"Fulltime Travel" resources that aren't career-based?

Can you point me to resources that aren't job/work visa/career-based?

You say you're retired. Sell whatever you can't live without, don't work and just travel and live in hotels around the world, it's that simple.

Have you checked out Nomadic Matt? https://www.nomadicmatt.com/

Wonderful idea! Although not a website, I think Frank II has been traveling full time (except during the pandemic) mostly in Europe, I believe in & out based upon the 90/180 Schengen rule, but not sure. Although this link has some very strange comments about losing state residency (no, I came home after a year to in-state tuition) not being able to keep a brokerage account (wrong, I did it for 19 years, etc.) you might like to read it. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/retiring-in-europe-46fdd4d8-9f98-4c55-9b76-d4cc11e24940

Personally, I would get sick of it & want a base, I know people who got stuck in Costa Rica & Croatia during the pandemic, they ended up immigrating! Perhaps Frank II will respond, he must have some excellent tips.

Not sure your age, but you will probably want medical insurance? And if over 65, Medicare covers $50,000 lifetime out of country expenses IF you get the right coverage, I have Kaiser. This means keeping a US address, but that's easy. (Hey who knows, maybe an international address would work too, haven't checked.) There's quite a bit in this thread about extended travel, how to take care of the home you would likely sell, etc, but some stuff about how to track your mail.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/how-do-you-do-a-longer-trip-to-europe

I'm going to assume you're a US citizen, so although you don't necessarily have to PAY taxes, you do need to file them each year, which would I assume require an address? If you only have interest income, don't bother with 'bona fide' overseas residency, it won't save you money, just figure out how you want to file. And good luck!! Would love to hear more about the process....

In Germany 17 yr old Lasse Stolley is a nomad with a Deutsche Bahn 100 card (article in German).
Best translation with DeepL.

You might have a look at this couple's wepage. https://retirementtravelers.com/
They also have videos on YouTube that you might find interesting. Best of luck.

My ten year anniversary of being a full time traveler is in nine days. I did exactly what you state in your first paragraph.

There really isn't one website for this. It's a matter of searching the internet for information.

You need to first figure out a few things that have nothing to do with travel:

Where are you going to have your storage unit?

Where are you doctors/dentist, etc.

Do you take prescriptions? If so, I don't know of any insurance company that will give you more than 90 days on a regular basis nor pay for them overseas. I have to return to the US every 90 days to get my prescriptions filled. I'ts also a good time for me to change out seasonal clothes, see my doctor, dentist, etc. In fact, I just got back from my storage unit to trade in my winter jacket for a spring one. (BTW, my storage unit is 5' x 5')

You really do need a US address for many things unless you are a resident of a foreign country. Where is that going to be? With a relative, friend.

If you're not sure look into South Dakota. By South Dakata law, you can become a legal resident of South Dakota--drivers license, bank, insurance, vote, etc--with just a private mail box. (PMB.) The good thing about South Dakota is there is no state income tax. You can't have any home anywhere in the US to do this. Banks, credit card companies, investment companies recognize SD addresses because it is state law. (Ignore what others say about their state. ) The only time you actually have to go to SD is to get your drivers license and then for renewal. Once every five years.

This is the company I use and their website has lots of information on becoming a resident:

Dakota Post

Learn about hotel and airline frequent travel programs. Also look into their credit cards. By staying in these hotels and using the cards, you rack up points that can be used for free nights and flights. You also get status for free upgrades, meals, and more.

Ignore the sites that tell you the best cards to get. Most are tellling you the cards that give them the biggest commission.

While lots of people dream about this, it's not for everyone. You don't see friends and family as often as you might like.

You will be livinig out of a suitcase and that is not for everyone.

If you decide to do this here are a few things I can relate to you:

--it will take you twice as long as you think to clear out your home;

--whatever you put in storage, but in plastic boxes not paper. Keep an inverntory of everything you have in each box. This way, if you need something, you don't have to go searching for it. You know exactly where it is. All of my boxes are marked with letters and then smaller boxes and bags in each one are marked accordingly.)

