My name is Stephanie...
Most children want to be a fireman, a doctor or a princess when they grow up. I didn't. I told my mother I was going to be a captain on my very own ship and see every country in the world.
Approximately 35 years later I can confirm my nautical skills didn't develop at the same speed as my desire to travel... but the objective stayed the same. My life goal is making 'the Earth my throne', as my heroes from Metallica shout it out. I grew up in the Netherlands, but created opportunities to live in almost every continent by now. I visited 89 countries, taking my time everywhere. Where sometimes you hear trendy backpackers yell they "do" South America in 3 weeks, or you watch those YouTube-videos of people visiting every country in the world, but really just touching base everywhere for max. a week... I like to take it slow. In most countries I stayed 1-9 months, and most of the list I visited 2 to even 15 times (yet they "count" only once, which makes these lists kind of ridiculous). Everyone has their own style and preferences, and this is mine.
I am fortunate enough to have recently dove into my 9th language (Portuguese). Besides that I took the opportunities to learn English, Spanish, German, French, Latin and in a lesser degree Italian and ancient Greek (and of course my mother language Dutch). I graduated as a BSc and MSc Leisure Studies (specialized in tourism and city marketing) at the Tilburg University and worked full-time in the tourism/hospitality sector for several years, as I felt that was the closest I could get to be full-time involved with travelling... well, I was wrong!
Once I realized this treadmill of the so-called 'civilized life' has very little to do with life at all, I gave notice to my job and apartment, sold and gave away everything, quit my back-then relationship and left my entire life in Holland behind and booked a 1-way ticket to explore our lil' globe, all alone: No plans, just let come what(ever) may.
That's 10+ years ago now, and I'm still on the road. In short, I can fairly say traveling not just enriches my life, but IS my life. It is my #1 priority, my lifestyle, my philosophy.
Approximately 35 years later I can confirm my nautical skills didn't develop at the same speed as my desire to travel... but the objective stayed the same. My life goal is making 'the Earth my throne', as my heroes from Metallica shout it out. I grew up in the Netherlands, but created opportunities to live in almost every continent by now. I visited 89 countries, taking my time everywhere. Where sometimes you hear trendy backpackers yell they "do" South America in 3 weeks, or you watch those YouTube-videos of people visiting every country in the world, but really just touching base everywhere for max. a week... I like to take it slow. In most countries I stayed 1-9 months, and most of the list I visited 2 to even 15 times (yet they "count" only once, which makes these lists kind of ridiculous). Everyone has their own style and preferences, and this is mine.
I am fortunate enough to have recently dove into my 9th language (Portuguese). Besides that I took the opportunities to learn English, Spanish, German, French, Latin and in a lesser degree Italian and ancient Greek (and of course my mother language Dutch). I graduated as a BSc and MSc Leisure Studies (specialized in tourism and city marketing) at the Tilburg University and worked full-time in the tourism/hospitality sector for several years, as I felt that was the closest I could get to be full-time involved with travelling... well, I was wrong!
Once I realized this treadmill of the so-called 'civilized life' has very little to do with life at all, I gave notice to my job and apartment, sold and gave away everything, quit my back-then relationship and left my entire life in Holland behind and booked a 1-way ticket to explore our lil' globe, all alone: No plans, just let come what(ever) may.
That's 10+ years ago now, and I'm still on the road. In short, I can fairly say traveling not just enriches my life, but IS my life. It is my #1 priority, my lifestyle, my philosophy.
"I wish I could have a life like that, if I only had the money..." Well if I would get a dollar (peso, real, boliviano...) for every time someone told me that, I WOULD have had an endless travel budget. Reality-check: Na-ah.
And still, I can travel, easily... endlessly maybe. Before you ask me how, I have some questions for you:
If you answered 'yes' to one of these questions, you DO have money to travel around the world, you just decided to spend it differently. And that's okay, I'm not judging. Life isn't a simple copy-paste, we all have our own ways. Just don't try to convince me you don't have the time nor funds: you most definitely have*, you just used it for other things. Don't be mistaken: I had a job too, I quit it. I had a place to live as well, I gave notice it. I also have friends, family and people I care about, just like you. Having this lifestyle simply meant I had to accept that missing them, and not forming an active part of their lives, is a painful yet required sacrifice, and love relationships might always draw the shortest straw when it has to enter the battle with my love for traveling. If a guy requires me to settle down and give up the main thing that gives purpose to my life just to make him happy, are we still speaking of love?
