Post by Mike Harding on Jul 16, 2024 14:24:35 GMT 10
This post will be edited and added to as and when I get the time and inclination.
Part 1 - Becoming a nomad - 16th July 2024
Changing one's lifestyle from that of a home owner to that of a nomad is a massive change which, for many/most, is likely impossible to reverse. It should be done with much caution.
So why in heaven's name do it!?
I suspect there are two major reasons:
1 - Finances - divorce, family death, pressure of rent, all may create a situation where someone can no longer afford their home.
2 - Choice - retirement, divorce, boredom, a need for change may all encourage a person to sell up and hit the road.
I've always been a slow wanderer; last time I counted I'd lived (lived, not stayed) in 17 homes in a number of countries across my seven decades. I've never felt totally settled and even when life was going well I'd become bored and wonder what was beyond the horizon. So it was about six years past; I'd been semi retired for five years only working when I needed money and spending other time in the hills of Victoria's High Country camping, gold prospecting and shooting feral animals.
As retirement age grew nearer I began to think about the future and how my life would eventually draw to its inevitable close. I had a large comfortable home in the Melbourne suburbs, enough money, divorced, children long grown and gone and I had no desire for a long term partner although the odd night or two was fine :) - so there was just me and that was clearly how my life was going to drift into its terminal years. Damn that for a game of soldiers I thought! Why sit around here growing old and grumpy and paying for an expensive house with rooms I don't even use and especially when I spend most of my time in a swag in the bush? It made no sense.
From that conclusion and adding in my lifelong wandering tendency it was not a big leap to seriously consider the nomad option. No rates, electricity/gas/water bills, no gardening or maintenance, no chance of bad neighbours, able to site my home in any climate zone, live deep in the bush, move at an hour's notice. Why ever would I *not* do it!?
So I did :)
I didn't wish to rent my house, I wanted to sell it, divest myself of most possessions and become a lightweight traveller. I'll not go into details of how I did this because it will differ for everyone but I offer these suggestions:
1 - Give yourself *lots* of time to divest those possessions. Sell everything you can via Gumtree and such. Don't assume op-shops or anyone wants your "treasures", generally they don't. Be *very* harsh about emotional attachments to "things" - those connections don't matter as much as you think. Be aware of how little you can carry in a caravan - your grandmother's clock is simply not viable to take - sorry.
2 - Convert your books, CDs and anything else possible into electronic copies - my Kindle is near worn out. Sometimes I miss my books and I did bring a few, only a few, with me.
3 - *DO NOT* store things "to be sorted out later." It's simply a time bomb waiting to go off and it doubles the emotional pain of saying goodbye. Guess how I know.
4 - Organise a mail and pseudo "home" address with a good friend. You'll need this for things such as car registration. Transfer as much Australia Post communications as possible to e-mail. I suggest a Gmail account for this as it's stable, safe and viable long term.
5 - Centrelink; I can't advise here but I understand they are familiar with the nomad lifestyle, have a chat with them.
6 - Organise your purchase of a car/caravan/motorhome - a significant undertaking and worth a lengthy post in its own right. Keep in mind that new caravans and motorhomes may have a 12 month waiting list.
7 - If you need the proceeds from your house sale to purchase the caravan/motorhome consider how you will handle the changeover period.
---- End of part 1 ----
Part 2 will consider those first weeks on the road.
Part 1 - Becoming a nomad - 16th July 2024
Changing one's lifestyle from that of a home owner to that of a nomad is a massive change which, for many/most, is likely impossible to reverse. It should be done with much caution.
So why in heaven's name do it!?
I suspect there are two major reasons:
1 - Finances - divorce, family death, pressure of rent, all may create a situation where someone can no longer afford their home.
2 - Choice - retirement, divorce, boredom, a need for change may all encourage a person to sell up and hit the road.
I've always been a slow wanderer; last time I counted I'd lived (lived, not stayed) in 17 homes in a number of countries across my seven decades. I've never felt totally settled and even when life was going well I'd become bored and wonder what was beyond the horizon. So it was about six years past; I'd been semi retired for five years only working when I needed money and spending other time in the hills of Victoria's High Country camping, gold prospecting and shooting feral animals.
As retirement age grew nearer I began to think about the future and how my life would eventually draw to its inevitable close. I had a large comfortable home in the Melbourne suburbs, enough money, divorced, children long grown and gone and I had no desire for a long term partner although the odd night or two was fine :) - so there was just me and that was clearly how my life was going to drift into its terminal years. Damn that for a game of soldiers I thought! Why sit around here growing old and grumpy and paying for an expensive house with rooms I don't even use and especially when I spend most of my time in a swag in the bush? It made no sense.
From that conclusion and adding in my lifelong wandering tendency it was not a big leap to seriously consider the nomad option. No rates, electricity/gas/water bills, no gardening or maintenance, no chance of bad neighbours, able to site my home in any climate zone, live deep in the bush, move at an hour's notice. Why ever would I *not* do it!?
So I did :)
I didn't wish to rent my house, I wanted to sell it, divest myself of most possessions and become a lightweight traveller. I'll not go into details of how I did this because it will differ for everyone but I offer these suggestions:
1 - Give yourself *lots* of time to divest those possessions. Sell everything you can via Gumtree and such. Don't assume op-shops or anyone wants your "treasures", generally they don't. Be *very* harsh about emotional attachments to "things" - those connections don't matter as much as you think. Be aware of how little you can carry in a caravan - your grandmother's clock is simply not viable to take - sorry.
2 - Convert your books, CDs and anything else possible into electronic copies - my Kindle is near worn out. Sometimes I miss my books and I did bring a few, only a few, with me.
3 - *DO NOT* store things "to be sorted out later." It's simply a time bomb waiting to go off and it doubles the emotional pain of saying goodbye. Guess how I know.
4 - Organise a mail and pseudo "home" address with a good friend. You'll need this for things such as car registration. Transfer as much Australia Post communications as possible to e-mail. I suggest a Gmail account for this as it's stable, safe and viable long term.
5 - Centrelink; I can't advise here but I understand they are familiar with the nomad lifestyle, have a chat with them.
6 - Organise your purchase of a car/caravan/motorhome - a significant undertaking and worth a lengthy post in its own right. Keep in mind that new caravans and motorhomes may have a 12 month waiting list.
7 - If you need the proceeds from your house sale to purchase the caravan/motorhome consider how you will handle the changeover period.
---- End of part 1 ----
Part 2 will consider those first weeks on the road.
