Semi retired lifestyles | Page 4 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Semi retired lifestyles

taking a break from the site
but as you tagged me and consider you a friend, BP
I'll chime in

for me anyway, my first decade of travel I was paid to do it
after I had been in my industry for 20 years and got good at it
if the expat lifestyle is of interest, like LC suggests, marry well
or find a way to get your employer to pay for it

the overseas gigs that I've had, on your time off
will fly you to your country of hire or anywhere of similar cost
if my time off coincided with winter, seeya in summer Canada

if you get to the point where your life is simple - divorced and kids grown
btw, constant travel for work is a great way to organize a divorce
you can downsize, ie: get rid of stuff, and really sock away some dough

I did nothing but work for 15yrs, invested well, and now taking a few years off
I loath the R word...it's a death sentence for most
take some time off to smell the roses while you're young enough to enjoy it

last piece of advice: take some scouting trips to see what you like
always thought I'd like to end up in a beach town
they are great for a week or two vacation

long term the heat, humidity, bugs, noise, tourist BS
all of it gets to be too much...and the beach is always there if you need some sun

I'm really enjoying being at 8,500 ft ASL in a perpetual spring like climate
and no one here gives a crap about a gringo in the street
500,000 of them too busy with their lives to care

edit: BP, as to your question of where you go
I haven't stayed at a resort in well over 10 years
airbnb, VRBO and some other resources I prefer
and if you're staying longer term, the deal is way better

I'm currently in a furnished 2 bedroom house with private yard
nice, safe neighborhood, all utilities included....350/month
Amen.
F all inclusives.
 
They make $50-60 per hour depending on where they are...
easy to make $100k there.
Huh? Where? What kind of experience. I know 4 of them and breaking the $30/hr mark has been a nightmare
 
Huh? Where? What kind of experience. I know 4 of them and breaking the $30/hr mark has been a nightmare
My partner used to be a dental hygienist 6 years ago, working in Toronto. She made $50/hour then, but couldn't deal with the long commute, 12 hours days and starting into peoples' mouths all day.

Her bff is out by Vancouver. Currently at $60/hour.
 
My partner used to be a dental hygienist 6 years ago, working in Toronto. She made $50/hour then, but couldn't deal with the long commute, 12 hours days and starting into peoples' mouths all day.

Her bff is out by Vancouver. Currently at $60/hour.
yep 2 work downtown and after almost 8 years experience just broke $30

other 2 are hamilton and oakville, similar situation.
 
I've been retired for a year and a half now.
Some observations;
Winters are long so ensure there is something to do. I Bought a new snowmobile and took up archery and thinking of finding my darts and joining a league.
Summer time is my favourite season as motorcycling is my favourite hobby.
Sometimes getting friends to go motorcycling or snowmobiling is tough. Going alone is risky and less fun but is a often a reality.
I'll be headed to the hobby shop (after covid) since tv sucks and I can't stomach advertising so maybe I'll build a model ship or something.
Fishing and hunting was in my youth and have no desire to continue any of that.
Sailing is appealing but I'm not quite there yet.
After 40+ years of being a corporate slave it can be challenging to accept the hurried life style and running all the time no longer exists. There is almost anxiety at times because I'm not cramming 20 things to do at once. This is getting easier as time moves forward.
Over all, if you can, please retire asap as life is short at best.
 
More and more of my cohort are retiring... Hell, my own missus can go in Feb., but she's not planning on quitting until either our youngest is all done uni or... She decides to be a ***** and walk with the shortest notice possible.

In my field most of us retire in our mid 50's so... Still young enough to start second careers or at least do something else.
Some take a year to bum around and then get a part time gig, some disappear and some, far too many drop dead within a year or two.

I have 2 years left until retirement. That'll be 33 years of service. I'll be 56.
No regrets. It was fun, but after I hand in my gear and say my goodbye's... I don't think I'll miss it.

I plan on becoming a full on curmudgeon so be warned... Stay off my lawn.

