Retiree, 75, Lives Out of a Backpack, Traveling the World With Husband

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Christine Casady, a 75-year-old retiree from the US. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My husband is an avid traveler, and thanks to that, we’ve been traveling extensively for almost three decades.

Ten years before I retired, we started taking longer trips, spending a couple of months at a time in a new place. I worked in leadership development, teaching workshops on business writing and presentation skills. It was a contract role, so I could take advantage of the quieter times of the year to travel.

My husband, Rick, runs his own company and can work from anywhere. He wanted us to travel more, but I loved my job and always wanted to get back to it.

At 70, I decided it was time to retire. Around the same time, our son was moving to New York City, and the building we’d lived in for years in Dallas was being sold as part of a redevelopment project. Everything seemed to be pointing us toward a fresh start.

In 2021, we spent several months living in Hawaii. Later that year, we got one-year visas to Thailand and stayed for nine months.

We went back to Dallas to wrap up our affairs. When the sale of our condo finally closed, we packed everything into a small storage unit.

I had to be selective about what I packed, and everything I needed for our travels fit into a 27-pound backpack.

Making the world our home

With that, we set off for Europe. Our first destination was Rome, followed by a few months in Sicily.

We’ve continued traveling full time, spending months in places ranging from India and Turkey to Egypt and Argentina. However, Southeast Asia remains our favorite.

We return to the US once or twice a year, usually for about a month, to see our son, catch up with friends, and take care of anything we need. We stay in Airbnbs or hotels, just as we do everywhere else.

Planning where to go next has become part of our routine. We usually plan at least six months ahead, trying to get the best accommodations.

Once we’ve decided on a destination, I spend hours researching where we’ll stay. It’s almost a part-time job, but after five years, I’ve gotten pretty good at it.

I like to see how locals actually live, from their daily activities to what they eat. I love to cook, so I always visit the grocery stores in a new city to see what’s on the shelves.

There have also been times when we’ve toured homes with local real-estate agents to see what it would be like if we settled there.

My husband still runs his own business remotely, and we have retirement income from Social Security and investments, so we have a relaxed budget. We typically spend under $5,000 a month.

We’re frugal by nature, but we’re also older now, so we’re treating ourselves a little more. Occasionally, we’ll splurge on experiences like a $8,700 safari in Africa or a $7,200 liveaboard snorkeling trip in Indonesia.

If we spend more than usual, we simply draw from our savings. It helps that we no longer have a mortgage or a car payment.

Retirement has been my greatest adventure

We’ve met people from all walks of life, but volunteering to teach English lets us build deeper connections with the local community. We enjoy helping the children.

Technology has made it much easier to stay connected with our loved ones. I still do regular Zoom calls with five college friends, and we try to meet in person every year.

More than anything, this way of living has kept me curious. Every new place is a new challenge in getting oriented, and I think that’s mentally beneficial, especially as I’ve gotten older.

My husband says it’s easier to stay fit when traveling because it’s interesting to go on walks. When we’re snorkeling in turquoise water, looking at coral and fish, it hardly feels like exercise either.

This has been such a gift. I attribute it to my husband, who’s encouraged me to try so many new things, and the years of long trips that prepared us for this lifestyle.

I’m not sure when we’ll stop, but after nearly six years, it’s probably time to start thinking about what’s next. I hope to be a grandmother, and I’d like to volunteer at an art museum in the US. I also know I won’t stop traveling entirely.

If I’d stayed in the US, my retirement wouldn’t have been nearly as stimulating. It’s not always perfect, but we’re grateful for this experience.