Our Freedom Years

Financial independence, early retirement & slow travel

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    • Europe
      • Albania
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    • South America
      • Colombia
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  • 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 Costs,  Serbia,  Slow Travel

    Making Belgrade Our Home for the Month

    August 15, 2021 /

    We want to feel at home no matter where we are. Just because we’re traveling doesn’t mean that we want our lives to be in constant upheaval.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 0 Comments

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    Living Large in Affordable Belgrade

    September 5, 2021
    Machu Picchu

    We had a Once-in-a-Lifetime Visit to Machu Picchu (Now We Know What it’s Really Like )

    May 5, 2024

    How to Travel the World Without Blowing Your Budget

    January 17, 2021
  • Croatia,  Greece,  Italy,  Malta,  Real Costs,  Turkey

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

    April 18, 2021 /

    When we first started traveling Europe in 2019, we weren’t sure how far a budget of $2500 USD a month would take us.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 7 Comments

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    How Affordable is a Week in Zagreb, Croatia?

    December 27, 2020

    7 European Destinations that Won’t Break the Bank

    January 2, 2022

    Adventure of a Lifetime Quickly Goes Off the Rails

    July 7, 2024
  • Turkey

    The Lifestyle You Want at a Fraction of the Cost in Turkey

    April 11, 2021 /

    We all fantasize about what our ideal home could look like. Maybe it includes a beautiful setting, great food and lots of interesting things to do.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 1 Comment

    You May Also Like

    It’s Been Three Years of Full-Time Travel and Still Nothing Ever Goes to Plan

    September 1, 2024

    The 5 Worst Airbnbs We’ve Ever Stayed in (and How to Avoid Them) 

    February 27, 2022

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

    April 18, 2021
  • 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

    Five Reasons to Make Malta Your Home in Early Retirement

    February 21, 2021
    Malta

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

    August 4, 2024

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

    April 18, 2021
  • 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

    Why Brasov is the Ultimate Base for Exploring Transylvania

    September 17, 2023

    Novi Sad Offered the Authentic Serbia That We’ve Been Dreaming of

    September 26, 2021

    Can a Month in Istanbul Really Be This Cheap?

    January 24, 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

    How Expensive Is Fethiye?

    How Expensive Is Fethiye?

    May 9, 2020
    How much to budget for one month in Istanbul Turkey

    How Much To Budget For One Month In Istanbul

    April 6, 2020

    Novi Sad Offered the Authentic Serbia That We’ve Been Dreaming of

    September 26, 2021
  • Greece,  Real Costs

    Cost of Living in Northern Greece

    October 15, 2020 /

    After a month in Athens, we were ready for a new adventure when September rolled around.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 8 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Adventure of a Lifetime Quickly Goes Off the Rails

    July 7, 2024

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

    April 18, 2021

    Discover the Greece You Never Expected to Find

    April 22, 2021
  • Real Costs

    How Full-time Travel Keeps Our Costs Low

    October 15, 2020 /

    Back when we were working full time, travel was a luxury. Now it's a great way to manage our cost of living.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 3 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Can a Month in Istanbul Really Be This Cheap?

    January 24, 2021
    How much to budget for one month in Istanbul Turkey

    How Much To Budget For One Month In Istanbul

    April 6, 2020

    This is Why We Keep Coming Back to Turkey

    March 13, 2022
  • Greece,  Real Costs

    What We Spent Living in Athens For One Month

    September 24, 2020 /

    In the midst of the pandemic, we’ve had the rare treat of being some of the only tourists visiting Athens.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 15 Comments

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    Alfama, Lisbon, Portugal

    5 Important Lessons that We’ve Learned About Full-Time Travel

    November 5, 2023

    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
  • Canada

    How Much is the Cost Of Living In Toronto?

    July 2, 2020 /

    Upon arriving in Toronto, we had two weeks of quarantine and since then we’ve been sheltering in place. So how did that affect our cost of living this past month?

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 14 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Could Country Living be the Perfect Lifestyle For Us?

    July 4, 2021

    Why We Can’t Wait To Get Back To Europe

    June 27, 2021

    The 5 Worst Airbnbs We’ve Ever Stayed in (and How to Avoid Them) 

    February 27, 2022
 Older Posts
Newer Posts 

ourfreedomyears

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

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!
The final batch of photos from our beautiful 10-da The final batch of photos from our beautiful 10-day hike along the Cotswolds Way. This is a hike we'd recommend for anyone who wants to start off with a hearty English breakfast and then spend the day passing through some truly lovely countryside. The adorable lambs and spring blossoms are just a bonus. 

#cotswoldway #cotswolds
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