Why sell your house to travel for a few years?

The short answer is: squirrels, agoutis and milk bags.

My husband, Bill, and I have always wanted to travel outside Canada for an extended time. Not forever, but for a few years at least. We never got to live abroad as part of our jobs, so now that we’re retired, we’re doing it. We sold our house and most of our belongings, so that we had less to worry about while travelling. Then, we packed up our bikes and panniers, and flew to Lisbon, Portugal.

So far, it feels like a short vacation, but I imagine that feeling will shift over the three months that we plan to spend in this sunny country of cod, custard tarts, port and vinho verde.

One of the many reasons we love to travel is to see what’s different between places: food and drink, flora and fauna, how wild the driving is, how homes are built, clothing, music, and even how the toilet flushes, not to mention language, history and cultural customs. Not only do you learn about what’s special in that new place, but you also learn what’s special about home.

When we were in Panama City, we stayed at a small inn where agoutis ran around the garden, scampering after pieces of watermelon rind tossed by guests as they ate breakfast. Agoutis look somewhat like guinea pigs on long legs. We were charmed by them since they, of course, are a new beast to Canadians like us. They were cute – not like our boring squirrels at home, who raid my bird feeders and munch my tulip bulbs.

We never realized that squirrels are cute and charming to others until we hosted a teenager from Spain for a year. The day after she arrived, she was out on our front lawn taking photos of squirrels to send to her family. That’s when it hit me that you don’t realize what’s special about your own home or other countries until you travel, or at the very least interact with people from other places. Even travel within Canada can help you learn about differences, exhibit A being the humble milk bag, which is available in eastern Canada, but not out west. Our future daughter-in-law from British Columbia thought our Ontario milk bags were strange.

At this point in our lives, we’ve travelled enough to have developed a basic travel philosophy. We love to travel independently, slowly, and with as little baggage as possible. We connect with local people whenever possible, look to get outside our comfort zone, and seek wonder and awe. Traveling for an extended period will allow us to further expand upon that philosophy.

My friend Sheila summarized that philosophy more succinctly: “You’re a travel slut. You’ll go anywhere, anytime with anyone.”

She’s right. Not only have we travelled around the world with our three kids, but I have even slept with two friends’ husbands, in Scotland and New England. We shared a hotel room, but not the same bed, and all was above board since all spouses were in the know. But the point is, I love to travel so much that I put up with snoring husbands that aren’t even mine.

We love Canada and will most definitely return. But in the meantime, we’re exploring and learning about other cultures so that we can know our own country better. We’re taking “the long road home” to Canada.