Hi there, so you’re as crazy as us! Great to meet you. You’re thinking of selling everything you own and setting off to travel the world or just moving abroad for fun. We did just that. We were that family that sells everything to travel. We didn’t sell everything but we sold a lot, and we were on the road full-time for 6 years. When we eventually returned what were we glad to still have, what do we wish we’d sold? How did it feel to be reunited with “stuff”? How do you sell everything to travel and start over? What options do you have, where can you store your stuff, and is it a good idea?
For us it was a great idea and our lives changed the moment we took the decision the start over.
It is our opinion that the sooner you can “retire” and start over by selling everything, the better! With kids or without.
We did it with 2 small kids. That further complicated matters, but people do this at any age.
We now have a completely new outlook, business, and greater success and happiness. So how is this thing done?
The first step is making the decision the second step is selling your stuff.
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Selling Everything You Own to Go See the World
Our choice was to sell everything and travel, but others sell everything and start over, both are possible.
What are the options for selling everything? What can you do with your possessions while travelling?
- You can quite literally sell everything and compress your life to a few important documents and the contents of your backpack. You can even sell your house.
- You can keep your house and rent it out.
- You can sell a lot, raise cash that way, but keep and store sentimental, or perennially useful items.
- You can reduce and de-clutter but keep all the big things if you rent out your house furnished.
- You can store items in your loft or attic if you are a homeowner.
- You could lock one room of your house, rent the property, and use that room for storage.
- You can store items with friends and family.
- You can use paid storage facilities, but this quickly gets expensive.
If you plan to keep your home and rent it out while storing personal items inside or in an out-building, be sure to have this written into your renter and landlord contracts or otherwise check legality.
Sell Everything
Certainly, sell your car, go ahead and sell your house, those two things have well-established mechanisms.
How to sell your possessions and gear? We found that local buy swap sell Facebook groups were our best option for reaching potential buyers. If there isn’t one in your area, start one.
Facebook Marketplace is a new innovation. You can pretty much sell anything legal on Facebook Marketplace.
You can even buy and sell houses on Facebook, without an agent. We know, we’ve done it!
Once we’d sold the big-ticket expensive items and they were gone and we were closer to departure we opened our garage and had a garage sale that lasted weeks.
Most things we wanted to sell, sold.
If you’re in other parts of the world a yard sale or car boot sale could be a better way to sell everything.
Items that sold easily, some surprising, included:
- paperback and hardback books.
- stacks of old magazines
- kitchen items
- furniture
- some good quality clothes sold but most didn’t sell
- sports gear
- dive gear
- kayaks
- fishing gear
- craft equipment
- good quality toys in good condition
- gardening equipment in good condition
- good shoes
- good handbags
- quality decorative items
- table lamps
- camping gear
- towels
- furniture
- soft furnishings
- DVDs ( I doubt you’d find this today!)
- We didn’t have any jewellery to sell but the garage sale pros all wanted gold.
Items that were in bad condition, CDs, clothes that were nothing special, anything non-desirable, didn’t sell.
We totally failed to sell our BBQ, which was surprising.
Everything that didn’t sell, that we didn’t want, went to a charity shop. Our garage sale raised several thousand dollars. Obviously, this will depend on you and how much “stuff” you have accumulated.
Options for Renting Your House While You’re Away
We rented out our property long-term through a local agent. We got lucky, our tenants paid on time, did little damage and the second set were in our home for 4 years, accepting annual price increases.
You must have renters insurance.
You also need a trustworthy agent who will monitor the state of your property.
There are a lot of horror stories of tenants refusing to pay or trashing houses along with many, like ours, of things going well.
If you value your garden and have a swimming pool you will need a pool guy and decent gardener.
The gardeners we paid didn’t even come close to maintaining the gardens and we came back to a jungle. Probably our own fault for over-estimating tenants’ desire to keep their surroundings pleasant.
Another option would be shorter-term leases, either through an agent or via AirBnb.
If you choose these options you can charge higher rent but there is more risk of periods of emptiness and more hassle and drama at change-over times.
If you choose the AirBnb route you’ll need either a good friend to do this for you or you can pay an agency to deal with this.
Such agencies are fairly common as Airbnb booms. You will need reliable cleaners and laundry technicians.
It helps to have some money put aside for emergency repairs, we had bills for new pool pumps and air conditioners while we were away.
A Note About Buying and Selling Second Hand Items
We’d bought some second-hand items in the preceding year, without exception these sold at the same price, or a higher price, than we’d paid.
There’s a lesson there, always buy second-hand. A million little tips on saving money add up to a big cash pot in the end.
