Yes, Jerry, I really am going.

I have already rented my house out (and have borrowed a friend's house in the meantime), have sold most of my possessions,  have scanned all my documents into the computer and stored them in the cloud, and the first of a long list of vaccinations is... today!

As I don't have a departure date, I can't get visas or book passage on ships. I have 2 very old doggies (aged 18), and I await their departure. When they go, I go. At the moment they have wobbly legs, but hearty appetites. I figure another 6 months or so. It's impossible to say. I have to be patient in these last days of their long doggy lives.

But, yes, it's a one-way ticket, and a kind of freedom I have never experienced before. Yes, I've travelled extensively before, but never with this never-ending aspect. Obviously it will end.. I'll die. But hopefully with a good suntan. 

Update: just gone to doc to get first vaccination. Might as well get them done as they are free. 

MoiraWendy Miller, I might be the sensible (and probably boring) part of your discussion. Have you thought about how hard is to live in a country where you can not communicate? I think it is essential to speak the language of the country you are going to live in.

An acquaitance friend of mine and his wife, moved to Spain when they retired (both from the UK). They moved to a small village in the south of Spain. She was the one who could speak Spanish but he didn't and never bothered. Unfortunately, his wife passed away and he was left in a small village where most people didn't speak English (not the doctors, the mechanic, the neighbors ...) He just could rely on a couple of acquaintance friends and he became dependent of them.  Can you imagine how hard it is not being able to tell your doctor what is wrong with you because of the language? Or having to rely on google translate to know what to say to your mechanic to let him know what is wrong with your car? Or to pass the ITV (the test for cars)? 

Travelling is marvelous! But living might become hard if you can not communicate. 

Just curious if this is a bit of daydreaming or if you really are going to make this epic journey?

It seems exhausting to me. But that's me.

The place at the top of my list to explore is Ajijic, Mexico.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVKOjF9kZ8k&t=170s

What attracts me are several things:

1. The climate.  It is said to the ¨the second best climate in the world¨ after Hawaii.  It is in the mountains and maintains a temperature near 20 centigrade year round.  The locals claim that even during the rainy season most of the rains happen at night.

2. It has a reputation as being a place where people, especially single women, go to retire because of the supportive environment there.  Apparently it has been a spot for ¨extranjeros¨ to retire for more than 50 years, and is a town that is a mix of locals and ex-pats from many different countries.  It also is popular with ¨snowbirds¨.  I have read a book about the experience of several unique women who picked up and moved there and found it to be a very supportive place for a woman living alone.

3. It has the Lake Chapala Society which organizes many educational activities and volunteer activities including a library of books and videos, a volunteer program to teach English as a Second Language to locals, and a volunteer program to program art materials and volunteer instruction to encourage local children.

4.  It has a low crime rate.

5.  It has restaurants of many different ethnicities.

6. It has a lower cost of living than developed countries.

7.  Tennis, pickleball, yoga, and Zumba are popular there.

8.  It is less than an hour away from an Internation Airport in Guadalajara.

I personally have not been there, it is just on my radar based on many attractive things that are attractive to me.  Not sure if the Lake Chapala itself is much of an attraction.  It looks pretty, but is said to be quite polluted, not a lake for swimming in. 

Low crime rates would be nice. But I lived in Portugal for 10 years, Germany for 2 years, and the USA for a year. I fancy something more exotic!

It HAS to be somewhere like Fiji, India, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Costa Rica etc.