I’ve been meaning to write about this subject for a while, Kelsey Freeman’s post entitled My Beef With Travel/Lifestyle Bloggers prodded me to action. She throws down the gauntlet squarely at my doorstep, and my welcome mat accepts it with gratitude and humble thanks.
Kelsey’s beef lies with the current movement in the travel blogging community: cubicle deserters. Specifically, that advice for lifestyle redesign stems from a group of discontented people leaving the corporate world. In doing so, the overall message she’s receiving is lifestyle redesign can and does follow one stream.
One where corporate drones need deprogramming to wake up to less material, more fulfilling lives. And because we have higher paying jobs, able to sock away money or pay down debt – long term travel is dang easy for us. Then we adopt The 4-Hour Workweek or passive income practices and make it seem breezy. On that basis, we schill these boiler plate models. One size fits all. Personally, I dislike stores that sell one size fits all, women and men are born in multiple sizes. End of story.
I would hate to believe lifestyle redesign is a dictatorship, a country where only one accepted choice is shared. I would also hate for lovely people like Kelsey to ask for guidance, only to have a blank stare zinged back at her.
Digital Nomad Extraordinaire
My Lifestyle Redesign
I hope this site has never implied that my choice is king. What I felt was isolated, because the percentage of people planning gap years or packed in round-the-world-trips far outweighs digital nomads. My site is reaching those who crave change – another alternative to the conventional corporate existence. In many ways, I’m speaking to myself. Indeed, how self-centered.
The bottom line is wrestling control, whether it’s short term travel, moving overseas, or altering things on home turf. That’s why it’s called lifestyle redesign, not design your life my way, or else.
Why This Path?
Frankly, time is running out. Unlike Gen Y folks, I’m older and if I don’t try this now, it may never come to fruition. For myself, travel is a metaphor. It signifies freeing up time and forces me to halt ingrained patterns. What are those? Oh, that little niggly problem of courting a corporate job to maintain a life that I’m responsible for creating in the first place. Going overseas dims this, granting me luxury to write and devise ways to forgo a full-time corporate job.
Wannabe digital nomads should acknowledge that our choices might not resonate with others. Not to cause controversy in religious circles, but I’ve always found incongruencies between born again Christians and those who quoted the bible before they could walk. To wit, born agains exude this intensity, a fervent insistence that their path to God is the ultimate answer. While veterans in the God biz tend to be just nice people, fairly accepting of divergent viewpoints. Don’t hate me, and remember stoning is illegal in Canada, I’m just using this analogy for emphasis.
Newfound members of this cult should take some responsibility. If you’re going to preach, ensure others aren’t left abandoned in a drafty room. Especially if you call yourself an “expert”, because newbies will come to you for sage advice. Cramming a primary directive down a collective throat is contrary to my impression of the travelverse. It pays to remember tolerance and individualism.
Are We Pharaoh of the Travel World?
Office Jobs Destroy
Not always. My end goal is to simply never return to what I’m doing now. Period. This doesn’t mean I won’t return to an office based job in the future. Preferably one of my core passions and part-time. A 9 to 5 gig can be a useful tool to realize your dreams. A distinguishing point here is that fresh nomads once believed a corporate job was the dream. You can imagine the shock upon figuring out the opposite. So sucked to be me.
Accepting a cubicle tour-of-duty should be just that, do your time, get out when it’s done. Don’t look back.
Look Ma, I’m a Digital Nomad Rock Star
Working on a site and networking is overwhelming. The other day I was so exhausted and distracted, a boiling pot of rice on the stove burned black to the bottom. I’m not sure which bloggers give the appearance of ease, but if you know them personally, pass a number.
If you want to go this route, it will be hard work. Ah, but here’s the motivation – doing something you love over what you’re told to love is leaps and bounds better.
