Budget Traveling Abroad – We Will Need A Detailed Plan!

Budget traveling abroad is our goal! We made the decision & as seniors on a budget we know will need a detailed Plan! Sell the house, sell the vehicles, sell everything we own except that which will fit into a backpack each & a small suitcase each. Then to prepare a budget into a plan of action we can live with while traveling.

Initial discussion points for budget traveling abroad

My notebook was light in notes for 2017 and 2018 as really all we needed to do was stay on path of getting credit debt paid off and not buying anything extravagant. Oh, we would write down a country we could dream about living in – Thailand, Mexico, Vietnam, etc.

We knew finances would be the biggest caution for us. We needed to sit down and figure out what we wanted to do but could we do it – travel on a budget -on our finances? We’ll address this more in a later blog once we get a better idea where we might want to settle?

For now, notes for 2019 were a bit busier:

• Decide date best time in late 2020 to list house on market so we can leave early 2021.
• Need to determine realtor we want to handle our house sale.
• Credit cards paid?
• Mailing address/post office?
• Passports up to date & vacs needed for particular country we would be staying in.
• When to close my staging business?
• What to buy to prep for trip?

So I’m happy that my notes for each year seemed to be moving along quite nicely, until….THEN

Around first of 2019 The Big Guy comes home from work one day and says “let’s put house on market this Fall [2019]. Why wait? We can move up the plan almost two years!” I say “Hold on there Big Guy! I have a business to close and I can’t do it overnight.” After some back and forth discussions, we agreed to put house on market 4/15/2020!

So notes moved from 2020 notebook to 2019 notes:

• Close business, [12/31/2019 done]
• Close storage and sale décor [done]
• Final prep house  for 2020 market

                paint guest bedroom – at this writing done!

                touch up paint on bathroom cabinets – now done!

                repaint porch

• Research best way to sale household goods & vehicles – Yes, we really are all in on this!
• Are finances ready for this? – Getting really close!

Are you feeling me?  Everything got pushed up and I was literally freaking out thinking how can we move this up a few more months. Is this man crazy? Well we did everything except the last couple listed above. We did it! I was able to close my business by 12/31/19 & sold what was left of my inventory afterwards.

Covid Pandemic Puts a Halt to Plans

The house ready for market, talked to a couple Realtors, starting cleaning out closets, thinking April 15, 2020 house will be listed. And then BOOM Covid-19 pays the world a visit. Will the move happen 2020? We are on a hold pattern right now until end of this year…. This grand adventure will happen – for now – we just need to be patient. Stay tuned!