7 Lessons from 7 Years of Nomadic Travel
In light of Airbnb’s “Live Anywhere on Airbnb” competition - where 12 lucky travelers (and their companions) will be chosen to live for 10 months in Airbnbs around the world, I thought this repost of what we’ve learned living as nomads is timely.
This was written as we were approaching 7 years of full-time travel, we are now closer to 8 years. But the answers are as true now as when I wrote this in May of 2020.
Chip Conley, the founder of the Modern Elder Academy asked us to write a guest post for his Wisdom Well series to share our insights on nomadic travel. What have we learned? What more can we learn? How can we move forward from this crisis and become even better global citizens?
1. We Are Closer than Ever
Michael is a rows and columns guy and I am a doodling daydreamer. After some initial adjustments and 41 years of marriage behind us, we acknowledge our strengths and respect each other's unique contributions to our common cause. Or, as Michael likes to say “together, we are rowing the boat in the same direction.”
The keys to being together twenty-four hours a day include being flexible, respectful, kind, patient, willing to see the humor in most things, and knowing when to give the other person some space!
2. Treasure Experiences over Possessions
We chose to divest ourselves of almost everything we owned, including our house, so we could become Senior Nomads. In the beginning, it was difficult to adjust to living out of our suitcases but over time we realized just how little we need to get by. Now we say “if you can’t eat it, drink it, experience it, or get somewhere on it, you probably don’t need it.”
Michael and I have attended sporting events in dozens of countries. Here is football match we attended in South Africa - we made fast friends with the local supporters and learned things about life in Cape Town we would never have found in a guidebook.
3. Do the Math
It is important to create a budget and stick to it. We have been able to live our lives as full-time travelers because we track our spending meticulously. By tracking our daily expenses we know when we can splurge on occasion because we saved on something else. We could not have sustained seven years of full-time travel without financial discipline. And it’s more fun than you think.
One rule we stand by is if you need a new dress or t-shirt, or see something you just can’t resist, then something has to go. That’s me in an impromptu dressing room in Albania replacing a pair of pants.
4. Home is Where We Put our Pillows
We travel with our bed pillows from home. We may have decided to do that on a whim, but we are so glad we did. When we arrive at a new Airbnb we start nesting - and the first thing we do is lay our pillows on the bed. Then we set up the WiFi, check out the kitchen, make some tea, and put our feet up.
One of the best decisions we made was to travel with our bed pillows - just setting them on the bed says “we are home”.
5. We Need the Grid!
Because we are not on vacation, we don’t have a desire to drop off the grid. In fact, we couldn’t do what we are doing without it! We need the internet to communicate with family and friends, plan our travels, write our blog, do our banking, and navigate in each new city. So, we put a priority on fast WiFi in our Airbnb searches, use Google Fi for instant international data and phone service, and count on a myriad of apps.
Even on the back roads of New Zealand we count on a strong WiFi signal.
6. We are the Foreigner
We have come to embrace the various ways humans go about getting what they need to survive. And while that may be very different from our way of life, we’ve observed that contentment can be found under conditions we might consider unacceptable. We do our best to be observant and respectful of the culture when we visit a new country. And we have learned that the language of “courtesy” is spoken everywhere. Traveling has made us more tolerant, more accepting, and more appreciative of all the many paths that lead to personal happiness.
I couldn’t capture Lesson 6 with a single image. From Rwanda to Romania and everywhere in between we were curious about the culture, but we were also courteous - and that can make all the difference.
7. We are Braver than we Thought!
After seven years of travel, we have self-confidence we didn’t have at the start. Through trial and error, we have learned to meet unexpected challenges with grace and humor. Now we doubt there is a country we wouldn’t visit (unless it was a war zone), a food we wouldn’t try, a bus we wouldn’t take, a metro system we couldn’t decode, or most of all, a building we wouldn’t enter. That comes from finding some wonderful Airbnbs hidden behind some pretty unwelcoming exteriors.
Be brave. Take risks. Allow the unexpected.
Here’s just one more … We believe that most people are good. We’ve been in situations where we’ve had to trust a complete stranger to help us use an ATM, use our phone to call a host, return correct change in a confounding currency, watch our bags, and often get us safely on the right train or bus. We’ve also experienced pick-pocketing, phone snatching, overcharging, and Airbnbs that didn’t meet expectations - but that doesn’t change the dedication we wrote in our book, Your Keys, Our Home “This book is dedicated to the countless people who helped us along the way, affirming the kindness of strangers everywhere.”
Thanks for following along,
Michael and Debbe Campbell
The Senior Nomads are #airbnbpartners for the Live Anywhere on Airbnb promotion.