How we gained the freedom to travel
Ok, so when you tell someone your off to travel the world the discussion at some point comes to finances. When this happens we get a similar response from most:
- You must be rich!
- Did you win the lotto?
But the honest truth is neither of these scenario’s.
4 years ago we decided to take the big step and put our money into property. So, we purchased our first home. We sat on that nest egg for a while and made small improvements. We paid our huge weekly mortgage to keep the banks happy and hoped for the value of our home to improve over time … property is never a sure bet but in this case – it did.
When we purchased our home we couldn’t have imagined selling it to travel the world. But sometimes although you can’t see the big plan at the time – it all comes together and those decisions add up to allow you to do the things you have always only been able to dream about.
Some would say that it was luck, some would say that we had it easy but the reality is that we had bills to pay, mortgage payments, rates and all the other every day living costs just like everyone else. We made these payments week in and week out, some weeks feeling like we were getting nowhere.
But when we finally made the decision to Travel and we decided to put our home on the market it was then that we realised the worth of our hard work.
Selling our home allowed us to be free and pay out any remaining debt. Also giving us enough to top up our travel savings account and cement for us the ability to travel.
Hi, I have just discovered your blog and I am having fun reading through some of your older posts. I am currently in the planning and saving stage of my travels and I have absolutely no idea what to do with my house. Do i rent it out or sell it off. How did you come to the decision to sell yours and are you worried about having to buy another property on your return home with hardly any money?
Hello & thanks for reading! The planning stage is the time when the big decisions are made and for us one of those was ‘to sell, or not to sell’. When we made this decision it was based on these questions we had to ask ourselves:
1. Do we have an emotional attachment to the property? (for us the answer was no)
2. Do we want to live in the property when we return? (for us the answer was no)
3. Will rent cover the mortgagee payments? (for us the answer was no – although it would come close)
4. How long will it take us upon return to re-save funds and purchase a home? (For us we felt confident we could sell and upon return save and re-purchase within 5 years)
4. How long will we be away? (for us it was 12 months)
5. What is the market like in the area to sell (for us it was a very good market to sell in meaning our house was under contract within 48 hours of going on the market and we made a nice travel nest egg)
6. How do we feel about people living in our home? (We did not want to deal with tenants, real estate etc whilst on the other side of the world).
As you can see for us when we broke it down it made sense for us to sell. However, your answers to the questions above may be very different. It is very dependant to the situation and if you will be able to re-purchase a home upon return if you decided to sell. For some people selling is not a realistic option due to the market at the time, an emotional connection to the property or needing to live in the same town when they return – and in this case renting the property may be the best option.
We are now nearing our return to Australia and starting the ‘return planning’ section of the trip. We are looking at work, accommodation and properties. For us we set an amount in the bank that we would not go under – its our ‘return to Australia fund’ so that when we get home we can afford costs until we find work, to purchase furniture and get the basic sorted. Planning for your return is just as important as planning for your departure we think to ensure the whole experience is a positive one.
So ask yourself the above questions – some people cant imagine selling everything as we did and having nothing to return to – which is fine as well and in that case having your house rented in the perfect ‘security’. However for us we wanted a fresh start, a new town upon return and we were confident in our ability to re-build our lives.
Its such an exciting journey with big decisions but in the end whichever way you go just make the decision and stand behind it 100% – trust me, it all works out as it is meant to.