I’m Way Ahead of You
A stickler point Kelsey makes is the inadequate advice for those already embracing the anti-stuff, pro-passion mentality . Having hopped on this path early, debt or lack of options cuts off long term travel. Let’s be transparent, corporate careers boast higher salaries. She’s right. Absolutely. Thus, how to advise the converted? Obviously the ultimate goal is to visit a destination or several.
My next post related to this will explore the nitty-gritty. Meanwhile, keep in mind attaining any goal aggressively requires compromise, at times brutal sacrifice. And that sacrifice is pure perception. What a bonafide bohemian views as sacrifice is variant to a former stockbroker’s outlook. Poor stockbroker has to downsize from a three bedroom house to a one bedroom apartment. On the other side of the spectrum, bohemian has three jobs in order to feed themselves.
Available to All, Right??
My experiences have been nothing but positive. Kelsey seems to be finding something else out. I appreciate her honesty, a self-check is never a bad thing.
What attracts me to this community is the open-minded, non judgmental ideas springing forth. As Carlos Castaneda once wrote while high on peyote, “Follow the path with heart.” Whatever journey you’re on, it only benefits everyone if we help others get there.
Photos: Paul Nicholson, Al Hikes_AZ and August Wasilowski under Creative Commons
Popularity: 10% [?]
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
There is a lot of fluff but ultimately there will always be those that for whatever reason have entrenched themselves further into their current lifestyle. As a result it will take more energy to detach themselves.
I just write about my experiences and don’t tell anyone what they should / could do. Just what I’m doing. FWIW I’ve never been materialistic, that said I like driving a fancy european car and wearing dirty white t-shirts.
Also it’s not easy but it’s not hard. The tipping point will be easy, staying in the game long enough to find it is the hard part.
On the topic of stocks,I bought one on a thesis 3 months ago… Held it through a murder hole, still holding, then it got to within 2% of my initial buy on a break out, I dump because I have no time, now it’s surging higher…
Most people go through h3ll and when they get back to light bail being glad to be back, it’s staying power.
I just woke up and thought it had been too long that I commented here and I like this update.
@Brian – Valid point on corporate careers. Not everyone who chooses that path are destined to lead unrealized lives. It’s whatever calls to you. Many folks see it as comfort and stability, I’m hoping both can come to me in a different way. We’ll see. :)
Great post and I think the problem comes in with the feeling (warranted or not) that those who preach “lifestyle design” are saying our way is the best way and anyone who isn’t doing what we are is a cog in the corporate machine forever to lead a soulless and unhappy existence. Far from it.
Everyone should read and interpret the information for their own lives and experience. If it doesn’t resonate with you, ignore and move on.
@Joel – You make some excellent points and offer great insights. I agree that some of the sources are homogeneous (I like that word!), but each path or choice will vary. I’ve always been someone who takes bits of a religion or philosophy to suit my worldview. You sound the same.
@Cornelius – That could be the case. I do think anyone half literate with a computer can search out these things, corporate worker or not. People in many tax brackets have dreams, it comes down to how or where they get that info. Though, you have a point on the ebook, true enough.
@GRRRL Traveler – Glad I give the appearance of keeping it together! Honestly, it’s becoming a toll on me – a cold and bacterial pink eye is a wake up call. A new post on that subject to come. Interesting that you found the same when exploring, but now you are using travel as a new definition for you (9 to 5). With something like this, researching sources is key, what’s also key is knowing who’s genuine or just trying to sell you shit. However, when feeling vulnerable, that can be difficult.
@Kyle – Absolutely, which I hope was conveyed in this post. We must be careful not to idealize it. There will be struggles. For me, chucking the cubicle means waking up to my true self and LIFE. However I define life. Where I’m at, what I’m doing is not LIFE to me. And travel may not either. Just gotta go for it and see. Thanks for commenting, always enjoy your opinions. -:D
My only beef with some of the “lifestyle design” blogs is that some of them do promote it as the one true way. Believe me, after working with kids 40 hours a week in an unorganized Korean school system, I sometimes wanted my cozy corporate job back. I mean, I worked with good people and had a nice, stable life. And there’s something to be said about that.
