How Much it REALLY Costs to Travel Full Time

[@Reganland]

Love you guys and love your videos! This was a really interesting one for me. I'm 3 months into full-time BUDGET slow travel and on track for $18k/year all inclusive. That's a 20% increase over my original bare-bones plan but I just can't resist the goodies in the grocery stores in France! Currently I'm staying in Pau, France for $385/month in a little single car garage that was converted into a studio. It's TINY but has a comfy bed, mini kitchen and shower/sink/toilet bathroom. Come see me in Scotland this summer! I'm escaping the heat as far north as I can go in Thurso! 😃😁

[@OurFreedomYears]

Who can resist a bit of a splurge in France?! Sounds like you're doing a great job with your budget. Have a great summer in Scotland...definitely a beautiful place to escape the heat.

[@gregmiller9437]

So happy for you both! Having followed you for a couple years now, it's been a pleasure seeing you realize the goals you originally set for yourselves. So many countries and experiences! Your enthusiastic smiles and optimism are a motivation!

[@OurFreedomYears]

Huge thanks Greg! We really appreciate all the support you send our way. 😊

[@slowmads]

Budget-minded but not budget travellers. That’s us! 18 months as nomads now. In Andorra now. Happy to find your channel.

[@OurFreedomYears]

Congrats on kicking off your nomad life! And so glad that you found your way to our channel. 😊

[@pmwinkler]

I was looking forward to this video, and it didn't disappoint. Slow travel really is a less expensive way to see the world... I'm inspired!

[@OurFreedomYears]

It's amazing how far your budget can go when you're not in a hurry! 😂

[@AccordingtoWarren]

Just stumbled onto your channel. You both are so in sync with one another! keep it up, great information.

[@OurFreedomYears]

Welcome aboard and great to hear that you're enjoying our content! 😊

[@melhenline8438]

great advice! Also thanks for the deeper drive into hidden expenses. My biggest concern is traveling with a chronic disease (I have Rheumatoid Arthritis). All things considered I'm in pretty good health overall but my medications can be extremely expensive and I worry how I'll access them while on the move. So many things to figure out! thanks for the tips!

[@Fred-yd9md]

Mel Henline .. I m in similar situation is psoriatic arthritis… I need to have great job to maintain health insurance to get my biologic infusion.. unfortunately this type of travel lifestyle would be always a dream unless they come up with some miracle pill one day

[@melhenline8438]

@@Fred-yd9md Currently I do one shot of Methotrexate per week and take one Xeljanz every day. I've been on infusions in the past too, so I know how that tethers you to a location. I hope you can find a way to travel, even if it's not long term! : ) 🙂

[@OurFreedomYears]

Thanks for sharing your insights on this topic! While we aren't taking any prescription medication at this time, we do find it helpful to factor in a couple trips back to Canada over the year to take care of any essentials that we can't address elsewhere.

[@melhenline8438]

@@OurFreedomYears I was thinking that I may have to do something similar. Perhaps I could keep in contact with my rheumatologist via telehealth and do bloodwork for her wherever I am in the world. Accessing the medication is the biggest hurdle I think.

[@ericpeck3069]

Your videos are good and informational and I really enjoy them. I am a little surprised they don't get more views, and rhe only reason I can think of is that this is a crowded field. There seem to be hundreds if not thousands of KZbin videos on this topic.

[@OurFreedomYears]

Thanks so much - so glad to hear that you're enjoying them. We're actually quite happy with having a smaller audience. Since it's a hobby and not a business for us, we really prefer a smaller community of people we can get to know.

[@aurainesheinz3103]

You were spot on that I, as an American, was impressed by the low cost of medical insurance. I really appreciate this look at your finances as budget minded travelers. It really helps me to understand what my costs will be.

[@OurFreedomYears]

Glad we can help! We always feel for our American friends and their sky high health insurance.But at least all the other costs while traveling are still quite reasonable.

[@frontiermusings]

@@OurFreedomYears LOL. Not all of us Americans have sky high insurance. Those of us with government jobs, for example, have very low premiums on our cadillac plans.

[@OurFreedomYears]

@@frontiermusings Well done on securing a great health insurance plan!

[@4nshale]

Congratulations on the hike. You and your pups are in great shape.