If you are over 65, know Medicare doesn't cover anything overseas. However, many Medicare supplemental insurance plans cover up to $50,000 in espenses over a lifetime.

In addition, I have a yearly travel insurance policy that has medical coverage as well as a separate medical evacuation policy.

The "retirementtravelers" are all about upselling their products and courses and want you to travel exactly like them. I laugh at much of what they post.

As an example, they say you can't travel like them if you use a wheeled bag. Well, I've been using a wheeled bag the entire time without a problem.

In fact, take much of what you read online witj a grain of salt. Watch lots of videos and read websites. Pick and choose what will work for you. Most are geared towards young travelers. (I remember one who talked about packing his "good" t-shirt.)

Traveling full time is a never ending journey. I am constantly learning new things. I am always changing my packing list with newer and better things to replace the old.

Before you sell off everything, you may want to get a property manager to rent out your home while you 'test drive', for a year at least, the "full time traveler' lifestyle. That way if you change your mind, you have a place to come back to.

A bowl of ice cream is a nice treat. Not everyone will enjoy having to eating a quart everyday.

The former is "vacation"; the latter is a 'full time traveler'

We spent over ten years in our RV as full-timers, traveling the US and Canada, with time out for three lengthy trips to Europe. All we owned was with us in the RV. One must still have a legal domicile. For Frank II above, his is South Dakota. Ours was first in Texas, but when the rules there changed, so did we. We then "moved" to Florida. We established a PMB with this company, which then allowed us to get Florida drivers licenses and to register our vehicles there: https://www.sbimailservice.com/ Florida, like South Dakota and Texas, has no state income tax, so we only had to pay federal taxes.

I have sometimes been able to get prescriptions filled before the time when the insurance will pay by paying for them myself. Obviously, this only works for non-controlled cheap generic drugs-mine were blood pressure and maybe thyroid meds.

Thank you all, especially Frank II. Very helpful. This, plus the thread on retiring in Europe, provides great food for thought. I especially like the idea of floating a trial balloon first, and testing out a year of travel. Another idea toyed with is an RTW (Around the World) ticket, which might be a perfect yearlong test run of the idea. Did an RTW years ago; might be time to revisit the concept...!

Testing the waters is a good idea.

I had jobs that kept me traveling for weeks at a time so living out of a suitcase wasn't foreign to me.

But to someone who may have only taken short vacations and always had a place to go back to, full time travel is a completely different lifestyle.

Constantly planning future travel while living your life out of a suitcase and hotel room may not be something you like. Continually eating in restaurants can also become dreary.

I'll be honest, there are mornings I wake up, look around my hotel room, and think "where the heck am I?"

After ten years of this, I'll admit I'm getting a little burnt out. The biggest problem now is trying to figure out where I want to settle. Not as easy as you would think.

I also was going to recommend Retirement Travelers youtube videos. I have recommended them several times on this forum. Also Brian and Carrie who retired early to live around the world. Both nice couples with good videos.
I have looked into this quite a bit myself because if it was up to me, I would travel full time. At least for a few years while we are young and healthy enough. However, my DH wants a home base. So we are going to be flex-pats, or part-time nomads. We will have a home (although a bit smaller and more scaled back) for the winter and then will travel 4-5 months out of the year.

Since you are retired, I assume you have investment accounts. I am not going to pretend to be an expert but can relate my experience with my brokerage house and banks.

First, and this my understanding, but do check for yourself, if you keep moving and stay no place for 6 months in 12 months no country can claim you as a resident, but more importantly the US financial institution will not see you as anything other than a US resident and that's the key. I believe this after some long discussions with my brokerage firm.

Second, if you do become a resident of another country or spend 6 months out of 12 in another country, my experience is that you will have a few more things to deal with.

My bank, I think the largest in the US, by policy, does not allow foreign resident account holders. But it's don't ask, don't tell. They accept PMB account addresses, so that's not an issue.

My credit card company, same as my bank, has the same policy, and they wanted a real address, but that can be a friend or relative. Again, don't ask, don't tell.