So, yes, we are all on our own LIP/”lifestyle design”/vagabonding lifestyle and that’s good for us. But what we need to make sure we don’t do is idealize that life to a point where it seems like we are being elitist.
Wow, I step away for the day to teach EFL (“Where are you from?” “I’m from…”) to my Korean 6th graders & I find out i’ve missed out on all of this travel blog debate! Ha ha… When I first started out, I felt a bit like Kelsey on some of the topic- mostly bc I was looking for reinforcing inspiration & ideas on how specifically, as a freelancer, I could make travel more of my lifestyle. Ironically, what I’m drilling head-on into a 9-5er as my travel solution, is what you’re trying to get away from as your solution. But what I found in your blogs was a bit of a Gen X travel sister- trying to find courage and ways to make travel our priority & goal, while attempting to overcome the stigmas of the western clock. Blogging is a beast of responsibility, consuming time, much thought & energy- a 24hr occupation based on how well you can manage it! You’re doing fabulously.
As I commented on Kelsey’s blog- we’re all at different stages in dealing w/ lifestyle changes, or the experiences we come from, etc… We’re all experts (& not) on our own life & it will inspire or speak to those going in a similar direction. Of all the 4 classes of 6th graders I taught yesterday, maybe my words/actions inspired confidence, enthusiasm, etc… to only a handful of students whose faces lit up & could connect w/ my artsy or theatrical expressions over than their more experienced teachers. The things I found boring or hateful in school learning, I punched up w/ my own flavor in the way I would’ve liked to have learned it when I was that age. To those students like me, I am an effective teacher despite degrees. For me, that’s enough to keep me inspired to teach. Hope both you & Kelsey keep your opinions strong… many will find strength & inspiration in them ;-)
@Mark: I agree with your latest comment. I don’t see the point of the challenge in Kelsey’s most recent post. Travel blogs are often successful because they have a niche – specifically because they don’t try to meet the needs of various audiences.
Berating travel bloggers because they are blogging about their experiences and not the experiences of others in different situations won’t diversify the medium. Writers can empathize with people in different situations than their own, but they should not feel obligated to write for them.
I think I’m just too goofy to be considered elitist. Maybe not as goofy as a poo-flinging monkey, but still…
Forgive the randomness of the thoughts below:
The interesting thing with my plans is they actuallly took shape 12 years ago – long before the more recent wave and term of “lifestyle design” – hell, probably before the creation of the term “blogging.”
But it did take a book like 4-Hour Work Week to kick me into gear. Not that I buy into almost anything he has to say, but the book made me think outside of my own narrow mindset and realize my plans weren’t so far-fetched, so it was valuable for that alone.
That’s my takeaway here, too. Even if there are people coming from similar places, they won’t all follow similar paths. But those paths diverge over time, so yes there’s a lot of similarity in the early stages, which I find comforting at the moment.
I do like being challenged to do things differently. I’m never going to be a “travel blogger” per se – it’s not my thing. Nor is giving advice to people – I don’t trust my own decisions so why should anyone else? But I love travel and I love writing – so I’m finding my own niche that celebrates both of them in my own way. Well, that’s the goal anyway.
@NomadicChick: “Having said that, I also think it’s important to break from narrow thinking, putting ourselves in the shoes of someone asking for our help. How would they do it in their current position? Instead of what we would do in ours? That’s what Kelsey is explicitly saying.”
EXACTLY. In fact, I just wrote an entire post to that effect this morning, called You Are Not Your Bubble. I think you’ll enjoy it.
I think there are more blogs and tips for corporate people to quit their job and travel not because they are the only people who dream of doing something but they are more likely to buy into it and have the money to invest into these programs/books/ideas. While those of us on the other side who don’t already have the savings to do such a thing are less likely to buy the travel gear product you reviewed or purchase the travel insurance you are affiliated with. Point being most bloggers are trying to make money so gear their stuff to what they know and who will purchase their product, i.e. an ebook.
