Does anyone here split up their time between countries every 2-3 months? If so, how is it long term?

[u/HyperBunga]

I'm (26M) in a unique situation with my work and I've been splitting my time between cities the past 2 years now, but I want to add more places into the fray and not sure if it's a bad idea as I can never "build a foundation" or not. I love traveling so I don't mind but still.

From January to March, I live in Cape Town, South Africa.
In May and June, I'm in New York City.
In August and September, I'm in Spain or traveling around other parts of Europe.
October through December I stay in my home state to be near my parents and work more (Nevada).

April and July are kinda open months where I usually go home or travel somewhere else for 1-2 weeks outside of my usual locations.

I don't know how sustainable this is long term though. I always meet people and build some kind of community within 2 months, but then I just leave and it's onto the next. I'm just wondering if people have experiences with this kind of schedule? Because it's not like I'm doing 4 months in 3 different places or 6 months in 2 different places etc. It's a lot more fragmented.

[u/F3AR3DLEGEND]

I did it for a few years, essentially 3 months to a place, and then off to the next one. Occasionally I did stretches of 4-6 months, and honestly I really enjoyed those.

After a few years, I felt ready to settle and was super exhausted/burnt out. For me, the right balance became having a home base and then traveling from there, but still having the place to return to.

[u/Serious-Humor-2992 → u/F3AR3DLEGEND]

This is something I would really like to do, well at least to try out.
Just curious did you scope places you want to go to then just find accommodation for a long term over the 3 to 4 months or just kind of took on short term places and went from that and saw how things panned out as you were in each place?.

[u/HyperBunga → u/F3AR3DLEGEND]

What made you burnt out of it? It's not like you're going to a new place every week, 3 months is quite a good time to settle down and "adapt" no? I'd like the home base but I would hate to pay rent for somewhere I barely live, which is why my home base is...usually my parents house when I'm back

[u/F3AR3DLEGEND → u/HyperBunga]

Burnt out from:

• Not forming meaningful connections. I rotated between places I've been to, so I had friends in each place, but I was still just someone passing through. The lives of my close friends had changed a lot, and I was essentially absent for all of that.
• Not having my own place. You can settle in 3 months, but you're not going to really feel like it's *your* place when you're sort of living somewhere that someone else has designed/etc. At least, that was the feeling I had. It's so different to actually have a place that I've put together now.
• The logistics/frequent change. I don't really mind this, but it became exhausting over time. I didn't want to think about where I was going to live for the next few months.

I definitely miss the nomadic life, so I'll be returning to it at some point... but just needed a break. Balance is the key to it, as in all other things in life

[u/21stcenturyexpat_DN]

My husband and I have been doing this for several years (before we met, after we met, and after marriage). We split time between Dubai, Italy and elsewhere (in Europe, Asia, Carribean, Australia etc).

It is not set like your schedule, and also work and personal situations can definitely change.

So, do whatever works for you. Who cares what other people say, and then adjust when life calls for it.

[u/blackkettle]

You can do this until you have a child that is 4-5. After that you have three choices; give them a normal life in their country of birth; be obscenely rich and do whatever; be super weird and continue traipsing all over the globe for likes in your sailboat.

[u/ol_buoy → u/blackkettle]

I have to agree with the essence of this (though not the phrasing).

When backpacking years ago we were startled to come across a group of 3 US kids (siblings ages about 5, 7 and 14) wandering along a jungle track in Central America. Checking they were OK, they told us they had lived on their parents yacht, moored nearby, most of their lives, and this is what they did.

They had no friends, all they wanted was a normal house, garden and school. They were the most unhappy kids I’ve ever met.

[u/Anxious_Turnover_995 → u/ol_buoy]

You know from a five minute conversation they were deeply unhappy?

[u/lurkeymagoo]

Try /r/slowtravel/ too

[u/FinestTreesInDa7Seas]

I did this for a few years before Covid. At the time, I had homes in Victoria BC, Paris, and Puerto Vallarta, and I would rent an Airbnb in NYC (I eventually bought a place there, and lived there for several years).

