Vagabonding

Vagabonding

What is vagabonding?

Rolf Potts, author of the book Vagabonding, describes it as:

“The act of leaving behind the orderly world to travel independently for an extended period of time” and “A deliberate way of living that makes freedom to travel possible”.

So put simply, vagabonding is the act of choosing experiences and travel adventures over working away your life for material things.

What is the difference between vagabonding and vacation?

A vacation is an attempt to squeeze a year’s worth of enjoyment, relaxation, and adventure into a 2 week or 10 day package. What often results is an expensive distraction, and then an unsatisfied return to reality, which is always waiting at home. In fact, after vacation, you find yourself worse off than before you left, playing catchup with work, mail, chores, etc.

Someone that is vagabonding never really returns completely from their trip. They may be home, earning money at work, etc… but always they are in the mindset to leave again. A vagabonder works only to provide the fuel for travel and adventure, not to build a lifestyle of fashion and toys.

Why not wait for retirement to enjoy life?

Thoreau put it best when he said we spend “the best part of one’s life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of it.”

In other words, live for now. There is no guarantee that you will have the finances or health by retirement age to do the things that you want to do. This does not mean that we should not prepare some for the future, but do not get stuck in the cycle of working to buy things to distract you from working in the first place!

What if I do not have the money?

You would be amazed at how little money you need to go vagabonding and at how much money slips through your fingers monthly.

Do you really need 300 cable television channels? Do you need that new car when your old one still runs fine? How often will you watch those DVDs in the huge collection you are building? Financing vagabonding is simply a way of adjusting your priorities so that saving for travel comes first. More than a majority of vagabonders I met were poor university students that had managed to stay on the road for years!

Budget destinations like Asia, Africa, and South America are full of waiting adventure and culture, but cost a fraction of what you spend to live daily. For the cost of one average dinner and movie night in the US, you could eat, sleep, and play for a week in Thailand!

There is also always the option of working while on the road. Check into getting TEFL certified (its cheap) to teach English abroad or WOOF (work on organic farms).

Why bother with vagabonding?

People are shaped by their experiences. When you only make time for experiences on weekends, it can take a long time to grow into the person you should be. What better way to get to know yourself than to accept the challenge of the road?

Your eyes will be opened and the benefits will bleed into all parts of your life, work, relationships, and just your general enjoyment of life. Vagabonding creates new reference points and life at home takes on an entirely new feel. How can you be upset about a traffic jam, after having experienced daily life in Cambodia?

How do I get started?

Making the decision to escape the rat race is the first and most important step. Next, cut bogus expenses, begin saving your pocket change, and use our site as a personal guide to get started on the path to adventure. Anyone can start vagabonding – stay positive, and make your dreams come true!

To help you stay motivated, read books, vagabonding forums, and vagabonding blogs of other people that are living the life.  The more that you see how many people have escaped the Rat Race, the more you will realize that world travel is not just a dream or something that belongs to the rich!

Visit Rolf Pott’s website: www.vagabonding.net

I will see you on the road.

Greg Rodgers

www.gregoryrodgers.com

The Journey Begins!

“A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step” – Lao Tzu

Life on the Road

Life in the field while vagabonding can take on a whole new meaning. Tasks that were once mundane and uninteresting are suddenly an adventure. Your mind will stay sharp and your senses will be on fire as you absorb this strange new world around you.

Stay flexible

The surest way to mess up your plan while vagabonding is to make a plan in the first place. Don’t be afraid to change your time line, order of countries, or anything else. It is your trip, and no one knows what the future holds. Maybe you will fall in love with an Australian and end up going there next instead of Europe. Maybe you will meet a group of likable people heading to Everest for a base camp trek. You could miss a world of potential adventure by staying rigid and sticking to a plan that was made at home.  Plans are for sissies!

Talk to everyone

Make it a point to talk to everyone, locals and travelers, at every opportunity. Approach people everywhere possible. The experience is about the people that you meet, not just some snappy pictures of landscapes. Travel is also perpetual, you may end up with friends in dozens of countries that are inviting you to come stay for free!

Slow down

Do not set limits on how much time you plan to stay in a particular country or region. Slow down, align yourself with the environment, and absorb what an area has to offer. You will feel when it is time to move on inside your gut, don’t let a calendar tell you when to do so. Don’t get into a race to check areas off a list. It is better to have truly learned the culture in one country rather than to say you “did” five countries.

Stay positive

Not every day on the road will be a dream. There will be times when you are uncomfortable, homesick, frustrated, or culture shocked. Remember that these are just temporary and psychological conditions. Keep your chin up and always put yourself into positions for good things to happen. You will be surprised at how often dire situations (such as being lost or not knowing anyone) work out for the best.

Log your journey

Keeping a public blog is great, but carry a small personal journal as well. Record your feelings, thoughts, and experiences so that you can re-live your trip in detail later. You will see so many new things and meet so many new people, it will be impossible to retain it all in memory. Write things down!

Be responsible

Remember that while you are abroad, you are representing your home country, backpackers, and maybe even the entire Western culture. Don’t be rude to locals. Don’t treat them as the people that are just there to ensure you have a good trip experience. Take care of the environment and remember that you are a guest in these places. Don’t lose your cool during negotiations or the inevitable bus breakdown – life moves at a different speed in other cultures.

Respect locals

Keep in mind that you may be on “holiday”, enjoying a big adventure, but this is still daily life for the locals. Many are working hard to survive and they may never have the option to enjoy travel. It may seem like everyone just wants to get into your money belt sometimes. These are human beings that want to enjoy life just as you are, and they were born in a place that makes dreams harder to reach.

Promote travel

People, Americans in particular, are programmed to think that long term travel is a lifestyle only for the rich. Come home and share the news, break the stereotypes, and encourage others that are unsure about taking that first step.

Read about my feelings when I finished my first year of backpacking travel.