[@OurFreedomYears]

Thanks! It was a tough one although the dogs seemed to be managing it a lot better than us 😂

[@JayandSarah]

The health insurance is always... an interesting one. Most of this is always travel medical emergency insurance.. it does not cover... you get sick and discover you have cancer... or something like this.. and as you have been away from your country for a long time, you don't have coverage when you go back... you might have waiting periods to qualify.

[@OurFreedomYears]

All great points. Some global health insurance provider do actually provide for major illnesses. We've used those in the past before we resumed our Canadian residence. Now that we're residents again, we would return to Canada for any major treatment. Of course, we realize the situation is very different for Americans.

[@JayandSarah]

@@OurFreedomYears we're Canadian as well. There is still a waiting period if you stay out of the country longer than whatever province permits for you to retain the health benefits. And these global health providers (not travel insurance only) are pretty crap, the premiums are very high (unaffordable) if you are older - and they will try to weasel out of covering anything... trust me. Or return you asap to your home country, and if you have no insurance because of a waiting period... it's a problem. It's often better in some countries to just pay out of pocket for anything other than a catastrophic situation and at tha tpoint, you probably have bigger problems than money. Cheers guys!

[@DestinationRetirement]

Another great video. How do you control the urge to SHOP. I could see buying rugs, textiles, etc. I am working on making a realistic budget for when I move to Mexico so I can travel during the summertime. And (I know I've told you about my floating house in Portland) I just bought a super tiny floating house in Portland as part of my five year plan. Selling my big ole house next month! Besides home in Mexico, Turkey is my next destination thanks to you! Especially the breakfast. :)

[@OurFreedomYears]

It's easy to control the shopping urge when you have to weigh in your luggage every month before hopping on a plane! 😂 So many exciting plans on the go...the tiny floating house sounds very intriguing. And you'll love Turkey...such a beautiful country.

[@karenmcdaniel9331]

Great video. I really enjoy watching your videos and they are so informative. You're so comfortable in front of the camera.

[@OurFreedomYears]

Thank you so much! We're happy to hear that you find our videos helpful. 😊

[@michaelfleming1153]

Just found your channel and absolutely love it. Getting ready to become a full time nomad in September starting in Toronto with plans to stay one month in each destination. Thanks for showing how it’s possible.

[@OurFreedomYears]

Wonderful! Congrats on being ready to launch your nomad life. It's a lifestyle that has it ups and downs but is ultimately really rewarding. 😊

[@whacked00]

You guys rock! It is funny your dogs have seen more countries than the vast majority of people. :-)

[@OurFreedomYears]

It's true...they've seen so much! And yet all they really care about is having a good walk and a comfortable bed at the end of the day 😂

[@whacked00]

@@OurFreedomYears Don't forget treats...:-)

[@Moorea2008]

Love your shirts in this video, especially the striped one! Excellent color palate :D So true about the unexpected costs of traveling full time.

[@OurFreedomYears]

I picked that one out for Gillian. She's terrible at buying new clothes for herself so I just went ahead and ordered it! 😂

[@Moorea2008]

@@OurFreedomYears LOL. Well, you picked a super cute shirt!

[@janissary69]

Thanks for sharing all this. Your videos are getting better. 👏🏼👏🏼

[@OurFreedomYears]

Thank you! We're always trying to improve. 😊

[@travellingwithcrowsfeet]

Fantastic summary, very much appreciated, so glad you can continue this lifestyle journey. So excited for you both.

[@OurFreedomYears]

Thanks! We had fun recalling some of our earlier adventures. 😊

[@ahjacobs1967]

Great info! I look forward to your videos and am enjoying your travels. Thank you 😊

[@OurFreedomYears]

Wonderful! Happy to hear it. 😊

[@subaru4me]

Don't forget visa fees and the one I never knew about before, daily tourist tax like in Croatia. Thanks for another great video.

[@OurFreedomYears]

Yes, great point! There are a few countries that slip in some extra fees. For example, Turkey has a fee for its visa

[@JohnMcLaughlinPlus]

Fun video, I liked how you recapped the last few years. I didn't carefully add it up but when I saw the title I sort of mentally thought that it would be about 20% more than you were outlining on the monthly videos -- It actually seems like you may have been less than that...

