"Don't you ever get tired of travelling?" The why and how of life on the road.
It’s no secret that Sydney is one of the most expensive places on the planet.
So what happens when work dries up, you realise you can no longer afford to live in the city you were born in, you can’t sustain a healthy quality of life there anymore and you have to make a choice to leave behind family and friends?
After a couple of years feeling like we were making zero progress in the homeownership world, with ever-rising costs of living, constant traffic congestion, stress piling up on all fronts and a downright backwards-thinking government – we pulled the pin on Sydney. We downsized to the point of no return.
We got in our bus and went on an extended road trip around the country to have a long, hard think, a good look around and plan our next move. Did we think we would go back or find a place to settle in? Certainly. Did life have other plans for us? Most definitely.
I get asked regularly how we do it – and by doing it I mean living on the road and travelling so much – sometimes together, sometimes apart but always knowing we don’t have a base to return to. How do we afford it is inevitably the next question. And tell me how I can do this - follows very soon after.
My answer is always the same – this life is not for the faint-hearted. If you can’t let go of personal attachments, belongings, routine, creature comforts, familiarity and the need to accumulate - you will find it very difficult indeed. If you don’t like the unexpected and change – then stay where you are. If you like guaranteed Wi-Fi, Netflix, hot showers, all your ‘stuff’ with you and reliable sanitation at all times – then this life isn’t for you. There are times of extreme wonder and others of fear of what lies ahead. It’s always a balancing act. You need to get used to that pretty quickly.
You simply can’t get too attached – to anyone or anything.
Then you have to ignore Instagram and what you may think being a nomadic working traveller will be like. It’s not all palm trees, turmeric lattes, infinity pools and cute co-working spaces. It’s often working alone on your laptop in airports, hauling your luggage, dealing with changing visa laws, teary farewells and a lot of them. You will meet so many wonderful, generous and kind people – but it will often be fleeting. There is a sense of transience that you must get used to if you want to survive.
You will have to be resourceful, think on your feet, be adaptable, organised, diplomatic and culturally sensitive. While always knowing, chances are, you won’t be home for Christmas or anyone’s birthday for another year. You will disappoint those you love regularly so get used to it. Not everyone will like, support or even understand your choices, some will even be jealous, judgemental or hostile. Your friendships back home may fade as you change but no one else seems to. People you were once close with may find it hard to relate to your unconventional and often erratic lifestyle. You will change but somethings back home will remain the same. If you can get your head around all of that – then maybe, just maybe consider it.
How did you guys begin? Firstly, we changed our mindset and got rid of most of our ‘stuff.’ Then we minimised and kept minimising over the course of about a year. We pared down our expenses ruthlessly and really looked at what our major outlays were. We still do. Once you get a handle of where most of your cash is going - it’s fairly easy to start making choices. For us, our biggest outlay in Sydney by far, was rent. We soon fixed that.
We made the decision a long time ago to ‘pick our hard’. It’s hard to be in an office, paying off a huge home loan and stuck in a daily traffic jam in Sydney – it’s also hard to work for yourself on the road in a foreign country. We chose the road option.
After a 3-month road trip up the East Coast of Australia in a pop-top van, a year travelling in a bus around Australia, 2 years in Ubud, Bali, another 4 years in Bali prior to that on/off, we are now bouncing around KL, Penang, Singapore, Thailand for a while – for how long we don’t know. That doesn’t include all the side trips for work to places like India, France and Mauritius. To everyone else it’s a nuts schedule that seems so very exciting – to us it’s now our normal – it is what we had to do. There are times we can’t remember when we last owned a couch. After setting up house in Bali we once again had to minimise and donate a lot of our stuff before moving to Malaysia. Our beautiful dog was dog minded more times than she was with us in the last year - so in the end we had to make the very painful decision of finding her another family to live with. That’s the reality no one hears about.
How do you afford it? I can barely pay my bills.
We work just like everyone else. We just do it a bit differently. My partner is a specialised engineer and I am fortunate enough to work remotely, so when work is on - it’s on. We go where the work is and have had lengthy amounts of time in separate countries working on our own projects. If you want to know how we stayed sane and kept the love alive you can read about it here. In a nutshell when the cost of living is low (eg most of Asia) you can afford to work a lot less and experience a lot more. So, our downtime together is really precious and that’s when we have adventures.
How do you plan it all?
The way we work is: one of us is logistics/ cultural attaché/ research, the other is admin/ finance etc. I have a background in travel, which means I have an unfair advantage and love hunting down a good deal, fabulous accommodation and experiences. To me, it’s like a hobby. My partner being more science-based is great with numbers - his attention to detail helps when we have 5 airline bookings on the go and I need a fresh pair of eyes. He is also a very good troubleshooter, excellent bus driver and navigator. We have our roles and this system works pretty well for us.
How can I do this and can I take my kids?
I don’t have kids which affords me the luxury of other choices, but we have met many families doing this full-time all-over Asia, Europe and Australia. We found travelling around Oz the most expensive experience we have had by far - particularly during holiday times. So rather than packing the caravan and hitting the road in Oz - look into ex-pat hubs you may not have considered but folks are flocking to. Like Taiwan, Korea, Peru, Bali, Portugal, Mexico, Thailand, Spain, Malaysia, Malta, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and the Czech Republic. Join the ex-pat pages and communities, ask questions, talk to the people actually doing it, think outside your comfort zone, talk to the consulates about visas, is it legal to work, email real estate agents and schools, look at the healthcare options, the quality of food and water, the weather and if you work online check out the power supply and WiFi – too much research is never enough.
Sounds perfect - any other advice?
Always try to base yourself where the WiFi is fast and stable as it really makes life so much easier (Central and North West Australia made it virtually impossible for me to work remotely).
Check your visa regulations and factor in these costs well in advance – they change often. ‘Visa runs’ add to your overall costs and can really add up.
The real cost of living is often very different from what people say or ex-pats agree on - so do your due diligence.
Try to pick a place with lots of fresh, cheap food readily available, easy visa laws, cheap rent and transport. Some places appear super cheap on paper but the reality is different when you are actually on the ground. For example, Penang’s cheap real estate comes with hefty agent fees for tenants - that was an unwelcome and ultimately expensive surprise. As was the mixed reports about the beaches (unswimmable in case you were wondering). Another little surprise was the world-famous cheap Penang street food that folks rave about - what they don’t say is it’s mostly really unhealthy.
Have a Plan B at all times, an exit plan - I can’t stress this enough (yes earthquakes, floods, political unrest and volcanoes do happen – I learnt this the hard way in Bali).
Finally, don’t forget to factor in your comprehensive ex-pat insurance fees - they can be pricey.
Get the logistics in order and then buckle up – it really will be quite the ride. Chances are, like us, you probably won’t return in a hurry – if at all.
