[Interview #008] Reprioritizing life after a health wake up call

This interview is part of our interview series, where we curate stories of regular people that decided to design a life they love. (click here to learn more).

Emily & Ryan from SnailTravelers.com

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I had the opportunity to meet Emily & Ryan in person in Chiang Mai in the fall of 2019 after we connected through the newsletter of our blog. They connected with us through the ChooseFI Expat Facebook group that we are fairly active on. As we chatted over some tropical juices & smoothie bowls, I learned about their nomadic lifestyle and the places they visited in South America for the past year. Since their story is so interesting, I wanted them to share it on the blog so you could also benefit from their experience and insights.

Ryan and Emily are in their mid-40s and have been married for almost 10 years. They left their home in the US (North Carolina) in August 2018, and started their full-time travel adventures. They haven’t looked back since. They spent just over 13 months in South America—Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil. They went back to the eastern US for 5 weeks to spend some time with their friends and family. Currently they are spending their second year in Southeast Asia – 2 weeks in Myanmar, currently in Thailand, and planning to visit Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam  soon.

Without further ado, let’s hear directly from Emily & Ryan.

Lifestyle change

What does a typical day in your life look like for you today? And how does it differ from your lifestyle before?

Emily: We both worked full-time at home, but with very different work schedules. Ryan, as a math and science teacher, worked a typical Monday through Friday schedule. But as a nurse, I worked very stressful 12-hour shifts, for years working every weekend, and then working a rotating schedule of every other weekend and various days throughout the week. Our schedule was exhausting, and we don’t even have kids! We would spend our days off recovering from the days we were working, and trying to keep up with chores around the house, grocery shopping, laundry, etc. We saw each other for a few hours during the week, and every other weekend.

But now with our full-time travel lifestyle, we see each other all day every day. This has taken some getting used to, but thankfully we have always liked each other and gotten along well. But as introverts, we do enjoy our down time doing our individual hobbies. The pace of our day changes depending on where we are and what we are doing. Some days we hang out at our AirBnB apartment, go on walks, and explore our neighborhood markets. Other days we are tourists, taking in all the sights. Still other days we spend planning our next destination – from transportation to housing to learning about the culture. We are definitely never bored! But best of all, we are in control of how we spend our time.

Check out the infographic below to contrast how Emily and Ryan’s priorities shifted between working and traveling.

What led you to decide to change your lifestyle?

Ryan: We have always loved to travel, and would try to take at least one international vacation a year. We always said that when we retired, we would travel the world. But a few years ago, we had a health scare that could have been fatal if not found and treated in time–which thankfully it was. We realized on a new level that our time on Earth is limited, and we wanted to make our dreams a reality. So we saved (and I mean really saved beyond our normal frugal selves!), and sold or donated everything we had, including our house and vehicles, to fund our travels.

Glad to see that you have recovered from this health scare. Do you think you would have still kept your previous lifestyle if this health problem would not have manifested?

Emily: I think this experience was a true turning point for us. If it hadn’t happened, we may have reached this lifestyle eventually, but not with the same intensity as we did. We do consider it to be a blessing, even though in the moment, it was a very frightening experience to live through.

What would you say were some of the biggest challenges to adjust to this new lifestyle?

Emily: I think that we just needed to give ourselves time to adjust.  In our society that focuses on instant results, we had to allow ourselves time to decompress from our jobs and our previous life stressors. And we had to allow ourselves time to find out what we each wanted from this new slow travel lifestyle.  It has taken a lot of work and conversation to find a lifestyle that suits both of our needs and desires.

What life philosophy has been guiding you through this journey?

Ryan: Travel before you are too old to do so. We both have careers that would be easy to return to, but time is something we can never recapture.

As you started to live this nomadic lifestyle together, were there any challenges with spending more time with your spouse? Was there any adjustment you made to your schedule to keep a healthy balance? 

Emily: We actually both get along with each other very well. Ryan is very laid-back in his personality, which is super helpful! We did find that we like to have some time to ourselves, which Ryan finds early in the morning, and I find late at night.

What did your friends and family think of your plan to take on early retirement? What did they think when you announced to them that you would be quitting your day job to travel?

Ryan: They were very supportive, and some even a bit envious. When we told people our idea of becoming full-time travelers, we didn’t face any pressure to abandon our dream.

Travel

How would you describe your travel style?

Ryan: We call ourselves the “Snail Travelers” and our motto is “We’re traveling the world at a snail’s pace”. We travel slowly, usually staying for about a month in each place we visit (this saves us money too!). But we will travel more quickly at times depending on logistical factors such as visa limitations, expenses, or transportation schedules.

Why did you decide to take a snail’s pace to travel the world? What are the pro/cons?

Emily: We found that there is so much to see in the world, but our budget is finite. For the pros, we found that slow travel works for us both personally and financially. The slower we travel, the more money we tend to save.  For us, this means staying in the same location for generally a month or two at a time. We also find it most cost-effective to stay in the same area of the world for an entire year. The cons include not having enough to do when we picked the wrong town to stay in for a month. We learn from each mistake, and we keep making better choices!

If you could never travel again and could pick any city to be confined to, where would you pick? And why?

Ryan: Wow, that is really hard to answer. We have visited so many places but there are still so many more places to go. We are still actively seeking that place where we might settle down someday.

How much stuff do you travel with? 

Ryan: Emily has a 30-liter backpack and Ryan has a 42-liter backpack. Emily also has a small purse and Ryan has a laptop bag.

