Our Freedom Years

Financial independence, early retirement & slow travel

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Welcome
Binge!
Free Stuff
Popular
We Recommend
Destinations
- Europe
  - Albania
  - Austria
  - Croatia
  - Czech Republic
  - Greece
  - Hungary
  - Italy
  - Malta
  - Poland
  - Portugal
  - Romania
  - Serbia
  - Slovakia
  - Spain
  - Ukraine
- Middle East
  - Turkey
- North America
  - Canada
  - Mexico
- South America
  - Colombia
  - Ecuador
  - Peru
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There are a number of ways to hike to Machu Picchu

There are a number of ways to hike to Machu Picchu. The most popular route is, of course, via the Inca Trail. This is the only way to hike right into the site itself -- avoiding the tourist swarm at the Aguas Calientes -- and would presumably provide the most magical experience on the day of the visit.

That said, it also requires three nights of camping, e.g. no showers after those long, hard days of hiking. And its popularity means that the trail is relatively crowded versus the other routes.

We chose the Salkantay route with @experiencemlp, a somewhat luxurious lodge-to-lodge experience. It’s a 7-day trek with one of the highlights being a tough but manageable climb over the Salkantay Pass at an elevation of 4,630 metres or 15,000 feet (and, let me tell you, it sure was cold and windy up there).

Over the course of the trek, we had mornings of hiking and then lazy afternoons in cozy lodges tucked in the mountains. A glass of wine in the hot tub while we take in the views? Fine by me.

There were also cultural activities along the way that made our trek feel extra special. We took part in a mountaintop ceremony with a shaman; we sampled Pachamanca, an ancient form of barbeque that involves burying food under hot rocks.

We took a chance and booked a less expensive trip at the tail end of the rainy season. This put us in a small group of six hikers with one guide, which meant that we were well catered to in every lodge.

However, it also meant that we had to hike through the rain on a few occasions and take some detours to avoid landslides.

The upside of hiking in March was that our group was largely alone on the trail the entire time, rarely encountering other hikers. The only traffic was the occasional line of horses carrying supplies into the villages.

Of course, the quiet and the feeling of exclusivity melted away the moment we neared Aguas Calientes, the feeder town for Machu Picchu visits. More on that in the next post.

After four flights, three lounges, and one night i

After four flights, three lounges, and one night in a transit hotel in Lima, our visit to Peru officially began (that’s right -- there’s no such thing as a direct flight from Toronto to Cusco).

It was a trip in three parts. First, soaking in the history and culture of Peru’s highlands in Cusco. Next, an epic (and somewhat luxurious) trek over one of Peru’s legendary mountain ranges with @experiencemlp.

Finally, joining the tourist throngs for a look at Machu Picchu, a sight that seems to be on everyone’s bucket list.

I anticipated a battle with altitude sickness, so we took the usual precautions: no alcohol, lots of water, and many cups of coca tea. We also made sure to follow the mountaineering strategy of hiking high and sleeping low; every evening, we did a steep walk up to one of Cusco’s many lookout points to take in the views.

Cusco turned out to be more beautiful than we expected, particularly in the old town. The historic centre has a colonial overlay on impressive Inca foundations and the entire area is surrounded by green mountains.

That said, we budgeted a full week for Cusco, and it turned out to be a bit more time than we needed.

Sure, we had ample opportunity to find our favourite restaurants -- @yakuperuvianrestaurant, @vidaveganbistro, @chakruna.native.burgers.cusco, @jackscafecusco -- but we found it a little tiring to face down all the touts and vendors every time we crossed the Plaza Mayor.

Here are our favourite experiences from our week in Cusco:

🚩 A guided tour of Cusco’s most significant archeological sites including Saqsaywaman, Q’enco, and Qorikancha

🍊 Shopping for trail snacks in the lively San Pedro market

🏘 Wandering through San Blas, a traditional neighbourhood with hipster boutiques

⚱️ A whirl through the small, well organised Pre-Columbian Art Museum

⛰️ Early evening strolls up to lookout points, particularly San Cristobal, Cristo Blanco, and San Blas

Welcome to our home! After giving up our Toronto

Welcome to our home!

After giving up our Toronto loft in 2013, living in three different rentals in Singapore, and then 50+ Airbnbs around the world, we finally have a place of our own again.

We spent more than a year casually browsing the online real estate listings in rural Ontario. It was more of a theoretical exercise, really; were we finally ready to create a base for ourselves? And would it really be back in our home country?

Then, one morning in Lisbon last autumn, we stumbled across this little beauty.

It had been languishing unsold for six months, likely a combination of rising interest rates and lack of appetite for a house that is basically the size of a condo at 750 square feet. Apparently, most people move to the countryside to have more space, not less. 😁

But it turned out to be just perfect for us, in size, design, location, and everything else. We closed in the new year and then remembered that we didn’t own much anymore aside from the contents of our suitcases.

Since the house wasn’t going to furnish itself, we spent a month in an acquisition frenzy in preparation for our February move-in date.

There was an extra sense of urgency since our trip to Peru was looming, and we needed to provide our house sitters with a functional space.

