Our Freedom Years

Financial independence, early retirement & slow travel

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    • Europe
      • Albania
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    • 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
  • Mexico,  United Kingdom,  What's New

    It’s England’s Most Beautiful Hike – and We Got it on Video

    June 1, 2025 /

    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.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 0 Comments

    You May Also Like

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

    September 1, 2024

    The Picture-Perfect Town of San Miguel de Allende Doesn’t Come Cheap

    July 17, 2022

    Why Mexico City Blew Our Minds (and Our Budget)

    August 15, 2022
  • Asia,  Thailand

    The Perfect Itinerary for an Epic Adventure in Thailand

    April 7, 2025 /

    After visiting almost every country in Southeast Asia, we can easily say that Thailand was our favourite. We’d each been there over a dozen times and felt confident about coming up with the perfect itinerary.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 4 Comments
  • Machu Picchu
    Peru,  Real Costs

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

    May 5, 2024 /

    I’ve wanted to visit Machu Picchu for many years but I hadn’t anticipated what it’s like to visit a wildly popular world heritage site with tourism on the rise. Whoops.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 4 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Stephanie with Jasper and Huxley

    After Four Years of Retirement, I Have a New Job – Sort of

    May 5, 2024
    Stephanie and Gillian at home

    Finally, the Big Reveal of our New Home

    April 7, 2024
    Gillian cross-country skiing in the countryside

    We Planned Another Exciting Trip to Peru – and This Time We’re Actually Going

    March 3, 2024
  • Portugal

    5 Tips for Experiencing Beautiful Lisbon Without the Crowds

    February 25, 2024 /

    We came to Lisbon to see a destination famous for architecture, scenic lookouts and historic trams still running across town. What we weren’t expecting was the huge number of other tourists.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 2 Comments

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    Gillian cross-country skiing in the countryside

    We Planned Another Exciting Trip to Peru – and This Time We’re Actually Going

    March 3, 2024

    The Very Last Chapter in our Four-Year, Around-the-World Adventure 

    October 6, 2024
    Funchal Madeira

    Lisbon in 2023 was Even More Crowded Than We Expected

    December 3, 2023
  • Plan for Travel

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

    November 5, 2023 /

    These are the topics that rarely get discussed in blogs or vlogs but are absolutely essential for a life on the road.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 6 Comments

    You May Also Like

    The Ultimate Packing Guide for a Trip Around the World

    July 25, 2021

    What Not to Pack for a Year of Travel

    May 23, 2021

    The Truth About Life On The Road

    June 20, 2021
  • Plan for Travel,  Travel Logistics

    All the Practical Details that You Need to Know About Full-Time Travel

    August 27, 2023 /

    All those pesky administrative details that life demands can take a lot of research to figure out. 

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 4 Comments

    You May Also Like

    What Not to Pack for a Year of Travel

    May 23, 2021

    How To Get Rid Of Everything You Own To Travel

    March 20, 2020

    Is it Safe for Us to Travel the World as an LGBT Couple?

    June 13, 2021
  • Travel with Dogs

    The Ultimate Guide to Traveling with a Dog

    May 7, 2023 /

    Wherever we travel with our two toy poodles, other tourists come up to us in amazement and ask if it’s really difficult to travel with our dogs. 

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 8 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Long Term Travel with a Dog

    Long-Term Travel With A Dog

    April 9, 2020

    How to Prepare Your Dog for Flying In Cabin

    March 1, 2020

    We Thought We’d Have to Leave Our Dogs Behind

    May 30, 2021
  • Airbnb Living,  Real Costs

    What the Full-Time Airbnb Lifestyle Really Costs 

    February 26, 2023 /

    There’s no end of information available about how to save money while traveling. But none of the usual advice was quite right for us.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 4 Comments

    You May Also Like

    How to Score the Airbnb of Your Dreams Every Time

    February 28, 2021

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

    March 6, 2022

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

    February 27, 2022
  • Plan for Travel

    The Truth About Full-Time Travel (After Three Years on the Road)

    October 16, 2022 /

    It’s hard to believe but we’ve been traveling full time for three whole years. That’s a lot of time to have passed since we quit our jobs and hit the road.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 2 Comments

    You May Also Like

    All the Practical Details that You Need to Know About Full-Time Travel

    August 27, 2023
    Lessons From Long-Term Travel

    Lessons From Long-Term Travel

    April 2, 2020

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

    February 14, 2021
  • Real Costs

    How Much it Really Costs to Travel Full Time

    May 9, 2022 /

    We haven’t been honest about how much travel costs. If you’re serious about travelling, there are a slew of other costs you need to know about.

    read more
    Our Freedom Years 4 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Honest Thoughts After a Month in Medellin (and What it Costs)

    January 29, 2023

    Can You Afford Europe’s Best Winter Sun Destination?

    March 14, 2021

    What We Spent Living in Athens For One Month

    September 24, 2020
 Older Posts

ourfreedomyears

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

After a month in Gran Canaria, a week hiking the w After a month in Gran Canaria, a week hiking the wild landscapes of La Gomera, and another sun-filled month in Tenerife, we’re soaking in our final days in the Canary Islands. 

In just a few days, we’ll be making the long journey back to snowy Ontario.  Which is why we’re savoring every last moment of the incredible ocean view from our Airbnb in Puerto de la Cruz, where we fall asleep to the sound of waves every night.

Curious about what the Canary Islands are like as a winter destination? Our latest YouTube video is live — just tap the link in our profile. And more island adventures are coming your way soon!
What makes a great winter base? For us: beautifu What makes a great winter base? 

For us: beautiful neighborhoods, easy hiking, warm days… and space to settle into a routine.

Did the Canary Islands just become our go-to winter destination?

Watch the full video — just click on the link in our profile.
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.
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