The Things We Kept – Sentimental, Useful, and Evergreen Items
We didn’t sell everything to travel. We kept a basic set of pots, pans, plates, and cutlery and were glad that we did.
We kept some small items of furniture in the loft, some larger items that we couldn’t move stayed in the house.
They were in great condition when we returned and I really wish we’d kept more of our wood.
Keep good clothes, it’s been great to come back to a full wardrobe but it was a wake-up call as to how ridiculous this huge clothes collection is.
It really does feel better to just have a few items of clothing that you love and use often.
I scanned all of our photos but still I stashed the originals in the attic. I probably should have ditched them.
We kept all paintings, art, and photos in frames as they were, wrapped in plastic wrap. It was very good to see them again.
The few books that we kept, I’m glad we kept. My kids are older now and they are reading them.
We kept all of the kids’ most important toys and books and they were thrilled to see them again despite being far too old for them.
Most of the toys we sold had been gifts that they never really wanted nor connected with. Our culture of gift-giving really needs addressing, it’s so wasteful and an unnecessary use of earth’s resources.
The Things You Really Should Sell or Get Rid of That We Didn’t
Get rid of as much electrical equipment as possible. Including Christmas lights, extension leads, and power boards.
Wire coatings start to break down and plastics become brittle, I don’t trust this stuff now.
Anything that lives outdoors should go. Weathering ages outdoor gear, including the BBQ and gardening equipment, fast. Sell it while it still has value.
Get rid of as much paperwork as possible, we have boxes of the stuff that I’m dreading sorting.
We did get rid of loads, so this next sorting will be repeating a task that we should have got right the first time around.
Be brutal with sentimental items.
How to Package Items for Storage and What Condition Was Our Stuff in After 6 Years in the Roof
Most of the “stuff” we got down from the attic after 6 years away was in perfect condition. One or two boxes had been infiltrated by mice, cockroaches, or spiders but by far the majority was absolutely fine.
Items packed in cardboard boxes came out worst. A mouse had chewed its way into one and another had disintegrated under a tiny roof leak. If you don’t meticulously tape every flap and join, the bugs will get in.
Clothes and linens stored in zip suitcases were fine.
Items stored in plastic tubs with lids, taped around the edges, were best of all.
Very little had really deteriorated through age, other than, surprisingly, running shoes. We’d left our good running shoes at home but after 6 years of storage their soles fell off after the first jog. So if you can, sell your running shoes.
A couple of kitchen items, plastic-handled spoons and spatulas had gone sticky with age and had to go in the bin and as mentioned above electric items no longer feel so safe but otherwise, everything was fine.
So our best advice is to invest in plastic storage tubs and plenty of tape. Be sure that everything you pack is completely clean and clothes freshly laundered.
We think the mouse had come hunting for a crumb inside a toy. Dirty clothes would have gone mouldy as they do here in the laundry bin after a day.
How to Sell Everything to Move Abroad Or Travel Full Time
There are obstacles to consider in moving to other countries, nomadic travel, and leaving your home country to live abroad.
- Do you have the money to do it? Will you have an income, or will you live off the sale of your possessions?
- Are you able to get the required visas?
- Do you meet current health and entry requirements?
- Do you have insurance?
- Is your passport valid, with plenty of time left on it?
- How is your health? Is getting older going to impact your ability to travel negatively?
Moving abroad to travel is fairly easy, tourist visas are normally straightforward to get so long as you meet requirements.
These normally allow you to stay in your destination country for a short time, maybe two weeks or three months.
Before your visa expires you’ll need to move to another country and again, have the required permits.
If you plan to move abroad for good, or for months or years, you’ll have to study that country’s visa requirements closely. You’ll quite likely need a residency permit and these can be difficult to get.
These days some countries are starting to offer special digital nomad entry visas, that allow you to stay and work online.
What you do about tax depends on which country you are from, and which country you are in. Check all regulations carefully.
What Should Travel With You? What Do You Need in Your Backpack?
Don’t think you need to buy all the travel accessories the marketers want to sell you. Take what you have and upgrade or replace as you go.
Clothes are no problem at all, just take normal clothes but electrical items quickly become a headache, particularly for us as nomads of the digital variety.
You can see our Travel Essentials here. These are the items you should keep, pack, and buy.
Read more from our “personal” section here.
