When it is time to actually prepare yourself for location independence… It can seem a bit daunting. BUT guess what? It doesn’t have to be! I have learned so much during those whole process that I couldn’t resist sharing with you. Let’s get into it.

Weighing the value of stuff versus experiences, what will stay, and what must go?

With all the time, money, and effort we put into creating a home for ourselves… We see all this stuff accumulate and think, “OMG what the heck am I going to do with all this stuff while I travel the world?”

Brian + I have had some huge revelations over the past few months! We have been travelling so much that the stuff became irrelevant! Sometimes I am gone for months at a time! Returning to a dusty space, and the things I left behind… Well… They are just things.

When I had a house I took pride in it looking like a magazine. Once I sold the house, and found my dream loft I felt the same about it too!

Being away from the “stuff” showed me I was no longer connected or attached the way I once was! Which was honestly pretty thrilling! To me, that meant I was ready to set sail permanently!

So how does one prepare for location independence?

If you are paying into a mortgage or renting a space… You may consider selling, renting out your space, or getting out of your lease!

To be quite honest… I jumped the gun. Typical Erin behaviour… I was down visiting Brian in Texas, and just decided one day that paying $1850 for my cockroach-infested apartment was ridiculous! I spent a total of 9.5 months there, and 107 of those days I was in another country!

LOL! I was literally paying for a high-end storage locker. The funniest part is, I called it before I even lived there, and then it turned out to be exactly that. Including uninvited house guests while I wasn’t there. (Just a little cockroach humour for ya!)

You gotta know that this is what you wanna do! You gotta know it in your soul because making the decision to take off, and leave your possessions behind is something that would make most people’s heads spin!

For us… We picture ourselves living in different countries all over the world, not being restricted by worrying about a home base. At least for the next 2-3 years. Who knows, we may get hooked, and never want just one home base. We also trust in the universe that our path will light up for us and that if we come across a place we want to call home together we will jump on it!

We have both been homeowners and taken care of places on our own. It is a ton of work to keep a place up! For us, it really doesn’t make sense anymore to hold onto that.

When I say I ejected myself prematurely… I could have planned for this much better. I could have been selling things for months before leaving. I started selling things in the last few weeks. No sweat off my teeth to be honest. I was happy to donate my things!

Letting go of possessions can be the hardest thing.

Literally a few days ago I let go of my dream loft (minus the critters), sold some stuff, and donated about 75% of the rest of it! The remaining things are either precious to me and some I couldn’t decide. I will likely donate 50% of the remaining stuff!

I used to be a bit of a shopaholic! Buying clothes from high-end boutiques in Toronto. Going through my clothes that still look new, or the ones that still had price tags was kind of hard. Even if I had never worn them before, I was emotionally attached because of the money I spent. SO I tried everything on! If it was slightly ill-fitting… SEE YA! I also made a rule that if it had been a year or more since I had worn it… Buh BYE! I kept a few winter clothes for my visits to Canada, and a few summer clothes overflow to swap stuff out when we visit in the summer.

Then there is the old “Does this bring me joy?” rule…

Great rule!

Luckily Brian came to help me the last week of being in my place. He kept asking me again, and again if what I was holding brought me joy!

Parting with my stuff was a bit harder than I expected. In most cases, I felt bad throwing things away that I couldn’t donate. You know those weird miscellaneous things… Like half bottles of lotions, and potions!

Then there is the logistics before you dive into your location independence!

• Make sure your passport & visas are up to date!
• Check for travel warnings, advisories, and weather at that time of year!
• Call your credit card company to let them know where you are going.
• Learn some catchphrases in the language of the country you are going to. “Goodmorning!” “Thankyou” Being polite is favoured in all countries. Forget the phrases… At least try, and keep smiling! People love it!
• Get travel insurance!!! We like adventures, so we opt for adventure insurance to make sure we are fully covered!
• Register your trip. Click here for the American & Canadian registration sites.
• Check online to see if you need to be vaccinated before you leave well in advance! Also if you take any prescriptions, top those off before you head out as well!
• Pack appropriately! If you are backpacking as we will be, the more you bring the more you have to carry! No need to bring expensive jewelry, or anything glitzy! Just the essentials, and maybe one nice outfit for a night out on the town. Check out this post “How to Travel Anywhere With Only A Carryon Bag”
• Tie up loose ends! Go paperless with all of your mail! Get your taxes done! Talk to a financial advisor/accountant to inquire how all this works while travelling long term.

Though there seems to be a lot of preparation for becoming location independent… Freedom is priceless!

We are not yet 100% location independent… That being said… We are so damn close we can taste it!

Over the past 8 months, we have been building our online business together with the goal of travelling full-time. We are nearly at the point with our business where we can actually do it! We have already been travelling a ton, and realized once we let go of the last few things holding us back we will be totally free!

Only a few weeks away now from being completely free from jobs, and residences! How exciting! Follow our journey on YouTube. We are going to share the whole thing.

It is soo amazing how fast you can manifest the life of your dreams! A year ago I would have laughed in doubt that I could make this vision come to fruition soo fast! Travelling like this has been on my mind for years!

What is your vision? Do you want absolute location independence?

If so, reach out to us! We are learning soo much along our journey, and are happy to share with you how you could build a sustainable business, that gets you excited while you travel the world!