How We Nomad
What do we mean when we say we are nomads? We don’t own a house, but we are not homeless. We move from place to place, but we don’t live in an RV (recreational vehicle). Here’s how we roll:
1 - We travel light
We have always preferred to travel with carry-on luggage only. Becoming nomads pushed us to take “traveling light” a step further, and pare down to just the essentials so that we can carry everything we need. We each have one carry-on bag and one personal item. These provide enough space for one week’s worth of clothing, our tech, and our toiletries. For us, the key to traveling light is to 1) plan to do laundry every week, and 2) plan to purchase bulky items that are inexpensive and readily available in most places.
2 - We rent furnished lodgings
We’re not teenagers any more, and we like our creature comforts. So we book furnished accommodations through Airbnb, VRBO, Blueground, and other brokers that specialize in short-term rentals. I scrutinize the listings carefully to make sure they have the features we need to be comfortable, such as a kitchen and laundry facilities. As “slow travelers,” we spend a month or more in each place, which often brings down the price significantly.
3 - We make ourselves at home
A month is long enough for a new place to become familiar and feel like home. We sometimes rearrange the furniture a little (and move it all back when we leave). We might purchase a couple of inexpensive items - a nicer shower curtain, a cookie sheet - that we’ll use during our stay and leave for future guests to enjoy. We always bring our Apple TV streaming device, which displays our family photos in random sequence. Steve just connects it to the television in the rental, and presto! It’s our home away from home.
4 - We explore our surroundings on foot
We prefer to live in cities that are walkable and have good public transportation. Our ideal place is within an easy walk of a grocery store, some locally-owned restaurants, and a park or scenic trail. We enjoy walking because it allows us to explore, talk, and get some exercise, all at the same time. We also want to be responsible travelers and minimize our carbon footprint.
5 - We do household chores
It’s not a perpetual vacation, it’s a way of life. So we still have chores to do! Steve does the cooking and grocery shopping, I plan travel and pay bills, and we share the laundry and cleaning. The good news is that we don’t have to do any deep cleaning because we’re moving so often. And our landlords take care of any maintenance or repair needs (which are thankfully rare).
NEWSFLASH! Some big changes ahead
We’re at an important inflection point in our nomad lifestyle!
We’re no longer on a road trip. Without a car (our little convertible had a roomy trunk), we will have to pare back what we’re carrying even more. We will have to think and plan more carefully about how to get from A to B, and how to get around at B. If it can’t be carried onto a plane, we can’t bring it. (Steve had to leave his knives in storage.)
We’re both retired now. Steve’s last day of working was November 1. Hooray! He will need to adjust to not working, and I will have to adjust to him not working. Starting this new chapter in life can be challenging for any couple, even when they’re staying in one place. We will also need to obtain our own health insurance.
We’re going abroad. With Steve no longer working, we don’t have to stay in the United States. We can finally start slow-traveling in some of the foreign countries on our wish list. There are all sorts of new adventures - and challenges - ahead. Now it gets interesting!
