If you are a long term traveler you have heard the 4 infamous words:
“You are so lucky“
Most people think that luck is the main reason people are able to travel the world. And if it isn’t a stroke of luck, then you must have recently won the lottery or received an inheritance. That a life of adventure and awe is only achieved through the off-chance that you are one of the lucky few.
I say this with sarcasm, because leaving Chicago in 2011 was not luck, but the culmination and execution of the biggest project we’ve ever managed. A risk that we took in hopes of a grand adventure. I understand that not everyone is willing to take this risk, but it isn’t luck that gets you here. Maybe stupidity 🙂 But not luck.
Josh and I didn’t come into a huge bank account of cash, or find a couple thousand dollars laying on the street. We planned and saved. We skipped out on my beloved skinny vanilla lattes and began making coffee at home. We skipped out on new restaurants and fancy dates between the two of us and promised to only spend money eating out if it was with our friends. We had a glass (or two) or wine before we left for the bars and then limited ourselves to the expensive $14 Chicago drinks.
We weren’t lucky to lose our great benefits package with three dental cleanings a year, in exchange for a $25,000 high deductible insurance plan and lots of prayers that we don’t get deathly sick.
We weren’t lucky when our flights got delayed or canceled or during certain meals where Josh ended up with another case of food poisoning.
We don’t have a home base. We left our comfy bed at home and have been sleeping in a new bed on a weekly basis. There’s a lot of logistics that go into moving so often, especially if you are as picky as I am to where you stay!
We traded warm showers for cold ones, left our closets at home for only a few outfits and missed big events in our friends’ and families’ lives while we were on the road traveling (this was the worst). These were all conscious decisions that we made, not chance happenings.
And luck hasn’t kept us on the road, stubbornness has. Determination has made us sit at our computers for hours, brainstorming for days with pure joy fueling it all. We have fallen in love with our location independent life and are fighting to keep it going.
It’s not luck, I would call it pure craziness.
We aren’t lucky, we are blessed. Blessed to have found support along the way and inspiration that this type of lifestyle is possible. We are grateful that both of us share the same goals and are willing to save the money and risk the uncomfortable to have lived the past 1 and 1/2 years as digital nomads. And most importantly we are happy to not accept the excuse that you have to be lucky to travel the world.
What have you accomplished once you put your mind to it?
Oh, I so agree with you. I hear the “You are so lucky” phrase almost everyday, as if I were living the life of a princess.
I certainly can’t complain about my life nor want to, but giving up an office job and going freelance, starting my own location-independent business, isn’t exactly risk-free!
But, hey, I wouldn’t have it any other way 😉
I agree I wouldn’t change anything!
and I do realize how lucky I am that all the hard work paid off 🙂
Love seeing the two of you all grown up and having a blast – seeing the world. #CHSLOVE
I just had a conversation with some friends about age, income, and net worth. As our income is currently zero, they were a little bit surprised at how much material wealth we’d accumulated at a young age. Like you mentioned, we scrimped on some of the luxuries in life (meals out, drinks at home or in bars, new clothes, etc.) so that we could pay off our house AND cabin in less than two years.
Once we paid them off, we took the opportunity to travel for a year. (Although it looks like we’ll be traveling for only six months because a new opportunity has come our way.) What appears to be “luck” is usually sacrifice, hard work, and, perhaps more importantly, a fresh attitude.
That’s awesome you were able to pay off both of those homes in two years! It’s a lot of organization and sacrifice to achieve any big goal – and putting yourself out there is the first step.
Once you take the risk – opportunities start finding you, which looks like has happened with your next 6 months?! Good Luck!
Haha this is so true! Props to you both for your tenacity!
Thanks Lindsey!
These thoughts could have been plucked straight from my head. We are lucky to have been born in countries that allow us to travel pretty much anywhere we want, aside from that the rest is all hard work. I have so many people from home tell me how lucky I am but know for a fact they couldn’t handle some of the places we have to sleep, the dreadful long journeys etc… Oh and having to sacrifice so many things to save as much money as you need to travel long term!
This is true!
The harder you work, the more “luck” seems to come your way!
Great post & I agree with you 100%! Anyone who has actually embarked on a life of long-term travel knows that while we may have moments of good fortune, we didn’t get here just due to luck. As you point out, the road was paved with hard work, sacrifice, and a lot of risk too! I think at the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, is a person who follows her dreams a lucky individual? Probably not. It’s an active choice, one that requires bravery, but luck has so very little to do with it!
It is so important for people to realize that life abroad and travel is NOT glamorous in anyway. I certainly gave up so many luxuries and comforts to come here and staying here (particularly lately) is a constant bureaucratic and financial battle, but somehow, it’s worth it and until it’s not, I’ll keep it up.
We had similar feelings when we were on the road indefinitely. We kinda felt like when people said we were lucky it belittled the sacrifices we made to live the lifestyle we wanted – with huge risks and uncertainty attached to that decision.
That said, I’ve had a change of opinion over the years. I do believe that we are very lucky. We are lucky to have an education and a support system. We are lucky to have grown up in countries that allow us freedom and the ability to choose our own path. We are lucky that we can read and write, many people don’t have that good fortune. We are lucky we have health and the ability to see what’s important, and to pursue that passion. So, I do believe you are lucky. But this is a very good thing, something that should be celebrated.
Well said. It’s completely discrediting when someone chalks something up to luck. Hopefully when people say this to you, they don’t really mean that your life adventures just happened by chance. I hope they meant that you’re lucky to be so brave, and lucky to have such an adventurous spirit. That’s what I would mean if I said you were lucky.
But it makes me think of how aggravated I used to get when I wrote full-time and people said they’d like to give up their jobs and write all day, too, but didn’t have that luxury. First of all, it wasn’t a luxury. It was work. Yes, anyone can write, but not just anyone can get paid to do so. Writing is a craft, not a stroke of luck.
I would jut like to say “Amen” to all of this.
Ha! Thanks Tina – “Amen” is the exact response I was going for!
I’ve immigrated to a new country, so I definitely understand some of these things. It’s particularly hard to miss family gatherings and events.
I agree – for us missing the big family events are the toughest!
Well said! I am not permanently travelling, but moved from the UK to Cambodia from where it is much cheaper and easier to travel. When I was back in Europe a few weeks ago my friends all said the exact same thing to me. You are so lucky to be travelling so much. I told them the exact same thing you just highlighted in this blog piece. They didn’t really like that answer though. Think a lot of people are just far too scared to leave everything behind.
We run into that too – people don’t want to accept that with a little bit of work they can travel – or do whatever it is they want to do. They want to believe it’s luck.. and they arent in the lucky group. Not True! 🙂
Great blog!
My Fiance and I have decided to sell our house and most of everything we own to fund, and free us from the 9 to 5 grind which has become the norm.
We have given our selves a 1 year deadline to make this happen. With our wedding coming this September, and work required to make the house sell-able, i anticipate there will be a lot of sacrifices to be made.
To help prolong our journey, we have been looking into help exchange networks like wwoof. I was wondering if you have any hands on experience doing such a thing?
Thanks again for all this information that you have made readily available, i plan visit this blog almost daily for inspiration!
Daniel
My fav is: “Oh! A year long HOLIDAY? That must be nice to just take off. Your parents must be paying for your trip, right?”
Parents pay? PFTTTT we wish! Why is it so hard to believe that this is the result of our hard work, dedication and saving.
And after 8 months on the road- we could use a holiday!
Couldn’t agree with you more! People say the same thing to us, and they don’t realize all the things we gave up in order to save for our RTW. We don’t leave for another 35 days, but I can only imagine the “luck” we will run into on the road!