As a trip to the travel + lezer column, we are talking to travelers to detect the world through their unique approaches. Corporate burnt from America, Kelly Bentol Her finance was found in order and left her Texas lifestyle to retire at 53 and live worldwide in AirBNBS with her husband, Nigel. Here is his story …
I was living in Texas and working in oil and gas. As time passed, and the children left, my job became exceptionally stressful – until the point I had to be wheel on a gurney through the lobby, tilted to an EKG. After all those years after feeling, as I need to overchive, my doctor said that my job was trying to kill me.
Once I realized that, my husband, Nigel, and I got a financial advisor, who gave us some sound estimate and advice. I always thought that I would retire at 65 and play golf. Nigel did not have a retirement plan. He was going to work forever, and it took me a few years to turn the corner. But at the age of 53, I decided to retire.
Once the job went away, all my stress was disturbed and my level became normal.
I did not travel. Our family will take our revised van from Texas to Ohio every year to see my grandmother – this was our big journey. I did not even have a passport until I got married for the first time in my 20s, and we just went to Mexico. Finally, at work, I said yes to every journey, because I was interested in watching the world. I like foreign languages and are talking to people from different countries. Once, a contractor of mine was pregnant and could not go to Kalimantan in Indonesia. I did not know what she was doing, but I went anyway.
I find the journey calm and calm (compared to being at home). I am connected to every little thing because it is new and different, so I relax and take it in. I am not a playground tourist – I do not go to all major tour sites. I can walk and walk inside, but I just like to walk in a cafe and interact with people.
While I have a lot of friends and families in Houston, it is not finally where I wanted, the couch when both Nigel and I retired, we got this idea Travel to the worldLive at a time in a month AirbnBS,
Kelly Bentol
We started with a trial run in 2023, spending a month in Mexico to ensure that we can actually live with each other. At that time, our marriage had been almost seven years.
We lived in the middle of the forest in the tulum in a very intimate place – the door between the bedroom and the kitchen was glass, so there was no privacy. But every morning we poured out the roof together and cooked the dinner. We bought a Christmas tree and decorated it. And we did a great job- I was very proud. So we came back and started a plan for our global journey.
I watched all the YouTube videos that I could meet and hear the advice of the people. Initially, I went to some local real estate agencies, but I like places that have local nature. What I found is that Airbnb, more than other platforms, is good with it because we can connect with local hosts. In addition, we can easily find for things that are important to us, such as the external location. We have some good places with roof pools that were not expensive. It becomes easier than being able to see all ratings and not signed the lease.
It is also cheap. Now we are living in this place Ex n provenceWhere we are for eight weeks, and a long time to stay is 70 percent discount. So we can stay somewhere for a week, or we can stay up to six weeks for the same price. I thought, no one told me about this? This is really the thing that has made all this possible, and I am grateful to it.
Kelly Bentol
We started DubrovanicAnd took Nigel’s 87 -year -old mother with us. This was interesting because the language is so different. We traveled a walk with someone who speaks English so that we could take the land. The city was amazing like a film set. We learned its hills to walk up and down. We lived in a neighborhood in which it was local bode-type shops. Old people will play Buke (BOCCE) In the evening, and we will go out and sit with them.
We asked our AirBNB host what we can do for the community, even if we do not speak the language, and in this small vinery, crop grapes help. They cannot hire many people due to tax issues, so they trust volunteers. It was a hot and difficult task, but was a fun way to know about culture.
Since then, we have also picked up garbage on the beaches in Mauritius. When you are a tourist, you can’t think of it, but when you are going for a long time, it is different. This is one of the things that help us join the local people. They know that we are not just using and leaving. We expect more involvement with our community work. We would eventually like to work with children, but we have to stay for a long time to acquire that belief and bring the language down.
When we reach a new place, we will usually start Finding a local marketWe will explore and find the things that the locals will do. For example, in Seval, we were crossing the road from a community center, so we will go and see that people were taking all the classes. It was easy to connect with the neighborhood because they all gathered outside in the evening, so we joined them. Usually how we affect ourselves.
