Heather and Kent (of the blog Unexcused Absenses) were hardworking professionals living a perfectly normal, crazed, American life, with vacations that were WAY too short for their tastes. But instead of just dreaming of leaping into a saner life, they sat down and made a plan. Now, just short of middle age, they are living the life they love. I asked them how they did it, and here is their answer. It should be mandatory reading for anyone who's ever dreamed of a different sort of life. (Some of you may have read parts of this post over at The Daily Basics, but I'm running an expanded version here, to give their thoughtul plan a wider audience). Here is Heather and Kent's recipe for making dreams come true.
On Living Our Dream in The Low Rent District of the High Life
On the surface, we look like globe trotters with fat wallets stuffed with trust fund dollars. Each year we enjoy months of cruising the canals of France on our boat, Après Ski. During the winter, we live at one of the most expensive and exclusive ski resorts in the world, Beaver Creek, Colorado (the upscale, sister resort of Vail). It surprises folks when they learn we're not wealthy trust-funders, dot com millionaires or even spies. We're just two people, in our 40's, settled in what we refer to as the low-rent district of the high life.
The choices that enable us to live this 'vacation lifestyle' at a relatively young age flow from a few basic principles. We aggressively fund our savings, keep operating expenses small, make targeted capital expenditures, and eschew traditional careers. We focus on enjoying life now – while we can.
In the vacation lifestyle, we define our dreams in terms of how spend our time each day. One day last winter, I asked my husband, Kent, to describe his ideal winter day; catching first tracks on the slopes, he replied, and dinner later with friends. I pointed out that additional money wouldn't make it snow more, the lifts open earlier or the ski day longer. With more money we could step out of a slope-side mansion instead of packing a lunch and catching the bus. In the evening we could host friends a fancy restaurant in neighboring Vail rather than using our grill — but our daily routine would be unchanged. If you compare our actual day to our ideal day, we have achieved our dream.
A Tale of Three Golfers
I often hear, "I want to golf every day when I retire," when folks share dreams of retirement. Here are three imaginary scenarios:
Golfer A purchases a lovely home on a golf course in Florida. This home includes mandatory fees at the country club, monthly dining minimums and high yearly association fees. Golfer A enjoys a great standard of living, with all the perks of living the country club life, and golfs every day outside his house.
Golfer B retires in her existing home in South Carolina, taking a part-time job as a starter at a favorite local course. As an employee, the course waives her greens fees and offers her a good discount at the pro shop. She continues to live close to her life-long friends and golfs every day for free.
Golfer C answers an ad in the Maui News. A small, family-run condo complex offers free lodging in exchange for several hours of handyman work per day as well 24-hour availability for emergencies. As Maui County resident, Golfer C golfs every day for $10 per round at the ocean-front municipal course.
All these golfers live their dream of daily golf, but Golfer C lives in one of the most beautiful spots on the planet and does it for far less money than the other two golfers. Thanks to lower costs, Golfer C starts playing daily golf years before Golfer A can save enough to fund his version of the same retirement dream or Golfer B can pay off her mortgage. Golfer C lives the vacation lifestyle.
The Vacation Lifestyle Guiding Principles
While this isn't the usual sort of recipe you'll see in the Southern Fried French blog, here are a few guidelines that help us shape our lives so that we can go now, go with less and live vacation lifestyle.
Rule 0 – Pay yourself first.
This is the baseline behavior from which all the benefits of the vacation lifestyle flow. No matter how large or small your income, always put aside part of your income into your savings while eschewing debt. It's unlikely you will be able to retire at a higher standard of living than when you work, so living on less and saving more accelerates you toward retirement.
Rule 1 – You can't spend like you're on vacation when you live the vacation lifestyle.
Over the years. we've learned that you will pay the same amount for housing in a resort town no matter how long you stay. Stay in a nice hotel for a week, rent short-term for a month, or lease for an entire season and you'll pay approximately the same price. Therefore, we stay in one place for big chunks of time in order to keep expenses down. We also limit our meals out to once per week, don't have smartphones or cable TV, and opt to see local bands in dive bars over bigger shows.
Rule 2 – Act like a local – join the community.
A job? Absolutely a necessity! A vacation lifestyle job (which might be a volunteer position) is about much more than earning money, it is about joining the community. I find it necessary for a one's well-being not just to consume goods and services, but to offer something of value to those around you.
Acting like a local also means cooking like a local — in your home. I'm sure the readers of this blog can attest to how much pleasure one takes from interacting with other cooks, vendors and fellow food-lovers. Entertain friends new and old at your home (or boat!) and rediscover the pleasures of the table.
Rule 3 – Invest in skills and that further your lifestyle.
Instructing others in your favorite sport or hobby or working in an industry which interests you offers good leverage for the vacation lifestyle. Insiders, no matter what industry, often receive hefty discounts or freebies. Generally, the more you dive into any hobby, the less likely it is you'll pay top dollar for training, supplies, or access to facilities. We work at Beaver Creek as part-time ski instructors and race coaches. This gives us our season ski passes, provides an awesome inside track for gear, makes us true seasonal locals, and covers the bulk of our lodging expense during the season.
