Five-flaggers are usually motivated by the tax avoidance. I am familiar with the theory, but disinclined to adopt the practice. First, I don’t have the kind of income that necessitates tax avoidance. Second, the kind of distance-travel involved to cross five international borders is probably not as “green” or sustainable as I would like. I am not a hemp-wearing animal guardian, but I also don’t drive an SUV and neglect to put the recyclables in the blue bin. Finally, I have enough trouble dealing with a single culture’s disdain for my hyperfrugality and unconventional lifestyle. I don’t know if I could cope with the social pressure of five locations.

I think it could be “awesome” to have 5 locations you can call home. But i think i would not enjoy living in someone elses home as much as i’d like living in my own. Someone elses home may also come with greater maintenance costs/work. Also i think i will hardly have the possibiliy to relate with the environment since i’ll be gone in 3 months for almost a year. I don’t think i would be able to call any place “home” anymore.

What i would enjoy though, is buying a small piece of land in a super cheap country to build a small home on. Ofcourse the home should be self-built and preferably as self-sufficient as possible with the possibility to grow vegetables, make bread, a water well with “fresh” water, a wind turbine/solar panels for a small amount of lighting and heating etc. etc.

I like to picture myself living like that…Unfortunately i still have about 4 years to go untill i could. After that, there’s always the GF that’d need serious convincing 🙂

Doing this for a cultural difference could be accomplished all in the US. There is a night and day difference between say Oklahoma and California. Further, a huge difference between say Tennessee and a New England state like New Hampshire. There is even a huge difference between Missouri and Iowa. Of course you still stay in the “gubbermint” of these United States, so if avoiding that is the goal, then no help.
If you are looking for lower living costs, you may need to go to a third world country.
Hopping around could be too expensive all totaled. I would recommend coming to the Southwest or Southeast US, and finding a small town, and live large on less. In this small community I live in there is no bling, no bright lights, hardly any crime, and is a low cost area. We like to say “We have everything we need, and nothing we don’t”.

I think that would be fantastic, and a lot of fun! If you coupled each of the owners with a boat and sailed to the next location. . . .of course, then you wouldn’t necessarily need different house, as you’d have the one home that moved.

I don’t know about five countries, but I had an idea the other day. Using my chosen profession as an example (medical technologists), there are some people who work entirely as temps, traveling from lab to lab working for a few months up to a year or more at each location. So, I thought, if a person was pretty much retired and didn’t need to work full-time, they could take the spring and fall off. Then they could work in the summer here in the states (cuz that’s when most people like to take their vacations, so labs might need the extra temporary help), and then in the winter, go to Australia where it’s summer and be a temp there. During the spring and fall, they’d be free to do what they wanted, and they’d avoid the really nasty winter weather.

I think it’s an interesting idea that I would have liked very much at another time in my life.

DH and I have already spent the past years shuttling through two countries, which worked out fairly well . . .I think three would be possible, five would start to feel fast-paced for me–although I do understand that you have have limitations of government.

Am I getting old? Maybe, but I just feel like I’m running out of energy for the constant motion (even though I still get the wanderlust sometimes). I really find myself wanting to settle into an area and get to know it better, maybe try some gardening again. I miss that.

I kind of like the idea of living on a boat though . . .

You may not need to leave your own metropolitan area to find multiple subcultures. A suburb is different from a small town nearby which is different from living in town. Living in yuppie neighborhoods, artsie neighborhoods, techie neighborhoods, new immigrant neighborhoods, and ghettos are all different. You could live near a college, near the art district, near the drinking district, near a shopping mall, or right next to a big transit stop.

Even in your same house, you can join the neighborhood association, political groups, crafts groups, sports groups, professional societies, and book clubs. Buy a different season pass every year: to different museums, amusement parks, gardens. Or volunteer with different organizations focusing on nature, abuse, education, health, etc.

I would try it, but I have a feeling convincing the wife would take some cajoling. Another issue would be our kids schooling that will start in a couple years. Home school is an option but not sure if either of us are up to that.

My job (CPA) could be ideal for that though – be here from Jan-Apr then move on. Most offseason work requires less face time so I could probably go location independent with some tweaking.

If you’re considering international destinations, I’d feel that you’d really want to learn the languages of the country first (or while living there at least). Otherwise I don’t think I’d ever be able to shake the “I’m just an outsider/tourist” feeling.

But of course the big issue is traveling, both as an environmental concern and cost. But I suppose the whole thing is mitigated if you find exactly the right locus of points like Jacob mentioned in his comment. Though even then I feel like that’s not an experience that’d be valuable. If you’ve ever visited the Four Corners in the US, it’s novel to hop between states for a few seconds, but really, one side of the imaginary line is as much the same as another. I think to really get a change of pace in environment and culture, large distances do need to be involved. Otherwise you might as well move your home 10 inches to the left and call it a new location.

Of course I think that the ‘explore your backyard’ idea needs to be repeated. I mean if your just going to live inside your house by yourself, why bother with the change of scenery. If you go to each location for the unique things they offer, if you’re sitting in front of your TV/computer it’s meaningless.