We also like to roam and get lost. Since we have been in places for so long, we have time to ask here and there. A few times a week, we will travel day. On the second day, we took the train to Avignon and went to taste wine in Chetenef-Do-Pai.
Kelly Bentol
In Mauritius, we really came closer with our airbnb host. They lived across the road and invited us to use their property. We spent the new year before the new year. It was just cute. We stayed inside Lacesey Will drive for a month and on different beaches. We spent a few days from there, and I met a woman who took my picture from behind, while I was watching a sunset and drinking a glass of wine. He invited us to a dinner party the next night, so we extended our stay. Nobody spoke English, except a child. We were sitting in the middle of the table with the hosts, and everyone sat as far as possible because they knew that we did not speak the same language. But until the end, we were able to translate Google and communicate through the child. It was memorable, and I still stay in contact with them.
I get rest in the spreadsheet, so we use one to plan our journey. It is color-coded after the sun by the region. Then, I have the cost of living compared to the US, we also do not want to spend a ton of money on flights, so we choose a normal area. Right now, we are doing Europe, and if we need then we reshuffle Schengen because we cannot stay for a very long time.
Nigel’s family is in England, so this is our jumping-off point. We have six children, and a daughter, two grandchildren, and Nigel’s mother all. Our other children are in California, Utah and Texas, so we do an American round for about three months.
We live at each place for at least one month to get a discount. We wanted to spend some more time crisis Because none of us was there, we are now in this area for three months. Next, we are going back to England because I have never seen my husband’s country. Then, we are going on a road trip and spend a month IrelandAirbnbs is about $ 65 per night, very inexpensive. You cannot even find some hostels for that amount.
We can stay in bed-and-breakfast on this road trip, but I do not want to mix together all the time. I need my own place and a kitchen. We cook at all times with materials from local markets. It saves us money, and it gives us great privacy, which we do not find in hotels. In Mauritius, we went to a hotel for a good meal on the eve of Christmas, and I was so, “Oh, I forgot how good the hotels are because everyone is serving you instead of serving themselves.” But I don’t think I can stay in a hotel.
After that, we will return to the spreadsheet and feel it. I know we want to go to Asia, then New Zealand. We also want to go to Bali and South America. We have received all these big-picture plans.
Kelly Bentol
There are definitely challenges. I miss our friends and family, and are able to leave people. We always book a place with an additional room so that we can visit people. But if we do not try it can be slightly different.
It is not just in another country. It is strange to retire at this age. First of all, I felt that a little guilty was not doing anything. Now, I think it’s okay to be bored. I enjoy. I have achieved too much creative in this chapter, much more introspection. Nigel always wants to go and do things, and I have to remind him, we are here for a long time. You do not need to see everything immediately. We are not as tourists here. We are here as locals here, while there are also a little tour.
People will ask where we are from, and this is a complex answer. They also ask what we do – not so abroad that they do not do so in America that we are lucky for this lifestyle, but it is difficult to explain to people in a way that is not Bragadocius. I tell those people who are looking for places where we are in the world and searching for adventure.
My background behavior is in psychology, so I like that I want to walk in other people’s shoes and understand their views. It is an eye opening. In Texas, we all call Namaste. In places like France, people are super-friendly, but they will say Bonjour and that’s it. They do not automatically befriend you. It depends on where we are in the world.
Once we spend a month a month, it looks like a home. We always feel that we should spend more time there because when we are reaching the point where we know where everything is, it is time. We have our local wine bar and fisherman, and it is time to leave again. We cannot live during high season because it is expensive and I do not like the crowd.
I have found that cultures have been observed and absorbed to integrate greatly. The world is huge, but it is also very small, and the journey actually teaches us respect. I have a lot of friends and family members who do not yet understand what we are doing. But if everyone settles and find out, it will break these alleged obstacles that we all have. You feel that people have conservativeness about you which cannot be true. I cannot force my interests to other people, but I feel strongly about it and think that it is something that everyone should do.
