Do you travel (or plan to) when FIRE'd?

[WYOGO]

Yes! Part of my move to Wyoming was to establish domicile in a tax free state with ample access to mountain wilderness terrain and build the framework for my mobile life. I am in the final stages of letting go of all possessions of value that cannot be carried along. I may settle down seasonally for a few months in the dead of winter but for the most part the plan is to roam free.

[RootofGood]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but on a related topic: does anyone have any experience of doing a lot of lengthy travel (e.g. near backpacking style) but with very young kids?

We have no kids at the moment.  I've just FIREd with the Mrs potentially coming along next year.  She is very keen to travel but also very keen on kids, and can't put off the latter for long!  The question is do we do:
(a) kids and forget the big travel plans (at least until we are old and gray!)
(b) kids and take them along when they are very young (before school)
(c) go travelling and kids in a few years (would give up quite substantial in-work benefits though! maternity leave etc.)

We have more or less settled on (c) but would love to know if anyone has experience of (b)?  The logistics seem daunting.

We're in the position of having 3 kids (2, 8, and 9) and enough time and money to travel.  We tried a 5 week road trip last summer and gave up 2.5 weeks in.  The 2 year old was a huge handful and kept us on the go.  A typical day was leave the apartment by 10 am and do a little touring until the early afternoon or when the 2 year old started getting cranky.  Sometimes it we made it to dinner time.  We had a stroller and he napped in it while we walked around the city or wherever we were visiting. 

The older kids were easier on us.  But after seeing the second or third cathedral or museum of the day, "can we go swimming now?" was a pretty common question.  Which we did almost every night and it was fun but exhausting.  And cold (thanks Montreal summers!  ;) ). 

All told, we probably got in a few hours of sightseeing each day on average.  About what we expected.   So traveling can happen with young kids but we found it a lot of work.  We might try again in summer 2016 with a month or two somewhere abroad.  But this summer we'll probably do no more than a 1-2 week road trip to the next state over. 

Weather was also an issue. It was 95 degrees when we visited Philadelphia and the 2 year old wanted none of that, thanks.  So I ran in, saw the liberty bell for 15 minutes (the A/C was awesome!) then that was it for the day (other than an enjoyable lunch and dinner trying to find the best cheesesteak in philly).  I wasn't really disappointed, as we got to see most of what we wanted to by driving around.  But driving through the UPenn campus (for example) instead of getting out, exploring on foot and relaxing in courtyards. 

My advice would be set your expectations low and you won't be disappointed.  And you might find you get into a groove and your kid is more cooperative than mine. 

Also don't be disappointed when you point to one of the continent's largest waterfalls and the older kids ignore it and ask if they can go play on the playground next to it. :)

If I were in your shoes, I would opt for (c) even if it meant losing out on some sweet work benefits.  You might end up with those later anyway. 

[kathrynd]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but on a related topic: does anyone have any experience of doing a lot of lengthy travel (e.g. near backpacking style) but with very young kids?

We have no kids at the moment.  I've just FIREd with the Mrs potentially coming along next year.  She is very keen to travel but also very keen on kids, and can't put off the latter for long!  The question is do we do:
(a) kids and forget the big travel plans (at least until we are old and gray!)
(b) kids and take them along when they are very young (before school)
(c) go travelling and kids in a few years (would give up quite substantial in-work benefits though! maternity leave etc.)

We have more or less settled on (c) but would love to know if anyone has experience of (b)?  The logistics seem daunting.

Have the kids now, and when you feel it is appropriate, start travelling short distances and see if it is enjoyable.
There is nothing in this world to be seen, that is more important than kids.

[Dee18]

Traveling with a young child for me was a very different kind of traveling: stay in one place several days at a time and do things somewhat similar to what we would do at home:  visit a childrens/science museum, play in a park, take a bike ride or a walk...with maybe an hour of true "sightseeing".  It was fun, but totally different than purely adult traveling.  I'd say get in a good 6 month trip before having those kids. Once kids are great traveling age, you have to contend with school schedules a bit if not homeschooling.  Then you may hit a few sulky preteen/early teen years, although I was pretty lucky with those...and they can go to summer camp. Then they are wonderfully old enough to hang out at the museum cafe after taking a quick look at the most famous paintings so you can longer among the Van Goghs.

