Timeline to Nomad Life for Early Retired Travelers and Seniors
When you decide to become a full-time traveling nomad, you’ll need a timeline to your early-retired nomad life to help keep track of the millions of things you’ll need to do.
We break out this timeline for early retired people, seniors, and retirement travelers, by years to months to weeks to days. We start with the assumption that you’re two years out from retirement to your departure date. You’ll need to lengthen or shorten the timeline based on your actual departure date.
Nonetheless, is your date circled on the calendar for when you start your senior nomad life? Are you ready to start the checklist to nomad life?
Your Timeline to Nomad Life Starts Now
Be sure to click on all the links that take you to more information about getting ready to launch your nomad life. We’ve got books, blogs, and videos of the information you need to launch your nomad life. Two resources that will be very helpful for you as you get ready for your nomad life are these:
Two Carry-Ons and a Plan by Chris Englert. This book is the bible for Nomad Life. It has everything you need to know to launch your nomad life, including a little love story for inspiration.
Your Nomad Adventure Starts Here. Our youtube channel has a playlist for all new Nomad Lifers to help you get started with all the tips about the major things you need to do for Nomad Life.
Two Years Out
At two years out before leaving for nomad life, you should be thinking big picture about the big items. You should be having big conversations with big people. What will your future days look like? When will you leave your job? What does your partner think? How will your friends/family/children handle your decision? What will you do about your house? How will you travel?
- Circle the date on the calendar for when you’ll depart
- Ask what your perfect day will look like when you’re nomading
- Decide if you’ll rent/sell your house
- Talk with your CPA, CFP and Attorney
- Categorize the things in your house (holidays, need annually, need monthly, need weekly, need daily.)
- Determine what type of bag you will pack when you leave the door (suitcase, carry on, etc)
- Discuss with your spouse/partner any concerns about what the new life will look like
- Identify your vision for the purpose of the travel is (see all UNESCO sites, golf every course, count countries, follow genealogy, etc)
- Create a nomad life budget
- Determine where will domicile, vote, get mail
- Consider housesitting and start doing housesits near your home to get reviews started. Use EATWALK25 for a 25% discount at Trusted Housesitters.
Eighteen months out
At eighteen months out before you leave for your nomad life, you’ll start working on the big items. You’ll get together a timeline for the disposal of all of your things, understanding what you need and when you need them.
You’ll start understanding how to live without some of your things, starting now. The sooner you get get rid of some of the harder things like art and heirlooms, the easier it is to get on to the minutiae of everything else. This is the beginning of the emotional letting go you’ll be going through.
- Start scanning photos
- Start eliminating archived items such as file cabinets
- Make a plan to transition heirloom items (what will you sell, give away, donate)
- Talk with your family
- Make/last holiday plans with family
- Put on calendar important future dates (significant birthdays, graduations, etc) that you want to return for
- Get final documents in order; power of attorney, wills, etc
- Review banking needs, open/close banks based on your global travel
- Stop buying stuff; only buy what you’ll need when you travel if you don’t have it already
- Make plans for pets
One Year Out
At one year out before you launch your nomad life, you’ll start thinking about how this is the last year of your life as you know it. As holidays and annual events pass, you can get rid of the things you’ll no longer use any more. You’ll start actively thinking about how you’ll leave your house and where you’re going. Friends will start seeing that you’re serious, and as you have your last visits with them, make sure they leave with some of the things you’re trying to dispose.
- Finish any one-year service contracts you might have on cable, cell phone, insurance, security, etc
- Draft where you want to go in the first six months
- Develop any plans to get Visas
- Make sure your passport has at least a year on it
- Get a new passport with the most amount of pages available
- Talk with a real estate agent
- Decide if you’ll get a storage unit
- Set up a schedule for disposing of your things (how many garage sales, when will you place ads on FB Marketplace, arrange for an estate sale)
- Start actively getting rid of stuff (after Christmas, dispose of ornaments, etc)
- Make weekly goals for getting rid of things
- Identify how you will leave the house (car, plane, train, ride with a friend, taxi)
- Review credit cards and atm cards (do they have foreign transaction fees)
- Start domiciling process
- Begin stockpiling prescription meds
- Book first reservations, especially flights, if using points
- Get rid of all things you need monthly
Six months out
At six months out, things will start moving very quickly. You’ll be in a very difficult transition phase where you still need things but you simultaneously have to get rid of things. You might sell the king bed and sleep on the queen bed for a while. The living room couch might become the camping chairs. In this period, you’re adjusting and making due until you can leave. It will be an uncomfortable time, both physically and mentally. Focus on the end game and just get through it.
