One idea that sound sort of doable
1) To find a location that works for me and the family in the USA, with a recovering housing market and see what we can do in terms of real estate- something like what Lacking Ambition (Mikebos) tells as his story of buying a few homes, rehabbing them and being a landlord. Perhaps that would be the route for me for the next few years? The draw back is rusty to nonexistent home rehab skills, no idea what market I could afford to buy into that we'd also like living in. Plus-I like getting my hands dirty and I like crunching numbers. Colorado sounds great but housing costs might rule it out. The big island also looks nice but same issue with costs.
There are many ways to achieve one's dreams. Most on this board are very young, have very low (current) budgets, and have the invincible optimism of youth - which can be a very strong asset to have.
However, I tend to fall in the more conservative camp when it comes to pulling the plug and FIREing away. That, and many on the ER forum who are in their 40s/50s/60s will add a dose of real life experiences to the mix and help people realize that you can't always assume living on just $10k/year in expenses indefinitely. Sure, some can get by and do it - but it's not always possible.
The advantages of buying a home now is the incredibly low mortgage rate. However, you yourself say that you have no construction experience. If you are unwilling/unable to learn, then I wouldn't suggest buying a rehab and renting it out - especially as a long-distance landlord.
Also, I would strongly suggest you stay with a gig that is enabling you to sock away roughly $50k/year. So, either suck it up and work another 5 years to double your stash (because the markets don't always go up), or look for another job state-side that would give you a decent income. You can try to do a part-time gig somewhere for just enough earnings to make ends meet....but if you have the opportunity to keep growing your stash at that rate, I would suggest you make hay while the sun's still shining. Life brings unexpected expenses, especially as a homeowner. A $200k (or even $400k) stash doesn't offer much growth, income, or safety if you have a few major unexpected financial hits over the span of a few years, with your home, health, or anything.
There could be opportunities later on to get a full-time job if you 'need it' - but nothing in life is guaranteed, especially if you try to re-enter your profession after 5-10 years of part-time work, and are competing with people who have a full resume history and appear more driven (even though most people change employers, no employer wants to hire someone knowing that they worked part-time for 10 years because they wanted to retire early, and are forced back to full-time employment...because they would wonder if they'll just quit in a few years like they did last time).
