Advice for over 40's

Hi,

We are a couple in our 40's who have had enough of the rat race. Our
children have left home, and we are now free to do what we should have
done when we were younger. We would like to spend 2-3 years travelling
and working our way around the world. We have very little money, we
have always lived in rented accommodation so we have no property to
sell, so this has got to be ultra cheap. We would be happy to do
voluntary work for free food and accommodation. We are both fairly
well educated (degree level). We would be grateful for any advice or
pointers to websites with good information. Most of the stuff out
there is for young people, but there must be an increasing market for
mature backpackers.

Peter and Deborah Wieland
Lincoln
UK

P.S If you think we are crazy, please feel free to tell us!

in article , Peter at
wrote on 1/29/04 9:35 AM:

Hi,

We are a couple in our 40's who have had enough of the rat race. Our
children have left home, and we are now free to do what we should have
done when we were younger. We would like to spend 2-3 years travelling
and working our way around the world. We have very little money, we
have always lived in rented accommodation so we have no property to
sell, so this has got to be ultra cheap. We would be happy to do
voluntary work for free food and accommodation. We are both fairly
well educated (degree level). We would be grateful for any advice or
pointers to websites with good information. Most of the stuff out
there is for young people, but there must be an increasing market for
mature backpackers.

Peter and Deborah Wieland
Lincoln
UK

P.S If you think we are crazy, please feel free to tell us!


You're far from crazy - in fact, Good On You!

That said, my suggestion is to salt away at least six months' travel
expenses (how much? Depends where you are going) in advance - that way, you
will not always be forced to take the cheapest option, have some latitude in
"where you go next," and not be compelled to take kak off anyone - you will
have the resources to go on to the next, greener pasture. You will still be
working, backpacking, hopefully getting to know the people and places in
which you find yourself, but be replentishing, rather than building, your
travel fund as you go along.

I encountered more than a few people who went off on a shoestring but with
no cushion and they generally saw very little; those who were on shoestrings
but with a base from which to start had a much better experience.

THE ultimate traveler, in my mind, is Karin Muller - she has a whole section
in her website http://www.pbs.org/hitchikingvietnam on this topic.

On 29 Jan 2004 05:35:53 -0800, (Peter) wrote:

We are a couple in our 40's who have had enough of the rat race. Our
children have left home, and we are now free to do what we should have
done when we were younger. We would like to spend 2-3 years travelling
and working our way around the world. We have very little money, we
have always lived in rented accommodation so we have no property to
sell, so this has got to be ultra cheap. We would be happy to do
voluntary work for free food and accommodation. We are both fairly
well educated (degree level). We would be grateful for any advice or
pointers to websites with good information. Most of the stuff out
there is for young people, but there must be an increasing market for
mature backpackers.

Peter and Deborah Wieland

P.S If you think we are crazy, please feel free to tell us!

Go for it! It will be tough, but what else is new?

There are many places you'll find it very difficult to earn money. I
suggest having enough money to get you through several months before
leaving.

In 1971 I left the US with $200 in my pocket. I was gone for 4 years.
Just some of the jobs I had:
Norway - dairy farmer, photo lab
Germany - disk jockey, wholesale drug delivery
Israel - kibbutznik, bartender, movie crew, construction worker
England - accounting temp, carpet layer, waiter/busboy

Obviously, most of those jobs were low-paying, low skill jobs, but
they allowed me to survive in a foreign country. In the 3rd world, it
will be difficult to survive on local wages. You'll probably have to
work for a "western" company/organization.

Appreciate your hidden skills. Be imaginative.

Turby the Turbosurfer