Slow Travel vs Rent
Going abroad for 3-12 months: keep the empty apartment, sublet, or break the lease? Three-option cost comparison surfaces which is cheapest given your specific months, sublet recovery, and re-entry market.
When each option wins
Three patterns emerge from the math:
- Option B (sublet) wins for 3-6 month trips with 60%+ recovery. The sublet recovery is essentially free money: someone else lives there, you don't lose your home base, and the marginal cost is the gap between rent and what they pay.
- Option C (break lease) wins for 9-12+ month trips OR when sublet is illegal. The break-lease fee is sunk, but you stop paying the monthly rent entirely. Past 6-9 months the saved rent exceeds the break-fee + storage + re-entry cost.
- Option A (keep empty) only wins in narrow cases. Very short trips (1-2 months), or when sublet is illegal AND break-lease fee is exceptionally high. The "I might come back early" justification is usually fiction.
The legality wildcard. Sublet recovery in major cities depends on local law and lease terms. NYC's Multiple Dwelling Law restricts sub-30-day rentals in most multi-unit buildings. SF requires hosting compliance. EU cities (Barcelona, Berlin, Amsterdam) have aggressive Airbnb licensing. Verify your specific building and city before assuming a 70% recovery rate. The honest baseline if you're uncertain: assume 0% sublet recovery and let option C win on long trips.
Math runs locally. Inputs never leave your browser. Source on github.
Real-world scenarios
- Sabbatical ROI Calculator — if your slow travel is part of a sabbatical, this tool's "monthly expenses during gap" input pairs with the slow-travel destination cost.
- Geo-Arbitrage Calculator — if you're testing a long-term move, slow travel is the trial run. Use this tool for the trial period, geo-arbitrage for the steady-state move.
- Moving Cost Calculator — if option C wins and you're doing a permanent move on return, the moving-cost tool catches the additional one-time costs.