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How to Live a Nomadic Lifestyle

February 5th, 2009  Comments

Packed
Packed | Joshua Tree, California | Jan 2009

A couple thoughts from my current trip on how to live a nomadic lifestyle…

“What you own ends up owning you.”

  • Carry a low “life overhead”: remember that “owning little” is as much of an attitude or an approach to life than a description of how much you carry with you.
  • The more expenses you have, the more you have to make to cover expenses, the more you have to work.
  • Give away what you don’t need. And while you’re on a trip, don’t carry what you don’t need: consider donating to goodwill, giving away things to friends, or mailing unneeded items and souvenirs back to your home base.

Leave an impact but leave no trace.

  • Leave a positive impact on people’s lives. People have enough of their own worries in their lives, don’t burden them with your daily problems.
  • Be a good houseguest; bring a sleeping bag, pillow and linens, and use them.
  • Always carry a towel.
  • Buy meals and bring alcohol.
  • Consider alternate accommodations near your friends; it could make all of your lives easier.
  • Be respectful of people’s lives while you are out gallivanting. You’re a tourist and want to explore, see new sights, eat at restaurants and tour the town, but think about what you would normally be doing on a Tuesday night after you’ve gotten back from a day at work, running errands, paying bills and living the daily life.
  • Ask questions, soak up information. Respect people’s time, thank them, and learn to both accept and give graciously. Remember what you’ve received when it’s your turn to give.

Live for the upside and the downside.

  • Travel carries its ups and downs: carry both in your memories.
  • Learn to create your own oasis wherever you are. Use it.
  • Be flexible; stuff happens, schedules shift and unexpected delights force you to re-think your plans.
  • Live for the angles in life. Learn where to find the best places to stay in towns. Learn when to visit tourist locations, when to do your shopping, when to explore areas, where to go. Learn how to negotiate. Learn your way around towns fast, where to find markets, daily needs, tourist sights and hidden gems.
  • Take advantage of the upsides. Explore when you have the opportunity; a return or another chance might never come.
  • Be prepared for the downsides. Plan on spending to replace things that break, get lost, get stolen. Photocopy important documents and store online and offline. Create backups. Use webmail. Carry important digital documents and files on USB sticks. Use an online backup service like Mozy (a personal thanks to Anil for the reminder).
  • Whatever happens, by the nature of simple probability it probably won’t be the worst thing that has ever happened to you or will happen to you.
  • We never know it at the time, but you might be living the defining moment of your life right now. What would you do if it was?

What are your tips?

—

Related: Less about the attitude, more about the tactics for working and living while traveling…

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By Taylor Davidson. Posted February 5th, 2009. Category: Journeys & Destinations   Comments

SIMILAR THOUGHTS
  • Creating the means to match the spirit (How to Plan for Travel)
  • The misleading lure of travel
  • Do the realities of travel live up to our dreams?
  • 89 Days in Europe and Japan on $66 a day
  • How to Pack for a Nomadic Life (and the 79 things I packed).


    • Learn to listen. One thing I have learned is when you go to a new place, meet new people, etc, the most important thing you can do is learn to really listen to people, and act on their advice - even on silly little things like where to eat, where to camp, or what to wear... It may not be the right advice, or the best, but it will allow you to immediately see and understand how they live and operate in that space, and you can then build quickly from there with your own thoughts/ideas. When others have sen that you gave their take on things a chance, they will be more likely to appreciate what you have to add, and your input later will have much more impact.
    • Great recommendation; what you've detailed is not just "learn to listen" but also "learn to try". Asking for ideas, directions or recommendations is always a good idea opens us up to the serendipity of life; acting on and trying these things is how to truly learn.
    • Great post. I've always loved and tried to live the effecient lifestyle you write about. It is so hard to escape the value placed on things in our culture. But long ago I began to see the value of experience and relationships. Lots of possessions are for the foolish and eternally miserable.

      Good solid useful advice too Taylor.

      Joel Mark Witt
    • Thanks man... while I've always understood that our society over-values consumption and material possessions (although I still make those mistakes myself from time-to-time), it's taken me way too long to realize the value of experience and relationships.

