Mature travel – Housesitters travelling Europe
Hi, we are Faith and Alan and we are housesitters travelling Europe and travel writers. Makes us sound a bit 007 but there’s no secret stuff here.
If you want to know more about international house sitting, travelling when old, eating weird food, retiring to other countries. Want to know how to see places that are easily accessible? Get tips on great things to see in Ireland, the UK and Europe?
That’s what I write about. It’s all here, the good, the bad and the ugly. Join us on our ass-end boomer tour of Europe and our quest to find a permanent retirement home.
What are mature travelers? “Mature” is defined by the travel industry as persons aged 50 to 80. And they control 80 per cent of the developed world’s discretionary income. This age group puts a high priority on travelling and tends to be in good health.
Faith, 63 (almost) and refusing to be invisible
Yep, ageing sucks totally and I refuse to be invisible, quiet and boring. Luckily ageing has its advantages you can do whatever you actually want for a change and don’t have to put up with any crap. I have spent a lifetime working with community-based initiatives (including historic sites & venues, theatre, farmer’s markets, and community economic development) with a special interest in helping people start businesses.
I travel with auto-immune conditions which means I have to be careful not to exhaust myself and I need to find places that are accessible. In other words no 600 step staircases or places that require miles and miles to walk before you can see anything.
Housesitting is the best thing for a traveller like me. It allows us to stay in places longer so we are not cramming in 10 things in one day. We get to explore areas that other tourists don’t have time for. We also get to meet the locals and become part of a community.
Alan, 63 who has at any given time more shoes than Faith does
It’s true Alan is far more obsessive about shoes than I am but that’s because I have crappy feet and can’t wear any beautiful shoes anymore. So Alan is a guitar head and totally wishes he could have brought his 4 guitars and amps with us on this carry on luggage journey. Not to mention his Armani jacket (a thrift store find of his) and his fancy suit. Alan drags the luggage around, carries my computer, takes photos for the blog and is working on learning how to edit videos. He’s not a planner I do that…sigh…he cooks a mean fry-up breakfast and his baking is addictive – those pretzels WOW!
We got our first house-sitting gig in Mexico in 2015 and we haven’t looked back. Our second house sitting “job” was in Ireland – which since we were both born in Ireland was a brilliant chance for us to visit the “homeland”. Well, we fell in love all over again with Ireland and have now house sat in Donegal, Tipperary, Dublin, N. Ireland, on the Wild Atlantic Way and have pretty much decided to make Ireland our future base.
We have also house sat in Spain, Canada, Yorkshire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Mexico, Berkshire, Blackpool and Cyprus (have a read of homeowners from hell for that one). We will continue to house sit for as long as humanly possible. Currently, we are housesitting in France and will be here until this whole worldwide situation is over. We will have to find a permanent base though because these days the medications are threatening to overwhelm the carry-on and I am having trouble fitting in the clothes I need.
So we want to keep travelling (on a Post Office pension no less), learn more about living in Europe and Ireland. Exploring the beautiful landscapes and cities of the EU and providing you our readers with a ton (and I mean a ton) of facts, beautiful pictures, some of the most amazing food ever and inspiring you to do the same thing. Get rid of everything you own, simplify and travel the world.
You can see Faith’s writing work here:
- Guest Writer for House Sitting Magazine
- Travel Guide contributor for Earth’s Attractions
- Legacy Arts & Paragon Road – The power of giving
- Guest Writer for Headstuff an Irish online magazine – International Women’s Day
- Guest Writer Tip my Tip a travel magazine
- Check out our latest interview in the Wall Street Journal – Traveling the World Rent Free
- You can even hear us on Radio Ulster – BBC Belfast talking about our house sitting travels
If you like what you see here please feel free to contact us – Faith can literally write anything so if you need a great freelance content writer or social media marketing get in touch!
CONTACT
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