So does it sound like a plan? Are you ready to sell everything and travel, start over, move overseas or become a nomad? Tell us in the comments. If you’d like this series delivered to your inbox just sign up, alternatively, follow us on Instagram. Want to know more about what we went through during the selling process? Take a look at our answer to Do You Have to Be Rich to Travel The World? Maybe also look at our 3 month and 1 week countdowns to departure to get a taste of the realities, it was hard at times and maybe I was a little scared to make the jump into travel as a lifestyle. Another post I’d like you to read is this one on the realities of a nomadic lifestyle. For us, it was the best thing we ever did. Fast forward a few years, and we made another big jump, we sold up again, this time to buy a remote farm in the country. But that’s another story.
If you'd like to hire a car during your stay, use this car rental comparison tool to find the best deal!
We also suggest you take a look at this company to get a quote for all kinds of the more tricky adventure or extended travel insurance.
Try Stayz / VRBO for an alternative way to find rentals on homes/apartments/condos in any country!
We want to sell everything and travel!! We know nothing but are super excited and scared. Family of 4 ready to leap
Awesome. Feel free to email me or connect with our social media if you need any help or hand holding!
Hi @Alyson Long, I also have questions on the same train of thought, how do I email you? Selling everything as we speak…
Sophia
Our best contact is on our “contact / work with us ” page, top menu.
Hi there!
So, my husband and my retirement plan was to go full time RV. It’s been my plan since I was very young as my grandparents lived this way. Lately, it is giving me misgivings and I thought about maybe just traveling the country from hotel to hotel( or Airbnbs). I am wondering what you and your family do? Do you have an RV, stay in hotels, rental properties?
The items on this blog are helpful so far!
Thank you!
Hi Brandy, we stay in hotels, guest houses, rarely hostels with private family rooms, private island resorts, village huts, whatever suits where we are and what we want to do at that time. Must say, RV life doesn’t appeal at all. We enjoy complete freedom, to get on a plane, stick around, stay on the beach or in an old town, and RVs look like an anchor to me. Hope that helps
What did you do about an address? It’s needed for everything in the US
Used a PO box, my parents’ address, our house address in Australia, the address in London or wherever, if we were there a few weeks, our house in Romania, we even had stuff deliver to Vietnam, no issue at all.
Hi, do you have any reading, links or advice for a parent travelling and worldschooling single, with 2 kids? Thanks
Hi Georgina, For a single parent with 2 kids I would say, pack one big backpack, keep both hands free to hold their hands. Have passports and tickets handy, maybe in some sort of cross body pouch so that you don’t have to be rummaging through bags, likewise cash, keep it handy and secure, easy to access. In my experience, I’ve travelled with my kids without their father often, it’s easier in many ways because your attention is fully on the children not divided between them and your partner. My biggest enemy is anxiety when travelling as a solo parent. I do get quite scared at night in hotel rooms etc. For no good reason, but pick places where you feel safe and secure. And good luck.
Im by myself and take meds every day, what do you suggest. Im retired and own my home. Is there any possibility for me to sell and travel? I have the usual diabetes and cholesterol, otherwise Im strong and healthy.
I would strongly suggest changing your diet to fix your diabetes and cholesterol first. It’s exactly what I had to do! I lost 14 Kg and switched to very low carb and everything is much better. However, following a strict diet while travelling is going to be hard. I already know that. It’s possible but you’d have to cook for yourself a lot.
We´ve decided to do this in a few years. What we struggle with is how do you legally and administratively go off the grid? We are dual US-Italian citizens…if we just take off, what is our address? How do you deal with homeschooling regulations, residency IDs, taxes…this is what we are struggling to figure out. Or are you just hopping around continents every 90 days to stay within country entrance regulations? We own a car now in Belgium and would like to travel around the EU, but we have no idea how we could register the car if we live nowhere. Any tips or good reference books on how to do this? Advice greatly appreciated as we rack our brains!
All of the things you mentioned above honestly never crossed our minds. We ran into no issues. So long as you are a tourist, on a tourist visa, local HS regs don’t affect you and the country we were registered as homeschooling in, Australia, had no interest in us once we were out of the country.As we are British no homeschool regulation is required in the UK. US citizens pay tax to the US wherever they are, they’re an anomaly. There are plenty of American nomads who do this. We had UK passports, so we could work in the UK and of course pay tax in the UK.We could have worked anywhere in Europe back then but never did. We still had UK tax numbers etc. Doctors we just paid for or used our insurance, once, for surgery in Thailand. We used doctors and dentists just a handful of times in seven years. Cars would be an issue. Ours was registered in the UK when we were in Europe, which meant we had to drive back to the UK every year for an MOT. Otherwise, no problem. I do have a friend who was earning big money while travelling, trading currencies, and looked into the legalities of tax. Every country has a different time period of stay before you pay tax, they figured things out around that. These days there are digital nomad visas for longer stays and people working online, in some countries, but we rarely wanted to stay anywhere beyond a normal tourist visa. We’re not fans of slow travel. 90 days in a country would absolutely be a long stay. We did that in Nepal, that’s a 3-month visa, Vietnam we had two 3 month visas with a gap in between to go to Singapore. Most countries don’t offer easy 3 month visas. I think you’re worrying over minor problems here. But I don’t know the rules in Belgium obviously. Europe isn’t our jam, we spent most time in Asia, so no issues at all.
