing future business projects)
Downsize: This is a project that we have been working on since I had my motorbike accident in 2011. It’s a process of getting rid of stuff that you don’t need. It’s a liberating experience and one that can also bring financial reward.
Sell your house: This was our next big step and it’s one that a lot of would be digital nomads are divided about doing. For us owning several properties, the last thing we needed was more headaches with tenants destroying homes, or houses sitting empty for long periods of time as has happened in the past.
Saving up: This is the next step in our action plan, it’s going to take us two years to save what we think we will be enough finances to be able to travel long term. This money saved isn’t for travel, it’s for re-entering the housing market should we see a boom in house prices starting to eventuate.
Buy Another House: Given that everything so far is about saving and downsizing this part of the plan might leave a few of you a little confused, but with recent house prices in Brisbane starting to move it’s a good time to search out a little gem that we after a little renovating turn a healthy profit.
Now this can be the place where you could spend more that you need. Our formula is that we need to add $90,000AUD to the original purchase price on a house between 350-400,000 to turn a decent profit. So if you’re trying this system you don’t want to let emotions get in the way, remember this isn’t your dream home…. It’s a fixer upper that wont need structural work.
Sell the renovated home: Don’t fall into the trap of “now it’s all done it’s so nice we should keep it” because you probably borrowed the money to buy it in the first place and believe me you don’t want to rent it out and find that you either have a bad experience with a tenant, or that the property sits empty for a year (both have happened to us).
Move to a cheaper country to live: Some would consider this a little extreme, but as a bosses wife once put it to me “It’s better to be the king of shit than the shit of kings” (trust me, her words not mine). Given our current economic situation in Australia the though of paying ever higher prices for fuel and food only encourages the thought of moving to either Thailand or Bali to live.
There seems to be (after a little research) a myriad of places to live that are cheaper than where we are right now and this is where we are headed. However it’s a work in progress and we are still working toward the 1st of July 2015 when we will embark on our world journey.
Once on the road there are plenty of ways to make money and keep you going – take a look at our “How to make money while travelling” page
