Peace. Adventure. Freedom.
Working and travelling on the road as a freelancer definitely has its perks.
If you love the idea of setting up your own business and going mobile - part-time or permanently - I'd say it's definitely worth considering! I've met many people on my travels, who like me, have left the 9-5 grind, set up as self-employed and hit the road. Young; old; couples and singles - all have different stories, but share the same love of waking up in the morning surrounded by nature.
However, I've chatted to many more whilst travelling, who say they'd love to have that freedom - but feel they couldn't.
“Too 'out there'”, they say; “Don’t have the skills”, or, more often "People like me don't do things like that."
Recent statistics tell a different story, however. In the UK, the number of van lifers has surged to around half a million and is rising steadily. Over10m #vanlife Instagram posts suggest that what was once a cheap family holiday ...is now a positive lifestyle choice. And the media is awash with stories of ordinary people swapping their jejune existence for a bit of adventure and a lot of fresh air.
So, even if, like me, you were dunted out of the queue for superhero confidence, don’t let that put you off if you like the idea. If work has you close to cracking and scrawling “I quit’ on your lunch-break Greggs bag - or worse - you're living a life of quiet desperation, it's worth thinking about.
Working and travelling:
What drove me to write this blog was the sheer ordinariness of my situation, and how the move to working and travelling in my little campervan literally changed my life. In my late forties, kids grown, fairly average job, average intelligence; I was averagely happy. But yet I couldn’t get rid of that quiet, hopeful voice that there just might be something better out there.
Setting up Blue Moose - and then travelling and working remotely was my 'something better'. It may be something else for you. Regardless, my move from a disillusioned employee to a chirpy freelancing part-time van-lifer, will encourage you to explore the possibility of creating your own 'something better' - whatever that might look like.
It's not easy to explore beyond what we think our limitations are. Most of us are taught from a young age to play by the rules, and won't easily 'jump ship' - unless we have the boredom threshold of a 3-year-old (guilty!) … or are pushed .
Consequently, many of us slip into careers as pimple-faced underlings - but - whilst the acne moves on, we stay put, forever wondering what else is out there.
Kicking the Van-life tyres
If this resonates with you, and you’re curious about working and travelling, or perhaps you already have a Pinterest shrine of van interiors, I hope my blog will give you food for thought. Also, as self-confidence issues have been the singular biggest hurdle to pretty much everything in my life, you'll also find a good measure of self-development tools in this blog. Self-belief is a major part of embracing new opportunities, and, contrary to what we may think, we can do a lot to work towards greater confidence in our abilities and aspirations.
So, rather than staring day after day into your boss’s soul with cold, dead eyes, or feeling that Saturdays are just the toilet break between the drudgery of Sundays as a countdown to Monday ...take the idea of working and travelling for a spin.
Who knows, maybe it will even serve as your personal Shawshank Redemption to a life that you can truly claim as your own.
