Retire Early and Travel: How This Couple Was Able to Pull It Off

Since having retired early, Jeremy and his wife, Winny, have been traveling full-time with their child.

But it didn’t come without certain lifestyle sacrifices.

Many things were cut out and smart actions were taken so that investments could continue to grow.

But now their lifestyle is exactly what they want it to be.

They’re no longer working a nine to five and are enjoying life traveling and spending time with family and friends.

Also, they started before early retirement had a big community behind it, which meant they had to really look for their mentors. But thankfully with there being such a big FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement, you now have a lot of people talking about their strategies and giving out plenty of advice (like in this financial independence FB group).

Being able to quit your job like they did is definitely possible, but it will require changes to spending and investing. It’s a total mindset shift, and it’s totally worth it.

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1. Learning from Others

When I asked Jeremy how he first learned that early retirement was possible, he gave some good advice, “Where there is a will there is a way. I started looking for people who had figured out how to travel full time, and that led to figuring out how to become financially independent. Most of this was through books and chance encounters, e.g. Your Money or Your Life. It’s a great book with a great title.”

And I couldn’t agree more. My husband and I were only able to figure out how to travel full-time ourselves because we were listening and learning from podcasts. If we hadn’t searched for those answers and did some digging, we definitely wouldn’t be where we are today.

Later on, I asked him if he had any mentors or heroes that inspired him when he first started.

“I had the good fortune to meet Billy and Akaisha Khaderli (Retire Early Lifestyle) and Doug Nordman (the Military Guide) when we were planning. Being able to talk with people who had been there done that was incredibly helpful, back when early retirement was mostly unheard of. Vagabonding by Rolf Potts and the 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss were also influenced my thinking.”

2. Finding Your Why

Going beyond a generic goal and figuring out why you’re pursuing something is one of the best things you can do.

“I was burned out after 6 years of 60-80 hour weeks in order to pay off student loans, so I took a vacation.” Jacobson says. “After 3 weeks of fresh seafood and tropical beverages, I knew that a normal life wasn’t for me.”

It doesn’t matter if your why looks a lot different. It could be to spend more time with your kids, or have more time to pursue a certain dream. What does matter is if you’re focusing on that motive and letting it drive you.

3. Eliminating Any Expense Possible

When I asked him what practical steps enable him to achieve his goal, he surprised me a bit, “We massively slashed spending; nothing was sacred. We sold the house, the car, the motorcycle, moved into a small apartment in a walkable neighborhood, started riding bikes everywhere, and learned to make the best food in town in our own kitchen. This reduced cost of living in the 3 biggest expenses categories: housing, transportation, and food. The savings were invested in mutual funds.”

So many people aren’t willing to make that kind of sacrifice. But if you really do want to be able to retire early, then intentional spending and cutting costs is the move to make.

I continued in asking him what were some of the biggest challenges he had when first starting.

“Change is hard, even when you want it. Unwinding lifestyle inflation is such a strange thing in our society. For us, we tried to design our lives such that healthy saving habits were enforced and encouraged. For example, by selling the car we were never able to slip back into driving to work just because it was convenient.”

4. Be Willing to Adopt a New Lifestyle

While it can feel a bit extreme to make huge financial changes, it’s good to know that you don’t have to do it all at once.

“The transition from normal to extreme saver took about 6 months.” Jacobson let me know when responding to how long it took. “The change from getting all income from a job to investments paying our expenses took 10 years.“

6. Buying Freedom

While Jeremy had made some financial mistakes when younger (buying a house, big student loans, etc.), he’s come to this conclusion:

“As a general rule, if you don’t have the cash, you can’t afford it. And instead of buying stuff or experiences, maybe buy your freedom.”

It’s true. While it can feel like you’re missing out on so much, you might just be missing out on a future that’s so much better.

He continued, “The main ideas for becoming financially independent are [this]: compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe. It can either work for you (investments) or against you (debt: cars, houses, credit cards). And if you save 10% of your income, after 9 years you can take 1 year off. If you save half, it only takes one year. Do that for 10-15 years, and you can take off forever.”

7. Passive Income

“My favorite part was seeing how making good choices (don’t buy this, invest instead) increasingly provided us with more freedom,” Jacobson told me.

“For example, when we started, our passive income was maybe $0.06 per month. Then it became enough to cover our rent. And then it exceeded minimum wage. It was a beautiful thing to watch it grow.

“Now, every day is full of possibilities. We never have to not do something we love and enjoy (spend time with family, travel) because we have to trade our hours for dollars.”

If you want to read more about their methods for growing passive income, you can check out here Start Here page for more info.

8. Take a Look at the Big Three Costs

I asked Jeremy what his best tip was for where to start and what advice he wished someone had given him when he was new to early retirement. He gave a solid answer, “Look at the Big 3: housing, transportation, and food. Saving $1/day on coffee is not as important as saving 100s of dollars on rent, car, and convenience dining.”

Eliminating major expenses (like these 3) can really make or break your ability to move forward with being able to retire early and travel. It’s so easy to get caught up in living a certain kind of lifestyle in the present, rather than a better future with financial freedom.

He continues, “Work towards savings at least 50% of your income. It may sound challenging, but is just the standard 1950s era idea of living off one income and saving the other.”

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A Look at Post Retired Life

Transitioning to Retirement

I ended up asking Jacobson what the transition to retirement was mentally like for him and his spouse. He let me know that this was the most difficult part, “Even after 6 months I was still thinking and dreaming about work. This just took time to flush out of my system, and I never think about it anymore.

“The other mental challenge was from being massive savers to spending. We made this easier by starting in Mexico rather than Paris.”

Being able to spend time in a place that’s not going to drain you of cash is such a great way to not find yourself in financially stressful situations. It’s not just being able to spend more, but also have enough for when emergencies do pop up.

He continues, “Winnie had an easier transition than I did, as she quit work 3 years earlier and is an avid photographer. It was really a dream to be able to take photos of the world.”

The Daily Routine

Now that they’re retired, I got curious about what their day-to-day life looked like. I doubted they were the kind to sit on the beach for hours and eat out every meal.

“It’s really hard to say on a day to day basis,” Jeremy says, “I don’t really have a routine. But life is so busy that I really have no idea how I ever had time for a job. We have been spending about 6 months each year traveling (our 2 year old has been to 28 countries already), 3 months relaxing, and 3 months pursuing creative interests.“

The Best Part of Early Retirement

“Naps. Naps are great,” Jacobson says about retiring early, “But also, we carry around so much work related mental baggage that it can be really difficult to be fully present for your spouse, children, and friends. It is a real blessing to be able to focus on the people that matter.”

I couldn’t agree more. The time my husband and I have spent with family and good friends since quitting the normal 9-5 has been such an amazing opportunity.

Where Are They Now?

“At present we are in Taipei doing a little recharging and writing, and our toddler is going to playgroup a few hours each day. We’ll be in Vietnam over Chinese New Year, and are looking at the US and Mexico for summer.”

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“Retired couple travels the world” headlines don’t always deliver, but I hope that Jeremy’s advice and his site Go Curry Cracker gives you all the help you need when learning how to go after your own retire early lifestyle.