Nora Dunn: Financially sustainable full-time travel

March 25, 2015 |

In 2006, Nora sold everything she owned in Canada (including a busy financial planning practice) to embrace her dreams of traveling and living around the world. She’s been on the road ever since, having lived in and traveled through over 50 countries and counting.

Most Memorable Location-Independent Experiences
I have many! But one of the little “stunts” I’ve pulled in my travels has been around my love of train travel. In 2010 in Australia, I rode 16,000 kms of their epic trains, including 11,000 kms in 11 days straight—to see if it’s possible to get bored on a train. The following year, I rode 25,000 kms in 30 days straight, from Lisbon (Portugal) to Saigon (Vietnam). These experiences were epic! And I wrote a book about it: Tales of Trains: Where the Journey is the Destination.

Biggest Surprise along the Way
I’ve had a lot of surprises along the way, good, bad, and otherwise. I’ve survived three natural disasters, three breakups (disasters of a different kind), the theft of my passport and $10,000 by a house-guest (surprise!), tropical diseases, and more. Brace yourself and read this.

But one of the interesting things I discovered along the way is that sometimes travel’s best adventures are actually MIS-adventures. They certainly make for a good story, and for lots of personal growth.

Another interesting surprise that I hadn’t anticipated when I started traveling was that it’s possible to travel full-time with carry-on luggage only. Not only possible, but pleasurable! Here are my packing secrets.

headphones icon

In this episode

  • What it means to travel in a financially sustainable way
  • Why she sold everything to travel
  • How her location-independent career unfolded
  • Different ways to work on the road
  • Financial planning for nomads
  • Redefining retirement
  • Negative connotations of words like “nomad” and “hobo”
  • How she travels full-time with only a carry-on
  • And much more
directions sign icon

Resources we talked about

Note: Links with an asterisk are affiliate links, which means you may receive free credit or another bonus and I may earn a small commission or other benefits if you sign up/purchase using that link. There’s no additional cost to you, of course!

Get the Top 10 Logistical Things You Need to do before becoming a nomad

(That Aren't What You Think)

When you download the guide, you’ll also be subscribed to the Nomadtopia newsletter. Your email is safe with me and you can unsubscribe anytime. View our Privacy Policy.

Get the Top 10 Logistical Things You Need to do before becoming a nomad