Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Tag: choices

Inside a Nomad’s Monkey Mind – What’s Next?

Today, I invite you into my mind. If you accept, you might regret it. So much is going on in there, you might get overwhelmed, or mad, or jealous. This chaotic brain activity even has a name: Monkey Mind. Although, its description appears a bit harsh to define my condition. Thank you for supplying me with the correct term, Peta, when I mentioned this busy-bee thought syndrome in my last writing update. Luckily, those mulled-over and constantly-sprouting concepts aren’t all writing-related. That being said, the idea for this post formed while I was in the shower, head-writing it. ????

Pensive position

Some background information to help understand our conundrums in regards to… our future:

  • Mark and I met the end of 2004 and have been nomads ever since (me 1.5 years prior to that).
  • With two big dogs, we attempted a sailing adventure, which failed after nine months of prep.
  • The four of us traveled throughout Mexico and Central America in an RV for one year instead.
  • This was followed by three months in-limbo at a friend’s place in Texas, contemplating a move to Belize, a country that pleased and attracted us.
  • But, Mark’s dream to go sailing persisted: we lived in a tent and Toyota Tacoma with our two dogs for two months, in search of the perfect catamaran. We found Irie in Annapolis, Maryland.
  • An eight-year sailing journey brought us from the US to the Caribbean to the South Pacific.
  • After selling Irie in Tahiti, we didn’t want to settle but needed a break from our travels. The solution: house and pet sitting; frequent changes of scenery and the conveniences of a house.
  • Until we got itchy feet again and bought our current campervan, Zesty. Overland adventures continued, in combination with welcome breaks, house sitting.
  • We adopted Maya in June 2019 and house sitting was not an option anymore. We preferred our life on the road by then, so it all made sense to travel full-time again.
  • Then, Covid happened and we got stuck in a room above the garage in a city for many months.
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Wordless Wednesday – Path

I have decided to post photos of past travels in general and our eight year sailing adventure on SV Irie in particular for Wordless Wednesdays.  Also, I can’t manage “completely wordless”, but I’ll try my best at “almost wordless”. 🙂

With thousands of photos haphazardly archived over the years, I can’t easily pick what to post, so I use the weekly prompt of the Daily Post to inspire my Wordless Wednesdays. This week’s Daily Post photography theme is “path“.

This theme is very appropriate, because it is thanks to the paths we take that we are where we are today, physically and mentally. We live our lives and arrive at intersections. We stop. We think. We contemplate. Sometimes, there are multiple roads to pick from. Where do we go? Which direction do we choose? Which path do we take? Will we get lost?

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V is for Variety

Day 22 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

One of the biggest attractions to living as a nomad is the endless variety it offers. All the possible means to get around, any level of accommodation imaginable and many spots on our globe are yours to explore. When the world is your oyster, literally, you never run out of options to entertain yourself as a traveler. Is there anything more exciting?

Playing with dolphins in Moorea

Playing with dolphins in Moorea

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Q is for Quality of Life

Day 16 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

You only live once, so you better make the best of it. During our limited time on earth, it is important to enjoy life and improve its quality in any way we can. The goal is to generally do what you wish with all the benefits of that choice and the lifestyle itself. For some people, that means buying a bigger house or purchasing the latest gadgets, for others starting a family, adopting a pet or changing jobs. For nomads, traveling extensively provides the best quality of life. We all have different values and what defines quality for some, might cause grievance to others.

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M is for Money

Day 12 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

“Money buys freedom,” one of Mark’s friends claimed when I first met him and was boasting about how I managed to travel the world on a very tight budget. Of course, I did not agree with him. After all, I felt free and able to do what I wanted, with less than $400 a month to spend. What I failed to mention was that, in order to achieve this goal, I restricted myself to buying the bare minimum to survive, never spoiled myself, moved around countries on the cheap (which usually correlates with the least comfortable way) and missed out on sights that would set me back too much. But, I still kind of did what I wanted to do, and I was proud of that.

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J is for Joy

Day 10 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

J is for Joy, just like H is for Happiness. But, I wrote about Health when it was H’s turn in this Blogging from A to Z challenge. Joy is its alternative! 🙂

Living the nomad lifestyle makes Mark and me happy, just like a settled life with a family makes most people happy. Joy can come in many forms, in small ways or in big ways. Of course, the “whole lifestyle” doesn’t bring us happiness all the time, just like one can’t constantly be happy. Of the people who do pull this off, if they exist, I am utterly envious! I think being happy is a state of mind that comes in short spurs, not in one long period or an entire life. If only, right?

An "ordinary" sunset from the boat in Grenada

An “ordinary” sunset from the boat in Grenada

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F is for Freedom

Day 6 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

Freedom! This big word and all-encompassing description of the nomad life is what attracts me to it the most. Freedom might mean something different to other people. I see it as being able to (mostly) do what I want and what I like, to choose the way I live without too many restrictions. I feel free to roam about, explore different countries, travel across oceans, try out different lifestyles, expand my horizons, and focus on what I deem important or interesting. In a way the small budget allows for it, of course.

The freedom to roam, in Barbuda

The freedom to roam, in Barbuda

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