Since this is mainly a blog about making lifestyle choices, I have decided to dedicate a whole post to the magical world of travel and why exactly it is, we can't stop thinking about it. Everything you'll read in this post won't come as a surprise to my fellow travelers, but for those of you who have never really been outside of your home country or have only experienced the odd all inclusive club holiday here and there, I'd like to tell you why traveling for longer amounts of time - outside of resorts - is something everybody should experience at least once during their lifetime. If you have read the 'About' page of my blog, you already know that I'm a small town girl. I grew up in a small village in Germany and had never really been anywhere - other than family vacations as a child - before traveling to Australia. I had no clue what this world had to offer and I had no idea how beautiful this planet could be. I didn't know how overwhelming the feeling is, while standing in a place that quite simply takes your breath away and makes you want to cry, just because you're that happy and content.
I know it sounds cheesy and some of you might think I'm exaggerating but trust me when I say, I'm not. I have actually stood in several places in Australia, teary-eyed and overcome by emotions because I couldn't believe I was actually there, experiencing it and living my dream. I had worked hard to make this year happen and it was an emotional roller-coaster for me. Leaving the nest and my family and friends for such a long time, not knowing where I was going or what was going to happen. It was scary and quite possibly the hardest thing I've ever done but I'm so happy I went through with it, despite several people trying to talk me out of it. You see, there's always going to be those people trying to tell you you're crazy and irresponsible for abandoning your life and job, just to go off and "waste" your time. But here's the thing. I've had a lot of jobs in my life I actually hated, but went every day for months on end anyways, because I thought that's what people do. I won't get those months back and they truly were waste. A whole year of bliss and memories in Australia, four and a half months of traveling the second time around, enjoying every single day on the road, waking up with a smile on my face and falling asleep with an even bigger smile on my face. Nah, I wouldn't call that a waste of time.
Try to imagine the life you have now without responsibilities. No rent, no monthly bill payments, no everyday job you have to go to and best of all, NOBODY knows you. And I think that was the part I enjoyed the most when I first arrived in Sydney all those years ago. I grew up in a town where you couldn't fart without someone knowing about it and all of a sudden I was on the other side of the world, by myself and nobody knew who I was. You can be whoever you want to be. You can reinvent yourself. Nobody you meet will judge you by past mistakes or things you've done or say things to you because they think they know you. Because they don't! You're a stranger to them as much as they are strangers to you and you get to start a new life and make new friends and everybody gets a clean slate. It's amazing and you don't really realize how much your image confines you until it's not an issue anymore. It's not that I had a bad reputation or was embarrassed by who I was at home. But the people who watched me grow up or grew up with me see a stamp on my forehead that says NINA and a list of my characteristics below, no matter if they love or dislike me, and if you go someplace where people don't know you, your forehead is a blank canvas and you get to decide what you want that next stamp to say. Adrian and I joked about this a lot before we went on our second long trip. We were practicing all kinds of silly accents and made up back-stories and personalities of people we'd like to be. We never actually went through with it and never pretended to be someone else in the end, but we were still talking with an exaggerated British accent while we were driving through New Zealand and we had so much fun with it.
Of course you still have certain expenses while traveling, but it's only a fraction of what you would have to pay in your regular life. You'll have to pay for your accommodations, but it's a lot cheaper than renting an apartment or paying a mortgage and both Australia and New Zealand, for example, have plenty of free camp sites you can spend the night at. Just go to any one of the hundreds of information centers all over those countries and get a map of where the free sites are located. They won't have showers but people can just stand up wind from you until you find a fresh water lake or river to bathe in. A lot of hostels will offer free accommodations in exchange for work. You'll have to do things like cleaning the kitchen, work at the reception or wash and fold pillow cases and bed sheets. I did this for quite a few weeks, it's a great way to save and I promise they won't work you to death. I only worked 3 hours a day, 3 days a week and didn't have to pay a cent. You don't have to worry about hydro or water or phone bills while traveling, either. We shared a mobile between the two of us and it was a very cheap pay-as-you-go. We barely ever had money on it but people were able to reach us and that was enough to stay in contact with our families and made us feel safer in case of an emergency. In our regular life we pay about 170 $ for both our phone plans and that's a lot of money you could be saving each month. So if you're good at budgeting and don't blow your money on partying and eating out every day, you can make your money last a looooooong time and you can always work here and there if you feel like you're starting to run out. Don't wait until you're standing there with 10 bucks in your pocket to look for work. Trust me, we've been there and it's not much fun. I have made the mistake of turning down a job that was offered to me at a time when I still had plenty of money in the bank, and when I needed one, because I ran out of savings and waited to the last moment to look for work, I couldn't find one. So you might want to think about working whenever the opportunity arises. Go to the supermarket to buy food and cook, instead of eating at restaurants three times a day, because that will quickly eat up your savings. Adrian and I had to learn that the hard way as well. Be smart, not lazy. Have fun but don't overdo it and it'll work out great. Of course the game changes when you've got kids to worry about and the whole life on the road is going to be a little more challenging. That's why we're currently living in a house, not a bus. If you don't have any kids yet and maybe only renting an apartment or better yet, still living with the parents, now is the time to do it.