Rule 4 – Own things that bring down your operating expenses.
Our 20-year-old, 29-foot canal boat, Après Ski, cost about the same as a mid-sized sedan. The cost of purchase and operation of our boat is significantly less than renting a similar vessel long-term. Assuming we get 60% of our capital back when we sell, we will have paid 20% to 30% of the going rental rate for our vacation once operating expenses are factored into the financials.
Rule 5 – Find your kindred spirits and pool resources.
By pooling resources with friends with different interests, we can each benefit from one another's vacation lifestyles. We always have room for friends on our couch during ski season, and likewise we can join them at their golf club during the spring. We find it great fun to share resources!
Define your Dream and GO
We once dreamed of owning a half million dollar sailboat with which to see the world. As it turns out, we actually wanted to travel and to live on a boat, not necessarily sail around the world. We've found a way to live our dream for a tiny fraction of what we once thought we needed! We ply the waters of France rather than crossing oceans, but we love every minute of our adventures.
Examine what it is you really want. Imagine your perfect day or week; what do you see yourself doing? Is there a way to structure your life so that it costs little or nothing to do this? Give up the expensive material trappings decorating your dream, the idea that all work stops when your dream starts, and embrace the vacation lifestyle. Be creative, look for the inside track, and don't be afraid to go for it. Once you leap, you'll be amazed the opportunities you can find!
Many people work longer than necessary, and wait too long to fulfill a dream only to see the realities of old age thwart it. Try going now, going with less, and living your dream sooner by adopting the vacation lifestyle. If you're willing to reside in the low-rent district, you too can live the high life!
Mille mercis, Heather and Kent! You can find them on the ski slopes, aboard Après Ski, and on the internet at UnexcusedAbsences.com.
Now, loyal readers and dreamers, any tips for us from your experience, on attaining the Vacation Lifestyle? Or–what lifestyle have you been lusting after?
If you missed our June post about visiting Heather and Kent's boat for a trip down the canal, you can read it here.
9 thoughts on “The Vacation Lifestyle: Could You Do It Too?”
I love it! Not a day goes by that I don’t dream of changing my life. However, I’m 6 years away from a fairly decent teacher’s pension, so I’ll stick it out a bit longer (and save!). But after that, I may just sell my house and rent my way around the world. I just wonder, what do Heather and Kent do about health insurance? It’s a quandary here in the U.S.
We happened upon Heather and Kent on the Canal du Midi in Vias FR in 2011. It was their first week on the Apres Ski and the last of our annual 2 week canal boat trip. We have followed their blog and shared restaurant tips, especially Chez Fred on the Loire this year. We have also learned what cheeses to buy and to look for roast chicken with potatoes cooked in the drippings! at the village markets.
Lynn, how interesting that your article in our Furman University magazine got us all connected in the first place. It is a small world! We love keeping up with all of your lives shared with the gracious French people.
This works if there are no kids (or grandkids) in the equation. There’s also the question of health insurance.
Wonderful—Inspiring–Never too Late—Passing info along to family & friends !!!
Thanks Lynn. I enjoyed reading this interesting post. Follow your heart and don’t worry about what other people think you must do. Oh, but to be able to follow the vacation lifestyle AND to include children, that would be bliss for me.
What a charming couple!
They obviously are following their hearts and enjoying every minute!
So happy for them!
Thank you,Lynn,for giving us the opportunity to share in their lives!
Bon journee!!
(comments from the author)
Health care is a huge issue for us. As Americans, we’re too young for Medicare and are not covered by our jobs. We actually pay a *great* deal (over $6,000/year) for a policy which has a $10,000/year deductible — and we are lucky to have that policy. In spite of being relatively young and healthy, we’ve been rejected by various carriers. Ironically, paying 100% of the cost for services in France runs about 25% of the cost of similar services in the US – a bargain for us should we need services!
We’ve seen plenty of folks here who have grandkids around the world. I’m sure it isn’t easy to be so far away from family, but somehow they make it work. We also know a few families who have children onboard, but they tend to either be very young or to stay put during the school year. It’s definitely a challenge beyond the scope of what we can understand.
We hope we inspire a few folks to live their dreams — maybe we’ll see you on the canals!
For 10 years we lived the vacation lifestyle, yet we were not trust fund babies or mega wealthy. When my husband was fifty-three, we retired and followed our dream of living on a small, private island in the Atlantic Ocean in the northern Bahamas.
Ex-pats are not, except in certain professions such as doctors, allowed to work in the Bahamas. So to produce income, we built a second home on the water and ran a successful vacation rental business. Health insurance was a major concern and you don’t want to have to scratch your head to decide if you have the money to save your spouse. We found a catastrophic policy with a large deductible that would cover us if we had a major illness.
A vacation lifestyle can be done if you are careful about how you spend your money and have a plan. It was the best years of our life and we met many wonderful people and had a lot of fun. But it’s not for sissies. You will have family and friends that don’t approve. That being said, I highly recommend it for the adventuresome. Follow your dream. We never regretted a moment.
Sam
I have to agree with Jetagain because you know what they can do if they were around, the whole plan may get changed.