Mary-Lou, 65: no home base, and a trip home each year to renew cover

How it came about

Mary-Lou writes novels about the history of Tasmania, her home state. About four years before this story ran, she and her husband Ken sold almost everything they owned and set off with two suitcases. Since then they have lived in Céret in France, Essaouira in Morocco, Kuching in Sarawak, Uruguay, the Isle of Man, Vietnam and Thailand. They travel slowly and stay long enough in each place to settle in. She spends the day writing while Ken goes out and gets to know the town.

What it costs them

The article gives no monthly figure, but it does explain how they make their super stretch:

• They skip big cities, which she finds too expensive.
• After a stay in a costly European town they go somewhere cheaper for a while, such as Vietnam or Thailand.
• They book long stays, online or straight with a landlord, because longer bookings bring the price down.
• Any medical costs they pay out of pocket come from a separate emergency fund they keep for that.

Our guide to what retiring overseas really costs compares a month in several of these countries.

What went well

She likes living inside other cultures for months at a time, and the travel hasn’t broken her writing routine. Above all, she says, they have each other: “We’re each other’s home, each other’s source of connection.”

What was hard

She’s open about the hard parts. Their international travel insurance only covers a year at a time, so they come back to Australia every year to renew it. Our guide to travel insurance for long stays explains how trip limits work. Language barriers and paperwork can weigh on them more than the cost does. Where little English is spoken, she misses a proper in-depth conversation. And places that used to be affordable are getting dearer.

What has changed since

This story ran in October 2026, so nothing in it is out of date yet. Here are the rules behind a life like theirs:

• Medicare does not pay for care overseas. Services Australia says Australia has reciprocal health care agreements with 11 countries, which help with medically necessary public care there. None are in Asia, and France and Morocco are not on the list. Services Australia says you still need your own travel health insurance. Our guide to Medicare overseas has the full list.
• Medicare back in Australia. Smartraveller (page updated 18 August 2026) says an Australian citizen can use Medicare for treatment in Australia for up to 5 years after moving overseas. Services Australia’s staff guidance says those 5 years run from when you first left and do not restart on visits home. After that, you re-enrol when you move back to live. Permanent residents are different: Services Australia says their enrolment ends after 12 months overseas. Our guide to coming home: your pension and Medicare covers the steps.
• The Age Pension. Services Australia says that, unless you claim under a social security agreement, you must be living in Australia and physically in Australia on the day you claim. If you’re travelling full time and expect to need the pension later, that’s something to plan around. Our guide on why you claim before you leave explains the timing.

What to take from it

• Their one-year insurance cover decides the shape of the whole year, because it’s the reason they come home.
• They budget for medical bills on top of insurance, with a separate fund.
• Cheap places don’t always stay cheap. They manage it by mixing dearer and cheaper stops.
• Once you sell up, there’s no home base to fall back on. Before doing the same, it helps to know where you would stay, and how you would get care, if you had to stop travelling. Our guide to whether to keep, rent or sell the family home sets out the trade-offs.