Storage Unit? I wish (mortgage, etc)

[hubie]

I have a mortgage, and as much as I'd love to sell my place, lock my stuff up in storage, and travel the world....I realize that I need a home base.

What do you guys do? Really abandon the expensive mortgage and just travel with no "home"? This scares me to death.

But my main concern is traveling so frugally/cheaply to places around the world, while my mortgage eats my savings and I'm not even home.

Is there a middle ground? I'd love to hear from those who have been there before. I know Tim mentions he keeps paying his mortgage, but he is definitely more wealthy than the rest of us...

Hubie

[scotland]

Could always rent your place out and have them pay it! Go for it!

[hubie]

finding someone to rent for a month, off a month, on for 3 weeks, off for 3 weeks. That's more of a hassle than it's worth.

Has anyone actually lived the 4HWW like Tim has? I would love to know what successful 4HWW'ers are doing who have mortgage, etc

[Merlin]

First, I recommend NEVER getting a storage unit when you are living at home unless your business has a justifiable reason for it.
Reasons: a) You will go there and access your 'stuff' much less than you think you will; b) Storage units are an EXCUSE to not eliminate baggage/clutter/weight/excess from your life c) It's a waste of money. [Full Disclosure: I currently have a storage unit near my rental house, and I'm in the process of hiring someone to ebay/craigslist MUCH of the stuff in my house so I can have room for the crap in my storage unit. Then I will ebay/craigslist much of the stuff that was in my storage unit.]

Second, in lieu of a storage unit, learn how to truly eliminate and minimalize. Great resources: www.zenhabits.com , www.mnmlist.com , www.tynan.net (his book has an entire guide on how to get rid of excess stuff). It is a multi-year process to learn these principles, get comfortable with them, and implement them. I've been working at minimalizing for over two years.

Third, I have rented out my home and my tenants currently pay the mortgate plus some. This is a GREAT time to rent your house, because it's hard for people to get mortgages. It is unsettling at first to not have a home, and it's a huge adjustment. There are many sites on the web on how to handle this. BUT with your mortgage covered, what is to stop you from renting a furnished home wherever you end up for 2-6 months? Create a home base, and bask in the fun of living in a house with very little 'stuff' since you've probably traveled there with a single backpack. Hint: you're going to be more productive and more focused on what you actually love doing.

[sadu]

A lot depends on whether houses are furnished or unfurnished back home. We have been travelling Europe and everything is furnished. We just got home to New Zealand and it's nearly impossible to find anything furnished.

Having our storage unit with all our furniture / beds / desks / lawnmowers etc makes it a lot easier to setup again when you get back.

[phil]

Whats the worst that happens if you sell your house, sell your stuff, and just rent places to live around the world for a few months at a time?

It might not work for you, you might not like the lifestyle. You could always buy a house again. You could always accumulate stuff again.

On the other hand, you may wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

[clanshrapnel]

Originally Posted by phil

Whats the worst that happens if you sell your house, sell your stuff, and just rent places to live around the world for a few months at a time?

It might not work for you, you might not like the lifestyle. You could always buy a house again. You could always accumulate stuff again.

On the other hand, you may wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

I wonder how many people in the world actually did or do live that way (having no home base). Have you tried it?

[phil]

I've got a home base where I pay taxes, have a drivers license, and have a shipping warehouse for my products, but I only go there a few times a year at most. Usually in summertime when the weather is best.

I don't own a house, sold my 4 cars, and all of my belongings fit in the space of 1 cubic meter. I've tucked these few boxes away in a corner of my shipping warehouse.

For the last few years, I've just been renting short term 1 to 2 months in amazing locations around the world. I plan on doing this for the foreseeable future.

For example in 2009:
2 months in Maui Kapalua golf course condo
1 month in NYC columbus circle apartment sublease
2 months in Europe (Greece with modern Santorini cave villa overlooking the caldera. Copenhagen, London)
2 months in Thailand villa designed by famous Renzo Piano (with a live-in staff of 6 - all for cheaper than that NYC apartment!)

I love variety. Places change (get too crowded, too much traffic), and I change. So I figure why be tied down to one location when I can enjoy the best the world has to offer?

Rather than buying a condo in Maui, I'd much rather rent. It is then someone else's headache. Don't have to worry about maintenance, tax paperwork, insurance paperwork. I just book a one way ticket, and on the way to the airport start calling around for available condos. Pay a few thousand, and enjoy it for a few months. Then head on to the next place

What if Maui gets too crowded for my tastes? Since I don't own anything, I can just as easily try a different island for a few months.

My friends back home are stuck in $1500 per month, year long apartment lease commitments in cold, rainy, trafficy, and depressing locations. Someday they'll figure it out

[sadu]

I have been doing the 2-month-at-a-time thing for about a year now, and while it's been amazing, I'm just starting to get sick of it.

But I have kids, and that makes it a totally different experience.

If I was single, or married without kids I would totally agree with Phil. But in my current situation, moving around is a lot harder and more expensive than Bachelor Tim makes out.

[earthmother65]

if a home base is important for you, keep it, especially if you're thinking about the benefits for your kids. and remember, the 4hww philosophy is all relative - you may decide to do the long trips occasionally (around school breaks once your kids are older), or maybe just take the mindset about passion, elimination, etc. that's what i ended up doing...