Looking forward to exploring your site!

We always find it hard to explain to people that we’re not being lazy and that every day is not a holiday and that actually, we really don’t want to get a regular job again. Maybe in the future we can just forward them to your post and that’ll settle it once and for all. Thanks!

Carmen’s last blog post..How Does a Nomad Get a Vacation?

Sean’s last blog post..5 Ways to Slow Down

Most folks don’t experience vacation like the way I suspect either of us experiences extended travel as a lifestyle. And I don’t think where you travel is necessarily that much of a difference (both Chris and I have extensive foreign travel under our belts as well… Chris actually lived as an expat for 4 years in Indonesia and doing world travel, and I’ve done extended travel throughout Russia.) Whether or not you’re living outside the culture you grew up in isn’t a defining point between vacation and travel – at least, not in my mind.

There is a difference between those types of travel. On vacation, you put the rest of life on hold. You don’t work, you don’t schedule doctor’s appointments, you pre-pay bills due, you board the pets, you have someone water your plants, and you can really just let go and not worry about all of the things required to ‘live’. And then you come back to a stack of mail to catch up on and resume everything else that is normal in your life. We do experience and schedule vacations in this way, even amongst our traveling lifestyle.. time where we don’t work, where we go out of touch and concentrate more on leisure and less on living. It’s a subtler distinction of course than before we were living on the road.

We also often forget what day it is and have redefined a lot of what living is like as a result of our traveling lifestyle. But it’s not a vacation to us.. because it is our lives. Not a break from it. One could almost argue that going to a conference or other event that is very schedule and location focused is much more a vacation for us than before

I’ve never really understood those “2 week millionaire” style vacations where one suffers for a year just to blow loads of money in two weeks. I’m too frugal for that. Don’t get me wrong, I loooove to live large and adore luxury, I just like to find out how I can do that for as little money as possible. I hate wasting money.

Yes, life goes on with this type of lifestyle, and we work, go to the dentist, clean up, homeschool our kid, cook, shop for groceries, make beds etc, but MOST of our time is spent like a permanent, extended vacation.

Perhaps part of the difference is because we are out of our home country and visiting many countries. One of the things most rewarding about family travel is just doing ordinary things in extraordinary places.

I know that holds true for you as well, but being in a foreign land where we often do not speak the language it just ups the ante a bit, and always makes us aware that we are on an extended vacation of sorts. We also purposely always stay in spring or summer type good, mostly sunny weather.

I’m reminded of this Bill Bryson quote ( which is one of my favorites):

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” — Bill Bryson

I am sure you have the same experience ( as I once traveled the US for 6 months from Boston to Key West to SD to SF), but I think it is more intense outside of one’s home country.

I love it that we always have a heck of a time remembering what day it is or what time it is. We no longer have the same reference point to time. I love how this lifestyle keeps one living in the “now”.

I don’t think life has to be one of constant leisure to feel like an extended vacation. Our life is “our” idea of a vacation or “heaven on earth” as we call it. I bet yours is too!

Soultravelers3’s last blog post..6 Month European Family Road Trip ’09!