Traveling 6 months a year is possible, even while pursuing financial independence! Michelle shares how she designed her lifestyle through mini-retirements and semi-retirements to travel to 40 countries. If you want to travel the world and design your lifestyle, you can’t miss this episode.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Michelle enjoys writing about frugal hacks, housesitting, solo travel, minimalism, sustainability, and lifestyle design.
She is a lover of cheese in both dairy and pun form.
Michelle’s Lifestyle Design Journey & Timeline:
- Age 15 (1999) – Gets first job selling hotdogs on weekends while in high school
- Age 18 (2002) – Finishes high school, starts university, with part-time data entry work
- Age 20 (2004) – Ditches the university degree, does an assortment of office-based and customer service jobs
- Age 23 (2007) – Goes on an international trip to Nepal, catches the travel bug big-time and does at least one trip internationally per year after that
- Age 24-25 (2008-2009) – Found my career calling at my first job for an arts organisation; headed to UK for short event work there, then back to Australia for the next contract
- Age 26-28 (2009-2012) – Got a full-time role in arts events; started thinking more seriously about personal finance, including discovering financial independence movement at age 28.
- Age 29 (2013) – Left the full-time role to take a six-month mini-retirement, for solo travel through Europe and some USA while still in my 20s
- Age 30-32 (2014-2016) – Back-to-back contracts of 3-9 months each in Australia, enjoying the mix of workplaces and teams
- Age 33 (2017) – Took another six-month mini-retirement trip in South-East Asia, Europe and USA, while finishing a Masters degree through external study; on return, took a six-month work contract with the intention of more time-off next year in this new semi-retired life outlook
- Age 34 (2018) – Headed to USA for one-year of slow travel, reaching 20 states while working in short 2-3 weeks bursts at festivals and events
- Age 35 (2019) – Moved to New Zealand for a short work contract, while planning my transition to location independent remote work in 2020 and beyond!
Resources
- Polarsteps – Track your travel route and store on a personalised map
- TrailWallet – Michelle’s favourite travel spending tracker. Handles different currencies well.
- SleepingInAirports.net – Michelle’s go-to website for airport reviews and tips for planning overnight stays there.
- TrustedHousesitters – Worldwide housesitting website, with free accommodation in exchange for house/pet sitting. Michelle’s referral link gives 25% off membership
- Slow FI
- Early Retirement Extreme
- Mr. Money Moustache
- Afford AnythingÂ
- FrugalwoodsÂ
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[…] FYF 006: Traveling 6 Months A Year in Semi-Retirement with Michelle from Frugality and Freedom […]
[…] Podcast: FYF 006: Traveling 6 Months A Year in Semi-Retirement with Michelle from Frugality and Freedom […]
[…] A mini-retirement could be an awesome opportunity to go back to school and get a new degree or certification. Whether you’re building on your past career or going in an entirely new direction, this will benefit you after your mini-retirement is over. Maybe you could attend school abroad to also get a travel experience. Often, you can use a college program to get a working visa in different countries so you can stay longer. This is what Michelle, who is from Australia, did to get a working visa in the United States, travel to 20+ states, and live there for a year. Listen to her story in Episode 6. […]