We've all heard the phrase "back to reality" and it's usually used by people returning to their homes and "realities" after a holiday. It's an interesting choice of words when you think about it. Wasn't the holiday a reality? Why not? Too good to be true? Why couldn't it continue? Why couldn't THAT be your reality instead of the one you're living now?
This is possibly how I first started to challenge the thought of "reality" and what it was. I had been on a backpacking holiday for almost a year with a good friend and as she needed to return home for work and responsibilities, I was fully aware that I had cut all ties back home in case I didn't want to return. And I didn't.
Throughout my first year or two backpacking I had a revelation. It's almost as if you've opened your eyes to the beauty of life: you realize there's no need to return to the "real" world of routine, boring stability or any of those familiar, mundane things that make the average everyday life. After I experienced this moment of clarity I started seeing the world in a different way. I realized that the world really IS your oyster! Instead of restrictions and limits I started seeing options, dreams, ideas and unlimited possibilities. The world changed for me.
Since those days I've done a whole lot more traveling and living abroad and have been lucky to meet other people who do what I do. We each have our different stories and ways of making it happen, but there are a few people out there who go around the globe, traveling with no apparent cause. Simply because we can.
I could get all poetic here and talk about the beauty of life, how short our time on this globe is and of the importance to stop and smell the roses - and all that is definitely a big part of why I do what I do - but I keep traveling because I know once I've tasted this life of a vagabond existence I couldn't just settle down anymore and be happy. For now, happiness for me comes from the adventures and instability. Being "homeless".
This year has been a great one already: since I finished my year in China and returned to visit my family and friends in Europe I have been happier than in a long time. Though it has been very interesting meeting new people - trying to introduce myself, who I am and what I do - and it has been increasingly difficult for me to answer simple questions that people normally ask each other, such as "what do you do for a living", "where do you live", "do you have hobbies". I'd like to think of myself as a quite witty individual so many times I've given answers like "I'm homeless, actually" or "I change jobs like underwear, at the moment I'm not working, just traveling", or even "my hobbies depend on the country I live in, really". Sometimes people are horrified when I tell them I don't have a permanent address and I even had someone offer me to come stay with them for the night because they were afraid I was literally out on the street!
I've found that many people do not "get" the traveling, rootless way of life. It seems incomprehensible to many that anyone would be wanting to live with such uncertainty and lack of security, homeless. I have been bombarded with gazillion questions and the most popular one always is "how can you afford this life style?". To be honest my way of life is not that expensive. And funnily enough I seem to have more money saved on my bank account than many of my friends who work full time to pay for their mortgages, car loans and debts... To be fair I have no material things to show for my wanderings: all I have is stored within me as memories, wisdom (hopefully) and personal growth.
I might be homeless for I have no place to call my own - nor do I yearn for it. ...Yet I feel at home in a place filled with friends or even strange, smiling faces. I have been welcomed to different places and homes of others such as if they were my own. In this way I have more homes than anyone could hope for. I feel I have no need for the traditional "home" because I feel homey in so many different places.
Now as a new chapter in my life is about to begin I say farewell to my cozy pit stop "home" in Europe. I'm happy to pack my bags and head out for new adventures. For "wherever I lay my hat, ..."
You summed it up really good. 95% of people can't do what we do. Every time I think of settling back down I feel heavy. There is a lightness to being in the unknown a sense of real freedom and real reality. You are learning to be rather than do. From that a higher consciousness emerges....Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou summed it up really good. 95% of people can't do what we do. Every time I think of settling back down I feel heavy. There is a lightness to being in the unknown a sense of real freedom and real reality. You are learning to be rather than do. From that a higher consciousness emerges....Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Deb! I know exactly what you mean with the sensation of lightness, being truly free. We are on a wonderful path and it's a great journey. It's people like you and Nige that also keep me going and stay motivated :) X
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