The whirlwind was all worth it because we now have a fully set up home that doesn’t look half bad. And I’m guessing that Gillian is grateful that I’ve finally stopped coming at her with mood boards and fabric swatches at every hour of the day. 😅

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Living room:
Sofa - @gusmodern
Throw pillows and side chair - @crateandbarrelcanada, @crateandbarrel
Coffee table - @expandfurniture
Rug - @westelm
Curtains - @ikeacanada

Kitchen:
Chairs - @urbanbarn

Bedroom:
Bed frame - @thuma
Rug - @westelm
Curtains, bedside tables, lamps, duvet - @ikeacanada
Mirror - @structube

Here we go with part two of our story. A quick

For all the new folks who recently joined our Inst

For all the new folks who recently joined our Instagram -- or even those who have been following us for a while -- we wanted to provide a little refresher on who we are and how we ended up traveling the world with our dogs.

Of course, that means we need to rewind all the way to 2013. Back then, we were living a fairly typical lifestyle in Toronto: careers, condo, car, and a few weeks of vacation every year.

We were desperate to see more of the world than our annual holiday could provide, and we thought that our careers might be the best way to accomplish it. We decided to focus our job search on the one country in Asia where English was the first language: Singapore.

After many months of networking, I landed a job in my industry, and Gillian was close to an offer as well. That was good enough for us; we packed our bags, put our furniture in storage, and our condo on the market. We were off to Singapore.

That kicked off an exciting work hard, play hard chapter of our lives. We slugged it out in our corporate jobs while taking long weekends to explore almost every country in the region.

It felt like a dream come true -- except that our jobs were steadily becoming more demanding as we climbed the ladder.

Eventually, the line between work time and personal time blurred to the point of non-existence. Sure, we were making better money than ever before, but we were giving up evenings and weekends, and there was no end in sight -- unless we made a dramatic change.

It was time to finally start paying attention to a niche concept that Gillian kept talking about: financial independence and early retirement. We’ll cover that off in part two, coming later this week.

I'm going to be honest; it hasn't been easy to adj

I'm going to be honest; it hasn't been easy to adjust to winter in Canada after avoiding it for the past decade.

First, we moved to Singapore and got used to living in a part of the world where it was always either really hot and rainy or just really hot.

On weekdays, we went from an air-conditioned apartment to air-conditioned transit to an air-conditioned office.

On weekends, our outdoor activities were limited to early mornings or evenings when the temperature was almost tolerable.

After six years in the tropics, we were ready to chase more temperate climates as we traveled.

Sure, we still had to face lower temperatures and a few wild rainstorms when we spent the winter in Turkey, Italy, or Malta. But we never had to shovel a path through the snow just to walk the dog in the morning.

Now we're back in Canada and learning to love the snow and cold again.

Fortunately, we kept all our winter essentials in storage just in case -- essentials that just happened included our cross-country skis. Apparently, Gillian had squirreled them away in the rafters of her parent's garage for all these years.

A decade later, here we are again, feeling very much full circle. It may take a little time to adjust, but I'm predicting that we're going to fall in love with winter all over again.

Over the past four years, we've had endless discus

Over the past four years, we've had endless discussions about where to make a home. Not just which country -- which was, of course, a topic anytime we landed somewhere new -- but also what kind of community.

We ruled out big cities fairly quickly. After living in Toronto and then Singapore, we felt like big, hectic, expensive cities were more suitable for us when we were working on our careers.

We seriously considered living on a rural property to be closer to nature. We even tested the concept with a number of our Airbnb rentals: a farmhouse in Colombia's coffee region, a barn loft in Ontario, a cottage in northern Greece.

However, when it came time to look for a home, we decided against a truly rural property. Ultimately, we didn't want to feel too isolated or car dependent.

In the end, we found that a little village suited our needs just fine. We're minutes away from a walk in the woods but still have neighbours to say hello to and shops around the corner.

We could have found a little village anywhere in the world, but we're happy to be back in Canada after a decade overseas.

A few months ago, we decided to go ahead with the

A few months ago, we decided to go ahead with the largest online purchase of our entire lives.

We’d been having our usual ongoing debate about where in the world we might eventually put down roots (Portugal and Italy were the latest frontrunners).

To make the point that we would never, ever find our dream home in Canada, I pulled up a dozen of the latest real estate listings.

After looking at 11 unappealing properties (too large, too run-down, too expensive), there it was: our little dream home in a tiny village in Ontario.

The only problem was that we were sitting in Lisbon at the time, and it would be a couple months before we would be able to visit the property in person. No problem -- Gillian’s lovely parents hopped in the car and gave it a thorough onceover for us. We put in an offer days later, and suddenly, we went from being homeless nomads to new homeowners.

The only issue we were now facing was how to possibly move into a new home when our currently worldly possessions boiled down to a couple suitcases filled with travel clothes, some memorabilia, an oversized painting, a set of cutlery and, oh yeah, our cross-country skis. Clearly, we were missing a few foundation pieces to furnish a home.

By begging, borrowing, shopping Boxing Day sales, scouring Facebook Marketplace, and signing up for B2B trade discounts, we were somehow able to get our home move-in ready in just one month. Now we have a place in the world that’s truly ours and doesn’t need to be booked eight months in advance on Airbnb.

If you’re wondering about before and after photos, those are coming your way very soon. 😉

We’re still playing catch up with our glorious t

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