Travel Days Ain’t What They Used To Be

Of course we traveled a lot—as much as our vacation time allowed—before we retired to a life as full-time nomads.

I remember the months of planning every detail of a 2 or 3 week vacation, or even a weekend away. I savored every minute of planning. We carefully packed. Maybe I’d get my nails done if I’d be spending a lot of time in a sandals or a bathing suit. We might purchase a couple of specific new outfits or items to make the vacation better. We’d be sure we had our hair freshly cut (in my case, colored)—pictures, you know. We’d take care of all the away things that mattered—pet care, getting our trash cans out, cleaning out the fridge, having someone check on the house and pick up any packages, etc.

We didn’t mind the preparations because on “travel day,” we’d get up super early, take awesome showers (and shave!), dress carefully and be off to our perfectly planned vacation, knowing we’d done everything possible to catch up on work, get ahead, notify all concerned parties and prepare our house for its lonely couple of weeks, so that we could really enjoy our getaway and relax (usually no expense spared).

Oh, how times have changed! Depending on whether we’re traveling quickly or slowly, we’re probably averaging one travel day a week. And first of all, let me say these aren’t the drive to the airport, put car in long-term parking, get on a plane, get an uber, type of vacation travel days. We’re often more remote and we have to figure out whatever modes of travel work where we are or where we’re going. If you watched our travel day video from Waiheke Island, New Zealand, to Rotorua, New Zealand, you saw that it involved a bit of a hike, a city bus, a ferry, a walk, a subway-type train, then an interstate bus (think
Greyhound, if you’re from the U.S.), then a rental car drive on the wrong side of the road. All in one day.

That’s the reality of nomad life. Sometimes it’s pretty easy and sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s conventional, but sometimes you have to juggle your stuff as you jump off a small ferry into knee-deep water to get to the really great island. We do give a lot of leeway on expenses for convenience, less stress, and more comfort on travel days, but still—they are what they are. We agree not to judge/blame/criticize each other for whatever happens on travel days.

I think that if I’d outlined a travel day like that in our pre-nomad life, I’d have felt pretty intimidated. I’d have been stressed. It’s not like we’re immune from stress now, and some days include tight timelines, big “unknowns” or frustrating delays.

But as we sat in the hotel bar tonight discussing our transition tomorrow from Bangkok, Thailand, to Siem Reap, Cambodia, we noted that travel days have become a routine of our life instead of a stressor or huge event. It’s so much easier when you literally just have to pack everything (no decisions involved), and you don’t do a bunch of shopping (except for occasional things you need like meds or toiletries). In fact, ironically, it’s far more likely that we’re making tough decisions about what NOT to take due to airline restrictions, sadly leaving behind clothing, or water shoes, or “living essentials” at our former accomodation in order to lighten our load.

And really, who sees us and who cares? We approach travel days as we do daily days—like the flaky, makeup-free, scruffy hair, showered yesterday traveling nomads we’ve become. We get up, dress, stuff everything we unpacked (we never unpack what we don’t need) into our bags (who cares as long as it makes weight?) and take off to the airport, or ferry, or bus. It’s just another day. We’ve become so casual about it that sometimes on the way to our transportation we have to search for accomodation info, country visas, boarding passes and—oh ya!—our passports for goodness sake, to make sure we’re prepared! (Never pack the passport!)

Ultimately, travel days mean two things to us: 1. We are sad to leave the place we’ve been (now we’ll crave “that restaurant/drink/place” and not be back for years!) and 2. We are pinching ourselves with excitement that we get to visit the next place and see “that historical/cultural/bucket-list place” and “do that thing.” We arrive at the new place full of excitement (that made the travel day worth it); the location we just left fades into the historical timeline of our life. How blessed are we that we get to visit the world??!! Of course it’s not a chore!

If things go wrong? If we get hangry or grumpy? It’s okay. It’s a travel day. And anything goes.