In 2013, Michael and Debbie Campbell were a married couple living in Seattle and approaching retirement with financial trepidation and the looming question, What’s next? Today, they are the Senior Nomads — travelers who live full-time on the road, staying in Airbnbs around the world.
2013年，迈克尔和德比·坎贝尔是一对生活在西雅图的夫妇，他们即将退休，没有太多钱，迫在眉睫的问题是，接下来干什么？现在，他们是老年游民(Senior Nomads)——在世界各地的爱彼迎(Airbnb)客房辗转，成为全职的旅行者。
We profiled the couple when they were two years and 31 countries into their journey, renting out their home in Seattle should they want to return. Since then, they have sold the house and visited a total of 80 countries, spending an average of $92 a night on lodging (their target in setting out was $90). They have also become an inspiration to many retirees, who write them emails and, in some cases, have followed their lead.
我们曾经介绍了这对夫妇在两年时间里游历31个国家的经历，当时他们把西雅图的房子租了出去，这样他们回来还可以住。之后，他们把房子卖掉，一共去了80个国家，平均每晚的住宿费用是92美元（他们的目标是90美元）。他们给很多退休人员带来启发，这些人写来电子邮件，有些开始效仿他们。
“We’ve been to old places like Ephesus, Pompeii and Petra,” Mr. Campbell, 72, said. “We saw Handel’s Messiah performed in Granada, Spain. Very few will know this, but Kazakhstan held Expo 2017 in their capital of Astana. We went to that.”
“我们去了以弗所、庞贝和佩特拉等老地方，”72岁的坎贝尔先生说。“我们在西班牙的格拉纳达看了亨德尔的歌剧《弥赛亚》。很少有人知道，2017年的世博会是在哈萨克斯坦首都阿斯塔纳举办的。我们也去了。”
Ms. Campbell, 62, added, “Since we’re not going home, we just set a path and say, ‘Where can we go from here?’”
62岁的坎贝尔夫人补充说，“既然我们不回家，我们就设定一条路线，然后说，‘我们从这里能去哪里?’”
Below are edited excerpts from a conversation with the Campbells as the Nomads mark their fifth anniversary on the road in July. They spoke via FaceTime from Tokyo, a part of the world they were visiting for the first time.
7月是这对游民夫妇在路上的第五个年头，以下是对他们采访的节选，内容经过编辑。他们在东京通过FaceTime接受采访，这是他们第一次去那里。
So how are your accommodations in Toyko?
你们在东京住得怎么样？
Ms. Campbell It’s the smallest Airbnb we have ever stayed in out of 191. It’s the size of a small single-car garage. But I managed to cook dinner in the galley kitchen.
坎贝尔夫人：在我们住过的191个爱彼迎房间当中，这是最小的一个。它只有一间停一辆车的车库那么大。但我还是设法在厨房做饭。
Mr. Campbell The first part of the year we were five weeks in New Zealand, then a month in Australia, then working from Singapore north through Asia. We’ve been to Malaysia, Cambodia, Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul and then here. We’re leaving tomorrow for Kyoto.
坎贝尔先生：今年上半年，我们在新西兰待了五周，然后在澳大利亚住了一个月，之后从新加坡一路往北穿过亚洲。我们去了马来西亚、柬埔寨、北京、香港、首尔，然后来到这里。我们明天去京都。
Of all the places you’ve traveled to, can you talk about a few moments that stand out?
在你们去过的所有地方，你能说说那些让人难忘的时刻吗？
Ms. Campbell One of our goals is to be where history is in the making. We decided to go to London, to spend one week there before the Brexit vote and one week after. We ended up staying in this little lane of 40 houses in Peckham Rye. The neighbors came out in the morning bleary-eyed, like, ‘What just happened?’
坎贝尔夫人：我们的目标之一，就是去正在创造历史的地方。我们决定去伦敦，在英国脱欧公投前的一周和之后的一周待在那里。我们最后在佩克姆赖伊有40栋房子的一条小路上住了下来。邻居们早上睡眼惺忪地出现，问，“刚刚发生了什么事？”
Mr. Campbell So many Americans have been to Omaha Beach and the American cemetery in France. But someone tipped us off to the German cemetery. The gravestones aren’t white; they’re black stone crosses. How many Germans go to pay tribute to the Germans who died at Normandy? Our perception is very few visitors.
坎贝尔先生：很多美国人都去过法国的奥马哈海滩和美军墓地。但有人提醒我们去德军墓地看看。那里的墓碑不是白色的，而是黑色的石头十字架。有多少德国人会去悼念死在诺曼底的德国人？我们的感觉是不多。
Are you different people than you were five years ago? If so, how?
你们跟五年前比，有什么不同吗？如果有的话，是怎样的不同？
Ms. Campbell It’s a gradual change that comes over you. For myself, I’m much braver than I was, more willing to go through any door, happy with less. I have slowed things way down. We have the luxury of time. We’ve really become flexible. We’ve become tolerant and gracious with each other. There’s a lot of grace in our marriage.
坎贝尔夫人：这是一个逐渐发生的变化。就我自己来说，我比过去的胆子大了，走进任何一扇门都不是问题，而且变得知足常乐。我放慢了速度。我们有充裕的时间。我们懂得变通了。变得对彼此宽容和仁慈。我们的婚姻中有很多美好的东西。
Mr. Campbell The marriage has never been stronger. Debbie is left-handed, I’m right-handed. She’s creative, I’m an Excel spreadsheet guy. Yet we’ve been able to bring those skills together to divide the chores, and we’re rowing the boat in the same direction. We have purpose. You wouldn’t want to do this with anyone but your best friend.