My brokerage firm, again, is one of the big boys, does not allow foreign resident account holders. But they also accept PMB's. Again, don't ask, don't tell.

Get caught, and you have some hurdles to jump.

So, to avoid the residency trap, keep moving. 90 days in the EU, 90 in the UK, 90 in the non EU countries, return to EU. (No, dont cut it that close) But find a Schengen calculator online and use it cause it's a tad tricky cause 90 in 180 is a sliding scale. I played the Schengen game for a few years and finally just picked my favorite county and got residency. It is so much easier to do life on my, not Schengen's schedule.

I use my US ATM and US credit card daily in the same European country.. Some day, some computers will put 2 and 2 together, and I may have an issue, but so far, so good.

My PMB sends me a scan of the outside of every piece of mail I receive. Then, if I ask, for about $1, they will scan and send the contents. And they will forward mail for a small fee. Very convenient. The storage room in Texas, larger than FrankII's, is cheap.

My European medical policy isn't real cheap, but it pays well and covers everything with a high limit. Then I have an expat evacuation policy with MedJet and I maintain my Medicare Advantage policy.

All of the extra costs are substantially less than the cost of owning a car in the US. And being here I can go to the airport and get on a $30 direct 1.5 hour flight to anyone of three dozen destinations. Europe and parts of Asia are cheap and convenient to reach.

My flat costs less to own per year than 30 nights in a hotel, so that works better for me.

But I ramped up to this slowly over 20 years, and seriously for close to 10 years.

We've gone through this before and we'll go through it again.

Being a full time traveler is different than residing in a foreign country. As long as you have a US address, you are a resident of the USA and that state. What is allowed as a "legal" address varies by state.

I have two PMB's in two states. I have credit cards at both. The CC companies don't flinch. Again, it depends on the state laws. My CC's are with the big banks.

However, pick your state wisely. In many states, you must have a physical address to set up the PMB. You can get rid of it once the PMB is set up.

Being a full time traveler is different than residing in a foreign
country. As long as you have a US address, you are a resident of the
USA and that state. What is allowed as a "legal" address varies by
state.

Yes, but to be a full time traveler means never sitting for 6 months in another country. Not what the OP suggested, but I thought it woudl be good background to research if their plans changed. Mine did, so it happens. I just pointed out the issues I had which you are reading backwards. What my home state thinks is not material. I have a Texas drivers license and am registered to vote in Texas. Thats immaterial to what I was talking about.

With out arguing about the definition of "residency" there are financial institutions, a lot I found out, that will regardless of what state you have an address in, or if you have legal residency someplace else, not want to represent you if in their interpertation you are a resident of another country. With my brokerage firm it was 6 months (actually they said 180 days) in a 12 month period in one single other country other than the US. I will let you go argue with them. My attorney and I lost the argument. But its not what you have done, which might be why you dont understand the issue, or possibly if you had, you never told them and as I said, dont ask, dont tell seems to work. My credit card company in my state wanted a residence address, but not a big deal. You could live 365 days in a year in Texas and they will still want a residence address. If in SD they dont, or cant, thats fine. Really has nothing to do with being out of the country.

But I also said, that I am no expert on this, and doubt there is an expert on the forum. So rather than pretend to guarantee the outcome I suggest based on my experinece they might want to confirm for themselves, especially if they sit in one country for 180 days, less than that, I wouldnt worry at all.

Yes, but to be a full time traveler means never sitting for 6 months in another country. Not what the OP suggested, but I thought it woudl be good background to research if their plans changed.

I don't know of any country that will let you stay six months or more without a residency of long term visa.

Would it be prudent to keep all "Residency" conversation on the thread about "Residency" and not add it to this thread which is about Full Time Travel.

That happens often on this board....people ask a question, get a few answers, and then it goes off on a tangent with responses that have little to do with the original question.

Nope, because I started out dodging the Schengen rules like the OP is considering and one day, without knowing the full ramifications, made the conversion. Again, just relating my experience, not giving advice beyond find out for yourself. Always better to research beyond the first turn in the road. Never know what life may offer.