Pack in the job, rent out the house, get in the camper van, fuck off

For a lot of people 50s is the most powerful career and earnings decade by quite some margin!!
You’ve got 30 years experience, don’t have kids using your time, and still have your health energy as no drive.

Heading off in the camper is what I’d do in my 60s after making bank in 50s.
Unless of course you’re minted and can afford to retire early 50s, in which case well done!

I don't find it hard to understand, not sure where you got that from?
So, how did you find it having to evict tenants, being unable to get a mortgage again, being unemployed? You only wrote about a tent, not all the other things relevant to the OP.

Do it. My DF was dead at 56.

I took a gap year 20 years ago. Goa, Thailand, Spain with a view to living there and the UK till the year was up and we got the house back!

See if your H can take a sabbatical. Means job to come back to even if only for a few months to save more money later!

Rent the house out, is there a big company or university nearby that you can rent it through, I rented mine through the University so there were no fees and the house was in good order when we came back.

All the best

It's only a snark if you feel that way about it. It's the reality of you not having much in savings. You provided that info. I said I'd not be comfortable takkng a career break with that amount of savings.

You have no idea what could happen to your dad. Mine lived to his mid 90s, in reasonable health.

Yours could die at any time - hopefully not- but I don't think you should base these hard choices on being his carer as that may not happen.

Go for it! Why the heck not. I would in your circumstances

Please do this, I'm stuck with an older parent and I have long path ahead of me as I'm the only child in the country, so any chance of doing this are zero.

You can rent the house via an agent and save the hassle of being landlords let them take a cut and manage your tenants.

Also don't forget if the house is rented you may need to change your mortgage.

But on the good side you have another option when you return, keep it rented and you rent somewhere smaller. Rather than downsize leverage the difference to pay down the mortgage.

Would you definitely have jobs to come back to; I found employers very reluctant to take on people in their 50’s.
Probably okay if you are at either end of the pay scale; so a highly paid professional or alternatively someone working in a minimum wage job.
However I found in my 50’s I could even get an interview for mid range administrative jobs when I had 30 years experience. Twenty years earlier it had been easy despite having much less experience.

Neighbour just done that ....having amazing time... Go for it.... neighbour set herself a year . She a teacher and can easily do supply if returns

I think it's a bit pointless mentioning other people who've died young. This is not the 'norm' and big decisions shouldn't be based on other people dying at 50 or whatever.

The way to look at this is hard stats, which is most people will live to their early - mid 80s.

If you lived life thinking you might die at 50-odd, you'd end up making very rash and unwise choices a lot of the time.

This

This was my plan and dream, then covid happened, then we had a baby. Now it's the plan for later. You'd be mad not to and may regret forever.. or you may be fine letting it go, only you know. Try to ensure some stability. If you rent out your home - get an agency with rent guarantee and full service for no worries. Can you get a sabbatical, you don't ask - you don't get. Can you get a remote job part time to do in the van, to keep something going on your cv? Can your DH do some tutoring while traveling? Can you save up really hard for another 6 months/year to make sure you're comfortable during travels and upon return? etc. Good luck, I'm jealous.

Don't assume a teacher in his fifties will easily get a job, when his salary is a lot more than a new graduate.

I think it's too risky, OP, and wouldn't do it. I'd focus on making my life more interesting now - it won't be any easier to return to jobs you find unfulfilling.

Never underestimate how much you'll need for retirement. For your husband, taking a year off in his fifties will mean he can't stop teaching a year early in his sixties. That would frighten me. (Ex-teacher here.)

But probably not as much as they think! There will be letting agents fees, tax to be paid. They still have a mortgage. Are they planning to do wild camping? If not they will have site fees to pay, petrol/diesel/food to buy. According to OP they only have savings at the lower end of 5 figures so not much to fall back on!

Do it!

Rent your house through a good agency and take landlord insurance.

Life is for living.

Ask your job if you can take a sabbatical as well.

Good luck with your adventure!!

I think the people who say wait until your are 60/retirement are often deluding themselves about how much they will be able to do in old age.

I heard stories recently of people having strokes in their early 50s linked to having stressful work lives....

There is no guarantee you will be healthy enough when retired to travel and enjoy life.

Do it. No one knows what the future holds. FIL retired at 65 full of plans to travel- he died aged 66. Things work out, I find not doing things scarier than doing them.

Yes. Except living out of a tent rather than a vehicle.
I love being on the road. Waking up in a different place every day. Seeing the world and living a simple life. I have no interest in progressing a career, having a bigger house, accumulating money for retirement. The life I want is the one above, so that's what I've chosen. People want and value different things, it shouldn't be that hard to understand.

we'd be pretty skint on our return.

This is not a sensible thing to do in your early 50s.

I'd say it was do-able if you had 6-figures in savings, over and above £100K.

You could need money for all kinds of things- healthcare, legal fees for the house selling and buying, helping adult children etc.

Yes, I've told DH this. We are both in very good health from a lot of walking and a decent diet. No medications, nothing. I spent three years in my early 50s in a horrible menopause and felt awful, and now feel back to normal, and I just want to get out and about when I can. We were going to buy a smallholding which fell through as the house had massive structural issues, and so, well, we need to do something fun.

We take a walk in the morning in the dark with a torch to accommodate his work schedule, and I'm starting to say...why? Why not walk in the sunshine? We have a nice caravan which we are paying rent to store. Why? Why aren't we using it?

Out of some exasperation, I applied for a fellowship next year to Oxbridge so I could work on a book and get out and about...very surprised I won it. I said, come with me...I have a flat in the college which will accommodate us...let's have fun, enjoy the college dinner, go punting, take minibreaks as we are close to an airport. He'll probably still be at work!

I guess some people don't ever want to retire and want to work till they are dead. That's their choice. I love DH and he is a good man, but I don't think he thought much about retirement, and it is here, and he isn't sure what to do. Easier to keep working I guess. Oh well, I'm going to have fun before I end up being his carer.

I've been a landlord to our own house when we've moved twice and now own three extra properties. It's not that hard.
Managing agent can do it all for you.

Go OP and have the time of your life.

Honestly @GotTheBug - do it! My mum died aged 56 - life is for living.

With your DH being a teacher I bet he could pick up ad hoc online tutoring if needs be. My DD will be tutoring a uk child from NZ during her gap year!

my partners NDN did this. House happily rented out and off they went!

i know somebody who did this.

the hassle of renting and annoying tenants put them off doing it anymore than a year.

We did this and loved it (but not in a campervan) but will reiterate the renting out advise. Every month we had one thing after another and although we had an agent the renters would want a dripping tap fixed (£80) toilet leaking (wasn't but cost the same to find this out) etc etc any excuse to get out of paying the rent.
Yes they cost us money but glad we did it as my husband became ill and we had to come back to UK but we had travelled the world when we were middle aged and would not have been able to do it later when he was unable to travel.

I think you should go for it

Is it possible you could ask your employer for a years leave of absence?

There are heaps of places you can stop over for free too

You'll know you can buy nice awnings and porta toilets for your van

Your dp could do online tutoring to increase his earnings

if it all goes Pete tong you can always come home and get a bar job etc there are plenty jobs that take people with no experience