Growing up I thought life followed a set of pre-determined “rules,” the so-called blueprint for the “American Dream” here in the U.S. It’s just what you did, right? I imagined a life working somewhere with the typical 1-2 weeks off per year, hopefully on a vacation, and it scared the absolute shit out of me! It just didn’t make any sense. Not much time for the people you love number one, and number two stagnation. Doesn’t sound like too much fun all while age is taking its toll on your body. You simply can’t do at 50 what you could do at 21. Well, most of us anyways. Once I hit around 21 years of age, I started to see something else entirely through the fog of conformity.
Have you ever heard the saying, ‘movement is life and stagnation is death?” Well, it’s definitely a fact in all aspects of life. Have you ever seen someone you know who watches television for hours on end all a sudden after leaving an active lifestyle? It’s like their health just goes straight to the proverbial shitter. I mean it’s like they age 2-3 years every year instead of the normal time elapsing. Coming from a fitness background I can tell you that working out is the closest thing you will get to the “fountain of youth.” That can also be quite a balancing act as well. Work out too often and too hard you will beat your body up too much, too little and you will be no better than the couch potato.
We don’t have much “active” time here that is for sure. “Active” in the sense of vibrant health years. The more you work out and take care of yourself the more time you are actually creating for yourself. I’m getting to the point here I promise. I’m simply setting it up with the prerequisites needed to carry out a fulfilling active life in the first place.
I personally think life is all about experiences. This spans human interactions, and travel above all else. If I were to ask you what some of your most vivid memories were, I know for a fact you would respond with some vacation spot, or possibly military duty overseas, etc. These memories are what we seem to recall first. Then, it could be a song you hear that takes you back to that moment in time to relive it again and again. Interesting, right?
Having searched long and hard for a method to nomadic bliss, I came across all kinds of ways to travel. Some for free! Yep, I said free. The free travel does come in the form of volunteer work mostly, but as long as you have some money saved it can last quite some time especially while overseas. So, the question is, how do we come up with money saved in the first place to travel and experience different places and culture?
Funds can be attained through small investments that will render some kind of return over short periods of time. This does take some knowledge as you might expect, but it can be done. This is money being made by simply doing nothing after the initial purchase. Usually, you want something that will give you at least 30%+ over 6-12 months. That would be the goal. You don’t want to wait years for something to gain that percentage of return. It’s all about short term “flipping” as some would call it to generate more money.
One other way is to live as minimalistic as possible. This can be done while living with family at a lower rate than your own apartment while you produce an income from a job along with other methods if possible. You can then work a job, for say 6 months to a year, then travel on the cheap for 3-6 months! That would be the goal. I will say you can’t spend exorbitantly on wants when you are saving for travel. It will only put you behind. Depending on where you are heading you may also obtain income through employment at your destination if desired.
One method of travel that used to be quite awesome was through joining the military. Unfortunately, due to moronic politics I can’t recommend this method any longer. Gone are the days of enjoying certain freedoms awarded through the military service and ushered in have been new rules and regulations taking the fun out of damn near everything. Not to mention tying the hands of troops in most cases causing international blunders at times. I wanted to add this nugget because the first thing that comes to mind pertaining to travel while working is the military. Just not a good choice in our present day though.
Travelling and experiencing different places will give you an idea of what is out there in this giant world. Who knows you may even find that ideal spot, you want to be long-term once you have been out there experiencing different places. You could find something you enjoy doing for someone or yourself to create an income and live your best life in the environment you most enjoy!
I think a large misconception is you have to live this way completely on your own. I say nonsense! There are others out there with the same mindset I can promise you that. Whether that be a friend, family member, or spouse. This mindset of travel and experience does exist in others. It’s not going to be your average normie, but it’s out there. If you choose to be on your own, I’d recommend some self-reliance tradecraft classes especially for the females out there. One can learn protection tradecraft on their own but there is nothing like experiencing it in a course. Violence is real, and women are targeted much more than men, it’s just how it is. The female slave trade is maybe worse than it ever has been before. Watch the movie Taken and it will give you a good idea of what can happen. Just a recommendation in an ever-changing world. Safety in numbers is real.
It goes without saying, self-employed individuals are going to prosper in a nomadic lifestyle. It is a huge benefit of being able to make your own money without reliance on others for a “paycheck.” The method of old-school working for others isn’t dead just yet either. Living on a budget while saving can be done. This will still allow anyone to leave employment and come back later if desired. This can create some re-employment issues but not usually when up-front about short-term employment before being hired on.
If someone asked me what might be as important as the money, I would say safety. Without both you will either be in the same spot dreaming of travel, or in a bad situation in a far-away land that was supposed to bring you joy. Not all who read this post will share the same penchant for traveling and experiencing different places and faces, but others will have definitely kicked the idea around before reading this. I can hope that this gave some an idea of the methods to live a nomadic lifestyle while addressing some obstacles in the way. Till next time…