Wow everyone, some lively discussion going on.
@Colin – Hopefully that’s what I conveyed in this article. Reworking your life can take many forms, many ways. And perhaps that’s what Kelsey means, that some bloggers give the impression there’s no room to correct – here’s the formula, go at er’.
@Joel – I’m so diplomatic, my friends call me Switzerland, because I see all sides. I totally agree that the groups of people in general are not homogeneous. That’s been my experience, but it sounds like Kelsey might have a different POV on it.
@Abby – If anyone is unique in this whole lot of comments (besides Kelsey), it’s you! You left LA (nightclub boys and all) for vastly different reasons. If you ain’t finding answers to the existing bloggers out there, be a trailblazer like you!
@Kelsey – Perhaps “expert” was a strong word, but it made my point. The focus of my site is to inspire others to change and find like-minded mates, so if a person comes to me seeking advice or encouragement, a non-answer or parroted response doesn’t cut it. That’s the gist of the whole piece, which I think you were alluding to.
@Keith – I agree that if she isn’t finding appropriate answers, start 50 sites that will. However, if our sites are supposed to incite dialogue or change, speaking to someone of different experience/background is not an impossible feat. There’s a word for it, I believe called empathy. Re-imagining a wholly separate viewpoint on how lifestyle redesign works practically only aids our own quests. As Colin said, always allow room for tweaking.
@Cherie – Merci, and I couldn’t agree more. We all have something valuable to bring to lifestyle redesign. Thanks for your wonderful words.
@TLWH – Very good points and terrific example of post-modern “lower” paid jobs (call center). I’m lucky, because my childhood household barely got by financially, but as an adult I managed to talk myself into a corporate gig. In essence, I represent both sides.
Soultravelers3 – I also agree with you that actually getting out there is not expensive. In terms of experts, I think some [not all] fall prey to boxed thinking, so when a new person arrives on the scene and asks an unusual question, a regurgitated response is given, or some very general info that the person could have figured out on their own, but they aren’t – they are coming to you or I, whomever for guidance. But yes, in terms of experiential guidance, what you know carries more weight. Having said that, I also think it’s important to break from narrow thinking, putting ourselves in the shoes of someone asking for our help. How would they do it in their current position? Instead of what we would do in ours? That’s what Kelsey is explicitly saying. P.S. I know you aren’t boxed thinkers, but I’m sure some are. :)
@Mark (Again) – I love your strong opinions. Keep em’ coming!
@Kelsey
The key phrase was “probably would not be as useful”. Sure, we can all advise everyone up to a point, BUT there is usually MORE value in advise from someone who has actually walked through a particular situation as closely aligned to what someone wants to do.
Single, couple, family travel all have basics in common, but each is also VERY different. When I was researching our open ended world tour NOBODY was doing what I wanted to do, but I learned from some singles, some couples & some families. Still had to make much of it up on my own.
You’re right, one can synthesize or”tweak” lots of information to make it your own and fit your needs.We help many singles and couples via our website even though we are a family because there is a LOT of common ground.
BUT can you advise someone on how to break away from their corporate job as well as people who have lived it and walked through it? I don’t think so.
Take my 2 examples in my last comment. My advise to a childless couple (based on my experience as a family) was VERY helpful & led them to a #LIP life in BA. My advise to a single mom with 2 kids (based on my experience of life with one great husband & 1 great kid) helped her live the dream of traveling Europe for months as a family.
BUT I knew nothing of what exactly that would be like as a single mom with 2 kids. I knew nothing about what exactly a 20/30 something couple needs today in BA. I never lived in BA, I never bought an RV in US & shipped it to Europe, I don’t have the kind of companies they all ran.
I don’t have those experiences, so they had to find those things on their own or from another source.