坎贝尔先生：我们的婚姻从未如此牢固。黛比是左撇子，我是右撇子。她很有创意，我是一个事事都按Excel表格的人。然而，我们能把这些技能结合在一起分配各种事务，我们正向着同一个方向努力。我们有目标。你只想和你最好的朋友一起做这种事。
You’ve also become role models for people young and old, unexpectedly.
你们出乎意料地成了年轻人和老年人的榜样。
Ms. Campbell Oh my god, I’ve looked at my phone more than once and said, ‘We have a job. How did that happen?’ I’ve written 154 blog posts now. I’ve picked up my game on Instagram. We’ve launched a lot of nomads. People write us: “We’re leaving in three months.” Everyone, no matter what age, says, ‘You are living our dream.’
坎贝尔夫人：我的天，我不止一次地看着手机说：‘我们简直有了工作。这是怎么回事？’我现在写了154篇博客。我在Instagram上非常活跃。我们促成了很多人成为游牧族。人们给我们写信：“我们三个月内就要动身了。”老老少少都会跟我们说，“你们实现了我们的梦想。”
Mr. Campbell We hope we will inspire people to follow their own North Star when it comes to retirement. They probably have a series of no’s that are comfortable for them: why they aren’t starting a business, why they aren’t riding a bike across the country, whatever.
坎贝尔先生：我们希望能激励人们在退休后追求自己的目标和方向。可能有一系列事情，是他们没有信心去做的：不管怎么说，他们为什么不创业，为什么不骑行穿越全国各地呢。
You may not have become the Senior Nomads 15 years ago, before digital technology changed travel. Besides Airbnb, what apps or websites do you rely on?
15年前，在数字技术改变旅行之前，你们可能不会成为资深游牧族。除了爱彼迎，你们还依赖哪些手机应用或网站？
Ms. Campbell Michael sat down and had 600 words on paper in 10 minutes describing all the ways we use technology to do what we are doing and the list was staggering. From free library books for our Kindles to Google Translate. I like Culture Trip. You can type in any city and it gives you interesting things to do there.
坎贝尔夫人：有一次，迈克尔坐下来，在10分钟内写了600字，描述了我们如何以各种方式利用科技做到了我们现在做的事情，这个名单非常惊人。从我们的Kindle免费书籍到谷歌翻译。我喜欢Culture Trip。你可以在上面输入任何城市，它会告诉你在那儿能做什么有趣的事情。
Mr. Campbell Skyscanner is my go to flight website. Rome2rio helps you plan travel between any two cities in the world, whether to go by plane, train, bus.
坎贝尔先生：Skyscanner是我最常用的乘飞机网站。Rome2rio可以帮助你计划在世界上任何两个城市之间的旅行，无论是乘坐飞机、火车，还是公共汽车。
You manage your money carefully in order to keep traveling. Have you ever said, “Forget the budget”?
为了继续旅行，你们得小心管理金钱。你们有没有哪次说过，“不管预算了”？
Ms. Campbell I’d have to put Michael to bed. Delirium would set in. What we did do one time to take a break is we spent a week on a boat out of Montenegro. Up the coast to Dubrovnik and back. And I got a tattoo and went on safari in Tanzania for my 60th birthday.
坎贝尔夫人：那我就得逼着迈克尔上床睡觉了。否则他会兴奋过头。确实有一次，我们放松了一下，在黑山的一条船上过了一星期。沿着海岸到达杜布罗夫尼克，然后返回。还有一次，我们在坦桑尼亚游猎，庆祝我的60岁生日，我做了一个文身。
Mr. Campbell We’re going back to Europe over the summer. We’ve rented three different boats in three different countries. We will sit in the marina. The first one is in early July in Croatia, the second is in Valencia, the third is the South of France, near Nice. That’s a splurge.
坎贝尔先生：我们要在夏天回到欧洲。我们已经在三个不同的国家租了三艘不同的船。我们会待在码头。第一个是7月初在克罗地亚，第二个是在瓦伦西亚，第三个是法国南部，靠近尼斯。真是挥霍。
How long can you keep this up?
你们能坚持多久？
Mr. Campbell Once a year we go back to Seattle and we go, ‘Well, maybe this is the end.’ Each time, within a few weeks, we decide we want to keep going. As we sit here, we’ve got plans through early October. It’s hard to know how we will feel when we get back. We could get back going, ‘God, that was enough.’ Or three weeks later, we could go, ‘We haven’t seen South America yet.’
坎贝尔先生：我们一年回一次西雅图，我们会说，“好吧，也许这就是结束了。”每一次，不出几周，我们就决定继续旅行。当我们坐在这儿的时候，我们已经有了10月初的计划。现在很难知道等我们回来时会有什么感受。我们可能会回去，心里想，“天哪，已经足够了。”或许过了三个星期，我们又会说，“我们还没去过南美洲呢。”
Ms. Campbell We’ve been able to sustain it for five years. We’re not in debt. I’ve crossed over into Social Security land. It turns out that it’s possible.
坎贝尔夫人：我们已经维持五年了。我们没有债务。我已经进入了社会保障领域。事实证明这是有可能的。
Mr. Campbell We have five tick boxes: are we having fun? are we learning? are we healthy? are we sort of in budget? and are we in love? Fortunately, we’ve both been on the same page every time we’ve had to cross that bridge.
坎贝尔先生：我们有五个用来自问的选项：我们玩得开心吗？我们在学习吗？我们健康吗？我们基本在预算范围内吗？我们相爱吗？幸运的是，每当我们必须做决定时，我们的意见都保持一致。
纽约时报 STEVEN KURUTZ
2018年7月20日
2018年7月20日