We are planning to do this! I would love to have everything sold by end of July. I’m nervous to tell family and friends as they will definitely tell me I’m crazy. How did you deal with the negativity from others?
There was a lot! We moved on and set about proving them wrong. We made plenty of new friends and stuck by the family that supported us. The people who thought they were entitled to share their opinion… not seen them since. Not missed. You’re not crazy. You’re doing something through love and passion. It was the best thing we ever did. Now this last year, stuck “at home” through Covid, I just dream of the day we can get back to the life we were meant to live, out there somewhere, living our best lives not boring monotony. Good luck!
Hi! We are just talking about doing this, come summer. We have a 14 (almost 15) year old. Any tips on going during pandemic from anyone? How do we find “safe-ish” countries? Thank you!
Well, if you can leave your country you’re much luckier than us. We can’t go anywhere. I think a lot more countries are closed now than they were. Most of South East Asia seems shut. People, the nomads, were heading to the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Sri Lanka is open, Thailand is technically open, but there are just too many hoops to jump through. People have been getting into Bali using visa agents but it’s illegal and Bali have been expelling people. The only region where I know people are still travelling in Central / South America. But things change daily. Rock and a hard place I’m afraid. We’re just waiting it out until borders open and travel (and our income) returns. Best of luck!
Hi! I am a mother of 2 as well, my husband and I are working on selling everything to travel like y’all! I just get so overwhelmed sometimes thinking about everything we need to do. I wish we could just take off. Do you have any tips on what to focus on, what to get done first , and what not to worry about so much? We are just ready to go!
I was the same. Couldn’t wait to go, and in the end the boys and I left a few months before my husband. He tidied up all the loose ends. First, start saving. Then sell everything unnecessary and start packing up items for storage. Fix up your house to sell or rent. Then at the pointy end you sell important items like beds. We sold our dining table weeks before we left. Then let your agent know about the house and sell your can. But we also did this when emigrating, and that was more complex. We ended up having to find alternate accommodation after our house sold because they’re was so much to organise. Visas, residency, health screening, working to the end of my contract, getting a removal company to pack up and ship everything. That was way more drama than just getting a one way ticket to KL and vanishing for 7 years. Best of luck, stay in touch!
Came across this site by my search criteria. My wife and I, in 5 years, will be 65/64, and retiring. Our goal is to continue to travel in Europe and Asia full time while our health and finances allow us. Our goal is to liquidate everything except personal keepsakes and cherished pieces like our bedroom set for example. We’ll set aside the monies from the sale of our house for when we eventually return to Canada. We have traveled extensively throughout Europe for the past ten years so it’s certainly our passion to continue our journey. Any insight, advice, cautions, etc. would be appreciated. Kevin and Deb Clark, Edmonton, Alberta.
Hi Kevin, I’m not sure if you read, but I do mention that when we eventually came home, we were overwhelmed by the “stuff”. Some stuff it was great to see again, but a lot was no longer fit for purpose. I think it’s on the post on coming home after long-term travel ( just search). The other thing to be very mindful of is your health. Stay on top of it. I’m coming up to 54 now and it’s not as easy as it was to just vanish for years on end and climb mountains. Stay fit, eat clean. Best of luck to you and I really hope you are able to achieve your goals. Thanks so much for your comment, they always cheer me up.
I’ve just made the decision to travel with my 2 young kids. I’m a bit nervous as I’m a single parent, but looking forward to reading thru all your posts and getting some advice. Thank you!
Best of luck Kate. Times are difficult for travellers now but I know of several families who have set out in the last few months. They changed their plans, they’re visiting different countries, but they’re still departing and having a great time.