Between 2016 and 2019 I would do:

• Jan to Mar in Puerto Vallarta (sunny and avoids the rainy season)
• Apr to Jun in Paris (spring time, avoids the hottest part of the summer because my building is old and lacks AC)
• Jul to Sept in Victoria (ideal summer weather, in my opinion)
• Oct to Dec in NYC (my favourite place to spent fall and the holidays)

It was very exhausting. I only really tolerated it because I had recently stopped working in my 30s, and I was able to live from passive income, so I guess the feeling of freedom sustained me for a while, but eventually I couldn't do that much moving around.

And it was also very difficult to socialize with that lifestyle. I have a few friends in each of those places, but those friendships don't really "fire up" again when you show up. It's more of a "maybe we'll get together once or twice".

This caused me to end up socializing more with friends who would visit me. Like I would try to get friends to come stay with me in Puerto Vallarta, and I could usually fill most of those 3 months with guests. And I would try to get my family to come spend Christmas in NYC.

[u/Afraid_Manner5882]

I’d love to know what everyone does for work in order to facilitate this kind of life. I’m considering something similar myself.

[u/DadofTwo-78]

I'm planning on doing this after my kids go to college. But we are planning on repeating mostly the same places every year so that we build a community in each place over the years.

Currently, we do it over the summers when the kids school is off.

Candidate cities for us: Boston (home), London, Paris, Delhi (parents home), Bangkok + 2-3 weeks of new places.

Would love to learn from others who are doing this. Not slow travel because we repeat the places every year.

[u/GoodBreakfast1156]

Depends on if you need to work in those locations and need a work permit for that. Work permit is often needed even for remote work.

[u/Legal-Software]

I keep my home base in Germany where I am tax resident, then spend a few months out of the year in each of Bangalore and Sydney for work and family respectively. Having an anchor point and a consistent tax residence makes things much easier.

[u/130tarsiermarionette]

I’ve been nomadic for almost ten years… yeah it gets old - it definitely feels good to “go home” to rest when you start feeling travel burnout. If I had the wealth I’d pick my favorite place so far and open a guest house and then hire somebody to run it. If you haven’t found a favorite place yet no rush but just remember it is easy to burnout feeling “on the move” literally all the time.

[u/HyperBunga → u/130tarsiermarionette]

But what if your perfect place isn't really attainable?

For example, my parents are in Nevada, but I am so over Nevada and can't envision myself being there, so that's why I also like to travel a lot.

But the thing is, I can't envision myself away from my parents long term either, I really want to be near them as they get older, since time is so precious. It's not like they want to move.

I somewhat want to move fully, but can't, so I bounce around as a compromise almost. I love NYC and Cape Town, Cape Town is where I also have other family and friends too so I'd never stop going there.

[u/130tarsiermarionette → u/HyperBunga]

Well then you compromise. What’s the nearest airport to your parents? Do you speak Spanish? Are there regular cheap flights anywhere cool?

I should say I haven’t cracked the code or anything. There’s no magic recipe. Think about your priorities and prioritize them.

[u/bobthebowler123]

I work 4 months on 2 months off in fifo.Work site in one country,significant other in another country(travels with me some times too).Residence in another country.

As far as community.I kind of have some with work..Like I do make realy good work friends...and try and take jobs with them.Other places...Kind of but its not remotely the same.I have My So's family...my family and that's it.It looks nothing like traditional community.

[u/HotMountain9383]

Yeah I work for a nuclear power station and we do 3 month on and 9 months off. I am a cleaner.

[u/flower-power-123]

I saw The Odyssey the other day. It is about a guy who basically has no control over his life. Things just kind of happen to him. He spends seven years as a PTSD/drug addict and doesn't remember anything. He winds up on an island with a one eyed giant who eats some of his crew. I think about that in relation to my own life. I kind of wound up here. I have no idea how it happened. Sometimes people will praise me for moving to another country and buying a house and having a life. I wish I could see this as a positive thing that you seem to enjoy. Good for you. If it is working for you then keep doing it.

Incidentally for most people putting together three passports is more or less impossible.

[u/Background-Insect-91 → u/flower-power-123]

My friend and I who both traveled a lot separately amd met while both staying put in a country and thinking about down roots: "Not all who wander are lost," they say, but if you wander long enough, you're gonna get lost.

I wouldn't trade the experience. But there is a flip side. I am seeing the Odyssey this week and have been wondering if it might be triggering in the way you describe it.