Finding Freedom: Turning Hard Times into a Life on the Road

Hello friends, and thanks for stopping by to read about my nomad journey. This is how I turned a hard time in my life into becoming a nomad.

There are many tough times when we need to create a new path for our life journey.

Stay stuck or become unstuck.

Becoming homeless

I’ve documented some of my struggles in this blog of being a single woman and low income earner. It’s extremely difficult for us to get ahead and get into a good financial situation.

I lost everything I owned in a fire including the place I lived. Well not everything. I ran inside and got my senior dog and grabbed my fireproof document bag. This was a traumatic time in my life, though oddly enough, the day afterward I felt strangely unburdened. I no longer had all this stuff to deal with.

Even though this was a devastating incident, I think about people in war torn countries who are forced to leave with what little belongings they can gather. People who have to start over. I’m over 60 and it’s really hard to start over, but I think about the people who have it worse than me.

I’ve always been independent and self-reliant. This is my big wake up call to point my life in another direction.

Homeless or houseless?

This was the time for me to accept my new homelessness situation and chart a new path, a new journey. I knew I wasn’t going to stick around.

Well, I’d be sticking around for awhile. The company I worked for very generously provided me with a house where I lived for the next year and a half. Basically as a housesitter.

Very quickly I felt a pull to return to Spain. I was in Spain when I was younger working as an au pair. Even though I always knew I’d go back one day, I hadn’t put the plan into motion. For decades.

I decided I wanted to walk the Camino de Santiago and see if inspiration would strike and help me find my next path.

It’s not cheap planning a European journey. For months I’d been purchasing supplies I’d need for the Camino, I began seriously planning and narrowing down actual travel dates after my senior dog passed away.

Nomad planning

When my dog left the world, it was time for me to discover my world.

Three weeks later I posted I was ready to be a nomad and the planning was underway. Yup! You heard here it first.

My plans were loose. After I finished walking the Camino, I wanted to head to South America in search of cheaper places to live. Most countries allow visitors to stay for 3 months. Sounded like a nomad plan. Don’t stick around in one place for too long.

When I look back on the post about getting ready to be a nomad, I’d listed the countries I’d like to visit:

• Australia
• Dominican Republic
• Costa Rica
• Panama
• Spain
• Scotland
• Italy
• Ecuador
• Peru

Before and after Spain

The only thing I knew for sure was that I wanted to be in Spain in September. Before and after – totally up in the air! Though logically Great Britain would be the jumping off spot.

But it’s so expensive there!

And that’s where housesitting came into the equation. I can be a nomad and a housesitter at the same time. See my post Arranging Housesitting Positions to see how that all fell into place.

My loose travel plans are now head to England in late July to housesit for a couple of months. Then head to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago and max out the 3 months I’m allowed to stay inside Schengen countries. Then back to England to housesit for 6 weeks. That brings me to late January. I must visit Scotland, after all it is on the above list. Two weeks in Scotland should do me.

And then I will choose a country in South America. Costa Rica? Panama? Ecuador? Hmmm… whichever one shall I choose? Probably the one that has the lowest airfare from London. And then I can hop around to other countries in South America every three months.

Sounds like a plan! I went to Airbnb and started adding decent looking places to my wishlists in these countries.

Throw those plans out the window!

While I was still in Spain, I began exploring volunteer opportunities. The type of volunteering that offers a place to live.

In fact, I had a volunteer stint coming up before I left Spain with VaughanTown. Be sure to read my post Culture Exchange through Communication: Volunteering with VaughanTown.

I spent time in a Spanish village out in the boonies, met wonderful people, spent 5 nights in a lovely hotel room, and had all my meals provided.

Yes! Volunteering is definitely something I should keep doing on my nomad journey.

This is how I ended up in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines volunteering with an animal welfare organization. It seemed like a good fit working with dogs and taking time off to swim in the Caribbean Sea every day during the winter and spring months.