Nobody can answer every single person’s need. BUT we can all learn a lot from different views EVEN on the same topic.
Now that we have been traveling a long time, our packing list is MUCH, MUCH leaner that most. We can easily go months with a small day pack each, even in 3 seasons of weather & that includes at least 1 laptop ( & associated electronics), camera, video camera & homeschool supplies!
BUT I enjoy reading other’s packing lists. Some absolutely amaze me on what they bring. I think it’s useful when planning to look at lots of different packing lists to help a beginner figure out theirs. I find them entertaining & you never know when you might see something useful.
I love it that you want to encourage people to think outside their box, but agree with @keith that the tone is off putting and people should write what they know. I don’t think this is about your journalism experience.
I also agree with him that you’ve found a niche in which you can trailblaze. (This is great news!).
Instead of demanding that others talk to that audience specifically, take advantage of everything that you’ve learned by being you and share it in a far superior way than other writers who have absolutely no experience in that area.
It reminds me of my latest post on 4HWW. Tim Ferriss wrote from HIS experience of being a 20 something entrepreneur who had been an exchange student in high school & had taken a 15 month world tour.
He didn’t write much or anything from the family, couple or different age span needs.Smart folks who didn’t fit his demographic took the basic info and used what applied to them to makes TONS of very different ways to live a 4HWW life.
I just totally disagree that “lifestyle redesign can and does follow one stream.” I think there are many, many streams and always have been. I’ve been living a “lifestyle design” life for decades before the word was ever coined!
IMHO If there is a will, there is a way & those that want to find it will.
@soultravelers3, I read that Matador article (which can easily be condensed to “go to parks and free places, WOOF, Couch Surf, Get a Travel JOB, and live off the good will (and money) of others.”) and it represents just one spectrum of the travel options out there. Some people, like me, prefer not to engage in some of those tactics.
I’ve already written and deleted a long comment on this issue, but my history on the internet has taught me that it’s best not to rant in public places.
While I agree that anyone can offer generic advice (yes, I’ve read Kelsey’s latest post ‘You Are Not Your Bubble’) on a situation foreign to them, I also posit that it is extremely rare for someone to cut to the quick of a given matter when they have no personal experience in that situation.
People take strength from knowing that they’re not alone, and sometimes they even resent those who pretend to understand what they’re going through. ‘Generic’ blogs still serve the purpose of adding another voice to the collective cry for help, and serve as a sort of catharsis for the authors. I believe that’s where the true value of the medium lies.
Upon reflection, I appreciate the heart of what Kelsey was trying to get at, but her delivery fell flat for me, and prompted several unpleasant emotions and reactions. I’ve never been one for kissy-huggy, “we’re all great” blog commenting, and when I disagree with someone and when my reaction is strong enough, you can bet I’ll add my dissenting voice to the discussion.
@Keith: Check out the most recent post on my blog. It’s a more lengthy response. I think you’ll enjoy it.
@Kelsey: I don’t think we disagree. There doesn’t need to be a debate about whether people can write about topics with which they’re unfamiliar. Of course they can. For folks who’ve been to college, it’s pretty much the first lesson you need to master.
Challenging yourself to learn something new for a blog post is a worthy character-development goal. On average, though, will these posts provide as much useful information (or however you want to quantify it) as someone’s post who has experienced/lived/performed said topic?
I think this is an entirely different conversation if the blogger’s focus is on their tone of voice and their unique take on things.
Didn’t think I had this much to say about the topic, but I’m enjoying the conversation!
@SoulTravelers3: “Kelsey can advise people just like her better than anyone else because she has lived it, but her advice probably would not be as useful for someone with totally different circumstances and needs. “
Do you think people can’t advise folks in situations other than their own? Tell me – could you advise a childless couple on how to travel, despite the fact that you travel with children? Sure. Can I advise someone on how to break away from their corporate job, despite the fact that I’ve never had one myself? Sure. I can do it, and you can do it, because we both read things that are about people in situations other than our own. Surely you read blogs that are about people in situations other than your own; if you do, then you can synthesize the information you have learned from reading other people’s experiences into advice for someone who wants to do something you’ve never done.
