(On a stopover in Seoul, South Korea.)And so it is for me.
Wherever the living is good, we move there. It just makes sense, no?
And at times of tight budgets, some of us even move offshore for a while. (or in my case, why wait for bad times? Just go ahead and make the move early.)
That's been me now for the last few weeks.
Offshore also means moving to a country where the US dollar goes further, can buy more, etc...
I still get questions of where I am based. So I just say, wherever I am, there is my home. Which is a true statement when we are comfy with wherever we are.
Right now, I live in my original offshore home. Very lucky to have this abode, I must say.
The power of the nomad is the ability to move even countries. Many more seasoned travelers than I are all probably out here as well... making best use of a devalued US dollar and living like kings and queens on Social Security or retirement or just earning an income through some internet business that can be accessed through any laptop in any of the world's coffee shops.
Eat shrimp the size of large sausages... Everyday is party time. :) In a world of international commerce, we now have all the signature brand restaurants all over the world. And of course, the ubiquitous McD's, if that is your thing.
I am still reveling in my decision to leave the fixed life and go nomadic. I haven't regretted a single day. It's a wonderful life to be had. Sure, there has been times of sacrifice and a bit of hardship. Nobody said this would be easy. But the rewards of being able to make money on the road... to earn some silver on the run... that is priceless...
Even more priceless is the happiness of those people whom I visit on my travels. We are given so short a time on this Earth to spend... I'd rather spend it with people close to my heart. To them, I am fast becoming not a visitor... but almost a regular neighbor who travels around.
As long as I can sustain this... yohoho... the Gypsy's life for me.
Good night and happy travels.
I envy you ..really I do. Must be great to take a powder when ever the urge feels. What holds me back is not the urge but more that I NEED to know where I will be staying. Just the fear in me I suppose.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the moments!!
Thanks for your kind comments.
ReplyDeleteWell, each time I make a leap, I do fear the unknown for a while. But once committed to the course, the fear eventually fades and the day to day tasks of finding food sources and other services takes over.
Yeah, like you, I do have to know where I would be staying.
In some rare cases, I have booked temporary housing at a low cost motel in a new area. My biggest leap was when I came out to Australia.
It's similar to the US of A in some respects, but in others, different enough. I ended up renting a room in a house. I only had some pictures of what the place looked like on the internet. I only saw the room as I got there on the same day I got off the plane from Los Angeles. I had to make some quick decisions (there were 2 places I was looking at). Thankfully, I made the right choice and the owner turned out to be really nice.
From there, I got too busy trying to figure out where to get food at the cheapest prices, arranging for internet, etc... to have fear or worry creep in.
Those were frenetic days, those first few days of settling in... I did not know half of what I was doing or the extent of what I had done before I did it.
Afterwards, I just learned to live as best I could with whatever was given to me. Luckily, it turned out well.
It seems effortless now, but of course, I did do a LOT of planning before making these moves. Everything has to check out like online banking, bringing enough cash, closing services where I am, etc... But yeah, it has become rather routine by now that all I do is bring my laptop and a few clothes. Most of my luggage is for gifts and presents at my destination. I even forgot my arm braces and some toiletries, but those aren't biggies since one can get those in most places.
BTW, these travels also fulfill several purposes. I just don't do this just because. It's like making a chess move. Every flight and drive I do must accomplish some specific goals while I am at my destination. It's not aimless wandering just to leave Texas (although I really was chafing after nearly a year there).
Cheers,
Rod