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I've been retired for a year and a half now.
Some observations;
Winters are long so ensure there is something to do. I Bought a new snowmobile and took up archery and thinking of finding my darts and joining a league.
Summer time is my favourite season as motorcycling is my favourite hobby.
Sometimes getting friends to go motorcycling or snowmobiling is tough. Going alone is risky and less fun but is a often a reality.
I'll be headed to the hobby shop (after covid) since tv sucks and I can't stomach advertising so maybe I'll build a model ship or something.
Fishing and hunting was in my youth and have no desire to continue any of that.
Sailing is appealing but I'm not quite there yet.
After 40+ years of being a corporate slave it can be challenging to accept the hurried life style and running all the time no longer exists. There is almost anxiety at times because I'm not cramming 20 things to do at once. This is getting easier as time moves forward.
Over all, if you can, please retire asap as life is short at best.
I think after a year and a half you're still in the "on vacation" stage. This too shall pass. At some point you'l find your real retirement routine and less anxiety and dare I say "guilt?"
 
Wonder how cheap real estate or property in mexico is? After reading some of @Lightcycle blog, I want to buy a cheap place next to the ocean in baja for retirement and start planning already
 
Wonder how cheap real estate or property in mexico is? After reading some of @Lightcycle blog, I want to buy a cheap place next to the ocean in baja for retirement and start planning already
Except you can't own property near the ocean in mexico unless you are a Mexican.

Sent from my moto g(8) plus using Tapatalk
 
Except you can't own property near the ocean in mexico unless you are a Mexican.

Used to be true until like the mid-70s.

Now, foreigners can own beachfront property if it's held in a trust by a Mexican bank. The trust is renewable every 50 years at the discretion of the Mexican government, but during that time, the owner is free to buy, sell, make improvements and modifications to the property, borrow against it, etc. So a bit more rights than a typical leasehold.

It's called a fideicomiso, which literally translated means "escrow"
 
Wonder how cheap real estate or property in mexico is? After reading some of @Lightcycle blog, I want to buy a cheap place next to the ocean in baja for retirement and start planning already

Mexico's a big country with a lot of shoreline. Prices will vary wildly between Baja Sur, Puerta Vallarta, Yucatan...
 
Used to be true until like the mid-70s.

Now, foreigners can own beachfront property if it's held in a trust by a Mexican bank. The trust is renewable every 50 years at the discretion of the Mexican government, but during that time, the owner is free to buy, sell, make improvements and modifications to the property, borrow against it, etc. So a bit more rights than a typical leasehold.

It's called a fideicomiso, which literally translated means "escrow"
Would you trust a Mexican bank to hold your property? Seem risky to me anyway.

Sent from my moto g(8) plus using Tapatalk
 
And apparently you have to pay a maintenance fee as well if you buy in a restricted area
 
Well, set up any kind of trust at any FI and there's going to be an annual administration fee.

curious, you guys were on the r1200gs in mexico right? What is the fuel situation like? Those take 91 octane right? Did you have trouble finding it?
 
curious, you guys were on the r1200gs in mexico right? What is the fuel situation like? Those take 91 octane right? Did you have trouble finding it?

Neda was on the F650GS twin which takes regular. My 12GS had an anti-knock sensor, so it could run on regular as well, although ze Churmans recommend mid-grade. These are not high-compression engines, they're pretty large displacement bikes making relatively low horsepower. I think the more recent models like the liquid-cooled and the shift-cam bikes are more sensitive to pre-detonation and have higher octane requirements.

Mexico's gas was fine, we stuck mainly to the Pan American Hwy, and we did most of our gassing up at Pemex stations, which is the state-owned oil company. It was only till we reached Guatemala, then some sh!tty quality fuel made my engine ping real bad while going up hills. Had to take everything a gear lower than normal. Probably the worst gas I've had the whole trip. Also the fuel was bad too...

Mexico is not as third-world as people make it out to be. Sure, compared to Canada, things might not be as... clean and comfortable... But as you venture further south, the rest of Central America sees Mexico as a very rich nation. Mexicans vacation all the time in CA and their pesos are valued higher than the local currency.

Living cheaply on a no-name Mexican beach is fine if you plan to learn Spanish and mingle with the locals... or if you're a loner. But if you want ex-pat company, you're going to be paying dearly for beachfront property in the resort towns. Probably similar to CDN prices for prime real estate, because chances are, you'll be buying the property from another Canadian, or an American or a European ex-pat. And they'll be charging you a premium because they had the idea of moving down there before you did...

If you're not rich, then what most ex-pats do is migrate to one of the highland-towns like Ajijic on Lake Chapala. It's 25C every single day of the year and it's cheap and you're surrounded by Americans and Canadians who speak English everywhere. And Guadalajara is only an hour away if you need anything from the big city.

