It’s Nail-biting Time…
Posted by: Gillian
11 10 2008
Okay, I’m scared. Â
Our place has been on the market for coming on three months, and not a nibble to be had. At first I thought our price was too high, so we dropped it. Â And then we dropped it again. Then I thought that buyers were just waiting it out, seeing what our southern neighbors were doing, and then they would return. And now the stock market is crashing…and continues to crash.Â
I know we’re not the only ones feeling like this bumpy ride might affect our plans. A number of blogs I follow have already asked the question. At the end of September, Christine from AlmostFearless wrote about whether traveling now was a good idea. I agree with all her points and, once we’re on the road, I believe that it will be a good place to be from an economic standpoint. Anil from foXnoMad came up with some interesting ways to consider funding, and even referenced us as inspiration! I fear I am not acting very inspirational lately as I tremble and wonder if our plans are in jeopardy.
J and I have talked a lot about what this might mean for us. We’re trying to brainstorm how we can weather this storm and still manage to take the step.Â
- We could go for less time.
- We could go to less countries.
- We could stay longer in the less expensive countries.
- We could consider couch-surfing.
- We could each get a second job.
- We could tighten our belts and save more.
- We could work while on the road.
Not going is not an option. It just might not look exactly as we had thought - but then what plans ever work out exactly as planned?
Couch-Surfing is essential when on the road for a long time, it allows a good break from the hotels. I have had some wonderful experiences couch-surfing. Of course it is free and can be of help. You can also do some organic farming, I have all the links on my blog for organic farming..
One thing is consider, view your plans as tentative and allow flexibility.
I would not get locked into any plane tickets until you sell, this way you can keep to the same plans even if your departure date is delayed.
Can you allow flexibility for the departure date and return date? If so, then you can still travel the same amount of time.
I do have a route, although I consider it tentative and it is flexible. I never planned on visiting Syria nor did I have planned to house sit in Beirut, although that is what happened. Nevertheless, I am still going to Israel this winter.
I was totally focused on saving and working for a year in a half before I departed, including selling everything.
Staying in less expensive countries is a great idea, and allows a traveler to experience and learn the inner depths of the culture.
Thanks Shawn,
I checked out the Help Exchange link on your site and bookmarked it. It looks like a great way to have a place to stay, do some work, and meet some local people! More than just farming too!
You can check out wwoof.org and workaway.com also. Wwoof is Worldwide opportunities on Organic Farms.
You can join the independent site or each site for each country. I will be on a farm in Israel for the month of December.
It is an option to consider for a long term traveler.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I doubt the trip will cost you as much as you think, and you shouldn’t ignore the fact that you’ve put all this effort into building a website - use it to your advantage, make some money off it.
It’s no secret that most of the popular travelogues/travelzines are funding or at least partially funding their trips by their sites. Nerdy Nomads is pretty open about it, and the comments on her site will spin the blades of your thinking cap. All due respect to our mutual friends, Almost Fearless and FoxNomad but the Google AdSense on their sites isn’t for aesthetic reasons!
And I hasten to add, that goes for my own site too. Take Nomadic Matt for example, well either he’s addicted to affiliation programmes and their blinking banners or he’s reaping the benefits of his pop-editorial. Good on them all, and I suspect every one of the aforementioned and their fellows will egg you on to reward your hard work with by the same, or similar methods.
When I first started my site I scoffed at those capitalising sites, but then I figured - if you’ve got it, flaunt it!
On the bright side, the dollar is going up! For example, compared to the dollar, the value of Brazil’s currency has dropped around 40% recently, which is great for me as that is my next country! It’s going up everywhere, so once you get the domestic issues settled, consider it a good thing to be able to stretch your dollars more.
Tim Leffel has an informative article here:
http://travel.booklocker.com/2008/10/08/dont-look-now-your-dollar-is-rising/
For those that are following the site, when J&G announced their news, they were surprised to know that others where scheming and dreaming. My husband, kids, and I are among those to whom Gillian was referring to.
Thus, I sympathize and empathize with your concerns regarding the housing market and economy. Yes the plan may have to change, and it may look vastly different than what we had first concieved. But, for us, there is only moving forward.
Your home will sell. My home will sell. You will be India for Christmas and I will be in Italy, and we will think of each other and wonder how each is celebrating that day so far from home.
A wise woman told me that you can’t worry about things you can’t control or change. That the road may seem to have insurmountable boulders but as you move forward the boulders become stones, the stones become gravel, and then you can walk over it.
Maybe not one giant step at a time but at least one baby step at a time.
When I entered August 29th in Turkey the Turkish Lira was only $1.18 to the Dollar, Yesterday it was 144 YTL to the Dollar, What a deal.
I guess people do make money on their blogs, I have never tried, I guess I don’t want ads cluttering up my blog, although it is an option.
Why not do them them all? Or maybe you can rent out your house? With foreclosures up, people need a place to live!
Ant: You’re right, if there is a way to make some cash-ola, I should at least look into it. I will be researching ‘how to make money from your blog’ in the next little while. Stay tuned for possible changes…
Nathan: I think that being on the road will be a very good place to be, once we get there. It will certainly be cheaper per day to live in any one of the countries we’ll be visiting rather than here!
Lisa: Thank you for the encouragement! Wise advice indeed, very true and, I know, well tested.
Matt: All the options are certainly on the table - even possibly renting out the place.
From our experience, go for it! Our house didn’t sell, and it finally just rented (1 month into our trip)! But, we’re having the time of our lives and can’t imagine what it would be like if we backed out. It’s seriously scary, but it all works out. You narrow your budget and scimp here and there. Above all, have faith things will work out in the end. Your life will be much richer for it.
Best of luck!
Hi there, I was talking to a friend of mine last week how has done alot of traveling and he was saying that you can get a around the world ticket for $5000 or so. It is good for one year and you cannot travel back on yourself. If you want I can call him and find out more for you.
It will all come together in the end and work out for the both of you.
Cheers.