About
Retired & Roaming is a blog aimed at anyone old enough to remember the Queen of England’s Coronation or President Eisenhower’s inauguration and who wants to travel for part or all of their year! Aimed at, but not exclusively so – people are retiring younger these days.
Why should you want to do that?
The reason for us was cold and dark winters in Europe. We have a lovely house in the hills of Tuscany which is idyllic in the spring and summer months, and for a lot of the autumn. But when those clocks change in Europe at the end of October, night falls early and it all get a bit rude. A few crisp days are nice at first but then you realise there are five months of short, cold, frequently wet and sometimes snowy days ahead that often preclude work or relaxation outside. If you’re an outdoor person, this can get more than a little frustrating. So why not beat a path to pastures new or familiar; they just have to be warm!
Admittedly travelling the world wasn’t new for us. Having lived and worked in Hong Kong for 28 years prior to retiring to Italy, we were lucky enough to have visited some great places over the years, both in and around South East Asia and elsewhere.
When we retired in 2004, having sorted out the house, we set about taming our three acres of land, giving ourselves a year to do it. Three years on and it was just about tamed. Life during these three years was full – we were learning Italian, making new friends, there was a TEFL course, an art restoration course and we explored some of the area. However, we are very much outdoor people those winter months got very long, not to say expensive in heating costs. In addition to costs and a wayward dollar beginning to hurt, by early 2007, none of our kids and therefore none of the grandchildren lived in Europe! Inspired perhaps by the nomadic lifestyle that David’s daughter Lea and her husband Jonathan have been pursuing since January 2007 – see their blogs under Links – we thought the we could try the ‘location independent’ bit too. We could become ‘location independent pensioners’ and follow the sun as well as following the kids and the grandchildren, of whom there are now four and a half – two in Hong Kong and two in Kenya, with a fifth on the way.
Doesn’t it cost a fortune?
Short answer: No – we wouldn’t and couldn’t do it if it did. There’ll be some posts on this, but basically we offset the costs incurred with savings made by not remaining in Italy. We choose destinations that are inexpensive so that our monthly outgoings on food etc. are lower than in Italy while we offset the cost of renting a car with the money saved by cancelling the insurance on our two cars in Italy for the time we are away. At present we don’t own property elsewhere, although we are moving towards this, so there is rent to be considered. Again, by choosing inexpensive destinations, this cost can be reduced. The ballpark figure we aim at is around €2000 per month which covers everything except air fares. These we regard as part of our annual budget and so we spread the cost for them over the year, justifying this by saying we don’t take holidays at other times!
What do you do apart from lounge by the pool or on the beach?
Neither of us particularly enjoys just sitting in the sun, although we do enjoy the warm! As for anyone, anywhere in retirement, it’s essential to do something to keep the grey cells occupied as well as the body in shape. Ignore that and your retirement won’t be a long one! The choices of what to do are of course entirely personal. Clearly in a new place, there is plenty of exploring to do. Apart from that, it’s important to set yourself a schedule so that the days don’t drift away. Go out and take those photos, write that book, read those books, paint or draw those pictures, learn that language, write that blog!. Whatever. If you put your mind to it, there won’t be enough time in the day. From the keeping fit point of view, depending on the climate of your destination, there may be walking opportunities – we did a coastal walk daily in South Africa – or if it’s too hot, there are always gyms and fitness centres. We’ll be looking at this in more detail in the posts.
Who are we?
We are David and Gail Clarke. According to four-year old grandson Frank, we are anything ranging from 7-years old, through eleventeen to somewhere in the region of 150. In fact we are both 60-something retired professionals trying to ward off the atrophy of grey cells by exploring as many pastures new as we can.
David spent most of his career as a forensic scientist in Hong Kong, finishing off as Government Chemist, while Gail taught for 28 years in Hong Kong’s German Swiss International School, many of those years as deputy head of the International Primary Department.
Between us we have four kids, all of whom are pursuing amazing careers in exotic locations (see the links), and an increasing number of grandchildren.
David has been taking photos for as long as he can remember and these days has gone totally digital. He also enjoys playing with websites and now, blogs. Gail’s artiness extends to illustrations large – murals for children’s bedrooms – and small – for greetings cards and for children’s stories that she’s writing.
Not a Travel Guide
Finally, it must be stated that R&R blog contents are an entirely personal set of impressions – this isn’t meant to be a travel guide. Consequently, the accounts of places are by no means comprehensive, nor are they meant to be. However, we hope that, with time, these pages and posts will build into a useful guide of experiences and ideas to help potential or active R&Rers realise their dreams.