***** Sorry for the long span of radio silence. There was a bit of real life in the middle of the trip leading to a return to the states for a few weeks. If there is a positive to note it was that we had a chance to stay in a few more hotels like Andaz Scottsdale and the Park Hyatt Thames which I’ll add to this report in the hopefully near future. ******

No strings and no nets.

After 36 years of working, raising a family and buying/fixing a house, we decided to try something different. In this case, that was to retire from our jobs, sell the house, the cars and all of our belongings save for 4 pieces of luggage, and “slomad” our way around the world. The luggage in our case consists of 2 carryons (at least in the US market), a backpack and a full size suitcase. In one day, I completed my retirement paperwork, we closed on the sale of our house, and dropped my car at the train station. Once in the garage, I tossed the keys in the trunk (a friend had bought it and would collect it later), and we hopped a train.

Jobless, homeless and car-less in one day.



As you can imagine, getting to this point was quite a bit of work. My wife ruthlessly sold or gave away everything save for some important papers and some probably not (couldn’t quite bring ourselves to dispose of our diplomas) that could be held by family members. We digitized photos, we put things by the curb, listed things on FB marketplace, and found a few friends and co-workers interested in buying some things. I completed a few long deferred home projects and we cleaned everything else. The day before we turned up at the train station I had rented a truck to deliver a sectional sofa, a bike and a grill to those folks and to drop off one used shower door at the transfer station. The couple buying our house would be taking the rest including a collection of tools for gardening, woodworking and maintaining a house that we had acquired over almost three decades - a new home starter pack.

We got physicals and vaccinations, talked with our GPs, and purchased international health insurance. We met with a financial advisor and a lawyer. We also said goodbye, or more optimistically so long, to the friends we made along the way. After all, we need to come back periodically to see family and for me to see my doctor.

The travel plan is a bit of a mix of fast and slow travel, points bookings, and a probably excessive number of stays at hotels bookable through Hyatt. Prior to pulling the plug, I had started to book our December 2024 vacation including flights and a few hotel stays that I wanted to preserve. So, I gradually filled in the almost 2 months from that train ride in October to a Qatar Airways flight from London to Singapore with Hyatt hotel stays in Germany, Greece, Turkey and somewhere in Europe not otherwise specified at the moment. After Singapore, we head to Kuala Lumpur, Phu Quoc, Siagon and Bangkok before starting the actual slomad bits (back to Vietnam, again in Bangkok, and then onto Sydney and Cape Town) for roughly one month stays. From Cape Town we fly to CDG in early May.

Previous trip reports:

2024: Victory Lap in a Porsche

Index to posts:

Hyatt Regency JFK
Soho Lounge JFK
JFK-CLT-MUC
Hyatt Andaz Munich
MUC-KGS (Kos, Greece) on Discover Airlines
Lango Design Hotel and Spa
Casa Cook Rhodes
Port of Rhodes
Hyatt Regency Izmir
Hyatt Regency Istanbul Atakoy
Hyatt Regency Sofia
Park Hyatt London River Thames
Qatar Airlines LHR-DOH-SIN

So, why are we doing this? It comes down to life being short and the usual time-money-health math. It was also a feeling that after living relatively normal lives for 58 years, we both wanted an adventure. We were lucky enough to have traveled a fair bit already and think we know what we’re getting into. But, who knows? If we decide it’s not for us after a year, then we’ll call it a gap year. A gray gap year in my case. Until then, we’ll have 4 bags and no certain address for an indefinite period of time.

Amazing start, where are you in your journey? Have you just started and are writing this as it happens?

Thanks! We are in Casa Cook at the moment. So, almost 2 weeks in. And yes the plan is to more less add to the thread as we go.

Very exciting! Enjoy!!

I'm looking forward to your report. And I'm tagging @kokonutz as he started a few years before you and is still traveling the world.

Subscribed, and very jealous! Looking forward to this report.

This is epic. I love it. And cant wait to read every word. You know you have a tribe here who will come to your rescue if you need help. Or if you need a +1 in any one of the Hyatt bars you are staying at. Godspeed my friend.

Well done fruss508 and Mrs fruss! That's living. May the wheel never come off your bags!

Wow! Can’t imagine myself ever doing something like this and no way that Mrs. Nimrod would ever be talked into doing this.

I have a 2nd cousin in Australia who was visiting the UK in September, she was telling me that they have “Grey Nomads” over in Oz who are retired and have bought camper vans or larger RVs and just circle round Australia stopping in various places that take their fancy. Once the circuit is completed, they start over again; your idea though takes this to a different level by just staying in hotels or whatever.

Good luck with your adventures.

This is exactly what I want to do, if I will reach the retirement. I will follow along with envie, interest and a lot of best wishes.

Thanks a lot! I figured there are a few different layers here with something for almost everyone to be interested in. The cocktail bar scene is something I’m very much interested in exploring more throughout the world. More to come!

Thanks a lot, FRASEVEN. There’s already a pretty good number of couples and singles doing this. The miracle for me is that I’m married to someone who also wanted to do it.

This will be brilliant - looking forward to following along as you write it up! Funnily enough, my wife and I met a couple who was doing exactly this as well a few months back - they had been travelling around for a year already.

Enjoy your trip! And if you need any tips along the way for especially Bangkok and Thailand as a whole, feel free to drop me a message

Hyatt Regency JFK - This is a relatively new hotel about a 20 minute ride from JFK in normal traffic. It doesn’t have a shuttle service to and from the airport, but it is fairly easy to catch a taxi or Uber/Lyft. I’ve stayed here once before for a morning flight, but had visited many times more for the free parking available in the adjacent casino. It came in handy for those 2 or so week trips that start in JFK.

Picking up from the train ride to Penn Station in NYC, we caught the LIRR to Jamaica (Queens). Once at street level, we found a taxi to the hotel where we were happy to learn we had secured a Globalist upgrade to a suite. This was a handicap accessible suite with a separate living room, two bathrooms, and a view towards NYC (but mostly the parking lot). Plenty spacious and the bed was great.








After dropping our bags, we headed to the club lounge which is on the first floor of the hotel. The buffet options were fairly limited but did the job of fixing a cheap dinner. There were also a few beers as well as canned wines and cocktails. Staff at the hotel were great.

After a morning workout, we caught a Lyft to terminal 8 at JFK. We got there about 2.5 hours prior to our scheduled flight to CLT with an onward connection to MUC. This arrival was intentional so we could check out the Soho lounge at JFK and enjoy a leisurely breakfast. You might ask why are we going to Munich. As mentioned in my last trip report, we had finished our European vacation in Munich in July and to get back to the US from Germany, I had booked a roundtrip on AA in premium economy from Munich to JFK via LHR. Our flight one day after we bid adieu to our house, my job and the car would be the return. The only changes being that I needed to move up the return flight by 5 days and the customer representative suggested flying JFK-CLT-MUC all on AA metal vice the return trip via LHR which of course included BA.

wow! definitely what i am working towards when i retire and taking notes!

1000% eager to read more and live vicariously through you and the mrs.