Are you really happy as a nomad?

[trailsailor]

I am happy. Very happy. I've been mostly fulltime for the past year except for periods of helping my daughter and an ex get through some tough spots in life.

Right now I'm in the desert at Quartzite looking at the Milky Way, enjoying a flavorful yet affordable bourbon.

I have peace of mind, I am content, i shared a dinner with a vandweller close to me. She wasn't as accustomed to the wonderful attributes of bourbon whiskey as I so she excused herself a little early in the evening, ha!

The back of my truck topper is wide open and the weather is perfect. I love this life, I just love it!

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[Sleep]

This thread deserves a couple of those gold star thingies.  I need to come back and read all these every-time I get nervous and fearful.  It has really helped me put things in perspective and why I want to do it so much!

PEACE

 

[MrNoodly]

Oh, absolutely. I never want to go back to living in a building, anchored to one location.

 

[Jora]

As I was going to sleep last night in Arizona I was thinking I have a full stomach, a soft bed, a warm dog, a cool breeze and a million stars in the sky. I used to be depressed but now there is not one cell in my body that feels that way.

 

[S.IX:Phoebe]

Life is all about being happy and doing what you want, and my wife and I have found exactly what we wanted. She has been living like this since she was eighteen in 2012 after family difficulties, she turned an outcome of a nightmare into something amazing. I've been her best friend before she moved into her car but after spending so much time around her during the time in her new home I soon started having feelings for her. She became a super happy, bright and cheerful woman from living on wheels and that is what I like seeing. We dated and got married, spent our honeymoon in the car, lived in our car full-time ever since we got married and we're not showing any signs of slowing down.

So are we happy? You bet your wishes we are. We hope to spend the rest of our lives living free to go wherever we want. We feel this lifestyle is the only thing that really has helped made her transition work out smoothly.

 

[slynne]

I havent started yet but am well on my way. I am still in the saving money/getting rid of stuff phase which is of course completely low risk. If I change my mind, I will just have a bunch of money and a decluttered house. 

I admit that I am kind of risk averse. I am not going to sell my house until I have tried things out for a year. I do hope that this lifestyle will help me manage things like my depression and the loneliness I feel sometimes because of it. This is mostly because I have a lot of close friends and family members who have moved away and I figure it is easier for me, as a childless single woman, to go to them rather than the other way around. I think a mobile lifestyle will make me more social while allowing me to retreat into isolation when I need that too. 

I hope I love it!!!

 

[Thirsty Boots Nomad]

Nomadic YT vlogs as a standard for the happiness/success/etc. of a nomadic life are a prime example of, "The problem is people compare other's highlight reel to their own bloopers and outtakes"; I'm not sure about many/most of them being staged, as someone suggested, ... but they definitely leave a lot of the mundane, same no matter where or how you live details out. The lifestyle isn't perfect, and even those enjoying and happy overall with living it (by choice) have had their moments of wondering and regret. Personally, when the regret, longing to conventional "stability", and lack of more joy than sadness becomes more than my enthusiasm to start each day to see what adventures await I may/will come off the road again; ... this time it most definitely will NOT be because of irrational fears perpetuated by others (some of whom had fulltimed themselves).

 

[FlowerGirl]

I havent started yet but am well on my way. I am still in the saving money/getting rid of stuff phase which is of course completely low risk. If I change my mind, I will just have a bunch of money and a decluttered house. 

I admit that I am kind of risk averse. I am not going to sell my house until I have tried things out for a year. I do hope that this lifestyle will help me manage things like my depression and the loneliness I feel sometimes because of it. This is mostly because I have a lot of close friends and family members who have moved away and I figure it is easier for me, as a childless single woman, to go to them rather than the other way around. I think a mobile lifestyle will make me more social while allowing me to retreat into isolation when I need that too. 

I hope I love it!!!

Hi Slynne-- I could've written your post almost word for word. Your last sentence sounds KEY to me! 
And I love how you said, "If I change my mind, I will just have a bunch of money and a decluttered house"....awesome way to put it. That's what keeps me going towards the goal, too.
Hoping to get some other nervous nellies together to head out...slowly....for weekends at first, then more if it feels good.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts here, I found them validating....
Best to you!

 

[slynne]

I hope to see you out on the road someday, FlowerGirl!

 

[jimindenver]

Happy? I'm having a blast! I go where I want, do as I please when I feel like it. I am comfortable, I eat well and I have friends that enjoy being around me as I do them. My rolling apartment is the perfect test bed for my weird concepts of solar and internet. It's gone from desert to the deep forest, sea level to a mountain top two miles high and never missed a beat. Lets not forget the best companion I could wish for, Max the wonder puppy. With all of the joy that oozes out of him it is nearly impossible to have a bad day.

So you might say I am happy.

