Our New Life of Long-Term Travel 

Change is hard. But along with the challenge of adapting to a new life, we have realized that travel has brought a lot of good changes while on the road. We want to share with you what we learned from our travels.

What is it like to live without a home and adopting a life of long-term travel? No home, no jobs, no possession except for two bags each.  It’s still hard to describe how making a massive change in our lives feels. Four months ago, we were exhilarated, frightened and everything in between. Now it’s different because we’re different.

We feel lighter, comfortable and more open to change. Change has become the new normal with plenty of problem-solving opportunities and new experiences.

The glory of a one-way ticket

Never in our lives have we bought a one-way plane ticket. There has always been a start date and an end date — a defined break for fun and a return date to the daily grind of work responsibilities, household upkeep, and ensuring all was well with our family. There was always the post-vacation blues, as we returned to our routines.

Buying a one-way ticket completely changed everything. We felt the thrill of no longer having that end-date. The sky was the limit, no time constraints, nothing holding us back from soaking in every experience and adventure. It meant going wherever we wanted, not handcuffed by a looming end. We don’t think we will ever forget the feeling of our time being completely our own.

Four months since buying that one-way ticket, our mood has changed. We are more settled, but still get excited when anticipating the next new thing to come our way. The first few seconds of waking up in a new location still brings that initial dream-like feeling of realizing that we are half a world away from our former home.

The past world seems so far away. Of course, we have daily access to the Internet and checking into that past world is easy. Those days of the old life, however, are now very distant and different from what we see and do every day.

Homeless

Not having a home feels like not having any commitments. Nothing to check on, no mortgage to pay, no fear of a pipe bursting and flooding our basement! The idea of home and what constitutes a home (an apartment in a high-rise located in the city center) has changed. Our home is now a place to rest while we enjoy the city. We feel so much lighter without a home and possessions.

Learning New Things

We learn something new every day: We used to dream of new challenges in our old life, as we often felt stagnant and focused only on our jobs. Now, we learn everything from trying to say hello, to making plans to get somewhere, to translating the Spanish terms on the washing machine. We’re also learning technical skills like running our blog.

We use life skills that we took for granted: We’ve literally had to go back to the basics like finding food, shelter, and transportation. It also becomes a challenge to make plans, often they work out, but sometimes they don’t! Every day we get a few quick wins when we solve something new, even if it’s just a matter of speaking in our new language! It’s very rewarding!

We think differently and think better: We are present when we explore new places. We feel so grateful every day for having the means and courage to be able to travel like this. Our problem-solving skills are also being developed constantly. It is amazing!

Living Slowly

We are more flexible: In our past life, everything was planned. We stressed over our schedules, wanting everything to be done on our list and on time. We go with the flow now and we’ve learned to be patient with time. Things rarely happen as we expect they will.

The Little Things Matter Again

We’ve simplified our lives immensely. We have also slowed down our pace to find time to watch and explore what is around us. We find meaning in small details and now have time to enjoy a walk around our neighborhood or enjoy the sweetness of a fruit that we have never tasted before. Small things that we undervalued in our past lives are now part of our daily enjoyment.

Budgeting

We spend our money differently: When on vacation, we splurged. Now, we discuss how much we want to spend, we negotiate, we find ways to save, and we prioritize our funds toward activities, not things. We resist the temptations of the craft markets since we have no home to bring things back to. We are spending less than half of what we spent in the U.S. every month. This is the biggest advantage of all of living in South America.

We are still working on how to cope with change

We are more open-minded and can go with the flow better than we used to. Living in an apartment for a few months or weeks, or negotiating in different currencies and language, or attempting to explain to a taxi driver where we want to go — all these changes yielded frustration and stress. After the first time we experienced them, we were able to handle similar situations with a little more ease. Sometimes, we laughed at the outcomes of these transactions.

Figuring out how to work together is an adventure

We are spending 24/7 with each other and some days aren’t easy. The last four months has reinforced that we have different communication styles, boundaries, and need some moments apart. What’s really interesting is that our strengths and styles really complement one another. It’s clearer than ever that our differences are an asset.

We must actively budget and plan together

Now, our money is OUR money. It’s a solid partnership. If we don’t plan together how to spend our money, our new lifestyle won’t endure. And so, we collaborate on how to spend our funds and prioritize our expenses accordingly. Whether it’s finding a hostel or apartment for the right price or eating in a restaurant where we can save a few dollars, all our financial decisions are made jointly. We are both moving in the same direction.

Distance

We feel guilty for not being physically present for our children and parents. However, we try to remember that regret isn’t productive and that just because we live farther away doesn’t mean we don’t care, or we can’t be supportive.

Adaptation

We are still figuring out how to be a married couple traveling long-term – No one ever said living on the road and traveling with your spouse was easy. We see each other during every grumpy moment when we are hungry, not feeling well, and during stressful moments like when we are lost in a new city. We see each other at our worst. But we also see how well each other copes and supports the other during these moments.

Four-Month Wrap-Up

The good times clearly outweigh the rough patches. We wouldn’t trade our current lives for the world (because we’re seeing it now!) and we know this decision is one of the best we have ever made. I guess we will let you know if this positivity continues one year in!