4 Reasons You Need To Embrace The Mini Retirement

Many of us dream of seeing the world yet so many of us are waiting for the right time. Some people are waiting until they have enough money to quit their jobs and travel full time. Others are waiting until they have no responsibilities at home. Some people are even planning to wait until they are retired.

So instead of travelling we end up going to the same villa in Spain every year for one week. But life is for living. Waiting is a risky strategy as none of us know what is around the corner. Instead of waiting for the right time to travel, here are 4 reasons you need to embrace the mini retirement.

We are probably all aware of the rise in the Digital Nomad Trend. But that is not what we are talking about here. Whilst not a totally new concept, the pandemic made it even more acceptable for people who can work remotely, to do so. Essentially if you have a job where all you need is a laptop and a wifi connection, you can live and travel simultaneously.

And if that is something that you are considering you may want to check out Amber’s recent post: The Best Destination For A New Digital Nomad. However that is not an option for everyone for various reasons. In that case, you need to embrace the mini retirement. But how?

How?

It’s simple. Create a bucket list for all of the things you wish to see and experience in your life. And then start planning your mini retirements. This is a concept I first encountered when I read The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. The idea is that instead of spending your life doing all the work up front and having all the fun afterwards, when you are retired. And low on energy. We should take regular mini retirements throughout our lives. The beauty of this is that you can design it in a way that suits your lifestyle.

Depending on what will work for you, this could mean working for 9 months of the year and spending 3 months travelling. Alternatively it could mean working 6 months on, 6 months travelling. Or more conservative and realistic for many, it can mean taking 3 – 6 weeks off every 12-18 months to travel and see the world.

This is the option that works best for me now. I recently visited Vietnam (My Mini Retirement to Vietnam) and other places I plan to visit for my upcoming mini retirements include Japan, New Zealand and Canada. This might sound unrealistic or impossible however if you need further convincing I highly recommend reading The Four Hour Work Week – Chapter 14. This is a great alternative for those who cannot or do not want to become a digital nomad and here is why;

We Get To Travel While We Are Young

It is easy to fall into the trap of waiting. Usually we justify this by convincing ourselves we will have more if we wait. More money, free time and options. However, waiting to travel can also mean we are waiting until we have less. Less energy, zest for life and appetite or ability for adventure.

If we embrace the mini retirement model, we are able to travel and see the world when we still have the energy and ability and enjoy it to the fullest. I enjoy adventure sports and I imagine it will be easier to mountain bike or snowboard in my 30s and 40s than in my 60s, 70s and 80s.

We Actually See The World

There is no way to sugarcoat this. We are all going to die. We don’t know when and we don’t know where. If we save up all of our travelling until our later years, chances are we might not even live to do it. Or we may not be in the full of our health to do it.

If we embrace the mini retirement model, we may not get to see everything but over the course of our lives, we are ensuring that we see more of the world than if we risk waiting. We get to make memories with the ones we love, while we are still here to do it. And we get to actually see some of the world.

We Can Appreciate Each Experience More

For better or worse, mini retirements mean that you take some time away from work to live, travel and enjoy our lives. Then we return to work and our normal existence for a couple of months to a couple of years depending on our situation. What this does mean though is that we have the opportunity to appreciate each experience more. If we spend a year travelling, we are having many significant experiences in quick succession.

Sometimes the lines start to blur and you cannot remember which country that beautiful scenery was in or which city had our favourite atmosphere. By dividing each experience with some time, we get the chance to immerse ourselves fully in everything, really appreciate it and allow it to take its place in our memories. In my opinion this means we can actually appreciate each experience more.

No Work Just Fun

One big benefit is that with mini retirements they are just like real retirement but shorter. We don’t have to work. During that time, we can completely disconnect. We can embrace travel and all of the experiences we are having. There is no need for us to try to juggle working and experiencing our surroundings. We will be back home in a few weeks and we can get back to the work mindset then.

I hope to expand my mini retirements to 3-6 month events as I progress my life and balance my work. However for now I am still very excited to experience my upcoming mini retirement. Is this something that you’ve ever considered? If so, what are your dream destinations? Where have you been? Where will you go next? What advice do you have for others? We’d love to hear from you.