Taxes? If you have a low income, establish your base in a state with no sales tax. If your income is less than approximately $19k as a married couple, then Oregon, for instance would not tax your income.

If you have a high income, go for a state with no income tax and the lowest sales tax.

New Hampshire has no sales taxes, but the highway to Massachusetts sure has a lot of toll roads.

There is no income tax in Texas (and other states) no matter how high your income, but Texas does have pretty high property taxes. Actually, I know a subdivision with no property taxes because they get all their money from sales taxes; of course their property is quite expensive.

Surely life isn’t not all about (not) paying taxes!

How will you make your life meaningful?

What about working politically? for a non-profit? volunteering for something? Less easy if you come and go all the time…

Nice – I’ve never heard of the term “five-flagging” – is that common? I’d definitely be up for it!

i do this already except no need for 5.
whistler for 6 months winter (tourist visa)
europe 3 months (tourist visa)
australia 3 months
been doing this for the past 3 years

2 flagging would be my first step. PA during the spring to fall. HI, CA, or FL (Not a TX fan, though would try it for 6 months 😉 during the Fall to spring. I prefer warm weather year round at cheap cost-of-living areas. (So I would grow a garden and carry what vegetables i could over in the transfers, Since COL in HI is Triple that of PA, especially electricity!) You get to enjoy more free entertainment/exercise in Warm weather. (Plus you eat less and burn off more calories by being outside more often.)

Funny how the video game market takes advantage of this simple idea, and overprices new releases of Video Games in November to the targetted North Eastern USA and UK during winter months. They Postpone new releases to Australia til May.

I’m going to be doing this, but I’ll be teaching. The amount of teaching jobs overseas boggles the mind. Everything from short term summer teaching jobs, to semester long jobs, to year long contracts. Some countries- like Korea and Japan- all you need is a clean back ground check and a B.A. in any discipline. Other countries, you need that plus a TEFL certificate- which can be had in 4 weeks for under $2,000. You can easily find jobs overseas that offer free housing, free healthcare, free visa assistance, and generous vacation time. You are paid a very comfortable wage that is usually equivalent to upper middle class or upper class in that country. And, if you happen to be a certified teacher in your home country, the jobs get even better- Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., and China all offer tax free salaries of around $5-$6,000 a month, with all of the above perks, plus they usually also offer round trip plane tickets home once a year for you, your spouse, and up to two or three dependents (all of whom, of course, are covered on health insurance). With the summers off, you can live in many different countries on tourist visas, or WOOF- work on organic farms and get free room/board while you live in a foreign country.

I have lived and worked in Japan for a year, and come May 2012 when I get my teaching certificate my partner and I are heading overseas for 3 to 5 years. I’m planning teaching one year contracts in a few countries that are good hubs from which to travel to others during my long summers. International schools are hiring like crazy. I know far too many teachers here in the U.S. who have been unemployed for a year +, yet when I suggest this to them they say it’s too hard, too far, too too too…

I say, if you can make more than here, travel, get free health insurance and housing, and earn good money where you can usually sock away substantial amounts of cash- U.A.E./Saudi Arabia/China you can save 50-70% of your tax free salary- why not do it?

From what I understand, the five flags theory is more about sheltering yourself from taxes and protecting your assets. The “fifth” flag is the country where you spend your time. However this variation of the plan seems like a lot more fun with a lot less work.

I’ve been looking into this recently – still have lots to learn though. As much as I’d love to retire now, I’m a bit young for it yet, so really need to look for income generating assets and passive income.

Any suggestions for those of us lacking a little creativity?

What you’re describing is pretty much my post-divorce Plan B (if my new love says no, Plan A being to remarry). One thing that occurs to me about trying to set this up with a core group of five swapping/sharing partners is that you’d want to do it with people you know and trust, but you’d end up hardly ever seeing them because you’d never be in the same place at the same time.

@Mike – Sounds like a cheaper version of airbnb.com(?)

sounds great – but isnt really practical if you’re raising a family or have close friendships with people.
I’m based in the UK and have the choice of living in any of the 27 european union countries or the 25+ uk overseas territories.
Prefer having my roots near my family and friends and then taking lots of vacations.
Like Dorothy said in the Wizard Of Oz “Theres no place like home.”

Not sure if I would call it 5-flag, but between other (expat) friends worldwide, we have created a small group, with the intention that we can share each other homes (when in ER), and I would love to expand this sharing homes idea with a wider group, as long as there is a mechanism to “screen” each other, so it remains a trusted group of home sharing.

You can get a country, like England, and it doesn’t matter how frequently/infrequently you’re rotating in-and-out on tourist visas, they may decide you’re actually “living there” and boot you out for a few years. Happened to a woman I worked with. If they arbitrarily decide you’re more ‘resident’ than ‘tourist’, sayonara! …Or in their case, “Cheerio old chap!”

I love this idea. I don’t know if I’d want to do 5 countries, but would love the idea of a few (although I understand how tourist visa restrictions seem to force this). I’m working on finding ways that I can earn an income from anywhere to allow for this. I do some free-lance writing already so this will be in the mix. I’ve taught college classes for a number of years so teaching English could be a good fit as well.