Touch and go

By Paul Terhorst

My friend Mariela has a 14-year-old daughter. Says Mariela of her daughter, "She's all touch and go."

I asked what that meant. "Teenagers want to touch everything, to do everything. But they quickly get bored and move on. Today it's piano lessons, tomorrow horses, next year golf, tennis, ballet, singing lessons, whatever. They never stick to anything. I call it touch and go, it's a way of life. All kids act like this."

Mariela told me this with a slight tone of frustration and disapproval. But for perpetual travelers like Vicki and I, touch and go makes life sing. This month Hong Kong, next month Buenos Aires, Christmas in Vermont. Touch and go was the theme of Doug Casey's 1960s book, International Man. Doug advised readers to keep their citizenship in one country, their residence in another, and their stash in a third. Spend your time moving between the countries, with plenty of time for side trips to new places you might enjoy.

Vicki and I converted to touch and go some 15 years ago. We sold our apartment in Buenos Aires, got rid of our furniture and other stuff, and became perpetual travelers. Friends in Buenos Aires still kid us about that day-we were so excited to be without a home. No hassle, no worries. We had no keys in our pockets, not even a plane ticket. We simply dropped the apartment keys off with the new owner and headed to the bus station. We were living the first part of our dream to travel from Argentina to the U.S. over land. We did the crossing in three months and kept on going: to Austin, London, Paris, and beyond. Thrilling.

Our friend Martin was an executive who had traveled a great deal. He'd accumulated both miles and elite status at several airlines. When he retired at age 45 he quickly adopted touch and go. He buys round-the-world, business-class tickets on one of the major alliances, and fills in the gaps with free mileage tickets. Sometimes he has two round-the-world trips and a mileage ticket or two going at the same time. I can never keep up with him, but Martin has a ball, especially now that he can review and change his trips on the Internet. A party in Penang next August? Martin will arrange to be in Bangkok for it, then jump on a discount carrier for the short flight to neighboring Malaysia. A devaluation in Bolivia? Martin will likely show up sooner rather than later, perhaps to look around for an investment in the local currency.

With touch and go you can buy the best of what each country has on offer. Pick up new glasses in Bangkok rather than high-cost, over-regulated Australia. Buy your medicine here, your dental work there, do your annual physical someplace else. Drink the local brew, get to know favorite restaurants.

With any luck, after a few years you'll make friends in all these countries. What a life!

Well, yes, but with some caveats. Although Vicki and I have traveled touch and go at times, and recommend it highly, we've also tried the alternative-call it "stick around." I'll talk more about that next month, but here I want to talk about some of the drawbacks of touch and go.

First, with touch and go you can wear yourself out. Our friend Martin may never miss a party but sleeping on planes every couple of weeks gets him down. Many, probably most, retirees prefer a less hectic lifestyle.

A Wall Street Journal article last year pointed out that Accenture, the big consulting firm, gets along without executive offices. The CEO might live in London, the CFO in Tokyo, the head of research in Chicago. They get together every now and again, do conference calls, and stay in touch by e-mail. Still, the article pointed out the human toll, especially executives who miss their spouse and kids. In retirement you presumably take your spouse-and your kids, for that matter-with you on the road. Still, this life can grind you down.

Second, with touch and go you rarely have time to learn the language or understand the local culture. Sure, you catch the museum shows, maybe even arrange to be in town for the semi-annual wine salon. But you'll miss the deeper understanding that can only come with cultural immersion. When Vicki and I moved to Paris in 1998 we quickly realized we'd have to learn French to be comfortable there. So we did-it took well over a year. Our success would have been impossible if we'd hit the road every month or so and spent much of our time abroad.

Finally, touch and go can cost a lot more money. Those plane tickets add up to big bucks, especially with today's higher fuel costs, and those mileage benefits run out sooner or later. You stay in hotels or short-term, furnished rentals, both more expensive than long-term stay. You shop at convenience stores, hit the hot spots, rent cars and take taxis-all more expensive than the alternatives.

Like I said, I'll talk more about "stick around" next month and, specifically, how to get going in a new country. In the meantime, give touch and go serious consideration, it will fill your life with adventure, challenge, and excitement-if you can afford the tab.IL