[@OurFreedomYears]

Glad you enjoyed it! We wanted to share the costs as we experienced them along our journey...some expected but lots of surprises!

[@msthing]

Thanks for the explanation of "extra" costs! It would be nice to hear about all of them added -- about how much per month do you budget overall? This would then determine your investment stash * expected returns.

[@OurFreedomYears]

As you can tell, we don't share all the numbers as we do like to keep some mystery around our investment stash 😂 We also budget for more personal items like taxes, gifts, donations, personal care, etc.

[@BWV1052]

Your videos are really so helpful, thanks for all you do helping us to learn about the slow travel life! Next time you do a Q&A I would love to hear your experience with different classes of air and train travel, especially traveling with pups. Clearly you are paying more for refundable tickets, is buying into premium economy (or even business class) worth it in your opinion?

[@OurFreedomYears]

After some trial and error, we've found that it's worthwhile to pay a bit extra for more comfort when traveling with our dogs. For train travel, we usually look for first class tickets where we'll have a reserved seat and hopefully a bit more room for the dog carriers and our bags. For short flights in economy, we'll pay more to book tickets as close as possible to the front of the plane. We like to make a quick exit as the dogs get very restless as soon as the plane lands. For long flights, we'll look at more premium seats depending on the cost and airline. The dog carriers take up quite a bit of space so every extra inch of legroom helps!

[@chantalita7827]

Thank you !

[@OurFreedomYears]

Glad you found it helpful! 😊

[@ronbatt756]

Lovely presentation and explanation.

[@OurFreedomYears]

Many thanks! 😊😊

[@kimberlylalley7255]

Great video! So inspiring. You all have nailed the color coordination. Do your flight costs include the costs of bringing Jasper and Huxley? It's crazy how much cheaper medical is outside the US and Canada. Thanks! Congrats on your subs. When I started following you it was 400 and now it's almost 8k!

[@OurFreedomYears]

It's so amazing that you've been with us since the beginning! Thanks for sticking with our channel. 😊 The flight costs do not include the dogs since most of our audience don't travel with their pets. But of course we're always happy to answer any questions about pet costs.

[@yenphung8809]

Love your life, can't wait for our turn.

[@OurFreedomYears]

I'm sure you'll be off enjoying your adventures very soon! 😊

[@karenmelissa1947]

if you come to Bogota let me know! I'll be happy to tour you around if you need and be a translator :D

[@OurFreedomYears]

We're looking at South America for future adventures so perhaps that will include Colombia!

[@Donovan_Williams]

Interesting information about your flights. At first, $10,000 sounded like a lot. I had to rewatch this because you said it very quickly, but that was the cost for 2 people for more than 2 years, so for 1 person for a single year it was probably about $2400 or $200 month. I think you did pretty well considering you went to some great places, some places that are off the beaten path, and crossed the Atlantic at least once. In the scheme of a monthly budget its not too bad. And its something that is within one's control and can be managed by using trains or busses to get to adjacent countries or cities. One thing to note - you are traveling with all of your belongings so additional baggage fees are relevant. Most of the major US carriers will give you 1 free checked bag per person on their flights and codeshare partners (the major European and Asian carriers) if you have their credit card. That may be a decent incentive to wading your toe into travel hacking.

[@OurFreedomYears]

Well noted - unfortunately we have to travel with checked bags as our dogs count as our carry ons! 😂 And, as you said, we do end up paying a premium for this on many flights. There may be some travel hacking in our future!

[@CraigandMandy1]

Have you two thought about making a video that adds it all together? Now that you have been out for 2 1/2 years traveling, what does it average for a whole year?

[@OurFreedomYears]

We've certainly considered it but, in the end, we felt that it wouldn't be that helpful for viewers. Each person's spending is so personal. For example, ours would include pet care, gifts, donations, clothing, personal care, etc.

[@elcfiles]

I'm curious though, I always see your dogs in your videos but you haven't disclosed the trials and errors of flying around with your pups. My husband and I are currently living a quasi-nomadic lifestyle and we're finding it's quite expensive traveling around with our dog and cat by it limiting our housing options and the sheer cost of schlepping them around with us. What's been the easiest way that you've found for traveling with animals and dealing with their vet appointments as needed?

