Four Itchy Feet

May 21, 2025. Annandale, Virginia.

Tomorrow, we embark on a 170-day trip that will take us through most of the northern states of the United States and Western Canada, ending in Seattle for the first 75-day leg of our journey. The second leg of our trip entails a flight to Japan, where we will explore for 70 days. Twenty of those days will be spent on a cruise ship, and the remainder by train, exploring the more remote areas of Japan. Upon our return to the United States, we plan the remaining 25 days leisurely driving back to the East Coast through the Midwest, sampling golf courses along the way.

One of the things we will try to accomplish in this blog is to give you a glimpse of what such a long travel plan entails. The most common question we get when talking about our nomadic lifestyle is, “How do you do it?” or “How much does it cost?” Hopefully, for those interested, the next 100 or so blog posts will answer those questions. But let me get started here with some preamble.

Pre-Departure

Being a 100% nomad presents many challenges. We don’t have a home or an RV, so we rely on family to spend a couple of months out of the year at their homes. There, we have our doctors, so for the past month or so, we have gone to the dentist for check-ups and cleaning. Barbara had a mammogram, I had an echo and electrocardiogram, and a cortisone shot on my left knee. No matter how healthy you are, as you get older, those are things you have to do, and having established healthcare providers in one area is a must.

Preparation

We feel much more prepared for this trip than most. Normally, we “wing” a lot of our lodging and even our routing, but this time, because we have our two grandkids for the first leg of the trip to Seattle, we have booked all our lodging. We are staying with Airbnb almost exclusively, and almost always for 7 days or more. We have found that this gives us the best deals and truly allows us to explore an area thoroughly before moving on. The second two legs—Japan and the drive back to the East Coast—are still in the “wing it” category, but we expect a plan to shape up as we move closer.

Cost

“How much does it cost?” is definitely the question we get the most. We are obviously excited about living the life of a nomad, and all we can talk about is how awesome it is to be so free to move about the world without being tied down to anything or any place. But inevitably, people want to know if this is a life they can afford to live. In general, our budget is $350 per day. This may sound like a lot, but it has proven to be very accurate for our traveling style.

Things to consider are that we do not have a mortgage or rent a home. This means we do not have electrical, water, internet, maintenance, taxes, or insurance costs associated with owning or renting a home. We do have a car lease of $380 per month, and insurance for the car is $182 per month. This yearly expense of $6,744 plus $350 of yearly maintenance comes to roughly $20 per day, leaving us with $330 for other expenses.

Money is an important aspect of this life, and we feel that you can live a nomadic lifestyle at just about any budget. We are careful with our money; we are always looking for good deals and never stay at expensive hotels or Airbnbs, nor do we dine at very expensive restaurants. The first leg of this trip will be done with our grandchildren—two teenage boys who eat a lot—so we expect our subsistence cost to be higher than usual, and our Airbnbs will be larger than usual and in very sought-after locations during the summer, so it is expected that we may go over our budget on the first leg of the trip.

We find that cruising is a cost-effective way to take long trips. We often travel by cruise to locations that are hard to navigate, such as Alaska, Antarctica, Northern Europe, the Pacific Islands, etc. For the purpose of budget recording, we break cruise totals into three categories: Lodging (40%), Transportation (40%), and Subsistence (20%). Car rentals, excursions, and experiences go under the Entertainment category.

Tracking It All

We use an app called TravelSpend. We like how easy it is to enter our expenses ahead of time and also as we travel, with just a few clicks. We pre-populate the app with our hotel expenses, vehicle expenses, flight, and cruise fare, but it does not take it into account until we board the flight or arrive at the hotel. This way, I have an accurate daily expense up to the minute and throughout the entire trip. I will be including pictures of the app as we go for those following along and interested in the budget. Well, enough said, let’s travel!

Below, you will see pictures of our itinerary. We hope you enjoy following along. Please comment and ask questions; we are always happy to hear from you!