I'm 55 with no idea where I want to retire. Housesitting is helping me work my way toward an answer.

I've spent the last three years living out of suitcases and housesitting from Washington to Mexico, trying to figure out where I want to retire.

Amber Campbell At 55, I thought I would have already figured out where I want to retire in the next few years.

Instead, I've been living out of suitcases and housesitting in different places to see what I like.

I still don't know where I will retire, but I do have a much better idea of what I want — and don't.

I always thought I'd be settled somewhere for good by age 55, with a comfortable home, established garden, and chest freezer in the garage.

But after growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, raising my kids in Seattle, and becoming an empty nester , I realized I had no idea where I wanted to settle down.

For the first time in more than 20 years, I suddenly had the freedom to choose where I wanted to live.

So at 52, I started housesitting in exchange for places to stay so I could travel without depleting my savings.

I quickly realized how much I enjoyed the nomadic lifestyle and how this gave me the opportunity to test out places I might eventually want to live in.

After a few months, I liked it so much that I gave away almost everything I owned, put the rest in storage, and decided to do it full-time.

That was almost three years ago.

Since then, I've lived in dozens of cities, towns, and remote islands, from northern Washington to the southeastern coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula .

Housesitting has changed my mind about what I thought I wanted Living in so many different places for several weeks or even months at a time helped me realize that how I want to live is just as important as where I want to live.

Amber Campbell I typically stay in each home for two weeks to three months at a time, which allows me to get to know a new place without signing a lease, buying a house, or committing to a community.