- Finalize plan to sell/rent house
- Get storage unit if using one
- Clean house down to the last few things you’ll need before you leave
- Finish scanning photos, dispose or give away photos and photo albums
- Confirm all heirlooms are gone
- Move pets
- If you’re planning on housesitting, start looking for a housesit. Sign up with Trusted Housesitters and use our code for 25% off EatWalkLearn25
- Review cell phone plans
- Talk to insurance agents about travel insurance and medical insurance
Five months out
At five months out before launching for nomad life, you’re almost out of time. Everything will need to be done right away, and all things feel like a priority. Hopefully you’ve stayed on time with the timeline and you can just march through the to-do items.
- Book reservations
- Pack up and move items to storage unit if using one
- Donate/sell everything you possibly can
- Apply for new credit cards with new address
- Narrow down your clothes to what you’ll pack
- Make a packing list
Four months out
At four months out, it’s the final disposal phase. You might be wearing your one last pair of sweat pants every day, or you could be eating on paper plates. The end is near.
- Dispose of remaining clothing
- Get rid of all things you need weekly
- Cancel all bills
Three months out
At three months out before you launch, you’re in the good-bye phase. All of a sudden, everyone wants to see you and be with you. You’re also saying good-bye to old habits and possibly even getting a new hair style.
- Simplify hair care, cut, color
- Schedule last days with friends
- Set up the turn off dates for all household services
- Take photos of all documents, passports, important docs and put them in cloud
- Do final doctors and dental visits
- Notify banks of travel plans
- Make plan to sell car
- Share itineraries with family
- Buy luggage if you’re using something different
Two months out
At two months out, you’ll be disposing of your house. Depending on your real estate market, you might be in escrow. You may have to find a hotel for a few nights. You might now have a bed anymore. You are getting rid of the last of your weekly items and subsisting on the daily items as you consume the last of those.
- Get rid of things you need daily
- Place items in safe deposit box
- Hold estate sale, if necessary
- Purchase any tech such as charging cords, new phones, new computers, etc
One Month Out
At one month out, you’re making plans to be out of your house, saying good bye to everyone, and just trying to keep focused. It’s a heady time that things will go wrong in. Keep your sense of humor and focus on the end game. Visualize leaving your house with your packed bags.
- Purchase travel and/or medical insurance
- Practice using new phone configuration
- Cancel remaining mail or forward it to new address
- Dispose of any remaining items in house, eat out, sleep in hotel if necessary
- Sell car
Two Weeks Out
At two weeks out, it’s okay to cry, scream, sigh, not sleep. It’s all going to be okay.
- Cry
- Pack
- Do a trial run with luggage
- Modify luggage setup
- Make plans to get to airport
One Week Out
At one week out before you launch, realize that it’s okay that you’ve forgotten something. There are stores everywhere in the world. If you’ve done something wrong, it’s okay, you can fix it. Leave your doubts behind. Right now, just get yourself to the airport.
- Clean
- Secure storage, if necessary
- Put passport in purse, fill water bottle, say goodbye to house
- Travel
Congratulations! We hope you’ve successfully finished this list of things to do before you launch your nomad life and you’re on your way to the adventure of your life.
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Chris Englert, the Walking Traveler, believes walking is the platform for life. Wanderlusting since the age of 5, she’s since traveled all 50 US states and 62 countries. Chris shares her love of walking while traveling via blogs, books, and presentations. A natural storyteller, she invites you along as she explores the world, one walk at a time.
Currently, Chris and her husband, Steve, travel the world, full-time as nomads, with just their two carry-ons. They’ve been traveling since May, 2021.