My Perpetual Traveler Lifestyle Scared a Ghana Girl

Asiabill from has written 258 comments

As I age the MORE sure I become that LYING to people is what they want to hear and relieves them of the often painful truth. Living life spontaneously is a fate worse than death for a majority of humanity who feel more peaceful and comfortable with living life with daily routines making them feel more secure and happy. We who feel trapped or imprisoned or just plain bored by daily routines with little or no fluctuation embrace the unpredictable free flowing ever changing current of life always in motion. I'm getting anxious to get back on the road as I type this with a mental chanting going on saying KEEP MOVING KEEP MOVING GOTTA GO GOTTA GO GOTTA get outa here.

I agree with you both. I wanted to travel all my life and knew I couldn't afford it, so I put myself through night school and after eight years I graduated and got a job for the state so I could retire with a decent income. I worked there for 17 years and bought 13 years, so I could retire with 30 years. If you have 30 years with the state you get 75 of your 3 highest years salary at retirement. Also they used to give 3 raises, but last year that stopped because of the economy.

When I retired at 55, I sold my house and my car and traveled for the next 5 years. I lived in Egypt 3 times. Of course, my relatives have been very disappointed in me. When I left they told me I would come home in a month. The whole time I was traveling they would write to me about every problem in the world to convince me to come home. Now I'm here and we don't talk much at all. I'm not controllable, but they never stop trying to change me into an acceptable person. It's worse if you're female. I know their feelings about me are their problem and not mine.

I wasn't cheap enough when I traveled because even though I knew people were over charging me, I also knew that the money would mean so much more to them than it ever could to me. But don't travel with that attitude, really. I bought a house to try to fix it up and help me to get out of debt from traveling, it's like an anchor and I can't wait until 7/25/12 when my 3 year (home buyer credit requirement) is over and I can go someplace new. I haven't been to Central and South America, so the minute I can sell I am out of here. I write to friends and coworkers while I travel and ironically they miss my emails when I'm home, but I'm not in their circle anymore and they forget me because I'm usually not here. Also I think people have trouble with my life now. Still I want to travel until I can't and then I want to live some place real.

I've been to about 45 countries although I never left this country until I retired. I'll probably live in some third world country at 70 and never buy a house again. I feel very independent and don't fit in anywhere. But strangely I don't really think I need to any more. People in every other country accepted me without needing to control me, but here it's hard to want to fit into a place with so much fear.

Nancy

john from has written 84 comments

I am not sure Nancy is reading this thread but if so I am interested in what state you bought years from and how did you do that? Are you talking about investing in a 457k?

Hi Andy. Some very good observations there. I accepted my powerlessness 25 years ago this upcoming February.

Hi John
I worked for the state of Colorado. If during your working life you had worked in private industry without a retirement plan, then you could buy time equal to the time you didn't have a retirement plan. You had to pay 16 to 20 percent of your annual salary to buy a year while I was working. It fluctuated based on how well their investments were doing. Now they've raised the percentage and not many people can afford to do it. When I retired in 2005 many people were retiring with purchased time. The stock market caused the increased cost and the lack of raises now.
Nancy