Unbrave girl is not an inspiration

Me and my Australian dog

I’ve only recently been introduced to Unbrave Girl, a snarky personal commentary on long-term world meandering, and this post actually rang a few bells for me.

People keep asking me, “Where do you live?” and I’m not really sure why, since if I’ve been in a place for a year or so, doesn’t that mean I live THERE?  But here in Perth, Australians are always asking me that, and I guess there’s some kind of assumption that someday I’ll be “going home” — that I’ll shake off this traveling thing and go back to…where?  My mom’s house? Some mythical sublet apartment?  I don’t know where they think I’m going, but *I* think I’m probably going to New Zealand next, because they let you have a working holiday visa until you’re 35 if you’re a Canadian citizen.  (I knew having multiple passports would be useful for something other than being an INTERNATIONAL SUPERSPY!  Darn it, I blew my own cover.)

So I’m planning this whole life-travel thing and getting really excited about mostly things like trying snack foods in different countries, and I have these friends, mostly on Facebook, who keep telling me how inspirational I am, that I make them want to leave it all behind and quit their jobs and go be a travel blogger or something.  And I think, “Uh oh.”  Because what I’m doing? I’m generally sitting on my butt with friends typing on our computers and going to dog play dates…I don’t do any of that sky-diver-y, swim-with-dolphins-y, volunteer-with-orphans-y stuff (though sometimes I wish I did).  And Unbrave Girl seems equally baffled by this whole “You’re my inspiration” thing, because, just like me, she’s mostly living for herself.

The whole point of this post is that, as vagabonders, we’re LIVING abroad.  And living doesn’t necessarily mean always being in a “travel” mindset.  It means settling down, being comfortable, signing a lease and getting a dog if that’s what you want.  It’s not what happens in those commercials for Sweden or cruise lines you see on TV, where everyone is spending pots of money on things they do on vacation, like wearing a bikini all day or getting your hair braided in Bali.  We’re not on vacation.

We live here.

What is the best part of living abroad, do you think?

PS Unbrave Girl is totally awesome.  You should read everything else she writes.