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
  • 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

    You May Also Like

    Cost of Living In Split

    December 20, 2020

    A Month in Dubrovnik

    November 1, 2020

    7 European Destinations that Won’t Break the Bank

    January 2, 2022
  • How To Budget For A Month In Florence
    Italy

    How To Budget For A Month In Florence

    May 7, 2020 /

    We’ve just spent a full month in Florence enjoying everything this city has to offer, from incredible architecture to amazing meals to beautiful Renaissance art.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 2 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Nomad Life Turned Upside Down When COVID-19 Hit

    June 29, 2020

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

    February 27, 2022

    Adventure of a Lifetime Quickly Goes Off the Rails

    July 7, 2024

ourfreedomyears

Stephanie & Gillian
🌎 Traveled the world with our dogs
❤️ Now making a home in Ontario
⬇️ Watch our latest video
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
We spent 10 glorious days hiking along the Cotswol We spent 10 glorious days hiking along the Cotswolds Way in England.  To watch the full video, click on the link in our profile. #cotswoldway #cotswolds
We’re back from our 10-day springtime hike in En We’re back from our 10-day springtime hike in England, and here’s the good news: Contrary to expectations, it did not rain every single day of the hike.  Here’s the even better news: the Cotswolds is an absolutely beautiful corner of England, filled with quaint villages, rolling hills, and frolicking lambs (honestly, they really do frolic). It truly is a storybook landscape. And the best news of all: You can see it all for yourself in our latest YouTube video. That’s right, after a very lengthy hiatus from YouTube, we finally have a new video to share with you.  We knew going into the Cotswold Way that it would be particularly scenic and made sure to bring along our video equipment. The end product is a fun round up of the highs and lows of the Cotswold Way (including the costs, of course). And it’s coming your way this Sunday.
We said goodbye to the peace and quiet of rural Th We said goodbye to the peace and quiet of rural Thailand and flew into Bangkok for the final stop in our journey. Home for the next few days was a spacious room in the luxurious COMO Metropolitan Bangkok (which we snagged after extensive deal hunting).  Top priorities were the Grand Palace and the Jim Thompson House Museum, which I had somehow never visited before.The Grand Palace, as spectacular as the name suggests, has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam since the 18th century. Pro tip: get to the Grand Palace as soon as it opens since the crowds can be overwhelming to even the most seasoned travelers.  Our next stop was truly memorable. We both love touring historic homes that retain the original art and furnishings so the former residence of American entrepreneur and art collector Jim Thompson was an easy win. The home, built in a traditional Thai style, was so lovely that I would have been happy to move in immediately.  The theme for the rest of our time in Bangkok was self-indulgence. We made the mandatory visit to our favourite massage place in Bangkok; we snacked our way through the vast selection available at the Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market; and we took part in one of our favourite Bangkok traditions: a buffet lunch at a luxury hotel. With that, our adventure came to an end. Our tour of Thailand’s greatest hits was everything we hoped it would be. We had impressed ourselves with the number of sights and activities that we managed to pack into the month while still leaving plenty of downtime for leisurely walks on the beach.
The highlights of our Thailand trip continue. Afte The highlights of our Thailand trip continue. After a week in Chiang Mai, we were ready to explore more of northern Thailand. We considered all the popular options: a visit to Pai, a favourite among backpackers; a hill tribe trekking experience; a road trip along the 600km Mae Song Loop.  In the end, we decided that what we wanted most was a brief sojourn in a beautiful setting, a taste of village life, and absolutely no exploitative elephant tourism. And we also wanted a relatively short drive from Chiang Mai as we didn’t relish the thought of spending hours on bumpy backroads.  We chose a short stay at the lovely Lisu Lodge, an eco-friendly boutique lodge surrounded by rice fields and orchards, just an hour away from Chiang Mai. We stayed in a room constructed with woven bamboo and took our meals in a lovely open-air dining room.  The lodge has a close, working relationship with a nearby village that is predominantly populated by the Lisu people. We were able to have a non-intrusive guided tour of the village and learn about the customs and lifestyle of this tribe.  Gillian also worked out a clever hack for our transportation to the lodge. Instead of booking a relatively expensive transfer from Chiang Mai, we joined a fun cooking class at @maetanglanna.thaicookeryschool, located in a nearby village. They picked us and our luggage up in the morning and then dropped us off at Lisu Lodge in the afternoon - all included in the cost of the cooking class.
Follow on Instagram
  • Privacy Policy
  • Welcome
  • Binge!
  • Popular
  • Destinations
  • About Us
Ashe Theme by WP Royal.