My personal, simple world I carry with me wherever I go. My home is a suitcase and a backpack. I have no permanent abode, no boxes of stuff stored at other people’s homes or in any other storage facility. I haven’t owned a home or had a long-term rental agreement for almost 10 years now. When asked my permanent address on visa applications or other government required documentation, I now give my son’s—it’s easier that way as using the address where I currently am invites all sorts of unanswerable questions: do you have a permanent residency permit, or a retirement visa, or permanent employment, or letter of invitation, or some such?
When I travel for anything longer than a month, I take what I have with me for a number of reasons:
1. Everything I have keeps me going for a month
2. I cannot afford to pay rent in two places
3. Who knows where I will go next
Is it easy living like this? Yes. It’s as close to freedom on this planet that anyone can get, but it’s a mindset. It’s also living very much off your own personal grid. After all, there are enough other grids to live in and it works in any country.
The initial decision is the most difficult one to make. And there are many questions to ask. Where do I want to go, what do I want to do? Do I want to live in one country or do I want to travel? If in one country, where, what is the climate, what are the traditions and culture, how will this affect my cupboard? How do I do this? What to do with a home and stuff that has grown on me but no longer serves me? What to do with the years of family photos, CDs, books, wardrobes of clothes, knick-knacks, TV, keyboard… I love my stuff, it’s mine, it cost a lot of money, I use it, I will one day wear it again, I need all these toiletries, I have to… Right? Wrong.
My personal initial decision was to travel—all over. To find a country where I would eventually like to settle… maybe. Settling is something supposedly natural to the human psyche. A place we can call our own. But so much stuff!
But you have to make choices in life, and I made some that have changed mine only for the better and have become ingrained.
I gave things away—not sold—gave. Land Rover, 4-wheel motorbike and trailer, TV, electronic keyboard, music centre, stacks and stacks of books. Those were the easy things. Everything else I piled into three heaps. Need, want, really don’t want. For days they sat there while I looked at them and shuffled between heaps. When it came to clothes, I had lots of them. What to do? Or rather, how to do? So I made the decision—anything not worn for a six months went into the really don’t want heap. Wow, it heaped high! Why six? It included season changes. The heap left was still high, so another mindset was required. And this one has stood me in good stead for the past 10 years. I asked myself three questions:
1. How many of anything can you wear at one time?
2. What can you “make do” with?
3. What if you are somewhere or in a situation that you cannot get anything for a month?—a month is enough time to get out of anything.
Then it became simple. Now I live wherever I want and travel when I feel like it—often. And this is what I have:
Essentials
Laptop – my work, my hobby, my libraries of photos, books, movies, my research, my world connection
Camera
Earphones
Rechargeable light – I’m a copious reader and power failures are a given—anywhere in the world
Kettle – I boil eggs in my kettle too.
Coffee mug, one plate, one knife, teaspoon, fork
Multiplug
International plug converter
Cell phone – unlocked, I buy a SIM card wherever I am
Books – if I have these, I can manage anywhere in the world. Before ebooks I used to travel with four as I never knew whether I would find English books. Now it’s my Kindle.
Notebook and pen
Umbrella
Scissors
Small pillow
Clothes
The most practical that travel well, don’t need ironing, can be slept in if necessary, wash easily and wear well. Basics—jeans. I do like wearing skirts now and then, but that’s just too bad. Jeans are universally accepted and I love my jeans. I also love colour, but it’s not practical when considering washing in one machine. So, my cupboard consists of:
Jeans – 3 pairs
Shirts – 8 cotton in colours that can be thrown in with the jeans.
Underwear
Four pairs of shoes – sandals, boots, walking shoes, something smartish
Two sweatsuits
Three jackets of various thickness – one with an inner
Two pairs of warm gloves
Two scarves
Two beanies
Hat for the sun and bad hair days… yes, I have them
And as things wear, I visit markets or thrift shops. It’s astounding what people throw away—I know, I did it
Toiletries
And this will drive all the industries right up the wall. I do not do toiletries in the normal sense. Never have. Never bowed down to peer pressure or parent/grandparent pressure. I wash my face with water and soap, the cream I use is an all over one as I have very dry skin, nothing special—whatever is available—so my toiletries look like this:
Soap – a bar of neutral soap to wash hair, body and clothes
Toothbrush and paste
Deodorant – crystal
Cream – whatever I can find
Toilet paper – I travel with one roll; it works for many things
Makeup – I have to confess, I wear it, not much, but I do. Vanity, all is vanity
Large towel – it doubles up as a blanket if I need it
Everything I own weighs, including the luggage itself, 32kg—more than the beggar on the corner, less than me.
How do I get around? Remember those things at the bottom of the body? Feet? I use them constantly walking everywhere I can, every day. And when distance is too far, I use public transport and only fly if I really must. Flying bores me and airports are depressing.
Where do I live? Wherever I can afford and wherever I don’t have to sign a contract. And this is for anything from a month to two years. There are so many places—other people’s places. I research on the Internet, looking for what may appeal at a price I can afford. I have my standards… they may not be high, but they are my standards. There are thousands of guesthouses or short-term rental places charging a daily rate. I then write to them and ask for a special rate on a monthly basis. You’d be surprised how many will give you one if you ask. Asking is free. When planning to move to another country, I book myself into a guesthouse for a week. I like to know I have a place to stay in a strange country and a week gives me plenty of time to make decisions of whether I want to stay longer and find a place to live more “permanently,” or move on. I’ve lived this way for up to two years in Canada, South Africa, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and short-term in every other country I have been.
And so I have lived for 10 years… and plan to do so until the breath leaves this body. I have just returned from a trip to South Africa where my youngster remarked, “Gee, mom, you travel light.” Like a tortoise, my son. I live lightly and tread gently and life treats me the same. You can do it too…it’s a choice and it’s a liberating one.
Read more about travel-living in FLEXIBLE FREEDOM: Travel-live to the fullest
