English: Rua Augusta, Lisbon Portugal Português: Rua Augusta, Lisboa Portugal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do you have a personal retirement plan? Have you considered what you want to do with your later years as you grow old and (hopefully) retire?

Well, this California couple has taken a good approach to the Autumn of their years. They decided to sell their 1200 square feet house in California and spend their time traveling the world and renting smaller apartments from Paris to London, passing by Turkey and Portugal.

Theirs is a truly fascinating account of a great way for a couple to spend their later healthy years. Waking up in a new place every couple of months, staying connected with friends and family using the internet. And coming “home” to celebrate the holidays and every now and then.

They have their own personal blog where they talk about their adventures and all the ways they manage to find accommodation and travel. While it certainly is not for everyone, I have a feeling a lot of my friends would go for something like this. And I’m certainly considering making this a goal once I hit a certain age. I could see myself traveling into my golden years.

Here’s an example of something they can afford to do and that we (busy working bees) cannot. They spend over 2 weeks crossing the Atlantic on deeply discounted off season transatlantic cruises. That way they get accommodation, travel, food and pampering for two weeks, instead of flying for 10 hours, and having to deal with jetlag. 

It’s all about managing your time, planning ahead, and having enough cashflow to manage it all. Of course it also helps if you have a 2500 square foot house in California to start with.

Their 2013 plan is up on their site, and it includes a couple of months in Lisbon, Portugal.

Here’s their article in the Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443720204578004131575356160.html

And their personal blog http://homefreeadventures.com