[@OurFreedomYears]

Your question comes at a great time as we are working on a new video all about traveling with dogs. We do have a video from a couple years ago bit.ly/3qdX6ta but I don't think it answers your specific questions. We agree with your observations -- there are a lot of costs when it comes to traveling with pets including having a smaller pool of accommodations and needing to take private transfers and car rentals instead of buses. That said, we've found that vet care is far cheaper abroad than in North America. Generally we try to travel slowly -- ideally a few months in each country -- and limit the number of flights where possible.

[@douglas1071]

Hi, I just watched this video. You mentioned a data plan, but said the name too quickly. COuld you post a link? Nevermind. I saw it answered in another question. thanks for the tip.

[@OurFreedomYears]

Glad you found it! We've been using Flexiroam for 2+ years and are really happy with the service and price.

[@gif24gt60]

US dentistry can easily be $500 minimum

[@OurFreedomYears]

It's so expensive in the US!

[@gif24gt60]

@@OurFreedomYears u can say that again, the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer. The dentist's drill for dollars here. Dental insurance here is a scam, hardly covers anything.

[@sizzlemann]

Ok, you missed one more cost. How much have you spent, in the last year, on taking your dogs around the world with you? There has to be some costs. Food, shots, vet travel certs, etc.

[@DoubleDelishdotcom]

That's what I thought the first item was going to be when they were showing the dogs. Between vet visits and cargo fees, it's quite expensive to travel with a dog. It's worth it to me though.

[@OurFreedomYears]

Good catch! We didn't include the dog costs as that is more of a niche interest area. It's not cheap to bring two dogs along with us. If we're flying budget, sometimes their flights are more expensive than ours! However, generally the vet costs (vaccinations, check ups) are lower than what we would expect to pay in North America.

[@TobiasUrff]

I'm interested why you switched away from Safety Wing and then back to them? I'm considering switching at the moment.

[@OurFreedomYears]

Great question. We switched when the COVID outbreak first happened as Safety Wing wasn't providing COVID coverage at that time. Additionally, we wanted a much more comprehensive plan, which we got from Cigna Global. Since then we have resumed our Canadian residency, so we know we can go back to Canada for any major treatment. Therefore we're comfortable back on Safety Wing. Hope that helps!

[@holh7827]

Its here!!!!!!!

[@holh7827]

Okay - I did the very estimated math - Annually the spend is around ~$10k on incidentals based on this video. My guestimate based on prior videos is that the monthly location specific spend is around $2,750 per month on average, which may be a slightly higher assumption based on historicals, but post-COVID travel competition/inflation pressures could hit the budget going forward. So, I'm coming up with ~$43k annually, but conservative me will round up to $45k. And that's doing this with 2 dogs, checking baggage, eating out often, and I'm sure the several flights back to Canada aren't cheap. Wow! It's so much less expensive then even I thought.

[@OurFreedomYears]

So true! I think people assume that travel is always expensive but the costs come down quite a bit when you're doing it slowly, one month at a time. Of course, our actual costs are even higher because of the dogs. But overall we're still impressed with how far our budget goes.

[@dennisspackman7147]

Have you found any work arounds for the Schengen Rule. Only allowed 90 days of every 180 in the 26 or so countries within the Schengen area. I find it a real hassle when I just want to slow travel around Europe.

[@OurFreedomYears]

Just the usual workaround of going to non-Schengen countries for 90 days in between Schengen visits. We've spent time in Serbia, Croatia, Albania and Turkey -- all great destinations. There seem to be more one year digital nomad visas available so that's worth checking into and something we might consider for the future.

[@pacificH2O]

More great info! Stephanie and Gillian, I would love to know more about how you manage your finances as early retirees (if you wanted to share). Did you invest in ETF or Index funds for instance for a steady stream of income? My partner and I are not yet retirement age but we would love to quit and slow travel also. I want us to live off interest, dividends, etc not deplete our principle savings. Also, how much money would you say a couple needs to slow travel? A hard question, I know! Thank you!!

[@OurFreedomYears]

Lots of great questions here! We have a video all about our investment strategy bit.ly/2ANbkM0 Also, we have a free course with tips on how to calculate your own nest egg for travel bit.ly/3og0LYq The course also includes some of our past videos about how to get to financial independence. Hope that helps!

