The future of Vagabonding is now

The technology explosion of the last ten years has made the dramatic growth of vagabonding possible.

For as long as we have roamed the earth, there have always been those who view the open road a little more wistfully. Great adventurers such as Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, and James Cook needed the coffers of kings in order to explore the world.  Expeditions often required dozens of hired support crew and dedicated transport. Today’s vagabond has it much easier.

Online airfare shopping and access to a wealth of accessible information are just two of the most obvious advantages that modern travelers have. However, the single most important factor is a growing interconnected community. Simply knowing that others have, are, and will make long-term travel possible gives exponentially more people the confidence to try it themselves. Sites such as Vagabonding and Thorn Tree bring like-minded travelers together to share their stories and advice. Since we launched our new Case Studies series, we have received over 130 requests to be a part of the project with more arriving every week, and you will continue to see their profiles over the months to come. Earlier this year I profiled the then-nascent #RTWsoon hashtag on Twitter, and its use has only grown. There is now a sister hashtag, #RTWnow, following dozens of travelers throughout the four corners of the globe, maintaining contact with each other and sharing their personal discoveries with the world. Even as Brett mentioned earlier today about the lost art of the analog nomad, it can’t be denied that the digital revolution has thrown the doors of long-term travel wide open.

Beyond research and community, technology has enabled us to do more remotely than ever before. It used to be that vagabonds needed sufficient wealth to last them throughout their journey. Today there are any number of long-term travelers who supplement their costs through being able to work online, as web consultants, career counselors, editors, or as bloggers selling advertising and e-books. Money can be transferred, bills can be paid, lodging and transportation can be booked, all online.

A less-obvious advantage of our increasingly online world is the ability to downsize some of the belongings that hold us down. Bookcases filled with books, media towers with hundreds of CDs, DVDs, and videocassettes, and even desktop computers are becoming things of the past. We no longer need to keep boxes of bank records, pay stubs, or bills because any needed data can be retrieved. Sites like eBay, Craigslist, and Freecycle make it easy to get rid of everything we don’t need, perhaps earning a little bit of money, or just letting us feel good about not throwing out things which still have use. Craigslist can even help you find subletters for your apartment or foster homes for your pets.

Without the need to store ephemeral media in a physical location, having easy methods of getting rid of unwanted possessions, and being able to manage businesses and lifestyle upkeep online, “stuff” begins to tie us down less. While technology cannot solve every problem or remove every obstacle to long-term travel, it has made a number of logistical issues more manageable, and will continue to pave the way for an increasing number of vagabonds in the years to come.