People I talk to in my travels are often amazed when I tell them how I abandoned retirement life in Hawaii to live a nomadic life on the road.
“Why would you do that?” they ask. “Hawaii’s so beautiful!”
Yes, Hawaii is beautiful, and I still love the state that was my home for nearly 30 years. But it comes with a price.
There’s a rich cost of living in the United States, especially Hawaii, which capped my modest retirement income at just about subsistence level.
It meant that after paying the bills there was little left. I would have had to find another job in retirement to make life more meaningful, enjoyable, or to have any kind of cushion at all, and I didn’t work 40 years toward retirement to get another job.
I started exploring possibilities for remaking my life and learned what it would cost to live in many countries around the world where my American dollars could provide my living needs — food, housing, transportation, insurance — with money left over that I could put to good use.
So instead of using all of my U. S. Social Security payments and a separate, private employment monthly pension, to continue feeding the American consumer lifestyle in retirement, I am now able to share a significant part of my income with organizations and people in the world whose needs, goals and aspirations I believe in.
This is possible because of the substantially lower costs of living in the countries I choose to visit, and the measures I have taken to lessen my living costs, such as giving up driving and vehicle expenditures, and having no home or property to manage or maintain.
Yes, I am practically a true nomad, yet my quality of life is richer now — spiritually, mentally and physically, if not materially — than I think it has ever been.
I realize this chosen lifestyle is not for everyone. Certain circumstances in my life came together at a time soon after retirement when I desired a dramatic change in my life. When the opportunity was there I seized it, and it worked for me.
It doesn’t happen that way for everybody, I know. Everyone’s life is different. But if I can plant the idea, influence or inspire anyone by what I do, it’s satisfying to my soul. So I want to share the way I conduct my life. Not to brag, or shame anyone, but to inspire and uplift those who also may have this ability to help others.
So on this day, in the spirit of the growing international celebration that is called “Giving Tuesday,” an international counter movement to the Black Friday and Cyber Monday spending sprees we’ve gotten so used to, I’m offering this tale about how I’ve turned my life as a nomad into a vehicle for making a difference.
“GivingTuesday” is a movement that unleashes the power of radical generosity around the world,” explains FLYTE Director Carmela Resuma, director of one of the organizations I donate to regularly that are listed below. “It reimagines a world built upon shared humanity … a great reminder to for all of us to think outside ourselves and support our favorite causes.”
Below are the non-profit organizations (with links) that I am able to make automatic monthly payments to, or make periodic donations to, whenever I can, with an explanation about how or why I became involved, and links to them if you need more info or would also like to support them.
Of course there are countless other reputable organizations that also need help, so choose according to your wishes. The important thing is that you take this opportunity. I encourage you, if you can, choose an organization and help any way you can. Here are the ones I choose:
Grassroots Coalition for Environmental and Economic Justice
The GCEEJ is a U.S.-based organization that works tirelessly to improve the environment and quality of life for impoverished people around the globe, especially in sub-Saharan African countries, through direct collaboration and cooperation with local communities on a variety of projects that improve the lives of people who live there. GCEEJ
Pegasus Education Foundation
This foundation supports supplementary educational programs in the public schools of the low-income community of Paulsboro, N.J., that are not funded by the local school district. I grew up in Paulsboro and attended these schools, and I owe a great deal to this community for the start in life that I received there. This is how I give back to and support the community that still means a great deal to me. paulsboroeducationfoundation.org
The Bail Project
The Bail Project provides cash bail for the release of people accused of crimes prior to their court appearances in the United States. The system of cash bail unfairly targets the poor and minority citizens who are unable to afford it, placing a serious burden and de facto penalties on families and loved ones as well as the accused, prior to their day in court. It’s not the most popular of charitable organizations, but it is an important one for maintaining a fair criminal justice system in the U.S. bailproject.org
American Cancer Society/The V Foundation
Cancer took away my parents and my only sibling, and I dedicate my life on the road to their memory, so this battle is very important to me.
I currently support the American Cancer Society but I am also planning to support the V Foundation, founded by the late basketball coach Jim Valvano, because the V Foundation gives a greater portion of its proceeds directly to finding the cure for cancer.
Either or both of these organizations are worthy of your support. There are few people who aren’t affected by the scourge of this disease. I encourage you to do what you can to help wipe it out. American Cancer Society or V Foundation
Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Project
I spent several months of my journey on the road trekking through the jungles of Borneo, Malaysia, searching for orangutans in the wild. I found them, but along the way I learned about and saw first-hand the destruction of their native habitat primarily for the commercial production of palm oil. This is threatening to wipe out these beautiful, majestic, gentle creatures of the forests. This organization is working diligently to save the remaining population and see orangutans flourish again on our planet. savewildorangutans.org
FLYTE
The Foundation for Learning and Youth Travel is one I became involved with through The Nomadic Network, an online travel site founded by Matt Kepnes. FLYTE raises funds to provide underserved high school students in the U.S. with opportunities to travel internationally to experience the transformative power of making new friends and experiencing cultures and life in different parts of the world. takeflyte.org
There are a few others that I don’t donate to on a monthly basis, but to whom I give periodically when I can, or upon request. They include Aniquem, a children’s burn center in Lima, Peru; and the Umuntu Permaculture Project under the guidance of Bigboy Musemwa, creating food sources through improved farming techniques in Zimbawe.
It is especially gratifying to be able to combine my love for the life of travel with the ability to share my good fortune. I enrich my life with the sheer joy of meeting people and making friends in faraway places, always being immersed in new cultures, learning and stimulating my mind and body with new experiences and challenges every day.
What I have chosen to do with my late-life venture into retirement has changed me for the better in some fundamental ways, and perhaps most important is to be more generous with my time, my work, and with what I have that can be shared with others.
It has been the best of all worlds for me.
Thank you for your altruism!