[@sineadmcwalters3645]

So, it would be interesting to know your average monthly costs including everything. It must be over €3,000?

[@OurFreedomYears]

Great question! We don't share our actual total spend as it includes lots of personal expenses as well, such as taxes, gifts, donations, personal care items, etc. But fortunately our cost of living videos give our full spend for general lifestyle expenses.

[@sineadmcwalters3645]

@@OurFreedomYears Thank you. I’ve been following you since you started travelling. I love your upbeat style. Like us you love food and hiking. I’m obsessed with my dog, but my husband isn’t😞. This time next year we’ll be starting our freedom years. Keep up the great work ladies. Thank you. S

[@OurFreedomYears]

@@sineadmcwalters3645 Thanks so much for sticking with us from the beginning! And congrats on being so close to starting your own adventure.😊

[@hollyc3838]

Can you tell me what brand of luggage you ended up buying?

[@OurFreedomYears]

It's American Tourister -- I think 26" -- and we're still very happy with it, both for size and durability.

[@lynnesunshine]

Wasn't traveling during the pandemic cheaper with discounted flights and accommodations ? Now with fuel charges, etc.. you may want to revisit this? Thank you for great info! A fellow, Canadian, living in Mexico, planning on finally returning to Europe for extended stay.

[@OurFreedomYears]

Sounds like a great adventure ahead of you! This video includes costs up until April 2022 so it's all very recent. We only experienced discounted Airbnbs during the initial part of the pandemic. As for flights, no discounts there once you factor in all the cancelled flights due to lockdowns! 😂 It will be interesting to compare again in a year.

[@lynnesunshine]

@@OurFreedomYears All of your costs are based on 2, correct? Thanks a heap! :)

[@OurFreedomYears]

@@lynnesunshine That's right...they are costs for the two of us.

[@ianwhittaker3041]

Hi ladies, I've been enjoying your videos the past few weeks and am making my way through them. Quick question which I may have missed in your videos. How do you finance your nomad FIRE lifestyle.., is it money you've saved up and invested, or is KZbin and other side hustles financing your way? Thank you :)

[@OurFreedomYears]

Great question! We actually have a whole video on that very topic...how we afford this lifestyle bit.ly/3wzqJ9Z The short answer is that we saved and invested and now live on the investment interest.

[@ianwhittaker3041]

@@OurFreedomYears Thank you kindly for pointing me towards this video, very insightful :). I have a few follow on questions if I may. How do you invest your funds to create enough money to live on, especially with global stocks down and high inflation, is it Index Funds and ETFs by any chance? Are you able to say what your annual expenses are for a typical year? Do you plan on doing any 'how to get to FIRE' type videos, to help others to achieve their dreams?

[@OurFreedomYears]

@@ianwhittaker3041 More excellent questions! 😊 We have large library of FIRE related videos on our channel from our early days. Here's one about how we invest bit.ly/2ANbkM0 and another about how much to save bit.ly/3ctWGaS Also, we have a free email course that goes into much more detail about how to achieve FIRE bit.ly/3og0LYq

[@alphabravo0]

What's the need to keep returning to Canada if you don't mind me asking?

[@OurFreedomYears]

It's where our family lives and we love spending time with them 😊

[@User12345fan]

Toronto’s suburbs look nice. I visited it for 3 days in March before the pandemic but staid mostly in the city and it was a cleaner city than most US cities.

[@OurFreedomYears]

In fact, we were staying right in the downtown of Toronto! It's a very pretty city in many neighbourhoods -- lots of trees and gardens.

[@User12345fan]

@@OurFreedomYears i didn’t see the skyscrapers and I thought it was a suburb

[@eprohoda]

Our.‘sup?-Wow! cool ! goodbyee!! )

[@OurFreedomYears]

😊

[@pegster619]

Why did you switch back to safetywing?

[@OurFreedomYears]

We initially left Safetywing because it was less comprehensive (eg. didn't cover COVID). Cigna Global was less expensive for us at the time, although the deductible was much higher. Safetywing now covers COVID and works out better financially based on our travel plans for this year. Next year, we will reassess again!

[@pegster619]

@@OurFreedomYears thanks for responding. Since safetywing is not a primary insurance and has a max of 250K, do you worry about cancer care or major medical concerns? Or do you have other insurance?

