Mindy Bockewitz and her husband Paul are house-sitting in Tulum, Mexico, for an expat family from the United States. They are caring for three dogs, seven cats and two birds. Last month, the couple was on an island, getting their advanced certifications in scuba diving. Before that, they were enjoying the beautiful mountain towns of Mexico.
What’s next, after Tulum? “Our next stop is completely up to us, with only a carload of possessions and our dog to take into consideration when making our plan,” Bockewitz says.
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The Bockewitzes will soon celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary. During their life together they have traveled to six continents and more than 20 countries. But they finally came to realize that they weren’t really living. “We both worked corporate jobs in the United States and took pride in our one- or two-week retreats to far away places,” Mindy explains. “The trips provided for fun conversations with coworkers about bathing elephants in Thailand or riding camels in Egypt.”
But the couple realized that it’s not possible to really experience a country and gain an understanding of a culture based on short vacations. They began to wonder if it might be possible to travel indefinitely. Perhaps traveling around could become their lifestyle.
But it was a big step. Mindy and Paul had worked for almost 20 years building their respective careers. It seemed ridiculous to walk away from all their hard-earned accomplishments. Plus, they worried that they’d miss their family and friends. The prospect of leaving behind everything they know is intimidating.
Then one day a seemingly trivial event triggered a frenzy of financial analysis and a close look at their priorities, really putting to the test their willingness to take the leap to experience life as perpetual travelers. “One day I came home after a long day of work, and the house cleaners hadn’t done what had been expected of them to do,” Bockewitz says. “I snapped under the stress of what was definitely a first world problem.” Mindy and Paul and their two dogs lived in a 3,000-square-foot house with three bedrooms and more than an acre of outside space. “At the time, our situation seemed typical, normal,” Bockewitz says. “Now, looking back, it all seems silly.”
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Mindy and Paul began the process of getting serious about the idea of taking off for a never-ending vacation by assessing their finances. The couple had been investing for retirement and were on track with savings accounts and emergency funds. However, reviewing their situation, they realized that their mortgage was a huge expense. What if, instead of that big mortgage, they had a modest monthly rent? This was the couple’s first big insight.
They began selling items on Craigslist and eBay and put their house on the market. After it sold, the couple rented a small downtown loft. This was the start of their downsizing. Living in the new downtown rental, Bockewitz was able to walk to work, meaning the couple no longer needed a second car. Selling the second car cleared another hurdle and freed up more money each month. After these two major steps, the little decisions about what to get rid of and how to continue to downsize came easier.
Friends and family were another concern. An only child, Bockewitz was worried she was abandoning her parents. “On the other hand, leaving the United States when my parents were healthy seemed like a better idea than waiting for someone to get sick,” Bockewitz says. Some friends were excited, some envious and others distraught over the couple’s decision. Mindy and Paul tried to address this by sharing research related to the safety of other countries and food- and mosquito-borne illnesses. “Some family and friends who’d had lifetimes of limited information on life in other countries, mostly from U.S. headlines and mostly negative, were difficult to sway,” Bockewitz says.
The scariest step was taking time away from work. “We were quitting our jobs,” Bockewitz says. “We couldn’t promise we would be back.” But while they were leaving their jobs, they weren’t giving up their careers. Bockewitz realized that her drive for continuous learning, volunteering and helping others, the interests she’d built her career on, wouldn’t fade just because she wasn’t sitting at a desk. Thinking it through, she saw that her resume could be more interesting when she decided to return to the U.S. workforce.
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Quitting their jobs made the whole thing real. The couple continued to downsize until everything they owned fit in their car. The basement of clutter and closets full of unworn clothes were a thing of the past.
Mindy and Paul began their adventure with a drive through Mexico and Central America. The couple is now in their 14th month of travel and have made it through all of Central America. They taught English in Mexico and have both found ways to work part-time remotely, generating a small stream of income to help fund their ongoing adventure.
“Two years might turn into five years or more as we are more driven than ever to continue,” Bockewitz says. “One thing we know for sure is that the decision to travel, become experts in possession freedom and ‘retire’ from our old life was both the most difficult and the best we’ve made yet.”
Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group.
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Turn Early Retirement Into a Never-Ending Vacation originally appeared on usnews.com
