I am not living what is thought to be a normal life. But I have chosen that myself. And I am very happy about my choices. Here is a list of things I have chosen to opt out from. I am not missing any of them, in my not so normal life.
Working 5 days a week.
A regular work week is something I have vague memories of when I think back to my earlier life. Bloody hell, does a regular work week suck. When you spend 7-8 hours a day working, you are mostly too tired to really do much once your work day is finished. A weekend gets you nowhere in this world if you ask me. It’s simply too short. I am happy to have opted out from that. Now I work 12-14 hours per day, 7 days a week. Only for around 125 days a year though. The rest is a pure holiday for me. All I have to do is check my mail twice a day. But that can be done anywhere in the world. Right now I am checking my mail in a cafe in Paris.
Sleeping in the same bad every night.
Many people tell me how they are missing their bed, their pillow and such when they travel. I am quite happy to be living in hotel rooms +300 days a year. All I am asking is that I can close my door when I need some peace. That is perfectly possible in a hotel. In a hotel there is even a little girl coming to clean it every day. Living in hotels is just fine for me.
Owing money to creditors.
I do not have any debt, any mortgage or other things that hold me back financially. To me this is the key to a free life. Because you are not free if you are forced to work your ass off, just to pay some monthly bills. I have no regular pay as i work freelance. But I do not need it as I have no creditors coming after me every month to ask for some money that I borrowed from them, in order to buy some material stuff that I thought would make me happy.
Watching television every night.
Television is so bloody overrated. The weird thing is that you can get into some notion that you can not live without seeing your favourite TV show. Isn’t it better to live a life where YOU are doing cool stuff? Instead of just watching people on TV doing cool stuff.
Being married and having kids.
This is one of the big choices you will be faced with when you are living a life as a vagabond, instead of a so-called normal life. But I have come to the decision that I am not ready to give up my vagabonding lifestyle for raising a family. I find it very hard to do this if you live a vagabonding life like me. I am not saying that this can’t be done. But it’s not for me. I am quite happy just being an uncle to my two nieces and I do not have any moments at all anymore where I wish that i had children myself. That is also a part of normal life I am happy to be without.
Having a car.
I am from a part of Denmark where everyone has a car. The first thing you do when you turn 18 years old is get a drivers license. I am the only guy in my generation from my home area who never took a drivers license. Because I knew already at 18 that I wanted to travel the world. A car cost money to buy. Money to maintain. As well as money for gas in order to drive it. So I opted out from that at a very early age and I am now 45 years old and I have never had any time where I wished that I owned a car. I am doing just fine flying, training, cycling and walking around the globe. I have covered more kilometers than most people who own a car.
Having my life planned.
Having a schedule totally sucks. I am writing these lines in a small cafe in Paris. Where I will be in 5 days from now, I do not know. I need a little bit of planning unfortunately. Because I need to earn money sometimes. But that is 125 days a year roughly. The rest of the year I try to plan as little as possible. But always make sure to stay on the move of course. I never book accommodation in advance when I travel for fun. And I usually buy my plane tickets quite late. Even if it might cost me a bit more. Simply because i hate having my life planned. Tonight I might go for a football game. But let’s see. Something might happen on the way to the stadium, so I end up doing a completely different thing.
Paulo Coelho said: “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine. it’s lethal.” I fully agree on that one.
Normal life is overrated. Good for you for doing what you do. Not everyone has the personality for it. Most people can’t deal with the lack of a steady paycheck, or of not having their own place to live. Keep it up!
Cool on you! All valid points!
Claus, very interesting post. I’d be interested to learn more about how you view personal relationships. You mention marriage and children, but only really discuss having children. One of the best things in my life is the loving relationship (not married) that I have with my partner, and this is something that (I think would) be difficult to maintain and enjoy with a life on the road. I think a life travelling perhaps sacrifices the chance to have a loving day in, day out relationship with someone. Please do not read this as a criticism or anything like that. I love what you are doing a show you live your life. I’m just genuinely curious to read your thoughts about this. Thanks.
When you say yes to something in life, then you mostly say no to something elese at the same time. It’s hard to have the entire package always. I think it would be great to have a girlfriend who I could share this life with, but I am not ready to sacrifice the free life for a girl. Been there done that and it bloody sucked. But one day there might just be a girl who is the type of person who can fit in to my life and that would be cool.
Thanks for the reply, Claus. I fully agree with what you say about sacrifices. We all need to make sacrifices and live (hopefully happily) with the results of these choices. Your life appears great and interesting and I am happy you share your tales and travels with us all.
100% agree with you on most points! This is obviously why we have kept in touch with each other for so many years.