Hello and welcome to the travel blog for those who are thinking about traveling, not as tourists, but to temporarily live abroad at a slightly later stage in your life and are curious about some of the realities encountered by someone who has tried to go before you. These stories encompass both the idea and preparations for moving coupled with experiences of daily life once abroad.
Although some or our experiences and struggles may be similar to those encountered by some of the more energetic and erstwhile travel bloggers and writers, these stories are from the point of someone who is a little older (in a Later Gap in life), a person who doesn’t want to sleep on airport floors or try and pack a year of stuff in a backpack; it reflects a couple who would like to try and fit in and enjoy the experience of living abroad, but who are also looking forward to returning and living out our years in the US. This blog focuses on what you might expect, what you might see, what you might think, and where you might find yourself when you decide, on a late-night whim at a later stage in life (when you have done your bit but are not yet ready to retire) to try and enjoy one last “adventure” before you get to the stage where, “it’s this until the end.” I think of this time as a second gap period – a Later Gap – when you have worked your way through the job world, have raised kids, or in some other way have “been responsible”, but before future responsibilities, such as failing health of you or a loved one, grandchildren arrive and you feel the pull, or the next fiscal downturn wipes out all your savings, strongly encourage you to return. It is my hope that the stories will be interesting and informative, the challenges (and our solutions) will be insightful and helpful, and that ultimately, the experiences – either those you will have, or the ones you might consider – will be rewarding.
I spent many years in my earlier life moving, traveling, and living outside the confines of the US (for more on this, you can read my bio). I, and my families – the one I grew up in and the one my wife and I created – had opportunities to experience many adventures and loved our times immersed in other countries and cultures. But this blog is not about our earlier travels, or travails; those are in the past and they made us who we are. These writings are about the reality of seeking these adventures in a later stage of life, for different reasons. It is about deciding to go and live in a different time zone in a foreign culture with sight of personal responsibilities (aging parents, children getting married and having kids), while balancing competing interesting options (jobs, no jobs, active retirement living, volunteering), and, for us, with wonderful memories of what living and traveling abroad could be like. This blog is an attempt to annotate highs and lows, successes and pitfalls, and our observations, both while we try to move and as we live elsewhere. This blog is not about the nomadic life, trekking across the globe, nor is it about making a permanent change of address; it is about our long-term but temporary move to one location at a Later Gap in our lives to experience day-to-day living in a single locale before it’s “this until the end”.
I offer a couple quick notes on what this site is not – hopefully not to turn people away, but to identify a different type of travel idea, one that might fit into your vision of something probable – many ideas are possible, but sometimes the chances of these things happening are slim to none although it is captivating and somewhat invigorating to read about these lives and adventures. This site is not directed toward those of you who are looking to hike solo across the Gobi Desert or raft from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean, to explore the customs and cultures of remote jungle reaches or the back alleys of major metropolitan areas, to reconnoiter the globe and partake in a plethora of travel experiences while caring for the world and its people, to totally unplug and relax in a weeklong spa and yoga retreat in Bali, to go on a study abroad sojourn to a place like Rome or Tuscany and never come back, or to retire in a foreign country in an expat community or on that secluded beachfront property. There are some outstanding websites that can direct you in those directions – there are a ton of sites and blogs out there that cover almost all sections of the travel-sphere but for a starter, I would point you to FirstSiteGuides – Best Travel Blogs (for a list of several options), as well as specifically, Nomadic Matt, Notes from the Road, Anywhere we Roam, Uncornered Market, Alex in Wanderland, Girl in Florence, Surviving in Italy, and MoneyTransfers: Top 25 Blogs from US Expats. For those who would like a different dive into some areas – I focus here on Italy, probably because that is where we ended up on our journey and it is best to do a little looking at where you actually might end up – check out Total Tuscany where Travis, Justice, and Pat take you on an aural journey across the Tuscan region of Italy, basking in the sun, meeting people, exploring and enjoying the culture and cuisine, and learning a little more about what it is like to travel abroad. Or, for a taste of living in the Far East, moneytransfers.com has some great links to some of the top Asia Expat Blogs – exploring life and living from South Korea through Indonesia.
But before we begin, I will apologize for some of the long sentences – sometimes my mind gets going and I have lots to say but it doesn’t all fit into a neat and short snippet – I ramble a bit – kind of like we talk and communicate. Also, I would like this to be a conversation, not an academic paper or a magazine article – and for that, I will sometimes write like I speak. And I ask that you write back – otherwise it is a monologue. Now let’s buckle up and enjoy the ride.
As the story builds, my goal is to also try to incorporate others, like us, currently abroad, not as tourists or permanent transplants, but as people in a later stage who are living, working, and making the most of their experiences living outside the borders of the nation we call home with eyes on returning. I will bring in other “extranjeros” who are abroad in a Later Gap.