Part of adulting, whether we like it or not, is estate planning. We last created an estate plan about 20 years ago. This was long before our son was born, and at a time when we owned a home and were considering a vacation home. Needless to say, a lot has changed, and it would be important to update our estate plan regardless. Yet, as we head off for slow travel, our situation is vastly different than that of most Americans, and thus, so is the estate planning process.
Getting our affairs in order required covering a lot of ground. So much so that this is broken up into a series of posts so it’s not totally overwhelming. I start with a short review of our situation, and plans for 2026 to give a feel for our planned lifestyle. Then I dive into the major areas we covered in getting our affairs in order.
We are writing this for a couple reasons. For one, it serves as a written reminder to our future selves about the research and mindset we had when making these decisions. Second, hopefully it provides some value to others in a similar situation looking to fully abandon a home base and travel long term on the road.
I should note that we took our time with this planning. The entire process of getting our affairs in order took more than 3 years. This included selling homes and a business, disposing of most personal assets and choosing where to store the rest. It also included some tax preparation including what state we will be (non) residents of as global travelers. The remainder took the better part of a year to research, think about, plan, and execute. There were a number of times where we initially had a gut reaction but upon reflection and joint discussion, we came to entirely different decisions. It was worth the slow and deliberate process.
First, Our Current Situation
Hillary and I are turning 50. In 2025 we both retired, we sold our business, and sold our home. We’ve been renting a furnished townhouse in Fairfax County, Virginia so our son could be much closer to school for his last year of high school. We also went without traditional healthcare, joining CrowdHealth in case a serious healthcare situation cropped up. Thankfully, we are both healthy, very active, and have no chronic health needs nor any prescriptions.
Most of our nest egg is in IRA’s. We have enough in traditional investments to carry us the ten years between now and 59 and 1/2. We’ll also be paying for our son’s undergraduate college education out of our IRA’s.
Aside from our IRA’s and investment accounts we have a pretty simple asset situation. We have almost nothing. We own no property or business interests, have no debts, and maintain a few personal possessions in storage in the middle of Florida. After August 2026 will no longer own a car either.
Looking Ahead in 2026 and Beyond
After moving to Florida in mid June 2026, we will visit family up and down the East Coast. After that, we sell our car and we’re off….
First, we’ll head to Shanghai, China where our son will be going to college. We will see him off to orientation and explore the city for a few days before heading to Istanbul, Turkey. We will explore Istanbul for a few days, buying time to adjust a bit to a time zone closer to that of western Europe.
We then head to Madrid, Spain and on to Le-Puy-En-Velay, France (near Lyon). In early September we will kick off 70-80 days of walking the Camino de Santiago. We’ll average about 15 miles a day staying in a new place every night along the route.
After (hopefully) completing the Camino de Santiago in November we will head to Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia for a couple months. The plan, in KL, is to recover a bit, visit a healthcare clinic for a head to toe medical checkup, and enjoy some time with our son during his winter break.
Our time in KL will take us into 2027. From there, the plan becomes a bit more vague. Generally, we plan to travel through adjacent southeast Asian countries by bus or train when possible. Malaysia to Thailand, Thailand to Laos or Cambodia, on to Vietnam, a ferry or short flight to the Philippines, and on from there. Given the length of tourist visas in each country, this may take us into 2028 or 2029.
Getting Affairs in Order and Estate Planning for Slow Travel as Nomads
To return to the point of this post, as global slow travelers, we are in a very different situation from a retired couple living in the US, dealing with the US healthcare system, owning a home, having car insurance, etc. It’s already been an adventure to open a personal mailbox (virtual) in Florida and a bank account based on that address. So, to get our affairs and estate in order, we are focusing on the following areas and any unique issues given our “homeless/nomad” situation of slow travel.
- Legal & Estate – Do we need a will? What about a trust? Are they even valid if we are out of the country? In what cases does this matter? Do we need a durable (financial) power of attorney? is it even valid if we are out of the country?
- Health, Medical & Insurance – How do we plan to handle health insurance, if at all? What are we concerned about with medical needs? What about advance directives and living wills? What about other insurance?
- Digital Assets – This is a relatively new area for estate planning, but important to take seriously depending on what you have. If you have cloud storage (photos or documents) or have a website or domain name these things need to be addressed? Does anything change if we are out of the country but use accounts based in the US?
- Financial Management – How will we continue to pay bills? Taxes? Manage any checks we receive on the road? Ensure access to money if we lose a payment card or a bank decides our transactions might be fraudulent?
- Personal & Final Wishes – How do we make it easier on loved ones when it comes to organizing a service if desired? What about an obituary? Even more at issue, what about our bodies if we die overseas?