Our Freedom Years

Financial independence, early retirement & slow travel

  • Welcome
  • Binge!
  • Popular
    • What’s New
    • Plan for Travel
    • Airbnb Living
    • Real Costs
    • Travel with Dogs
  • Destinations
    • Europe
      • Albania
      • Austria
      • Croatia
      • Czech Republic
      • Greece
      • Hungary
      • Italy
      • Malta
      • Poland
      • Portugal
      • Romania
      • Serbia
      • Slovakia
      • Spain
      • Ukraine
      • United Kingdom
    • Middle East
      • Turkey
    • North America
      • Canada
      • Mexico
    • South America
      • Colombia
      • Ecuador
      • Peru
    • Asia
      • Thailand
  • About Us
  • Welcome
  • Binge!
  • Popular
    • What’s New
    • Plan for Travel
    • Airbnb Living
    • Real Costs
    • Travel with Dogs
  • Destinations
    • Europe
      • Albania
      • Austria
      • Croatia
      • Czech Republic
      • Greece
      • Hungary
      • Italy
      • Malta
      • Poland
      • Portugal
      • Romania
      • Serbia
      • Slovakia
      • Spain
      • Ukraine
      • United Kingdom
    • Middle East
      • Turkey
    • North America
      • Canada
      • Mexico
    • South America
      • Colombia
      • Ecuador
      • Peru
    • Asia
      • Thailand
  • About Us
  • Real Life in Retirement

    Travel During COVID, Money, & Nomad Life Q&A

    March 21, 2021 /

    We did our last Q&A video five months ago to celebrate our community of 1,000. Since then we’ve been to Croatia, Turkey and Malta and there are now over 3,000 tuning in every week.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 1 Comment

    You May Also Like

    8 Reasons We Love Early Retirement

    November 8, 2020

    How to Plan Life After Retirement

    July 23, 2020

    Money, Travel, Relationship + More

    October 8, 2020
  • Malta,  Real Costs

    Can You Afford Europe’s Best Winter Sun Destination?

    March 14, 2021 /

    We’ve just spent a month in Malta in the dead of winter and we can’t believe the blue skies and sunshine and warm temperatures.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 5 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Behind the Scenes of Our Travel Planning

    January 31, 2021

    7 European Destinations that Won’t Break the Bank

    January 2, 2022

    Our Top 5 Favourite Airbnbs (and Why They Weren’t Perfect)

    March 6, 2022
  • Real Costs

    How to Travel the World on Any Budget

    March 7, 2021 /

    We’ve really tried it all. We’ve been shoestring backpackers, we’ve done the luxury travel thing and everything in between.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 2 Comments

    You May Also Like

    What We Spent Living in Athens For One Month

    September 24, 2020

    Why Mexico City Blew Our Minds (and Our Budget)

    August 15, 2022

    What the Full-Time Airbnb Lifestyle Really Costs 

    February 26, 2023
  • Airbnb Living

    How to Score the Airbnb of Your Dreams Every Time

    February 28, 2021 /

    We love living in beautiful spaces. With that in mind, every apartment we stay in needs to be comfortable enough to call home -- at least for a month.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 9 Comments

    You May Also Like

    What the Full-Time Airbnb Lifestyle Really Costs 

    February 26, 2023

    Living in Airbnbs Full Time isn’t Easy

    June 6, 2021

    Our Top 5 Favourite Airbnbs (and Why They Weren’t Perfect)

    March 6, 2022
  • Malta

    Five Reasons to Make Malta Your Home in Early Retirement

    February 21, 2021 /

    We love being full-time travellers. However, we know a time will come when we’ll want to feel more settled.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 0 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Can You Afford Europe’s Best Winter Sun Destination?

    March 14, 2021
    Malta

    We Were Chasing the Adventure of a Lifetime – then Family Tragedy Hit

    August 4, 2024

    Behind the Scenes of Our Travel Planning

    January 31, 2021
  • Plan for Travel

    Do You Have to be a Minimalist to Travel Full Time?

    February 14, 2021 /

    Today our lives are pretty simple. We’re full-time travelers who spend a month or two in each country and then move onto the next.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 1 Comment

    You May Also Like

    How Much Do I Need To Retire Early And Travel?

    March 6, 2020

    What Not to Pack for a Year of Travel

    May 23, 2021

    5 Crucial Lessons About Full-Time Travel That You Need to Know

    November 5, 2023
  • Malta

    Behind the Scenes of Our Travel Planning

    January 31, 2021 /

    We’ll be honest, choosing our next destination has never been more difficult.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 2 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Our Top 5 Favourite Airbnbs (and Why They Weren’t Perfect)

    March 6, 2022

    Look What $2,500/Month Gets You in Europe

    April 18, 2021

    Five Reasons to Make Malta Your Home in Early Retirement

    February 21, 2021
  • Real Costs,  Turkey

    Can a Month in Istanbul Really Be This Cheap?

