Then end of nomad life

There’s a lot of YouTube channels covering aspects of nomad life. They could be RV people, sailors, van dwellers, motor campers -whatever. If you follow them long enough you’ll notice a common theme. Lately it seems that a lot of people are giving up “the life.” 

Here’s the thing, that’s pretty normal. Most people who dream of full time travel last 2 to 5 years. For some that’s about as long as it takes for them to see everything they want to see. If your goal is to travel  all of the lower 48 US states that’s plenty of time to do so. If you are a sailor that’s enough time to slowly circumnavigate the world. 

It’s said that for nomads the highs are higher but the lows are lower. One day you are seeing the best that nature has to offer. The next you are stuck broken down somewhere waiting for parts. For many people they just plain get tired of the lows. 

Of course, there are plenty of other mundane things that cause people to quite the life. It could be health concerns, either their own or family members who need help. Often the nomad life turns out to be more expensive than expected. Some people just have to go back to “real” jobs. Even the mental strain of always being on the go can take its toll. 

Anyone starting the nomad life is probably going to need an exit strategy at some point. That can be hard. For example, someone could sell a house, an appreciating asset, and buy a big RV, a depreciating asset. Five years down the road they can’t sell the RV for enough to get back into the housing market. 

Personally I’m glad my lovely wife and I were just semi-nomadic. We’d travel for 3 to 6 months of the year and always came back to our house. That’s how we were able to do it for over 20 years. Currently we are sticking close to home, dealing with health and family issues. That doesn’t mean we won’t ever do the nomad thing again, but we can wait for the conditions to be right for us. 

-Sixbears