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Today I am interviewing a couple, both of whom are named Chris. A little over a year ago, they sold their home in Texas and moved into a fifth wheel RV in preparation for living a life of greater adventure.
Chris and Chris Clement were winding down their careers where he worked in construction and she worked for an energy company scheduling natural gas supplies on pipelines.
One of the first benefits they received by downsizing from a home into an RV was decluttering from decades of accumulated stuff. I lived in an RV full-time from 2014 to 2017 and it was liberating not having to worry about unneeded stuff stored in every nook and cranny.
When this interview was recorded, the Clements were in the process of retiring and hitting the road. Mr. Clement had already submitted his resignation to his employer and he was planning to take additional training to be able to fix RVs wherever they traveled. His wife was going to find short-term Workamping jobs which are set up specifically for people who will only be in an area for three to six months.
Their first official voyage was going to be the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. However, they also planned to spend time in the Yellowstone area as well as tour throughout the Pacific northwest.
I know a lot of people over 50 who have opted to quit their jobs and just start traveling. Thanks to modern technology, doing so is much easier today than it was even 20 years ago. Laptops and mobile internet service make it possible to do jobs anywhere you have electricity and an internet connection.
Between the two of them, the Clements have four children who were embarking on lives of their own, which freed the couple from a lot of the parental responsibilities which dictated their lives for many years. Fortunately, their children support their parents’ new lifestyle even though it means they won’t see them as much. But, cell phones and video conferencing software ensures the family can maintain regular communication with each other.
Mrs. Clement said the key to creating an enjoyable and purposeful retirement is to lay out a plan to know what you can do financially. Debt is often the biggest dream killer for people over 50 who are still paying mortgages for big homes that aren’t needed after their children have grown.
What I liked about the Clements’ story is that they did not wait until they had permission from society to “retire” before launching out on a lifestyle of travel. He was 57 when they hit the road and she was 56. COVID taught employers that workers can still be productive when working remotely. Consequently, many jobs can still be performed remotely.
If you’d like to do what the Clements were doing, talk to your employer to see if your job could be done remotely full-time, or at least for longer periods of time. One of the benefits of Workamping is that many employers provide a free to deeply-discounted RV site as part of the compensation plan, which reduces monthly living expenses even more.
But, even if you have to quit a job to pursue a dream, simply scaling back expenditures, reducing debt and downsizing in multiple areas can create more options for you.
I need to check up on the Clements to see how their travel is going now that they’ve enjoyed some on-the-road experiences. But, you can connect with them via their YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@trippinwiththechris.
That’s all I have for this week’s show. Next week, I’ll be speaking with a lawyer and former pastor who felt a tug to take his life in a completely different direction by becoming a stand-up comedian. I’ll have that interview on the next episode of the Forward From 50 podcast.
If you’d like help in identifying a purpose for your life or planning your next steps, I’m offering a complimentary brainstorming session to members of the Forward From 50 Facebook community. For details, connect with me on Facebook or visit www.forwardfrom50.com. Thank you for listening!
After closing his business and enduring several painful years of uncertainty regarding what to do with his life, Greg founded Forward From 50 to help men and women over 50 to live more purposeful lives by pursuing things they are passionate about. A Wisconsin native, Greg currently lives in Arizona.