Expat Bubbles, Finding Balance & Pushing Back Our Retirement Date
part 4 of a never-ending series in our discussions about our mobile retirement planning process. This is our attempt to be real and sometimes raw with you, discussing the challenges we face, and the decisions we make as we navigate this exciting, sometimes messy, adventure. Maybe our experiences will resonate with you, or even inspire you to cook up your own unique retirement recipe.
Today’s post dives into our recent chat about where we might land and what-ifs. Buckle up as we explore the “what ifs” and another attempt at locking in our official “adios, work” date.
Preferences Beyond “Walking Distance to the Beach”
Sandra and I had our first real in-depth mobile retirement planning conversation today. Sandra and I discussed her preferences for selecting locations beyond the obvious “walking distance to the beach” criterion. It turns out she wants us to be near, but not in, a British expat community. She has no interest in living in an American expat bubble. I totally understand Sandra’s desire to avoid an American expat bubble because while expat communities can offer a sense of familiarity and support, they can also hinder true cultural immersion. When surrounded primarily by other Americans, we risk missing out on experiencing the local way of life – the vibrant festivals, the delicious (and sometimes unfamiliar!) cuisine, and the enriching interactions with people from different backgrounds. Living in an expat bubble can also discourage us from picking up the local language, a key to unlocking deeper connections and navigating daily life confidently. Ultimately, we want our retirement to be a journey of continuous learning and growth, and that means embracing the unique culture of each place we call home, not just recreating a piece of America abroad. It reminds me of when we were stationed in England and rented a house 15 miles from the base. I vividly remember telling the military housing office, “Sorry, I didn’t travel 5,000 miles across an ocean to a foreign country to spend the next 4 years surrounded by Americans.”
Avoiding Expat Communities and Crowded Cities
She also emphasized that she doesn’t want to live in a bustling city. She prefers to avoid an overwhelming crush of people. k. I’m completely on board with that.
Neither of us has much interest in spending significant time in Asia or the middle-East (preconceive notion of too many people) so we’ll stick to central America and Europe as we research destinations
I’d really like to golf more in retirement but most of the places we’re looking at have a dearth of courses. There’s like 9 in the whole country of Panama, same with Puerto Rico. England should be good, I feel like there’s probably a lot of muni’s.
Reevaluating the Timeline: Addressing Work Concerns
And then today, 12/6/22 she tells me she isn’t comfortable with a 1 year timeline to drop everything and go. She isn’t ‘done’ working yet. Alrighty then, so we’ll be talking about that…
Exploring “What If” Scenarios and Setting the Quit Date
Much discussion centers about the various moving parts – when we plan to bail and travel full-time informs the decision of how we handle the money from selling the house. Because we both agree that getting off this property is a necessary first step to retirement planning and that should happen in the spring this coming year. Ran through several ‘What if we…?’ options to eventually settle on our quit date being Oct 2024 rather than Nov 2023.
Now the ‘transitional period’ is more like 17 months than 6 so it will need to be more carefully planned because it will also now span another winter in central Oregon