The Two Most Asked Questions...

Since our family began to travel we get asked two questions a lot:

“How is homeschool going?” and “How can your family afford to travel?”

Let me answer the financial question first, because the second takes much more time and explanation.  And believe it or not, it’s the harder of the two to accomplish.  But stay tuned, because answer it I will in future blogs.

Both my wife and I still work and so we have an income.  She is a travel nurse and I teach online, write, and run the Ultimate Scavenger.  During my wife’s assignments, usually from six to thirteen weeks at a time, we are in one location.  We take nearby trips to explore our surroundings but overall, we are somewhat immobile.  Yet even though we both still work, we now make significantly less than we did when we were stable and owned a home. 

People tend to think that it takes a lot of money to travel.  I mean, it certainly could, but the truth is we do not spend any more on the road than we would at home.  Far less, in fact. 

Not owning a home has been a blessing.  Staying in hotels, lodges, Airbnb - all the bills are basically paid!  We have no energy or cable bills, no lawn maintenance, no home repairs or other hassles to deal with. We do not consume as much in terms of non-necessities.  There is no need to shop at IKEA or Pier One to decorate our living room.  We cannot travel with furniture, a huge flatscreen TV or a closet full of clothes.  So why buy them?

Yet we usually have what we need wherever we stay.  Ever been to a hotel without a nice TV or cable?  I have yet to ‘need’ anything that I cannot go out and get easily.  There might be a minor inconvenience here and there, such as something that makes cooking in the kitchen easier.  My wife really wanted a blender so we could make smoothies, for example, so now we pack it in with our stuff. 

The biggest expense has proved to be food.  Whenever I travel I love to enjoy the local cuisine; mostly the beer and the pizza, but also whatever a place has that claims to be the best or sounds delicious.  But as good as my wife cooks, nothing beats a homecooked meal, so we stock the fridge when we settle for any length of time.  It’s really the best of both worlds. 

As humans in today’s consumer society, the truth is we think we need more than we really do.  And since I am not ‘aspiring’ to acquire more possessions, I have more free time to create and spend with family.  The most important lesson that I have learned thus far from this adventure is that the time with our daughters is precious and I would not exchange it for the most extravagant home in the world!  I prefer to be richer in experiences.

 

That’s just me though.