Michael Answers Reader's Questions

Ready to Answer Questions about being Senior Nomads

When we left Seattle in July 2013 to begin our Senior Nomad adventures many friends and family suggested we start a blog. We'd never written a blog before but it sounded like a great way to share our adventures with those closest to us. We hadn't expected anyone outside family and friends to read it. You can probably tell, because Debbie's stories are like sending breezy personal letters home. So we were a bit unprepared after the New York Times ran the story about us (picked-up by many other newspapers and websites) that resulted in so many new people finding us. And of course there were lots of questions! The most popular queries came from people who dream about trying to do what we are doing in some way or the other.  Here are the top 10 questions we were asked:

1. How much does it cost you every month? Do you have a budget?
2. How can you stay in Europe for more than 180 days at a time?
3. What do you do for Medical Insurance both in Europe and back home?
4. How do you pay your bills and keep up with mail back home while you are gone?
5. How do you pack for such a long trip? What did you bring besides your  pillows?
6. How do you get from place to place?
7. What apps or websites do you use to for travel planning?
8. How far out in front do you book your travel and apartments on Airbnb?
9. What do you do about cell phones - especially calling friends and family.
10. How do you avoid foreign currency transaction fees and ATM fees?

I'm going to start with "The Budget Question". Cost seems to be the biggest hurdle for those who want to try long-term travel as a way to rethink retirement. In future posts, I'll answer more of the questions in between Debbie's travel stories and my occasional "football" post.

Ongoing Expenses Back home - We reduced our monthly expenses as much as possible by renting our house for a year, selling one of our cars and our beloved sailboat. We donated many of our things to charity, or gave them to friends and family. Whatever was left, we put in a small storage unit in Seattle. So now, our monthly expenses are down to our health and life insurance premiums, our storage unit, and a monthly post office box rental.  

Our Daily Journal for tracking our adventures and expenses

Place to Sleep - This is our single biggest line item each month. As we said in the New York Times story we spend $90/night using Airbnb. We work hard to find the right balance between what we want and what we can afford. In expensive places like London, Paris, Oslo and Stockholm we spent more, but we make up for that in Bosnia, Morocco, Greece and Turkey.

Door to our first Airbnb apartment in Amsterdam

Travel - This comes in two parts. 1) Travel from the USA to Europe. If you come and go often this could be a significant line item. But if you travel for a year then it is just a matter of round-trip airfare to wherever you start your journey and back home. 2)  Travel between cities. We generally stay from 7-10 days in each city so we are on the road 3-4 times per month. We use a mix of transportation: planes, trains, buses and ferries depending on the situation. Flying in Europe on the most popular routes can be really cheap but extra fees like baggage weight and seat selection can add-up. Super fast inter-city trains can be expensive; we've found local trains are very affordable. Another option is taking a bus. Besides being affordable, it is a great way to see a lot of countryside. We love going by bus whenever that's an option if the journey is less than 5 hours. Once we are in a city, we walk as much as we can and then use the public bus and metro systems. We've only rented a car twice in 20 months. Taxi's are a luxury and we only used them when it makes sense. 

One of the many luxury buses we rode in Lithuania

Waiting for the city bus on the Island of Rhodes

Medical Insurance  - When we visited Europe in the past as tourists, we never purchased travel insurance or medical insurance. However, to obtain our one year French visas to allow access to the Schengen zone (more on that in the next blog), medical coverage in Europe was required. I'm not sure we would have purchased it otherwise, but now we have it. Like any other health insurance one can trade-off the amount of coverage vs. deductibles and of course premiums are impacted by age. We got our coverage through an online company called Insuremytrip.com but there are lots of options on the web. 

Ice cream must be in one of the food groups

Food - This category is the quintessential "how long is a piece of string" question. Only you know if you want to eat in restaurants most of the time, and what that expense might look like. Debbie loves to explore the local markets and cooking is something she really enjoys so we eat most of our meals at home. Breakfast is almost always at the table while planning the day. Lunch is split between packing a picnic and grabbing local street food (always delicious) on the go. Of course we eat out on occasion to get a flavor for the local cuisine and to give Debbie a break from cooking and me from doing the dishes. 

Debbie shopping in Stockholm outdoor market for fresh mushrooms

Debbie enjoying a recent lunch in Greece because who wants to cook an octopus at home?

Entertainment and Education - This is another bucket that only you can decide how to fill. We are not on vacation, so we don't feel obligated to hit every tourist attraction and museum in the guide books. We know what we like and plan accordingly. Free walking tours (just tip the guide at the end), are one of our favorite activities. Debbie is always on the lookout for a good cooking class and I've got my eyes out for sporting events especially football matches. We both love to read, explore our neighborhood and the city by foot and then at the end of the day we are home for dinner followed by one of our favorite games: Scrabble, backgammon, cribbage or dominoes. Of course we also try and find free or affordable concerts in local churches or small venues.