 

[Blanch]

I’m happy doing this. My health has improved. My attitude has improved. It isn’t perfect, but I am enjoying it far more than my previous life of trying to keep the house payment paid and the lawn mowed.

I get to indulge one of my favorite hobbies, photography. I get to be with my doggies 24/7. I make up my own mind as to where I am going and for how long, what I am going to do, etc.

I’ve been stuck in the Redwoods since the middle of August for medical tests and appointments. It is driving me a bit nuts to be stuck in one corner of the world right now. I told the doctor I don’t care what is going on, I am out of here after Christmas. Last winter in Arizona my depression vanished, it was amazing.

I know I won’t be able to do this for too long due to declining health issues. I hope to get in a few more years at least. I know I will be very sad the day I have to give this life up. I’m a year and a half full time.

This past summer, when I was camped in the sierras, I had a full frig and my bills were paid and I was surrounded by beauty. I had the realization that I was more relaxed than I had ever been since becoming an adult. It was pure heaven.


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[VanKitten]

For me, I have really no choice.
I am miserable living in just one place. A few months in S&B and I am climbing the walls.

Raising a family meant stay put for years. I was a miserable person! It is a wonder anyone could tolerate me. I buried myself in work. Deliberately kept myself over-booked all the time!

Happy roaming? Oh yes! Oh yes!

 

[rm.w/aview]

Thanks for all the responses so far. I've been following many different blogs, vlogs, etc for at least 2 years as I mull over a nomadic life. I'm on the cusp of taking the leap. Things have alligned for me as best they can in terms of family responsibilities, timing, and means to reach retirement without hardship.

Then it's time for you. Things have aligned and for at 2 years you've been educated on the various aspects of nomadic living. You can take the leap and put the matter to rest, or sit in the rocker some years down the road and wonder what may have been. You may love it to death, or not and seek another place to live. Either way, I suggest taking the leap so that you'll remove all doubt. You will have some laughs, meet new friends, and see & experience (key word) things that are just a dream for many. At the very least, if you wind up in a Home at the end of your days your stories will not be fiction.

 

[dawnann7]

Right now I'm in the desert at Quartzite looking at the Milky Way, enjoying a flavorful yet affordable bourbon.

Man, I sure do miss seeing stars...

 

[SoulRaven]

It appears most people who post on youtube and other forums are exceedingly happy with the life. What say you? Do you think most are pleased with the choice or that there are a significant number of people who think they made a bad choice.

Most people that post their adventure on y-tube do so for financial reasons, Some love the life style while others have  no choice in the matter and live in their cars or vans because it's cheaper than paying rent and better than being homeless.

 

[rm.w/aview]

It appears most people who post on youtube and other forums are exceedingly happy with the life. What say you? Do you think most are pleased with the choice or that there are a significant number of people who think they made a bad choice.

Most people that post their adventure on y-tube do so for financial reasons, Some love the life style while others have  no choice in the matter and live in their cars or vans because it's cheaper than paying rent and better than being homeless.

I agree that youtube is more of a business venture for many and as such need to have an entertaining or informative nature. I've seen some videos with a high energy & happy vibe to the point of selling what they're doing. Although I found these annoying some others may be buying, and later seeking to exchange their purchase. Knowing that they're earning a living on youtube lends some perspective.

 

[mpruet]

Happiness is an internal thing.


I am retired and travel from a 'home base'.  I'm currently at home for the Christmas season, but am already looking forward to roaming again.

 

[rvpopeye]

Yup yup !

 

[free2enjoy]

You have to talk the youtube personas with a grain of salt. The vast majority of those channels show only the best few minutes of each day in that person's life. Most of it is staged, not real at all. So their "happiness" may not necessarily reflect their real every-day life. My own blog included.

It varies for each person of course, but I am much happier now then I ever was before I started traveling.

Definitely that is the nuance, that being a nomad is not nirvana but puts one in a much better place for happiness than the rut of "normal" living.

 

[free2enjoy]

I’m happy doing this. My health has improved. My attitude has improved. It isn’t perfect, but I am enjoying it far more than my previous life of trying to keep the house payment paid and the lawn mowed.

I get to indulge one of my favorite hobbies, photography. I get to be with my doggies 24/7. I make up my own mind as to where I am going and for how long, what I am going to do, etc.

I’ve been stuck in the Redwoods since the middle of August for medical tests and appointments. It is driving me a bit nuts to be stuck in one corner of the world right now. I told the doctor I don’t care what is going on, I am out of here after Christmas. Last winter in Arizona my depression vanished, it was amazing.

I know I won’t be able to do this for too long due to declining health issues. I hope to get in a few more years at least. I know I will be very sad the day I have to give this life up. I’m a year and a half full time.

This past summer, when I was camped in the sierras, I had a full frig and my bills were paid and I was surrounded by beauty. I had the realization that I was more relaxed than I had ever been since becoming an adult. It was pure heaven.


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