This was a very inspiring read! Having lived in Colombia on-and-off for a couple years, I can relate to when you see you don't need as much as you think to be happy. People I meet here embrace simple pleasures like going to the store or simply sitting and watching cars go by. I was always used to so much stimulation and needing "newness" but being here has been a revelation. Thanks for sharing this list!
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! Thank you for dropping these shiny gems of thought into my morning! I write a book review newsletter called The Book Moth (you can find it at katewebbwrites.com--I haven't yet moved to Substack), and I would love to read a review copy of your book!
Loved this. "Living may be more important than writing" really hit me. As important as it is to write and share it all, I love those moments i keep just for myself.
I have really enjoyed reading this essay and admire you for taking such risks to life a more unconventional life. Is there any particular country that I have really liked, and if so, why?
I ‘ve liked almost every place we’ve been: There is always something to learn and experience. But I find myself going back to Vietnam and Japan often. And I recently fell head over heels for the Galapagos. See my homepage for my essays on these places.
We met in LA, right Claire?! I didn’t know you were a nomad. I love traveling and envy your current lifestyle. Yes- life might be more important than writing! Enjoy!
I’m a VLP author too. I think you came to my book event at diesel books last July. Am I remembering correctly? In any case, happy to connect with you here!
You can learn almost any subject by travelling: languages, history, geography, sociology, anthropology, music, art, biology.... The world has it all.
I echo all that you wrote, but the downsides of perpetual travel are also there. Not being present for children or ageing family members, contingency for old age provision. On my own travels I've also met some endless travellers who have simply become jaded with travel. No mountain is as high as the one in x place; no lake is as blue as y place. Yet they can't step out of the process because the conventional world wants conventional experience.
For all that, go you. Life is short, the world is good. Not everything we do has to be directly recorded in words or images. It is enough to live our lives.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I fully recognize that "The downsides of perpetual travel are also there." In our case: We have no children and when we still had parents, our homelessness made it more possible to care for them and temporarily live with them. I'd like to write about the other downsides for us some other time. I love how you write: "Go you." It's true that what's great for one person might not be great for someone else.
Oh absolutely! And for those who can, I totally recommend travel (be it short travels or longer ones). I'm often asked how I can travel so much. I think sometimes people think that it's all five-star hotels rather than buses and early starts for low-cost flights! But I guess my point is that for some any travel at all is a luxury they can't afford.
Thank you for sharing your story. Good advice. My husband and I have been travelling since we sold our country home back in August 2020. We had the first two years stuck in Australia due to Covid, where we travelled around in a small caravan named Arabella. We have taken control now and are currently in the UK. Heading off to Ireland at Easter to get a taste of Irish life, back to the UK and we have Italy planned for the month of August. Life is good. All the best.
Thank you for chiming in! The more stories I hear from fellow nomads, the more I believe our lifestyle isn't so "out of the ordinary" after all. Wishing you a great time in Ireland and later Italy—one of my favorite countries.
“Writing is still my most trusted way to navigate the distance between myself and the world, and when I don’t write enough, I feel disconnected. But I’m slowly learning that I can also just be and experience life in real time.”
This line really hit me, and I’ve been reflecting on it a lot lately. Writing is healing, but publishing is a roller coaster of emotions influenced by external validation, self-doubt, and forces that feel outside myself. Sometimes, attempting to write professionally seems to take away from lived experiences in the physical world.
Of course, experiencing people and events in the real world can also be influenced by external validation and forces outside ourselves, but they somehow feel more healing. The second you hit publish, the algorithms and artificial influences come into play.
Lately, the magic happens when I focus on living my story instead of publishing it.
Thanks for sharing, Nolan. And you take the idea into a direction I can also relate to, how our experiences change if we live them with the plan to transform them into words. Sometimes it’s best to just let things enroll for us.
I love finding fellow nomads and you articulate some of our shared discoveries beautifully - the sense of routine that gives way to how little we actually need.
We spent 4 years on the road in our motorhome and travelling by other means when we saw regular schooling was not suiting our diverse son. He inspired me to start many old interests again and we’ve been rediscovering life alongside his first hand discoveries.
This is a sensational letter to the world and to us. Thank you for it.
Thank you for reading it, Beth, and for your kind words!
This was a very inspiring read! Having lived in Colombia on-and-off for a couple years, I can relate to when you see you don't need as much as you think to be happy. People I meet here embrace simple pleasures like going to the store or simply sitting and watching cars go by. I was always used to so much stimulation and needing "newness" but being here has been a revelation. Thanks for sharing this list!
Thank you for reading, Daniel and for your kind words. Embracing simple pleasures is where a path to happiness lies indeed.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! Thank you for dropping these shiny gems of thought into my morning! I write a book review newsletter called The Book Moth (you can find it at katewebbwrites.com--I haven't yet moved to Substack), and I would love to read a review copy of your book!
