We started blogging on The Next Road in 2009.

Note: the domain changed to ExpatExpressions.com in 2020.

It began in Morganton, NC. Then a housesit outside New Orleans in the Venetian Isles for a dean at Tulane. Things snowballed.

We began calling it slow travel. We target interesting places, do some research, and then go about finding an apartment — sometimes for a month, but three months is better. We both work remotely and need a routine to balance our schedules between work and play in order to pay for our travel.

We would love to have more flexibility in how long we can stay, but most tourist visas are granted for 90 days. In Europe the Schengen Agreement covers 26 countries with a common 90-day limit. In Central America the C4 Agreement sets similar parameters. Mexico has a six-month tourist visa. Some countries like Argentina allow you to leave for a day or two and return with a new 90-day visa, but that can be fickle.

Two to three months seems like a good  amount of time to experience a place, after which you can almost say you have lived there. Certainly it is more than a casual affair. It is time enough to get to know people and  burrow under the covers of a place.

Some exciting places where we have spent some slow-travel time include:

Crucita and Cuenca, Ecuador
Dupont Circle, D.C., and Baltimore
Granada, Spain
Berlin
Boston
Buenos Aires
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Antigua, Guatemala
Amsterdam

If we include one- and two-week places, the list grows to include Slovenia, Scotland and much of Mexico, Spain and Ecuador.

For 10 years we moved in and out of the U.S. and other countries. We came back to Boston and Baltimore for graduations. We went to Berlin for our son’s graduation and stayed for three months. We worked and explored.

Living out of two suitcases each has its challenges and its freedom.