It’s Official: We’ve Given Up On Travel — For Now
If you caught our YouTube livestream or Instagram updates, you’ll know that it’s true: We’ve given up the life of nomads to create a home base in small town Ontario.
The past four years of non-stop travel have been an incredible privilege. We’ve gone to places that we’ve always dreamed of and had experiences that we never imagined. And to our great surprise, we managed to do it all with two little dogs.
That said, it hasn’t been an easy lifestyle, which we discussed in detail in a recent video and blog post. We’ve had travel burnout; we’ve experienced nightmare Airbnbs; we’ve had to suddenly cancel plans because of political upheaval.
We’ve also come down with a serious case of “experience overload.”
Too much of a good thing?
We’ve had four years of non-stop, once-in-a-lifetime experiences: trekking the highlands of Ecuador; walking the walls of Dubrovnik; releasing baby turtles in Mexico; the list goes on and on.
In our previous lives as corporate workers, we’d be more than satisfied to bag a couple of these a year. With our current lifestyle, we’re knocking off one or two a week and feeling somewhat oversaturated. It’s time to take a step back and reflect on all the wonderful places we’ve been.
Most importantly, having a home base will give us an opportunity to do all the things we couldn’t do while travelling: spend more time with friends and family; be part of a community; volunteer; and, last but not least, sleep in our own bed with our very own pillows.
Why we chose Canada
The question you might be asking is why — after seeing so much of the world — did we choose to settle back in our home country of Canada.
Certainly we considered other destinations. In fact, we had lively discussions about the feasibility of living in almost every country we visited. We looked particularly closely at Portugal and Italy, both of which have charming villages and intriguing tax schemes for expats and retirees.
However, when we evaluated everything that we were looking for in a home base — including community, a shared language, and being close to family — we ended up back in the one place we never expected to be. After ten years of living overseas, returning to Canada just felt right.
But we’re not done with travel yet
In fact, we’ve already got a trip lined up for next month. We’ll finally be making our way to Peru for a week of cultural immersion in Cusco and then a challenging trek along the Salkantay route all the way to Machu Picchu. More details coming your way next month.
In the meantime, if you’re curious to see what our new home looks like, pop over to our Instagram Stories where we’re sharing the full tour (and our plumbing misadventures within a day of moving in).
See you on the road!
Stephanie & Gillian
24 Comments
Matt Malone
Pretty realistic. Hard to sustain that lifestyle.
Our Freedom Years
It is indeed! But we managed four amazing years.
Matt Malone
We started at 60 three years ago and plan to settle back down by 65.
Our Freedom Years
Sounds like a sensible plan. You’ll have seen a lot of the world by then.
Mike Lynch
I’ve enjoyed your posts and videos. Thanks for sharing all the wonderful advice and information. Good luck on your new chapter.
Our Freedom Years
Great to hear that you got some value from our content! We really enjoying creating it and connecting with new people as a result.
Lori
Hi I’ve enjoyed following all your travels. I’ve often thought of doing the same but realized that I am too much of a homebody. I traveled this year for 11 weeks and I think that is my max. I have older kids and cats and missed them all terribly.
Having heard your news about getting a home base I’m curious where you have settled. We retired and moved to Campbellford Ontario and are loving small town life. I know you want your privacy but can you give a hint to where you settled?
Our Freedom Years
11 weeks is definitely a long time to be away. The only reason we managed to travel for so long is because we had our dogs with us — they really made every Airbnb feel like home.
We’re also loving small town life, even though it’s only been a couple months! We’re in the Clearview area — it’s another really lovely part of Ontario.
Philip Scarles
I’m surprised you lasted this long. I think I got travel fatigue just watching some of your videos. The benefits of a home life in a home country are underestimated. Enjoy your new home life.
Our Freedom Years
And sometimes I got travel fatigue from looking back at our videos! Hard to believe how much ground we covered in four years.
Carol Dichtenberg
There’s some weird stuff going on in Peru again especially around the Citadel. Tourists have been stranded in Aguas Caliente and Cusco so be aware.
Our Freedom Years
Thanks for the tip! We’ll keep a close eye on it.
Suzanne Enright
I will miss your videos and you two and the pups. I’ve been following your travels for pretty much all of your four years. I’ve watched you go from your kind of awkward video presence in your earliest videos to very polished travel vloggers. You’ve introduced me to destinations I didn’t know about (Albania) and you traveled to places I was checking out too (Ecuador). I ended up in Setúbal, Portugal, where I live now. I watched your Portugal videos and wanted to say, come south, you’ll love it here where there are no tourists. Like I said, I’ll miss you two. Thanks for all the adventures and the hours of wonderful videos that helped me stay sane during the pandemic till I could travel again. Enjoy your new house and being home, sleeping in your own bed!
Our Freedom Years
Glad to hear that you eventually saw some improvement over the years! 😂 We had a lot of fun sharing our discoveries and will continue to do so although at a much more relaxed pace.
William Schmidt
Thank you so much for sharing your travel experiences with us. It was a true privilege. Best of luck in your home base. It all makes sense.
Our Freedom Years
Thanks so much! We really enjoyed the past chapter and we’re excited to see what comes next.
Eileen
Congrats! We appreciate all your tips and also love that you were willing to share the challenges of full time travel. We’ve been on the road for 18 mos and sometimes wonder what the heck we are doing😃. Maybe we will see you in Canada one day!!
Our Freedom Years
It’s not an easy lifestyle but I’m sure you’re also having some incredible experiences…in between all the travel burnout 😂
VB
I’ve enjoyed watching your journey and have learned so much from you both. Thank you for the inspiration over the years. If you could have changed something along the way that could have helped with the burn out earlier, what would it have been?
Our Freedom Years
I think the main way to fight travel burnout is to travel slowly. This is what we’ve been doing and likely the reason we last so long. Now we’ll be traveling even more slowly, eg staying in Canada half the year and heading somewhere warmer for the other half.
Brian
Great read thank you. I’m experiencing this same privileged problem. 7 years on the road before I finally felt tired and taking a break. After so much reflection, I also feel now the desire to settle somewhere. But I also know I will always crave a visit to a new country. But that’s life, time passes, things change. We move forward the best we can.
Our Freedom Years
Quite an accomplishment that you managed seven years! We found four years to be exhilarating but also very exhausting. Like you, I’m still looking forward to seeing new countries and experiencing new cultures but now I finally have a place to come home to in between.
Jason Hull
We’ve been at it less than you and can see ourselves being ready to stay longer in one or two places a year. I remember you saying that you wanted to find places you could return to, and that resonated with us. Also, family health issues mean that proximity becomes more important. We bought a condo late last year so that we had a bed to return to and a place to return to but that was a lock and leave situation where we could be gone for months at a time without worrying about door hangers, broken irrigation systems, mice in the attic, etc. We’re thinking of spending the worst of winter in Mexico and the worst of summer in Mexico City, Gijón, Spain, or Porto, so, I think in a couple of years, we’ll be at a similar point to the four of you.
Also, sorry…not sorry that we beat you 6-1 in hockey a couple of weeks ago.
Congratulations on the next phase!
Our Freedom Years
Ha ha…we know we’re properly back in North America when the hockey jokes are flying! Love it.
We’re really happy to have made this decision and to now have a place to come home to in between our travels. Now that I’m experiencing the Canadian winter again for the first time in a decade, I’m pretty sure we’ll be looking for southern destinations for next winter.