If I was thinking of moving to MX, I'd either go to Lake Chapala or Baja California Sur. We liked La Paz quite a lot. Narco activity quite low in those areas as well.
 
Like your approach. (y)

Evolved my business and staff over the last 20 years as the technology improved so I could spend 4-5 months away but still engaged actively while travelling and living a few months each year elsewhere, first South Africa for 3 months each year, then Australia 3-6 months with partner.
50 years+ my own boss ...35 in the Mac biz, the travel is part of the marketing.

Just got my permanent visa for Australia after getting chased out of Chile by Covid. This had been the longest stretch away from Aus in a decade.
Cleared quarantine now ...no idea when I'll get back to Canada but happy to be in one of few effectively "back to normal" societies....no lock down, no cases - only contact tracing which means pointing your phone at a Q-Code. If you don't - no service.

View attachment 46802
Partner has stopped working tho not completely retired and we are plotting trips around Aus and New Zealand over the next while. We are on the Gold Coast for a few days and I'm looking forward to getting back home and on the KLR in Cairns in the tropics. Work a few hours at night ...ride daily.
Got very lucky getting here ...even my return flight in May has been cancelled already.
Rich in experience if not in traditional wealth....the adventure continues.

11th gen Canuck now expat.
Nice, good on ya mate!

Brissy is my home when I'm down there. Have a place by the river and thought long about getting the Aussie PR/Citizen thing, but then decided I'm ok without it. The Canadian passport is just as good if not better and I don't really plan on living there longer than the usual 3 months anyways.

I miss QLD, it was a very hard choice not to put down roots there and stay still. It's Canada with better weather and friendlier (Not nicer) folks for sure. Some areas in the Sunshine coast still pulls at my heart strings. Heck of a lot of serious riding capacities too, but those damn QLD coppers don't show a single ounce of mercy :). I do love the fact that we pushed filtering through few years back, so if nanny QLD govt can get onboard, there's hope for Ontario/Canada for sure.

Cairns is fun place...tropical Australia is like blade runner meets mad max man. And those warm summer torrential rains are awesome! I'll be heading down there once things are safe. Till then, just got to keep the stick on the ice kids.
 
Neda was on the F650GS twin which takes regular. My 12GS had an anti-knock sensor, so it could run on regular as well, although ze Churmans recommend mid-grade. These are not high-compression engines, they're pretty large displacement bikes making relatively low horsepower. I think the more recent models like the liquid-cooled and the shift-cam bikes are more sensitive to pre-detonation and have higher octane requirements.

Mexico's gas was fine, we stuck mainly to the Pan American Hwy, and we did most of our gassing up at Pemex stations, which is the state-owned oil company. It was only till we reached Guatemala, then some sh!tty quality fuel made my engine ping real bad while going up hills. Had to take everything a gear lower than normal. Probably the worst gas I've had the whole trip. Also the fuel was bad too...

Mexico is not as third-world as people make it out to be. Sure, compared to Canada, things might not be as... clean and comfortable... But as you venture further south, the rest of Central America sees Mexico as a very rich nation. Mexicans vacation all the time in CA and their pesos are valued higher than the local currency.

Living cheaply on a no-name Mexican beach is fine if you plan to learn Spanish and mingle with the locals... or if you're a loner. But if you want ex-pat company, you're going to be paying dearly for beachfront property in the resort towns. Probably similar to CDN prices for prime real estate, because chances are, you'll be buying the property from another Canadian, or an American or a European ex-pat. And they'll be charging you a premium because they had the idea of moving down there before you did...

If you're not rich, then what most ex-pats do is migrate to one of the highland-towns like Ajijic on Lake Chapala. It's 25C every single day of the year and it's cheap and you're surrounded by Americans and Canadians who speak English everywhere. And Guadalajara is only an hour away if you need anything from the big city.

If I was thinking of moving to MX, I'd either go to Lake Chapala or Baja California Sur. We liked La Paz quite a lot. Narco activity quite low in those areas as well.
Yeap all that and to add, even if you prefer city living, Mexico City is an amazing place. It's cosmopolitan to the max and punches way above it's weight for the sheer amount of people. Don't get scared by the cartel stuff, it's not a warzone for the most part but you do have to have your wits about you. But the people will go out of their way to make sure you're looked after. That's been my experience, but yours may vary based on who you are :)
 

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