This As They Told It essay is based on a conversation with Christine Casady, a 75-year-old American retiree. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My husband is an avid traveler and because of that, we have traveled extensively for almost three decades.

Ten years before I retired, we started taking longer trips and spent a couple of months at a time in a new place. I worked in leadership development, teaching Workshops on writing and business presentation skills. It was a contract position, so I could take advantage of the quieter times of the year to travel.

My husband, Rick, runs his own company and can work from anywhere. He wanted us to travel more, but I loved my job and always wanted to get back to it.

At 70 years old I decided it was time to retire. Around the same time, our son was moving to New York City and the building we had lived in for years in Dallas was being sold as part of a redevelopment project. Everything seemed to point us towards a new beginning.

In 2021 we spent several months living in Hawaii. Later that year, we got one-year visas to Thailand and stayed for nine months.

We returned to Dallas to resolve our issues. When the sale of our condo finally closed, we packed everything up into a small storage unit.

I had to be selective with what I packed and everything I needed for our trips fit into a 27 pound backpack.

Make the world our home

With that said, we left for Europe. Our first destination was Rome, followed by a few months in Sicily.

We continue to travel full time, spending months in places ranging from India and Türkiye to Egypt and Argentina. However, Southeast Asia is still our favorite.

We return to the US once or twice a year, usually for a month, to see our son, catch up with friends and take care of everything we need. We stay in Airbnbs or hotels, like we do anywhere else.

Planning where to go next has become part of our routine. We normally plan at least six months in advance, trying to get the best accommodation.

Once we have decided on the destination, I spend hours researching where we will stay. It’s almost a part-time job, but after five years, I’ve done pretty well.

I like to see how the locals really live, from their daily activities to what they eat. I love to cook, so I always visit grocery stores in a new city to see what’s on the shelves.

There have also been times where we have toured houses with local real estate agents to see what it would be like if we settled there.

My husband still runs his own business remotely and we have Social Security retirement income and investments, so we have a relaxed budget. We typically spend less than $5,000 a month.

We’re frugal by nature, but we’re also older now, so we treat ourselves a little more. From time to time, we’ll splurge on experiences like an $8,700 safari in Africa or a $7,200 live-aboard snorkeling trip in Indonesia.

If we spend more than usual, we simply withdraw from our savings. It helps that we no longer have a mortgage or car payment.

Retirement has been my greatest adventure.

We’ve met people from all walks of life, but volunteering to teach English allows us to build deeper connections with the local community. We like to help children.

Technology has made it much easier to stay connected with our loved ones. I still do regular Zoom calls with five friends from college and we try to meet up in person every year.

More than anything, this way of life has kept me curious. Every new place is a new challenge to get my bearings and I think that’s mentally beneficial, especially as I get older.

My husband says it’s easier to stay fit when traveling because it’s interesting to go for walks. When we snorkel in turquoise waters, observing corals and fish, it doesn’t feel like exercise either.

This has been a great gift. I attribute this to my husband, who encouraged me to try so many new things, and to the years of extensive travel that prepared us for this lifestyle.

I’m not sure when we’ll stop, but after almost six years, it’s probably time to start thinking about what’s next. I hope to be a grandmother and I would like to volunteer at an art museum in the United States. I also know that I won’t stop traveling completely.

If I had stayed in the United States, my retirement would not have been as exciting. It’s not always perfect, but we are grateful for this experience.