Couldn't miss the Louvre! Cultural experiences of any kind are a bargain.

Debbie taking a cooking class in Marrakesh, Morocco

Daily Living  - This category covers everything not included above. Most are not really significant by themselves but they add up day after day. Just staying comfortable on the road  seems to constantly require top-ups of things a person needs: socks, soap, makeup, toothpaste, shampoo, band-aids, laundry detergent and/or laundromats if your house does not have a washing machine, e-books for the Kindle, apps, the occasional English newspaper, snacks, cookies (that's a category all by itself), haircuts, manicures, flowers and candles for the apartment, cooking ingredients (must have spices and olive oil)  and every now and again a jigsaw puzzle - which we leave behind for our host.

Saving money - our host in Dublin's barbershop gave me a free haircut

Hopefully these categories will help you start your own budget. Six months before we left Seattle, I created budget that projected monthly spending with low, medium and high columns. Three months later I revised it. Upwards of course. Now looking back after 20 months on the road we're probably running 10% over projections but Debbie and I are in agreement. It has been 100% worth it.

Most apartments have a washer, but still have to buy laundry detergent some times

I suspect that when you sit down and start crafting your own budget you too will find a sweet spot. I think you can reinvent your retirement and be fiscally responsible at the same time. You may need to make adjustments along the way, and not do everything on your wish list but that's half the fun. 

My favorite entertainment expense - football matches. Here I am in Athens with our host Vaselli.

Thank you for joining us and we wish you safe travels where ever you go. Next time: How we've stayed in Europe for more than 180 days at a time. 

 Michael

MC Sports Report: A Lesson in Loyalty

Saturday Afternoon watching FC Bari at home

After Naples, our next stop in Italy was Bari, directly east on the Adriatic Sea. I checked to see if their football team was going to be at home and the answer was yes! It's always exciting for me to find a match to attend. Bari would be playing against Vicenza Calcio SpA, a team from Northern Italy not far from Venice.

Like all European countries, football in Italy is divided into divisions. The best teams play in the top division, next best teams play in the second division and so on. The names of the divisions vary from country to country. In Italy, the top division is called Serie A. The second division is Serie B.

F.C. Bari currently plays in Serie B. Since I had never seen a Serie B match before I was really looking forward to it wondering about the quality of play. Bari plays in Stadio San Nicola built for the 1990 World Cup. It seats 58,200 which is probably about 40,000 more seats than a Serie B team needs.

But I've gotten ahead of myself...

When we arrived in Bari we saw an unfamiliar site - an beautiful historic building that looked like a museum that turned out to be an old theater. All around the exterior of the building were life-size cutouts of football players, something that one does not see every day. Turns out, they were hosting an exhibit called "Football Heroes". A few days later I went back for a visit, paid my $8 and went in, and found I was the only person there on a Wednesday morning. Not to surprising during this quiet season. Inside I met Gianfranco who gave me a one-hour personal guided tour featuring jerseys, photos and memorabilia of the greatest football stars not just of Italy, but Europe and beyond. A fun and fascinating warm-up for my Saturday afternoon match.

Museum in Bari with a special exhibition on "Football Heroes"

Gianfranco spoke limited English, but still gave me an informative tour

Often times, figuring out how to get a ticket to a match has been a challenge. This time it was easy. Our Airbnb host made a few calls and directed me to the betting shop around the corner and after showing my passport they printed out a $17 ticket in no time.

Figuring out how to get to the match can also be a challenge since I use public transportation but again, this time it was easy. It was a 10 minute walk from our apartment to the Bus Station and for $1.20 I rode a city bus to the stadium with a handful of other fans. The bus got me there much earlier than necessary.

Stadio San Nicola in better days. Built for the 1990 World Cup, now home to F.C. Bari

Entering the grounds involved the usual security checks then scanning my ticket and going through the head-to-toe turn styles. I made my way up to the concourse and that's when I realized that the wind was blowing through the stadium like I was inside a Boeing wind tunnel and it was freezing. It was a solid hour before the match started and the place was almost empty which made it seem even colder.

I found someone who looked like an usher. After examining my reserved seat ticket he seemed to say in his limited English that my section was closed for some reason so I could sit anywhere.

One hour before the match got underway

I was told I could sit anywhere I'd like - and that meant anywhere!

I found a place out further out of the wind on the main level, ate my packed lunch (Thank you Debbie) decided to move up to the 2nd level in the hopes that the wind wasn't blowing quite as hard. I followed a couple of Bari fans to the 200 Level and good news - warm sunshine and calm air.