    January 24, 2021 /

    We love Istanbul. We were here last year and just fell in love with the city and the food and the people.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 9 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Why Brasov is the Ultimate Base for Exploring Transylvania

    September 17, 2023

    A Month of Spanish Food, History and Culture at a Surprising Price

    January 23, 2022

    How Much it Really Costs to Travel Full Time

    May 9, 2022
  • Real Life in Retirement

    You Don’t Need a Job to Have a Fulfilling Life

    January 23, 2021 /

    Those considering early retirement might be worried that their life will feel empty once they no longer have a job to go to everyday.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 2 Comments

    You May Also Like

    What Was Surprising About Our First Year Of Early Retirement

    September 17, 2020

    Money, Travel, Relationship + More

    October 8, 2020

    How to Survive Your First Year of Early Retirement

    April 4, 2021
  • Real Costs

    How to Travel the World Without Blowing Your Budget

    January 17, 2021 /

    Despite the global pandemic and travel bans, we still managed to travel to five countries this past year and come in on budget.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 5 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Look What $2,500/Month Gets You in Europe

    April 18, 2021

    How Much for a Month of Luxury on the Albanian Riviera?

    December 12, 2021

    What the Full-Time Airbnb Lifestyle Really Costs 

    February 26, 2023
 Older Posts
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ourfreedomyears

Stephanie & Gillian
🌎 Traveled the world with our dogs
❤️ Now making a home in Ontario
⬇️ Watch our latest video

For years, the Canary Islands sat on our “maybe so For years, the Canary Islands sat on our “maybe someday” list. They never quite beat out places like Mexico or Portugal when winter planning season rolled around. Now we’re wondering why we waited so long.

After a month in Gran Canaria, we’ve had some surprising takeaways about what really makes a place work as a winter base.

Our full YouTube video drops this Sunday. Stay tuned.
When we look back on 2025, it’s hard to believe ho When we look back on 2025, it’s hard to believe how much we packed into one year. 

🇲🇽 slow travel in Mexico

🥾 100+ miles on the Cotswold Way,

🐕 time inside a 400-dog shelter

🇬🇪 an unexpected detour through Georgia

…and a few big reflections on life after financial independence.

It was a year of travel, volunteering, and learning (again) that freedom looks different in every season.

We’ve wrapped it all up — plus a new podcast conversation with @OurFamilyInvests about what comes after the career ladder — in our January newsletter.

📬 Read the full story — just click on the link in our profile.
Living in Ontario’s snow belt means one thing: we Living in Ontario’s snow belt means one thing: we must escape winter. We’ve been hit with multiple snowstorms since the beginning of November and there are still months of snow and ice ahead of us. 

As much as we love seeing our little village blanketed in white, a few weeks of winter is enough to satisfy for the year. 

After a few misfires during our years of full-time travel (rainstorms in Florence, a chilly apartment in Malta, an unseasonable cold front in Izmir), we finally know exactly what we’re looking for in a winter base.

For the winter of 2026, our wishlist got very specific:

☀️ warm weather
🥗 great food
🏋🏽‍♀️ a decent gym
🐶 stylish Airbnbs that also happen to be pet-friendly
🌳 easy access to nature
✨ enough variety to keep us entertained for three full months

We compared many wildly different options—Taiwan, Argentina, and Cyprus to name just a few—and yes, there was a spreadsheet and a scoring system involved.

So where did we finally choose for winter 2026? We’re sharing the full story (and the big reveal) in this month’s newsletter.

👉 Read now by clicking on the link in our profile.
A final glimpse of our time in Georgia — medieval A final glimpse of our time in Georgia — medieval villages in Svaneti, misty mountain views, and a whirlwind wander through Kutaisi. 

Don’t miss the full adventure on YouTube, including our unforgettable stay at @baias_wine — complete with warm Georgian hospitality, a feast of traditional dishes, and more wine than we could drink in a month. 

Just click on the link in our profile to watch now.
There were plenty of misadventures to go round, bu There were plenty of misadventures to go round, but we still managed to have an incredible time on our first trip to the country of Georgia. Watch the full-length video by clicking on the link in our profile.
It's part two of our trip to Georgia, and this is It's part two of our trip to Georgia, and this is where all our carefully-made plans started to fall apart. 

The misadventures began when our easy 45-minute flight to the mountains was replaced with a 10-hour odyssey by train and mini-van. However, despite all ups and downs of the trip, we still managed to enjoy the highlights of western Georgia, including the medieval villages of the Svaneti region and a ridiculously huge feast at a winery.  

You can catch the full adventure in a new video going live this Sunday. See you then!
The final round of shots from our time in Tbilisi. The final round of shots from our time in Tbilisi. We just couldn't get enough of all those atmospheric mansions and apartment buildings as we wandered the neighbourhoods. 

If you haven't seen our video yet, it's a whirlwind sampler of Tbilisi highlights from our first day on the ground. You can check it out by clicking on the link in our profile.
It's our first full day in Tbilisi, and we're brin It's our first full day in Tbilisi, and we're bringing you along for the ride. Check out the full video on YouTube -- just click on the link in our profile to watch now.
We're back from our trip to the country of Georgia We're back from our trip to the country of Georgia, and what an adventure it was. This trip was exciting and interesting but also demanding in all kinds of unexpected ways. 

We're excited to share the entire journey with you, starting with a new video this Sunday. We're bringing you along for our first day in Tbilisi, including powering through some of the major sights, tucking into classic Georgian dishes, and a look at a truly spectacular Airbnb. 

See you then!
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