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The second question people ask me, when they find out that my husband and I have no home and pretty much travel round the world permanently is: “So when do you plan to stop and settle down?” (the first, if you’re interested, is “How do you do that?”).
Our standard response these days is “When we get bored with moving around and find somewhere we want to settle down” which usually stops that line of questioning in its tracks.
I also read an article last week which advised that every journey should have an end point in mind – or at least an idea of the duration for which you plan to be away. I can understand the purpose of this if you’re on a budget, your life is on hold whilst you travel, you have limited resources or a specific reason to limit your travel, but what if you don’t? What if you have no restrictions on your journey?
The vagabonding lifestyle is a different beast these days; there are so many more potential streams of income enabled by the internet that a lifestyle of permanent travel is infinitely more possible without actually having to be rich beforehand.
So I wonder whether this advice is still valid? What do you think: does every journey need to have an end in mind?
July 3rd, 2008 at 4:17 pm
The only consideration I can think of is old age. The journey does not have to end, but there will be a time where we just do not have ability to travel due to complications from old age.
If you can travel, support yourself, and support your future self then by all means continue. If constant vagabonding means you cannot find a way to support your future self then stop and make those arrangements.
July 6th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
I don’t think there has to be an end, only a delay in the next phase of travel. I am keen to know how vagabonders actually make money to travel around permanently. If anyone can shed light on this then I am listening intently. :0)
July 9th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Sometimes you have no choice – end in sight because of work, money or family constraints. The best trips for me are the open-ended ones, however. I’ve had a few.
The most memorable had me buying a one-way ticket to Cape Town with a vague intention of traveling back up Africa for six months or so. I did that, it took a year, and I made my way to Thailand, and then around all Southeast Asia… I was gone for three years.
How did I support myself? By writing. I had an early laptop in the days when email addresses were just becoming common, so most times I was able to email my stories (at $1 a page for faxes, this was a welcome development). I spent a year setting up a few writing assignments – mostly on spec to start (paid only if published) but after building trust regular assignments started coming in. I made enough to keep traveling, but at backpacking level, nothing luxurious. These days it would be a lot easier – research at your fingertips with the Internet, quick turnaround… I might even do it again someday!
July 14th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Greetings from a sister vagabond!
I can see why some people might find comfort, or even inevitability, in setting an end date for a voyage…
…but they certainly don’t speak for me.
I have to vote No, this advice does not universally apply.