Bari supporters

As it got closer to match time, the F.C. Bari supporters filled-in their end, while all 50 away supporters from Vicenza were huddled at the other end.

Compare and Contrast:

• Bari - 15th in the table, home in a stadium that was less than 20% full but a supporters section that was jammed with loyal fans hoping for a win and the 3 points that could help them move up the table and someday soon...a return to Serie A.
• Vicenza - 7th in table, 800 kms away from home with 50 super loyal fans was also hoping for a win, 3 points and a return to Serie A.

Away supporters separated by Plexiglas in their own section

View the video below to hear the Bari fans singing their support just before the match got underway. It gave me goose bumps then, and again just now when I played it for Debbie...

Now the match. If you have read any of my football blogs before, you'll know that I really like the game but I'm not that knowledgeable about how the game is actually played. So take this with a grain of salt, but I have to say that neither team looked that great to me. In fact, pretty poor! Vicenza played better in the first half but no one scored so it was 0-0 at the half. In the second half, it looked like more of the same until Vicenza went ahead in the 72nd minute with a nice looking goal by Andrea Petagna, their 19 year-old striker from Trieste. And that's how it ended. Lots of sunshine but cold. Some pretty mediocre football but still a great day out watching the world's most popular game.

The small band of loyal supporters who traveled all the way from Northern Italy went crazy. Their reward, came after the match when the Vicenza players came over to their corner of the stadium and acknowledged them by applauding their supporters with hands above their heads.

My take away  - Loyalty comes in all sizes from 50 super fans who traveled 500 miles to support their team to 3,000 home-town fans who went home disappointed in their teams' performance on the pitch that day, but I am sure they will be back for the next match cheering, chanting and even whistling when they don't like a call.

Win or lose - Loyalty was on display by both Bari and Vicenza fans

Until next time.

Michael

Extra! Extra! Read All About The Senior Nomads!

Wednesday night, February 25th was sort of like Christmas Eve. We knew the story about our travels would be in the New York Times the next day - so it was hard to sleep. And hard not to peek under the "tree" in the middle of the night. We woke up to wonderful messages from friends and family who had seen the story on-line already since it had posted while we were sleeping. What an amazing feeling to see our lives chronicled this way!

We owe a great big thanks to the New York Times for the coverage they gave our adventures. If you didn't see the story, Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/26/garden/retirement-plan-an-airbnb-travel-adventure.html?mwrsm=Email&_r=0 It has been humbling as well as gratifying to receive comments from around the world and are now swamped with e-mails from new readers of our blog. It would appear there are many of people out there ready to follow their dreams, too! We hope we can help.

Our son in Seattle sent this picture of the actual coverage in the paper. We were blown away!

Special thanks to Steven Kurutz who wrote the story. He interviewed us for an hour and a half by phone when we were in Essaouria, Morocco and then a week later for another hour when we were in Marrakech. He was patient and engaging and we think he did a great job of capturing essence of why we're Senior Nomads and our chosen lifestyle. Thank you Steve. Thanks also to photographer, Andy Haslam, who made us look so good in our cozy Paris airbnb.

Photo by Andy Haslam taken in our Paris airbnb

The idea to publicize our story started around a year ago when we had been on the road for 9 months. We were having the time of our lives living full-time in Airbnb apartments all over Europe. We thought someone at Airbnb might like to know about us, and our goal was to help them inspire others to do what we are doing. So, we wrote a blind e-mail outlining our experiences and sent it to three contact addresses we found on the website. We were pleasantly surprised when we got a reply a few weeks later from Airbnb's communications department. We made friends with two great people on the staff who loved our story and they set about finding ways to share it. We also had a great visit to their headquarters in San Francisco last fall when we were there to renew our visas at the French Consulate.

The French visas that help us travel easily throughout Europe's Schengen Zone

Voila! Six months later, the New York Times helped us reach our goal of telling their readers about how we decided to reinvent our retirement.

We started our blog almost two years ago because friends and family wanted to stay in touch and to vicariously enjoy our adventures. We never intended them for a larger audience, but that has certainly changed in the last two weeks! Thank you to the thousands of readers who have visited the blog! It's a little overwhelming - but from the feedback and emails we've received you've enjoyed reading them, so we are encouraged to keep posting. You have asked great questions about how we manage to live this lifestyle and we will be adding blogs with answers and tips along with our usual travel stories.

On the road again - packed up in Paris and heading for Italy

Today is day 610 of our Senior Nomads traveling lifestyle. We've now stayed in 48 airnbnb's, visited 29 countries and explored 69 cities!  Currently we are enjoying time in Rhodes, Greece. We are truly blessed and grateful for this opportunity and look forward to sharing it with you - and encouraging you to live your dream.

Debbie and Michael
Senior Nomads