What’s something you pack that’s not absolutely essential but you like having it?

Emily: Rubber bands! They don’t take up much space but we use them to seal food packages, to compress clothing, and to open tight lids on jars. 

Spending

How much money do you spend on travel per year? How many days of travel does this represent? How much does this represent per day and per person?

Emily: We spent $23,688 for both of us during our first 12 months of travel through South America. That equates to $32 per day per person. This includes everything: Accommodation, food, activities, medical bills, transportation, health insurance, donations, and our mail service back home. 

Here is the breakdown of a typical monthly spending:

Spending Category	Monthly amount (in USD)
Accommodation	$671
Living expenses	$183
Groceries	$257
Dining out / Take-out	$142
Activities	$175
Health Care / Health Insurance	$192
Local Transportation	$74
Global Transportation (from one region to another)	$119
Other expenses (gifts, …)	$187
Monthly Total	$2,000
Yearly Total	$23,688
Per Person, Per Day Total	$32

How do you fund your travel (savings/work whilst traveling/other)?

Ryan: We are living on savings right now. If our savings begins to run low, we can either go back to work or we can settle down in an inexpensive location. 

Community

How do you meet people when you travel? Do you have any tips for people that are having challenges meeting people while traveling? 

Emily: Meeting people has been our biggest struggle. We are both introverts so we were surprised when we began to feel isolated very early when we started our travels. We have learned that you have to make the effort to meet people, and that you can’t wait for strangers to initiate the relationship. We have been able to connect with people by attending church services, joining Facebook expat groups, volunteering, and meeting up with other travelers whenever possible.

Not being a religious person myself I’m not too familiar with church services. That being said, we are always looking for ways to connect with people. Can anyone attend a church service? Any recommendations for our readers you would like to share?

Emily: Yes, the churches we visited are always welcoming to newcomers.  We usually search online for an English speaking church in the area we are visiting, and have visited all types of churches and denominations.  We have met some really great people and discovered some wonderful volunteering opportunities this way.

Last but not least

What is one resource (blog, podcast, book besides your own) you recommend for those that want to pursue your lifestyle?

Emily & Ryan: We think it is most important to get your finances in order before you consider traveling. If people have debt, we recommend the initial baby steps of Dave Ramsey’s plan. But we also recommend the Choose FI podcast for those who are interested in taking their finances to the next level.

What advice do you have for others who are considering this type of lifestyle?

Emily & Ryan: You can’t wait for the perfect time. Make the effort to get your life in order and then just do it. You can always return home and work, but you might discover that you enjoy this lifestyle more than you think.

Tell us one belief that is held up by society as ‘common sense’ but that you disagree with and why.

Emily & Ryan: A traveling lifestyle must be expensive. After all, a one-week vacation typically costs something in the $2,000-$3,000 range, so you must be spending double or triple what it would cost to stay home. We actually spend significantly less than we spent at home.

Is there anything I may not have asked that you would like to share with others who are considering this way of life?

Emily & Ryan: It took some trial and error after we left home to travel full-time to find a lifestyle that suits us, our needs, and our personalities. We found that we enjoy connecting with a community for a month or two before we move on, and this is great when balanced with some periods of faster, “vacation-like” travel. This works well for us and our budget!

Rapid Fire Questions

What is your favorite travel destination & why?	Emily: We’ve loved many of the places we have traveled so far, so it is too hard to pick a favorite! We’ve really enjoyed Nepal, Cuba, Uruguay, and Myanmar.
What was the most creative thing you’ve ever done to save money during your travels?	Emily: We use our Sawyer water filter – it takes a little bit of an effort to filter tap water, but not buying all those plastic water bottles saves us money and saves the environment!
What was your biggest travel mistake?	Emily: Staying too long in a town that had too little to do during the winter (we learned we like warmer climates!).

Thank you Emily & Ryan for taking the time to share part of your story with us!

The Bottom Line

I personally hope that Emily & Ryan’s story will inspire you to also look at your current life and make sure you aren’t deferring doing what you love the most because of society or some external factor. As they said it pretty well: “Our time on Earth is limited”!

Here are the main lessons we took away from this interview:

• Lesson 1 – “We realized on a new level that our time on Earth is limited” – I can’t imagine how stressful the situation might have been for Emily and Ryan to go through this health scare that could have ended up being fatal. It is sad to say but losing a loved one or being close to facing death can be a big wake up call to prioritize the important things in life. This is something I always remind myself and try to do the things I want today so I won’t regret them later. 
• Lesson 2 – “We’re traveling the world at a snail’s pace” – This is such a great motto and something we also fully embrace as slow travelers. Slow travel is such a wonderful way to travel as we’ve explained in depth on our blog.
• Lesson 3 – “You can’t wait for the perfect time. Make the effort to get your life in order and […] do it. You can always return home and work, but you might discover that you enjoy this lifestyle more than you think” – We are in a society where we become a by product of our environment (Social media, peer pressure, career ladder…) that it can be really hard for do things that go against it. People usually wait for the regular retirement age to start doing the things they love. Or they accumulate debt from the time they go to high school to the time they die because everybody else does it. All of this came at the cost of happiness unfortunately. Emily & Ryan decided to completely change their lifestyle after a wake up call and realized that they can still get back to the life they had before if things don’t work out. The big difference between them and most people is that they are making their dream lifestyle a reality now! 

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