Thank you, Kate! As soon as I have a review copy available, I will let you know!
Excellent! I can’t wait!
Loved this. "Living may be more important than writing" really hit me. As important as it is to write and share it all, I love those moments i keep just for myself.
Thanks, Julia! It's as though we're keeping some things out of words to protect them from too much interpretation.
I have really enjoyed reading this essay and admire you for taking such risks to life a more unconventional life. Is there any particular country that I have really liked, and if so, why?
I ‘ve liked almost every place we’ve been: There is always something to learn and experience. But I find myself going back to Vietnam and Japan often. And I recently fell head over heels for the Galapagos. See my homepage for my essays on these places.
Typo alert! I mean any country that You have liked..
We met in LA, right Claire?! I didn’t know you were a nomad. I love traveling and envy your current lifestyle. Yes- life might be more important than writing! Enjoy!
I’m not sure we met; I wasn’t at AWP. Unless we met at a friend’s house once? Anyway, nice to connect with you here.
I’m a VLP author too. I think you came to my book event at diesel books last July. Am I remembering correctly? In any case, happy to connect with you here!
I might have come to the event, had I been in LA at the time. But I wasn’t… Now I’m of course dying to know what other author you met there!
What a trove of extraordinary experiences you’re having, Claire. Keep enjoying and of course, write on!
Thanks, Jeanine! I just landed in “your” Mexico!
Bienvenidos!!🇲🇽
Bienvenidos! 🇲🇽
You can learn almost any subject by travelling: languages, history, geography, sociology, anthropology, music, art, biology.... The world has it all.
I echo all that you wrote, but the downsides of perpetual travel are also there. Not being present for children or ageing family members, contingency for old age provision. On my own travels I've also met some endless travellers who have simply become jaded with travel. No mountain is as high as the one in x place; no lake is as blue as y place. Yet they can't step out of the process because the conventional world wants conventional experience.
For all that, go you. Life is short, the world is good. Not everything we do has to be directly recorded in words or images. It is enough to live our lives.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I fully recognize that "The downsides of perpetual travel are also there." In our case: We have no children and when we still had parents, our homelessness made it more possible to care for them and temporarily live with them. I'd like to write about the other downsides for us some other time. I love how you write: "Go you." It's true that what's great for one person might not be great for someone else.
Oh absolutely! And for those who can, I totally recommend travel (be it short travels or longer ones). I'm often asked how I can travel so much. I think sometimes people think that it's all five-star hotels rather than buses and early starts for low-cost flights! But I guess my point is that for some any travel at all is a luxury they can't afford.
Yes. People often ask: How can you afford it? And I explain that living fulltime in Paris or San Francisco would be a whole lot more expensive.
Thank you for sharing your story. Good advice. My husband and I have been travelling since we sold our country home back in August 2020. We had the first two years stuck in Australia due to Covid, where we travelled around in a small caravan named Arabella. We have taken control now and are currently in the UK. Heading off to Ireland at Easter to get a taste of Irish life, back to the UK and we have Italy planned for the month of August. Life is good. All the best.
Thank you for chiming in! The more stories I hear from fellow nomads, the more I believe our lifestyle isn't so "out of the ordinary" after all. Wishing you a great time in Ireland and later Italy—one of my favorite countries.
I can definitely relate with pretty much every point in this article.
I’m glad you have such positive experiences, too!
“Writing is still my most trusted way to navigate the distance between myself and the world, and when I don’t write enough, I feel disconnected. But I’m slowly learning that I can also just be and experience life in real time.”
This line really hit me, and I’ve been reflecting on it a lot lately. Writing is healing, but publishing is a roller coaster of emotions influenced by external validation, self-doubt, and forces that feel outside myself. Sometimes, attempting to write professionally seems to take away from lived experiences in the physical world.
Of course, experiencing people and events in the real world can also be influenced by external validation and forces outside ourselves, but they somehow feel more healing. The second you hit publish, the algorithms and artificial influences come into play.
Lately, the magic happens when I focus on living my story instead of publishing it.
Thanks for sharing, Nolan. And you take the idea into a direction I can also relate to, how our experiences change if we live them with the plan to transform them into words. Sometimes it’s best to just let things enroll for us.
I love finding fellow nomads and you articulate some of our shared discoveries beautifully - the sense of routine that gives way to how little we actually need.
We spent 4 years on the road in our motorhome and travelling by other means when we saw regular schooling was not suiting our diverse son. He inspired me to start many old interests again and we’ve been rediscovering life alongside his first hand discoveries.
That must be so wonderful, rediscovering the world and learning along with a young person.
I’m looking forward to reading more from you. I enjoyed your article. Thank you :)
Thank you for letting me know and for joining me!
This was such a beautiful read, thank you for sharing!
Thank you for telling me!
Thank you, this spoke to me on many levels!
Glad you were here to read it!