Something to consider if you are going to change your location - what type of social network and / or infrastructure are you leaving and what will you have in your new location? I hear of people retiring, then moving across the country where they no nobody, don't know the area nor the local scene, don't have any doctors etc. (I don't have any data to say they're not happy, but I personally would struggle with 're-starting' my social life). Maybe that doesn't matter to you but you should at least think about how it might affect you / your family / spouse etc. A way to mitigate that is to visit that area on an annual basis so that you can establish that stuff. My Uncle and Aunt bought property in Florida 15 years ago or more and they started spending their winters down there. By doing that, they truly built themselves a new home. They still split time between Massachusetts and Florida but they have an option now if they decide to sell one of them.
Me personally, some of you know what I've been up to. I retired from my job in November 2020 and closed on the sale of my house one week later. Prior to that, I bought a cool adventure van and got rid of about 95% of my 'stuff'. I spent the last year traveling and hiking with my dog Gunner (RIP). I'm now back in Greenville, SC, where I was living before my retirement. I came back in October and will be hitting the road again in a few weeks, after I close on a vacant lot at the top of a place called Caesars Head, just north of Greenville, SC.
My plan is to build my dream shop on that vacant land and use it as a base station (mostly winter time) for my travels. Now that my dog is gone I will have more opportunity to do the cycling and running in the very many cool forests and parks in the continental US. Perhaps when this covid madness dissapates, I'll get opportunity to explore more in Canada and perhaps Mexico.
