How to “Test Drive” Full-Time Travel for 3 Months…and Get Someone Else to Pay for (Most) of It
Full time travel isn't for everyone, and you don't have to go all in to find out.
You’ve seen the YouTube videos. A confident, newly retired couple sells their home, cars and belongings to travel the world full time. For many that sounds like a dream come true, and it is…if both partners agree on the path forward.
But what if you or your partner are not 100% positive you’re going to like traveling full time? Common anxieties…
Will we miss our comfortable house/condo?
Will we lose our connection with friends and family?
How could we possibly live out of a suitcase?
Will I regret selling my favorite belongings?
Can we actually afford to travel full time?
What about healthcare overseas?
How do I spend 24/7 with my spouse/partner without killing them?
You don’t have to push your chips “all in”
Why not rent your house for months and use the money to offset the cost of your nomad test drive? It’s an affordable way for you to see if you like traveling full time while having someone look after your home.
We have rented our house in Austin for 3 months at a time on several occasions and had good luck doing so. We appreciated having someone occupying the property full time and the extra income that came along with doing so.
If the cost of a three month trial run is one factor holding you back, renting your house should offset some/all of the following costs:
Accommodations - If you can get $2,000 per month for your house, that reduces your travel costs by $6,000 over 3 months.
Food - Sure, you’ll eat out a lot when traveling but you’ll be (most likely) staying in an apartment with a kitchen so you’ll buy groceries too. Food costs are generally lower outside the US so you may be able to keep your overall dining/grocery costs about the same (or lower) as you spend in the US even if you eat out more than you would at home. If you choose southeast Asia for your 3 month sojourn, dining out is really affordable.
Renting your house
As for how to go about renting your house for 3 months, here are some common options:
Short term rental platforms (Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking etc)
Medium term rental platforms (Furnished Finder, Sabbatical Homes, etc)
Home exchange and house sitting platforms (Trusted Housesitters, HomeExchange, etc)
Because you’ll be renting your house for only 3 months, this article will focus on medium term rentals as this is your best option if you want to offset the cost of your trip.
FurnishedFinder.com
This our #1 recommendation for this particular situation. This online platform focuses exclusively on medium term rentals (MTR) of 1 month or more and their average length of stay is 102 days. A sizable segment of their clientele include traveling healthcare professionals who typically move from city to city seeking out lucrative 90 day assignments at hospitals. Furnished Finder’s clients also include:
Corporate travelers (consultants, engineers, insurance adjusters, etc) on temporary assignments who have been given a monthly allowance for accommodations.
Families relocating to an area for a job who need a place to land before buying/renting a home.
Grandparents who want to spend 2-3 months in your area to visit family or escape harsh weather (winter or summer heat!) where they live.
Academics on temporary assignment with local universities.
Personally, we have used Furnished Finder to rent our home on numerous occasions, ranging from 1-6 months. The process is straightforward: take nice photos of your home, write a listing, field inquiries, vet candidates, sign a short-term lease and collect rent. Just keep in mind that you will be renting your home (not doing a home swap) so if your home requires a lot of maintenance (outdoor animals, garden to water, etc.) a renter is probably not going to want to do this.
FurnishedFinder charges an annual $199 fee to maintain an account but does not charge any transaction fee to you or the renter. You keep 100% of the rent you collect. Furnished Finder offers a free ebook for first time landlords. Download it here.
NOTE: We are not sponsored by FurnishedFinder and do not receive a commission on bookings. We simply like their business model.
Airbnb.com
What about Airbnb? As former Airbnb Superhosts for 5 consecutive years, and long time users of the platform, we have a solid understanding of its pros and cons. Yes, theoretically you could list your home on Airbnb but it probably does not make sense if you are looking to rent your house or condo for only 3 months. Most Airbnb clients are looking for short term stays of less than a week and sometimes up to a month. Also, many cities are overrun with Airbnb rentals and have implemented licensing requirements which can be expensive and time consuming to procure.
Although we do not recommend using Airbnb to list your home for 3 months, you absolutely should use it to find places to stay! When searching, adjust your length of stay to 28 days (4 weeks) or more. Staying 4 weeks or more will usually get you a discount of 30-50%, especially during low or shoulder season. Shown below is what a host sees on the back end when setting their prices which is why 7 or 28 days are the magic thresholds to yield discounts. There are certainly many other platforms to search including VRBO.com and Booking.com.
What about a home exchange or pet sitting?
Another popular option is a home exchange or pet sitting, but we do not actually recommend these options. Here’s why. If your goal is to see how you will like full time travel, then you need to experience what it is like to pack up everything and transition to a new city. You need to experience the pleasures and stresses of sleeping in a different bed every month, learning how to use the local transportation all over again, finding a grocery store you like, locating a pharmacy….and do it over and over again. Change is part of the full time travel experience and if you are not energized by change, being nomadic will slowly wear you down.
You’re NOT going on vacation for 3 months!
While some full-time travelers are considered “fast travelers”, most people age 50+ cannot sustain that pace long term, nor can they afford to. Slowing down has numerous benefits. It lowers your accommodation and transportation costs substantially, and because travel days are always the most stressful, parking yourself in one place for a week or month will lower your blood pressure.
If you’re going to do this, mentally prepare yourself to avoid vacation planning. This is a trial run for your new lifestyle and you need to focus on replicating what your future life will actually look like. This is really important if one spouse/partner is hesitant about the whole idea of full time travel.
We recommend that you stay in 3-4 different places over the course of your three month sojourn, preferably on the same continent so you are not taking expensive (and grueling) long-haul flights over multiple time zones.
You can do it
Remember, there are only so many “somedays.” Pick a date, plan it and do it! You won’t regret it.
Are you thinking about doing a full time travel test run? Tell us more about how you plan to do it in the comments.