@Keith: I was never asking for information. What the post was was a call to attention for bloggers who tend to only write about one type of experience, or worse, to simply parrot the content on other blogs (post #8,001 about packing lists or WOOOFing, anyone?). I was trying to encourage people to think outside their box occasionally, and to try and write material for people who are in a situation different than their own. I do research for my posts all the time, so that I can write about things I’m not quite as experienced with myself. There’s no reason other bloggers can’t do the same. Then again, maybe this has to do with my journalism background and my instinct to inform, not simply narrate.
Interesting thoughts, but as someone who has been living the traveling the world/digital nomad/location independent dream as a family since 2006 & VERY richly on 23 dollars a day per per person, I KNOW that ANY one can do this.
Thus the “elitist” claims are simply hogwash. Sure, it may be harder or different for some than others, but it’s really ALL about “if there is a will, there is a way”.
@Mark said above that “Travel is expensive” but nothing could be further from the truth, so I totally disagree.
Read the Matador classic article about how to travel the world for FREE. My own brother traveled for decades all over the world with absolutely no money. A family with 8 kids (the youngest was a baby) with an extremely modest income saved to travel the world for several years. A couple with no money drove from Argentina to North America over years in an antique car having a baby along the way. People have walked around the world.A man born with no legs or arms has fulfilled his desire to travel the world.
There really are just NO excuses to go after what you want & absolutely endless ways to do it. If you have a brain, all you have to do is read the endless books and websites/blogs on this topic and find your own “HOW” by tweaking what has worked for others and/or creating your own.
I don’t think the “experts” should be obligated to help every individual figure out their unique “how-to” plan. It makes much more sense for them to share what they know as an inspiration to others to find their own unique way.
We’re “experts” in our extended family travel field just based on experience of DOING it (and learning from the process & mistakes along the way).
We’ve inspired TONS of people to do it their OWN way. Sometimes just demonstrating that it CAN be done opens possibilities for people. Two examples:
When we were interviewed by Andrew Warner from Mixergy, he was so inspired that he & his fiance planned their own lifestyle design trip and ended up in BA.
A single mom found us on Twitter & a light went off for her as she never knew this could be done. Within months she bought an RV,shipped it to Europe, rented out her house & was living the life working from the road in Europe with her kids.
Both were inspired by & learned from us, but made their own VERY different plans that matched their lifestyle and needs.
That’s how it works. I pass on my experience to help others just as many others pass on their experience that helped/still helps us.
LOTS of keys out there, folks need to just pick and choose what works best for them. Kelsey can advise people just like her better than anyone else because she has lived it, but her advice probably would not be as useful for someone with totally different circumstances and needs.
There are a TON of niches within “lifestyle design” which keeps it from being elitist and allows “something for everyone” to make their own plan if they are willing to go for it!
Well if anything this post also introduced me to a very good article by Kelsy, I shall head over there again after this.
Nomadic Chick is correct, not all of us are 18+ nor born with silver spoon’s. If you don’t take up the gauntlet “now”, then it better be for a real financial reason aka no money to sustain for a year.
Think of the man/lady selling ashtray’s made from soda cans. Do they really want this job? No. Why are they doing it? Because it’s a means to an end.
Years ago people lived hand to mouth working in coal mines, sweat shops and so on. Today’s equivalent to sweat shops are call centers.
Do what it takes to accomplish your dreams. There’s an old saying, aim for the moon, if you miss you’ll be amongst the stars.
One thing I love about these blogging forums, is a chance for us all to share the wide variety of backgrounds and paths we’ve taken to get to where we are. I think there are a few more prominent and vocal folks who’s story gets heard louder – but there are many of us doing various forms of nomadism and ‘lifestyle design’ in so many different ways.