* Considering you're reading this from either a smartphone or another electronic device, and have the time and interest to look into topics such as travel blogs, I'm just gonna go ahead and assume you are as privileged as me. No, I'm not referring to being born into a filthy rich family, I couldn't even dream of the day my parents would fund my travels, why the hell would they? I'm talking about a background shaped by proper education, equality, good health, the absence of hunger or severe financial distress and a not-unpleasant-passport. We are lucky people and should't take that for granted. Of course all of the above doesn't apply to severely deprived members of our society.
And still, I can travel, easily... endlessly maybe. Before you ask me how, I have some questions for you:
- Do you have a house or apartment (rental, with a mortgage or bought)?
- Is there furniture in there, or something as fancy as 'decoration'?
- Do you have a recent-model-smartphone? Do you have a relatively modern computer, laptop or both? Other fancy electronics?
- Do you have a car or any other mode of transport besides your feet and thumb?
- Do you have a child?
If you answered 'yes' to one of these questions, you DO have money to travel around the world, you just decided to spend it differently. And that's okay, I'm not judging. Life isn't a simple copy-paste, we all have our own ways. Just don't try to convince me you don't have the time nor funds: you most definitely have*, you just used it for other things. Don't be mistaken: I had a job too, I quit it. I had a place to live as well, I gave notice it. I also have friends, family and people I care about, just like you. Having this lifestyle simply meant I had to accept that missing them, and not forming an active part of their lives, is a painful yet required sacrifice, and love relationships might always draw the shortest straw when it has to enter the battle with my love for traveling. If a guy requires me to settle down and give up the main thing that gives purpose to my life just to make him happy, are we still speaking of love?
* Considering you're reading this from either a smartphone or another electronic device, and have the time and interest to look into topics such as travel blogs, I'm just gonna go ahead and assume you are as privileged as me. No, I'm not referring to being born into a filthy rich family, I couldn't even dream of the day my parents would fund my travels, why the hell would they? I'm talking about a background shaped by proper education, equality, good health, the absence of hunger or severe financial distress and a not-unpleasant-passport. We are lucky people and should't take that for granted. Of course all of the above doesn't apply to severely deprived members of our society.
If you think in this blog I refer to traveling in the sense of checking into hotels, grabbing your travel guide and book some tours, you might be mistaken by that thing called "a holiday". I don't have a house or a country, the world is my home. My material possessions are those 15kg in my backpack (okay I'm lying - I carry almost double with me, legs of steel!). I sleep on couches, in hammocks, on floors, on air mattresses and luckily sometimes in beds in local people's houses via the networks of Couchsurfing, WorkAway and Housesitting. I don't book tours, I hitchhike there myself or take the cheapest form of public transport. I don't expect hot showers. I don't even count on running water anymore. I got used to washing myself standing in a plastic tub, using rain water... and what a great ecological practice that is! I don't spend a fortune on food and restaurant dinners, as cooking is the one thing that makes me feel "normal" and homesy in this whirlwind of a lifestyle. When I lived in one place I didn't go out for dinner every night, so why would I do that when I travel 365 days a year? I live spending less than 1/3th I did during my prior "civilized life", if you're interested in knowing it! Live on the road is just so much cheaper once you cut ties with a home or a country.
Sometimes I get my accommodation and nutrition in exchange for my volunteer work in local communities, sometimes I pay a euro or two for local street food... which means I sometimes eat the same twice a day for weeks in a row, and yes, sometimes get the shitters (although hardly, my stomach is trained for all global bacteria by now). And that's okay. I'm an adult person, I choose to live like this and deal with these 'inconveniences' that are (better than) normal life for many people I met along this journey. It paid off more than money ever could. If there are less material distractions or a blinding comfort zone there's more room to grow like a person (/society/humanity) and discover life in its true colors, while revealing the opportunities to change what you don't like about it.
This is life and what I decided to make of it. It contains no million-dollar careers, no monthly paychecks, no ongoing consumption of material goods and no stability. It contains everything else the Earth has to offer.
Until we meet.
This is life and what I decided to make of it. It contains no million-dollar careers, no monthly paychecks, no ongoing consumption of material goods and no stability. It contains everything else the Earth has to offer.
Until we meet.
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