      Just working on catching up :)
    • Following this line of thinking, you'll really like the content at http://mnmlist.com/
    • I do; and I also like the design aesthetic :)
    • Great list - I'd emphasize 2 points:

      1. Be flexible - things change and schedules are not set!

      and 2. If you have to think if you need it, you probably don't. We *all* over pack and need to accept shedding things from our backpacks.
    • Flexible: something the biggest changes come from within: changing minds, new opportunities, new information good and bad.

      Even I *always* over-pack :)
    • I think "Leave an impact but leave no trace" should be printed on the bottom of travel receipts. This phrasing is a better and more realistic view of what it means to travel and walk the Earth. While I've seen "Leave No Trace" before, it lacks the realization that there is an impact.

      In regards to travel for self and/or purpose there has to be an acknowledgment of the impact inherent to the process. The qualitative aspect of impact is a worthy consideration.
    • Failing to recognize and value the externalities and lingering commitments we create usually leads to some pretty poor decisions when we take the long-term view.

      Agreed: in fact, the process is more important than the result. We are formed more by the routes we take than the destinations we reach (e.g. life, career, travel...)
    • Great post. I read this right after having spent four hours browsing through a 1/2-lifetime's worth of accumulated "stuff" in my parents' basement. (They're moving, and have politely asked me to remove the college textbooks, transformer, cassette tapes, etc etc.) My parents too, are now trying to shrink their physical presence in order to fit their house-lives into a new apartment-life. It's amazing how much you can accumulate...when you have room in which to store things.
    • I tend to do "a big sort" whenever I come home from a trip, whenever I move, or whenever I'm trying to procrastinate from more important things :) It does tend to keep me from accumulating much "stuff".

      But the key is that this sense of accumulation doesn't just refer to physical things; the accumulation of digital "stuff" and its intrusion into our mental well-being is less obvious yet more invasive.
    • Great post. I was just writing about Todd and Tynan from 'Life Nomadic'. It's just amazing how they've managed to pack everything they need in small 28 L backpack. Amazing.
    • I loved reading about their travels, looking forward to hearing more from them when they venture back out again.

      I'm still learning how to pack like that :)
    • Excellent tips Taylor!! I've never been a fan of 'stuff' and have always had a small apartment but having recently moved in preparation for our trip I was still surprised by what we got rid of.

      'Create your own oasis' is excellent advice. J and I were just talking about how, even though we now live in an apartment furnished with other peoples stuff and, even though we have very little of our own stuff, that we are completely comfortable. We think that his bodes well for our upcoming year of travel as we will need very little to stay comfortable.

      Your last point is my favourite. 'You might be living the defining moment of your life right now'...indeed.

      Cheers.
    • Thanks Gillian. I've been following you guys as you get ready to vault off on your trip and new life, looking forward to hearing more about your experiences and lessons from your travels.

      (and thank you for reading all the way to the end...)

      Meeting interesting people with great stories is one of the pluses of "social media"... as long as we focus more on the social and less on the media :)
    • ericajoh
      That last point was my favorite as well.
    • ericajoh
      The nomadic lifestyle is so appealing. Great tips on how to make the most of it! In the end, I think one's attitude is what makes or break a trip, how well one copes with challenges and changes when being on the road.
    • Attitude is everything; but even our attitude shifts over time as our experiences shape us, as our frame of reference gets wider (or smaller, perhaps).
    • CathD
      These are all really useful tips about th mindset that will make all the difference in whether you enjoy your traveling life or end up finding it a chore. Love the bit about "what you own ends up owning you" - it's incredibly liberating to travel with just a few small bags of stuff.
    • Thanks; yes, attitude and mindset frames our experience more than anything else (travel and life). Expanding on the idea of "what you own ends up owning you", you might find it interesting to note that I spent $47 a day on my recently-finished road tip: http://www.unstructuredventures.com/uv/2009/04/...
    • Tip :
      Live with Nature.

      I am planning nomad's life - next year most probably.
    • Fhy2
      hi, i don't wanna say much, i just love the "what you own ends up owning you".
      good job!
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