[@frontiermusings]

@@pegster619 It doesn't matter that it's not "primary". If you have no other insurance it becomes primary. If you have another insurance back home then you want to get secondary insurance because it will cover whatever is left over. Basically double coverage. That's how primary and secondary works.

[@OurFreedomYears]

@@pegster619 The limitations of Safetywing are definitely something we considered. Fortunately as Canadians, we do have full coverage through our provincial plan and would return there if anything major came up.

[@sorayam3208]

Great video. Did you take a health insu rance in Canada before travelling ? I am Canadian too and I am going to travel for one year abroad. Could you please give me the best insurance company ?

[@OurFreedomYears]

Prior to traveling, we lived in Singapore for many years, so we needed to have expat health insurance. We don't have a specific health insurance to recommend but we do have a video that explains what to consider when choosing an insurer bit.ly/3hWbnFL Hope it helps!

[@TheRealEdStoner]

Do you travel with the dogs and if so how much does that add to the cost?

[@OurFreedomYears]

We do travel with our dogs but we didn't include their travel costs in this video. So many people have asked...maybe we'll have to do one in the future! Basically we have all the usual costs of dog ownership (food, vet visits) plus we have to pay a fee for them to fly in cabin with us. This ranges greatly depending on the airline...it can be anywhere between $50 to $100 USD or more per dog per flight.

[@JohnFijak]

Really like your videos, you two are fun to follow and you offer a lot of great insights! So can you talk a bit more about your investments, investment strategies, what your in, how did first half of 2022 hit ya? How are you surviving the substantial losses in stock markets, inflation, etc? Have you revamped your annual budgets, down graded your accommodations to cover increases? I have a great financial planner/investor that has managed to continue to bring in $8-10K month in income(over 20 months so far, reinvesting it until I walk away...) even through the downturn. I would love to hear your outlook and thoughts. Life on the road is coming soon!

[@OurFreedomYears]

So many great questions here! We covered our investment strategy in this video from a couple years ago bit.ly/2ANbkM0 and it's essentially remained the same. The only change is that we've shifted our fixed income portion from syndicated mortgages into mortgage funds. Our everyday spending is largely unaffected by the market downturn because we consider our equity holdings to be a long-term investments and won't touch them for many years. Instead we rely on our fixed income income (eg mortage funds) for our day-to-day spending. In addition, we hold a year's worth of expenses in cash as a buffer, which we discuss more in this video about risk management bit.ly/3cmaML5 Hope that helps!

[@irenaspilea4548]

May I ask how much data do you have for your 8$ /month phone plan?

[@OurFreedomYears]

Our plan allows data to roll over month to month so we only pay for what we use. We always stock up when data is on sale for around $4-6/GB. Since we only use a total of 1-2 GB/month between the two of us, our average cost has worked out to $8 USD/mo.

[@OurFreedomYears]

@@himitsume It's called Flexiroam. We've been using it for 2+ years and find it to be quite good.

[@travelvideos]

I have been to doctors abroad, but I can't really trust them. Home doctors know medical history. In unknown town, one can never know how good or bad is particular doctor.

[@irenaspilea4548]

Not sure I follow your logic. Why back home you know you can trust a doctor vs in another country?

[@OurFreedomYears]

Totally understand your perspective. We do the best we can by looking at customer reviews on Google Maps and trying to find good professionals.

[@elterrifico9522]

Lemme guess...you sold your house in Toronto for 5 million dollars and now you’ve got money to burn

[@OurFreedomYears]

If only! We sold our condo in Toronto many years ago when we moved to Singapore to work. Here's the story of how we can afford this lifestyle of travel bit.ly/3wzqJ9Z

[@elterrifico9522]

Ahhh. Yes. Now I get it. I too live in Toronto and am recently retired. But this stock market downturn is crushing my investments so travel is on hold for a bit. Praying I don’t have to go back to work.

[@OurFreedomYears]

@@elterrifico9522 It never feels good when the market does a big dip but hopefully it will be back on track soon.

[@gerrykeane3165]

Thanks!

[@OurFreedomYears]

So sweet - thank you! This is actually the very first "thanks" we've received on our channel so it's extra appreciated 😊