However, not all volunteer opportunities are good for a person’s health, and I left earlier than planned. Read more about how I was making a difference on Mayreau Island.

Didn’t I already hit England?

When I booked my ticket to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, it was cheaper to book a return ticket than a one way ticket. And that is how I ended up back in London.

Shelling out money at a Heathrow airport hotel. But at least it was cheaper than being at a hotel in Central London. I’m a nomad who doesn’t have big bucks. I had to quickly find a housesit. That’s how I ended up at the lovely Lee-on-the-Solent enjoying seaside walks.

Also some of the cheapest fish and chips I found anywhere in the UK. I highly recommend Karen’s Plaice and the senior fish and chips. £5 – what a deal! There’s something I’ve always loved about eating fish and chips on the beach and tossing the leftovers to the seagulls.

I bought a 15 day Eurail train pass to use up within 2 months once I activated it. This nomad was going to see how many countries she could hit. Ah yes. Summer days and my big Eurail adventure. I had time to kill before my next housesit in August with the same family I housesat for in London last year. Yeah where my nomad journey began!

Only to discover that hotels in Europe are as expensive as they are in Great Britain. Hotel costs were slightly cheaper in Hungary and Slovenia so I spent some time there. Meanwhile I was applying for housesits back in England. I had to get back there and save my money!

How did I end up back here?

While I was still in the Caribbean, I arranged a long term housesit in Toronto, Ontario.

Yeah – how did I end up back in Canada? Ha ha! Vancouver and Toronto are the most expensive places in Canada. I’ve lived one, let’s try the other.

Actually I’m loving Toronto. If it wasn’t so expensive I might consider ending my nomad days and living here.

Here’s something I have come to accept. I can be a nomad in Canada. Or expand to all of North America. I can be a car nomad.

I’m still going to be an international housesitter and visit those countries listed above, but I can do the nomad thing back in Canada for awhile.

Main reason? I really miss my horse. I spend so much money making sure he’s having a good retirement and is healthy. That’s because he’s my responsibility. I need my horsey time. This nomad got herself back to Canada and will be inching her way back to BC and her big baby.

On becoming a nomad

The perfect person doesn’t exist, and neither does the perfect moment.

Stop wasting time waiting for that perfect moment. Do it now or regret it later!

Do I remain stuck or become unstuck?

If I stayed stuck in my old life saying I’ll become a nomad when I have this much money saved or I’ll become a nomad next year, that non-existent perfect moment will have passed.

I had to stop wasting time and walk that Camino or I’d never do it and regret it later.

The time is NOW to start changing dreams into reality. My reality sucked – surviving not thriving. I’m getting older. I can’t wait to chase my dreams.

The time to become a nomad is NOW while I can enjoy life.

Just a few short years ago I never dreamed that I’d be clambering all over the Rock of Gibraltar and getting up close to the resident macaques (monkeys).

What about eating dinner on a sidewalk cafe in Budapest, Hungary! What am I doing in Hungary anyway? But something was just so empowering while I sat at the table eating mediocre pasta with an uninspiring street view. Yeah, I’m in Budapest!

Maybe your dream isn’t to live an unconventional life and become a nomad. For me, it’s how I find freedom. You have to live your dream. Live in the moment!

A nomad doesn’t have a home. Nomads are on the move. Even though I was homeless, I was not going to be houseless. I am balancing housesitting so I can save money for my next travel adventure. Doesn’t that sound strange? A nomad making vacation plans!

I am not on vacation. I’m living my life as a nomad.

Travel is bringing me freedom. I’ve turned hardship into finding freedom. And with that freedom comes a peaceful existence.

Finding peace. Isn’t that we all want?

xoxo

Published by Cheryl @ The Lifestyle Digs on October 28, 2024.

More reading:

When You Have Nowhere to Go – Go Everywhere!

Love My Country, Hate the Price Tag

Turning my Travel Dreams into Housesitting Adventures

Can Low-Income Single Women Retire Comfortably in Canada?

BC Nomad Life: Is it Right for Me?