Need advice on "best option" for my situation

[Austin B.]

I am pretty new to real estate. Bought my first home in 2019, thankfully right before the mayhem that saw home values go to the moon. I am ready to move on from this home for various reasons. I expect to sell it for about $100k over purchase price. After closing costs + fees I am going to pay off some personal debts I incurred while unemployed last year. After all is said and done, I expect to have about $50k leftover. I wanted to look at moving south, somewhere a bit warmer than where I currently live. I was toying with the idea of buying property south of the border, but I don't think that's the best idea for somebody so new to this game! My situation is: I'm single, I work remotely, income $145k and I really dislike the cold and am considering a winter-long trip touring Mexico, something I have wanted to do for a while.

I think the best option for me would be to find a townhome at about ~$500-550k with 3-4 bedrooms, rent the rooms out and live in one. Then, I can decide if I do want to leave for the winter and I can rent my last room out during that period. There aren't a lot of other options that make much sense to me, but if you have any suggestions then please let me know.

The other option is: don't purchase any property, just do some short-term rentals (or heck, buy a camper van!) and put the rest of the money in some other investment, like a REIT or even an index fund.