It’s ok to change the plan…the evolution of our lives as nomads.
About 20 months ago our decision to change our lifestyle by simplifying as many aspects of our lives as possible was the subject of this magazine article by a Spanish journalist. It was interesting to read it again now, after we have actually been out into the world, traveling and meeting so many people of other cultures, and then returned to Cape Town for 7 months.
At the time I was interviewed the plan was to actually no longer own a house or a car, and just try and live out of our suitcases while traveling the world fairly aimlessly, as the wind blows. That sounds easy enough, but things didn’t work out quite like that. After lots of thought and discussion we decided to take a more conservative approach and buy my family home so that we would have a base camp in Cape Town in case we felt that continuous travel was too exhausting. That turned out to be exactly the case…
A year of travel may sound exciting, but it can take a toll on one, especially when one has left family and friends back home. Akhona Kraai and I realized that we need both travel and family in order to feel truly happy, so we adjusted our approach. The beauty of being the master of your own life is that you can change your plans, try different approaches, experiment as you go along.
So our philosophy remains pretty much the same, but we both realized that we need to remain grounded, with a place to call home, rather than just moving around endlessly. We have met some travellers who do just that, and they seem to love it, but we need one place on earth where we can feel safe and secure. We now call that place our summer Gypsy Camp, and it will evolve over time. Remember that we are making this up as we go along, as very few South Africans follow our lifestyle. There are lots of Americans and Europeans doing something similar, but their reality is not ours. Our currency hovers as R 14 – R15 to the US$. so travelling is expensive for us in almost all countries on earth.
As we are often asked how we manage to live a life which involves regular travel for prolonged periods, here is the answer in a few sentences. Firstly work very hard to try and make yourself as financially independent as possible. That means earning far more money than you spend each month. So unless you earn R 50 000/month, don’t stay in a big house and drive sportscars 🙂 Live a frugal life, save money, and try and invest in an additional property or two which you know will appreciate in value over period of say 10 yrs.
Eventually you will have to cash in your chips as I did, and then live off a combination of the proceeds of your investments, and the odd bit of income you can generate using your skills while you travel. We volunteer, and barter our skills in exchange for accommodation and food for around 20 – 30% of the time we travel, in order to keep our travels sustainable. It didn’t happen overnight, it took 30 years to get to this point. Stick with it and you can do something similar as well 🙂
Alternatively you can take a different approach which involves working for 2-3 years at a time, saving money, traveling for a year or two, and then repeating the process. This works if you are in a profession or career which allows leaving your job every few years, and then getting it back again 🙂 We have met quite a few people who are doctors, researchers, nurses, etc. who take this approach.