Being able to meet up – online and in person – with so many inspiring people who have seen outside their own pre-convieved notions has been my greatest reward in sharing my own story.
Thank you for sharing yours.
– Cherie
Very measured post, nice work. Lots of good nuggets in here, too. As someone currently in the corporate world who did have realize a change was needed, I completely understand where you are coming from (cause it’s the same place).
I read the post on driftingfocus prior to reading this one, and I was put off by the tone. Frankly, I think people should write what they know. It’s how they produce the best content they can.
It’s human nature to look for the path of least resistance. Google is like the ultimate multi-tool for letting us accomplish tasks without learning from them. If Freeman isn’t finding the information she wants, I’d say it’s a reflection of the natural order of things. We aren’t supposed to know the answers before we find them. It’s what makes things difficult and rewarding. Perhaps she should feel lucky – she’s found a niche in which she can trailblaze.
P.S. Lifestyle redesign is not elitist. It’s courageous.
@Mark: “I think Kelsey Freeman is going to have to face up to the fact that her stance on finances and possessions is going to have to fall by the wayside if she wants to travel more.”
Actually, that’s not true. I’ve had this stance on finances and possessions for many years, and yet, in that time, I have managed to live nomadically, traveling around the US and Canada for an entire year, I’ve managed to live in Switzerland for 6 weeks on $20 a day or less, I’ve lived and worked in Korea, and in 2011 I’ll be traveling in Mongolia for 3-6 months for a personal journalism project. It’s hard, but it can be done. I wasn’t asking for advice on how to travel, or how to save more money – I was trying to make people realize that not everyone starts out from a position of privilege.
Wow! Thanks for all the praise, and I’m glad that someone picked up the gauntlet, so to speak!
Newfound members of this cult should take some responsibility. If you’re going to preach, ensure others aren’t left abandoned in a drafty room. Especially if you call yourself an “expert”, because newbies will come to you for sage advice. Cramming a primary directive down a collective throat is contrary to my impression of the travelverse. It pays to remember tolerance and individualism.
I think that this is one of the keys in your post and is a great articulation of part of what I was trying to say. Many folks in the travel world, and especially those folks in the lifestyle design world tend to, intentionally or unintentionally, style themselves as experts. When you do that, you have a responsibility to your readers to live up to your claim, or at least attempt to, and I see a lot of folks who don’t. They style themselves as lifestyle gurus, when really their only advice is “do as I do”. If a therapist could only offer one style of advice to their clients, they wouldn’t get patients, and I think that many folks in the travel/lifestyle design fields could do to think about that.
And that sacrifice is pure perception. What a bonafide bohemian views as sacrifice is variant to a former stockbroker’s outlook. Poor stockbroker has to downsize from a three bedroom house to a one bedroom apartment. On the other side of the spectrum, bohemian has three jobs in order to feed themselves.
This is also key. Many people attempt to advise people without knowing that person’s situation. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been advised to get rid of my car, reduce my rent, sell my stuff, stop buying stuff, etc. If that person actually took a few minutes to read my about page and get to know me through my blog, they’d quickly realize that I have no car, I pay very low rent for this area, I have nothing to sell, and I haven’t make a non-necessary purchase in 4 months. What I do without in daily life is a sacrifice to them but a norm to me. Thus, it’s difficult for them to advise me. But, just because they’re in a different situation doesn’t mean they shouldn’t and couldn’t try; I advise people all day who are in totally different situations than my own, and I somehow manage.
By the way, Matt Chevy of Life Without Pants recently wrote a post similar to both of ours. It’s over here.
I think what Freeman is missing, is that blogs and websites are a demographic specific medium. It’s somewhat akin to berating zine authors because their work doesn’t reflect the corporate world enough.