Then there is the sense of freedom that comes with living on the road. There is nothing quite like it. It's addictive and once it stops, you never quite stop craving it. When you're traveling, you have nothing to worry about and nothing that is weighing you down. You simply get to live each day exactly the way you want to live it. You want to spend the whole day at the beach and do nothing at all? Done. You want to get in the car and see what the next town has to offer? Done. You want to stay somewhere for a while because you like the feel of the place and find work for a couple of weeks? Done. You are in charge of everything and you're free to do as you please. Again, as long as you're smart about making your money last. Also, I believe it's best to save up a few extra bucks before you leave for your extended trip, so you can buy a car right away. You can always get around by bus, train or hitchhiking but it's cheaper in the long run to drive your own car, especially because you can sell it at the end of your trip and get your money back, which is a nice cushion to have once you get back home to nothing. We've bought cars both in Australia and New Zealand. They weren't new and they were fairly cheap, but they got us to where we wanted to go and the process of buying and selling vehicles in those countries couldn't be easier. Also, the insurance is dirt cheap compared to Canada. It also gives you a lot more freedom to travel in your own car/van/camper. Here's why. I made the trip from Sydney to Byron Bay twice. Once by Greyhound and once by car with friends and would not recommend the first option. The trip on the Greyhound bus was an overnight drive and even though we stopped twice, we did so at rest stops right on the side of the highway and I didn't see anything on a 13 hour journey. The second time around we took 3 days to drive up the coast, stayed in the cutest little towns, visited a wildlife sanctuary, some beautiful beaches and even went on a dolphin cruise. I got to see the amazing scenery I had totally missed the first time around and it was just so much more fun and a lot more relaxed that way. And again, it's a lot cheaper to sleep in your car on a free camp site, than pay for accommodation at hostels. It's up to you, but just think about that when you're trying to figure out how much money you want to save up before you head out.
And last but not least, I love traveling because of the people you get to meet and the different cultures you get to learn about. I love the feeling of kinship and the instant connection you get when meeting other travelers, simply because only those people know exactly how you feel and what you're going through. You don't get to know the people in the country you're visiting by staying at a resort for a couple of weeks, not really talking to a single local other than the staff. Two weeks is not nearly long enough to get a sense of the culture and the values those people live by. I have met people from all around the world and it has definitely made me a more open minded and more tolerant person. You cannot judge a person by their origin alone and I have experienced this myself a lot. People saying things like "Hey, I heard you Germans are really boring and serious and angry all the time, but you're nothing like that," or "I thought you guys are all racist over there but you seem alright." Every country has its prejudices and after meeting so many different races and cultures I have to say, not many of them are true. I have met amazing people, some of them I'm still in contact with and some I'm not but will never forget. People who have left a lingering impression and some who have had a real impact on my life and I'm grateful for every single friend I got to make along the way.
Personally, I'll never forget the feeling of sitting in a car for days on end, just listening to music and taking in the scenery, with the windows down and feet up on the dash board, while the sun is shining on my face and not knowing where we're going to stop next or what's around the next corner. What I do know is that it's going to be beautiful and picture worthy, no matter where we stop and that I'm going to sleep like a baby and wake up happy the next morning, ready for another day of adventure and I miss it so much, I want to sell everything this instant and just buy four tickets to Thailand? South America? India? Who cares as long as it's warm. And this is why I want to travel with my children. Not just for the sake of showing them amazing places but because we, as parents, are so much happier and relaxed while living this kind of life, compared to being stressed out and moody all the time because we can't keep up with the bills. I want my children to remember us being happy while they were growing up. I want them to see us with smiling faces when they think back to their childhood, not us frowning and yelling and rushing all the time.
Now, I'm not saying that your life isn't a full one or that mine is better than yours because I have traveled and I do believe that not everyone is cut out for it. If you're absolutely happy and content with the way things are, don't change it and keep doing what you're doing. But if you have thought about leaving your life behind for a little while to see what the world has to offer you and are hungering for a taste of freedom, don't let anyone talk you out of it or hold you back. DO IT! You will not regret it and it will make your life so much richer. You will get to experience things nobody can take away from you. You'll get to tell those stories to your children and grandchildren one day, and let them know that you took the risk of doing something different and that it was the best decision you ever made.
Live. Laugh. Travel. Explore. Take chances. You only live once so why not make the most of it? If you have questions regarding traveling for several months at a time, don't hesitate to comment or email me. I promise I will answer as best and as fast as I can and maybe even give you that extra, little push you need to book that flight ticket to your dream destination.
If you have any lingering doubt about if we were truly happy while on the road, please just take a good look at us in the pictures above. Look at those smiling faces. They pretty much scream 'I'm on top of the world and love my life right now.' I'm hoping we get to capture many more smiling faces and add many more travel and adventure pages to our personal book of life, and I'm looking forward to sharing every one with you.
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