I’m so grateful to have found your site, Alyson! Thank you for providing both whimsical inspiration AND practical guidance for how to go about planning and paying for a long-term family travel – it’s a huge help! I’m a seasoned world traveler who spent a good part of my twenties living in the former Soviet Bloc and traveling around Europe and Central America. But…I’ve been ‘benched’ for a long time now, aside from more conventional ‘vacation’ style travel. Now, I’m many years older, married with two young children and an established career. I’ve continued nursing a dream of living abroad again some day with my family, but timing and circumstances and bureaucracy have let me convince myself that it’s impractical – if not impossible. Until now. The global pandemic we’re all enduring has produced incredible amounts of disruption and upheaval. A great un-mooring, if you will. School was suspended months ago and there is nothing but uncertainty around if, when and how it will resume safely. Having tried our hands at ‘remote learning’ via the virtual resources provided by our school district, we know that it is not the right approach for our young sons – who are 7 and 4. But genuine homeschool feels right. Both my husband and I’s jobs were eliminated early in the pandemic, which has opened space for he and I to have big, bold, broad conversations about what we want our lives and livelihoods to look like in the long-term. For me, this is exciting. For him, it is intimidating. I’m far more risk-tolerant than he. More confident in positive outcomes. I see opportunity and potential where he sees roadblocks and strife. But he’s coming along and making great strides, learning to trust himself and me and see the possibilities. I convinced him two months ago that we should sell our house. We’re now under contract and will close in about a month’s time. Now I’m convincing him we should sell most of our possessions and he’s onboard. And for what? For a family gap year. Not necessarily a fully nomadic experience designed to take us to many corners of the world. There IS a global pandemic afoot, after all. Plus, for as much as I love to travel, I loathe being in transit. Not to mention the fact that as Americans, we don’t have as many options for travel, with so many nations (rightly) being skeptical of exposing their citizens to the pathogens we might carry.
So instead, our gap year will be quieter and more measured. We’ll spend longer periods of time in fewer locales than many nomadic folks and families do. We’ll specifically seek out accommodation that will afford us the opportunity to safely distance and to home school/road school/ world school our children. During this time, we’ll be working hard, preparing to bring another dream to fruition – to settle more ‘permanently’ outside of the US.
I’m a researcher by nature and while I hate plans, I love preparation, so I’m in the information gathering phase, learning what I can from families who’ve traveled this road before us. My husband is overwhelmed but onboard, and I’m thrilling at the possibilities.
Thank you for your work and your writing!
Best comment of the day!Thanks and good luck. It really sounds like you have everything to gain.
My husband and I are in our 30s with two children 6 and 1. My husband has currently been taking about selling everything and travel. The thought of it sounds great and educational for the kids, family time memories, etc. Why Not, Right! I have fear of the unknowns. I know he is tired of the everyday and tired of working his tail off to what, come home and mow the huge yard, and fix things that break, feed animals. The chore list goes on. He wants to see the US and have his kids see it too. I want that too! And I want that for him. How can I move forward? I guess I’m just venting and maybe some extra boost of support. Thanks
What’s the plan? Will you blow all your cash and be left with nothing, or do you mean to start an income stream that will allow you to be location independent and support yourselves? Maybe if you’re just travelling in the US one of you could work from time to time as you move around? It’s been wonderful for us. I don’t know how long you’ve been on the site, but my younger child was 6 when we left. He’s a teen now. It has been so, so good for both of them and for us as a unit. They’re doing wonderful things academically. But now, with Covid, can it happen? I know we can’t go anywhere right now, we can’t even leave the country so I’m very glad of my home, garden, and pets. They make life OK in the absence of travel. Times are uncertain. You’all sit and talk this out. What’s the long-term vision?
I turned 50 this year. I’ve been stuck in an office job that I dislike for ten years. I took redundancy a month ago and went off to India for the whole of January to a yoga school for my 200 hours certification. I’ve come home wanting to travel with the money I have left.
I don’t own a house. I rent and have many possessions and a car that I can sell to get extra money – kids have all left home too.
Should I stay here and rejoin the rat race or be brave and take the leap – travel and do yoga along the way!! Opinions welcome please!!
Go! What have you got to lose? I’m 53 now, I’ve never once regretted leaving normal to travel.
I will be leaving by ship for 14 days and arriving in Rome where I will stay a few days then use an senior Eurail 15 day pass and end up in Lisbon, Portugal for about 5 days before I fly home. I am thinking about checking out Portugal for retirement living but I have never been there so not sure I would like the heat in the summer. I tried living in Amsterdam in my early 20’s but only stayed for 5 months in the winter before I decided to return to the US because I didn’t like the job I got and had problems with getting a working permit. I am now retired so don’t have to work but I have a limited income and living costs are fairly high where I live. This is just a test trip. I only have a car and belongings that fill my apartment and my husband is in assisted living and we have not been living together for over a year. Maybe I will just stay where I am and take a trip for about a month each year. On this trip I will find out if I am getting too old to travel.
I know so many people moving to Portugal. Very popular choice. Best of luck.