One can only work in generalizations when discussing demographics and trends, but I’d argue that it’s more of a natural step for an analytical corporate drone who has close and frequent contact with their computer to move into blogging than it is for an artist. You also have to think that someone who was always disillusioned with the corporate lifestyle really went through no big change that might mark a pivotal moment in their lives. It’s these big moments that lead people to wanting to share the story behind their change, and the major shift from cubicle life to vagabond is a particularly poignant (if more frequently common) change.
I don’t think lifestyle redesign is elitist, but it’s certainly a class privilege. People wind up in a certain place in their lives through a series of circumstance and/or action. Whether earned or handed down, being of the more financially privileged class allows one more time to step back and think about things like happiness and fulfillment rather than just staying fed and sheltered.
I think Kelsey Freeman is going to have to face up to the fact that her stance on finances and possessions is going to have to fall by the wayside if she wants to travel more. Travel is expensive, and there really are only a handful of ways to get more of it… like getting another job. That may sound snarky, but I know several people who started with almost no funds and managed to gt away for several years of continuous travel, but they worked their way through it, or are still doing so. Most of them just don’t bother blogging, because they didn’t come out of that environment.
Elegantly written, lady! Yes, I loved Kelsey’s post for encouraging people in the travel community to speak up, even if, like me, they’re not saving pennies from a desk job and counting down to a big trip. Maybe someday I’ll write how I ended up living in Central America… Well done! We’re an awesome group. Love us! Even more so now that I’m finding out more about all of our different stories…
Perhaps I’ve been lucky or I’m just a bit of a mutt who likes everyone but I’ve yet to meet the judgmental or superior group of travelers but I’m dying to read Stephanie’s upcoming rant! :)
I was also lucky in stumbling on this particular blog. As my first real contact with someone in a similar place to me, your writing has helped me tremendously as I sought inspiration or guidance for my own thoughts & plans. So I’m thankful that blogs about life changes like this DO exist. {/end effusive praise}
The nice thing about the group of travelers I’ve come into contact with so far is that it’s not homogeneous in any way. A lot of younger people on gap years, some who bailed on the corporate world (though actually very few of those) and some who took early retirement to travel on a semi-permanent basis. Different modes of travel, different regions, different lives, different career pursuits – I was stunned and pleased to find so many others out there.
I definitely enjoyed reading Kelsey’s take on things and the challenges she laid out. I’d say two things about what I took from it. I think she’s right on in laying down the gauntlet to forge a path of your own without just trading the old patterns for somewhat newer(albeit less common) ones, including not just rehashing the topics being written about. Second, the bigger challenge actually seems to be in getting people who haven’t even ENTERED the cube world to look outward for their path to begin with.
Hell, I admit to doing some of the same “packing list” posts and other elements that have been done by many before me, but I plan to work to add more color, personality and fresh aspects to my writing as I grow. Kelsey’s challenge is part of my thought process as I teach myself to do that.
Hi @nomadicchick
As a relative new comer to this lifestyle I’ve found the bloggers and websites devoted to the topic of Lifestyle Design fantastic. I think it needs to be remembered that it is you, the individual, who gets to choose what you do with the lifestyle you are designing. If becoming a digital nomad is your choice then book that flight and get going. If your would rather restyle your life so that you free up your time and you stay put in the same place, then that too is a valid choice.
I know in our case part of the reason to pack and up travel the world with the kids was the ability to leverage currency rates. The Australian dollar is strong at the moment, especially against Asian currencies so it was cheaper for us to live day to day in Asia than it was to live in Australia (there will be much more to come on on this topic :)).
The crux of my point is exactly the same as yours. It’s your lifestyle, design it the way you want to. The beauty of the lifestyle I currently have is that everyday we can correct mistakes we made the day before. We knew that there were going to be challenges when we set out and that we didn’t know everything (well anything) about what we were doing. With this lifestyle I can quickly correct course or even change it completely :).
I can’t wait to hear other peoples opinions.
Regards,
Colin – @ccburns
{ 1 trackback }