[Dee18]

Traveling with a young child for me was a very different kind of traveling: stay in one place several days at a time and do things somewhat similar to what we would do at home:  visit a childrens/science museum, play in a park, take a bike ride or a walk...with maybe an hour of true "sightseeing".  It was fun, but totally different than purely adult traveling.  I'd say get in a good 6 month trip before having those kids. Once kids are great traveling age, you have to contend with school schedules a bit if not homeschooling.  Then you may hit a few sulky preteen/early teen years, although I was pretty lucky with those...and they can go to summer camp. Then they are wonderfully old enough to hang out at the museum cafe after taking a quick look at the most famous paintings so you can longer among the Van Goghs.

[MsRichLife]

I love to travel (backpacking style) and seriously thought that having a child would not stop me from doing more of it. I was rather naive.

The logistics are daunting, but the temperant of my child is even more so. He was just hard work for those first few years. It was hard enough at home with all the mod cons, so the idea of travelling extensively with him was firmly off the table.

Having said that, quite a number of my friends have taken off and travelled around Europe with 9 month olds (i.e. not too mobile). They do acknowledge that it worked out well due to their child's temperament. One couple admitted that if their second child came first, (i.e. the more 'challenging' baby) they wouldn't have done it.

Having said that, we've travelled a lot in Australia since our son was born. It's just different. More road trips where we stay in the one place, and can take all.of.the.things in the car.

Now at 2.7 I can see that there will be a time when we are ready to go backpacking with our son, but we aren't there yet.

[RootofGood]

Traveling with a young child for me was a very different kind of traveling: stay in one place several days at a time and do things somewhat similar to what we would do at home:  visit a childrens/science museum, play in a park, take a bike ride or a walk...with maybe an hour of true "sightseeing".

Sort of our experience too.  Which leads me back to the bigger question of "why do we travel"?  After all, playing in the park is about the same whether it's the one around the corner or the one basking in the shadow of the Eiffel tower.  Considering it's a walk in the park to get to the former and a loooong ride in multiple metal tubes for the latter, I'm thinking we might ought to take the route with less friction. 

[77rider]

Yes! Part of my move to Wyoming was to establish domicile in a tax free state with ample access to mountain wilderness terrain and build the framework for my mobile life. I am in the final stages of letting go of all possessions of value that cannot be carried along. I may settle down seasonally for a few months in the dead of winter but for the most part the plan is to roam free.

I have fantasies of living somewhat like this. One thing that worries me is that lifestyle is so very different than the one I lead now that I have no idea how to budget for it. Makes the apprehension of FIRE even more stomach knotting.

I'm strongly considering buying an old plumbing van and trying my hand at low-profile camping travel now. Get a feel of how cost efficiently I can travel. Also because I hate the idea of eternally putting off that way of life "until I can afford it".

I've also had notions of moving west. California was high on my hit-list until I thought through the taxes. Colorado seemed like an option too.. but I hear they've got some heavy sales taxes these days. Suddenly I realize my home state of NH isn't that bad.

[Exflyboy]

Hmm... Yes WE want to travel... This is partly why I took this pt job which has the benefit of being able to stash travel perks like airmiles and hotel points.

We'll be going back to the UK this Summer basically for free.. so thats nice.

The three downsides are

1) You actually have to earn the travel perks in the first place (which lets face it), is a PITA!
2) Eventually we will spend down the travel bennies
3) When the bennies are used up I'll have to start spending actual money to travel!

Will I have enough money to be able to do this I wonder?... Ok that was a bit toungue in cheek...;)

Frank

[Neustache]

Rathga -

This would be a great question for the Little Mustachians sub-forum....or at least I think it's called that.  If you want to start a new thread there, I'll be happy to chime in!

[rebooted]

Hopefully we'll live in an RV. We're both fairly nomadic and there are so many beautiful parts of North America, how would I ever choose one? And we need a better winter living spot, but wouldn't want to go back to the same condo every year.

That's what we do. Retired last year at ages 44 and 40, sold our house, bought an RV, and have been driving around the US since then! We've never been nomadic before, spent most of our adult lives in the same one or two areas on the east coast. We are loving it, and really can't picture owning a home or staying in one place again (at least not for a long time). So far our spending is about 30% lower than it was when we were working. It would be even lower except that we now have to pay quite a bit for health insurance which was provided by my employer in the past (I have some pre-existing conditions so I need the "platinum" level, not "bronze").

Mike

[flyingaway]

If I talk about travel, it will be something like flying to another country for more than a week. We plan to do that extensively in retirement for the first few years and take out at east 100 countries and areas. What I do not know is what will be the next thing (things) to do after the first few years of extensive travel.

[DailyGrindFree]

Do you travel (or plan to) when FIRE'd?

That's the plan. Until I get tired of it or get too old, at least. :-)