Since I can remember, I had always dreamed about two very specific things for my future; to be a mom and wife. And to seethe world. The first two I have done brilliantly over the last 15 years, and now it is time to realize the biggest dream ever; to travel the world as a family!
Yes, you read that correctly. My beautiful family and I are about to get on a plane in only a short little while to start this digital nomadic life and live the life we’ve been dreaming about for so long.
Digital Nomadic-what?
If this pandemic has taught us one thing, is that 1. Family is everything, and 2. We can work from anywhere! We are no longer limited by where we are, and even our children can school from anywhere in the world. A Digital Nomad does exactly that; it’s a person who earns a living working online in various locations of their choosing (rather than a fixed business location).
And seeing that we’re been working remotely the last two years, and our children are being homeschooled, we realized that this is truly the time for us to bring this travel dream to the front lines.
But Did You Win The Lottery?
I hear you. We’ve basically been taught our whole lives that only the very rich can go overseas, nevermind exploring the whole world. It’s not 100% true. Yes, you still need money. And we are not millionaires by a loooooooong shot. We’ve been saving for very long. And each time we’ve put aside enough money to possibly take one trip overseas, I’d fall pregnant, or some kind of emergency would cause us to dip into those savings again.
So please know we’ve been working really hard at this dream. For very long. My husband worked extra hours, did a few side jobs, and we made a whole lot of cuts to our budget to get to where we are.
Full-out, All-in
Another thing we decided to do to go on this adventure, is to sell everything we own. We probably could have placed all our belongings in storage just in case we want to come back home, but we worked it out to cost us approx. R50 000 for two years. That’s literally just money for keeping our stuff.
So to be able to travel easy and light, we are taking with us a week’s worth of clothes each, and a backpack. The kids are allowed to pack into their backpacks whatever they want, as long as they can carry it themselves as we travel. Everything else, we sold. Toaster, beds, curtains, computers, books, table, toys etc. Name it, we’ve sold it.
Some items we have been ready to part with over the last few weeks, others are waiting to be collected the last week before we leave. We are going all in!
OK, But How Will This Travel Work?
Let’s take this one step at a time. First of all, my husband and children all have German passports. (As well as South African passports) The German passport is one of the best passports to have, as it allows you visa-free access to over 180 countries. I still have to apply for a visa when we visit countries that require it.
Most of our time spent in a certain country will depend on how long I am allowed to stay. But generally that gives us about 90 days (3 months) in a country. So that is what we have planned for. We will do three months in a different country, immersing ourselves in the culture.
Husband will continue working remotely, I will continue blogging, and the kids will continue homeschooling. Monday to Friday would look the same as always; work and homeschool, and then weekends we will explore the area.
We won’t be paying for our car, our home, or medical aid, or those big things in South Africa any more, so that money in our budget can go towards the homes we rent overseas, car rental or ubers when we travel (we always try and find a home walkable distance to ammenities), and this way we ensure we stay inside our normal budget.
Is This A Forever Travel?
Undetermined.
We will eventually settle and find a new home, whether that will be back in South Africa, or another country. All we know is that this is what we should be doing. All in. Show our children how beautiful and vast the rest of the world is. Open their eyes to other cultures, people, experiences. Expand their world-view as we travel. Expand our own. Learn. Explore. Live!
Are You Sad or Excited?
Both. Handsdown! I love my life here. We are certainly not running away. My family lives here. I (mostly) grew up here. We currently live in the house my husband’s grandfather built with his own two hands. My best friends fill my heart. This makes me incredibly sad to leave behind. Fortunately we have unbelievable friends and family that are so supportive, and even though they’ve cried with me over the last few months, they have also encouraged us to dream big, and live the life that we’ve always hoped for.
But am I excited? Man, oh man. I can hardly contain it. As a child, my parents used to take us everywhere, and encouraged us to try everything at least once. My dad is a gypsy at heart, and I believe that was engraved in all us. We all want to travel and explore. It’s been my and my husband dream for so long. And to finally be able to do this, is more than just a dream come true. It’s an incredible privilege.
And with the last few days left in South Africa, we want you to be part of our excitement, our dream and our journey too.
Ask us any question you might have, and we’ll answer to the best of our ability. But we encourage you to follow the journey, as we hope it sparks something in you too. That dream you have… it’s not too big. You’re not too old. It’s not ridiculous. You weren’t meant to just go through life, day by day, and not LIVE.
Dream big. Live Large. And give yourself the life you’ve always wanted.
.
All my love,
Simone
My name is Simone and I am a mom of four, wife to one, and I blog about the joys and experience of living life as a large family.
Simone
This is amazing. All the very best. Gods blessings on you and your beautiful family.
I appreciate this so much, Teixeira xx
Awesome! Alles van die beste! Ek sien uit na al die stories en foto’s.
Ons wil al ons memory boeke VOL maak!
First of all, Congratulations! This is freaking amazing and I am soo excited for you guys. I am looking forward to following you reading about your adventure. As a mom of 4, I can’t even take all 4 to the supermarket together so I am looking forward to learning from how you do it.
My question is how were you able to sell all your stuff, we are trying to downsize and I want to sell a lot of stuff but struggling to get good value for my nice stuff.
Haha, yeah so many people told us we won’t be able to travel with children, but we’ve proven them wrong time after time. With regards to the selling, we started a few months ago by selling something on FB Marketplace every day for a month. (Things you’re not using) A month before we left, we started selling to our friends and family (via a whatsapp group), and then lastly we had an “Open Day” for friends (and their friends) to come to our home and thrift shop. It’s a lot of admin, but we mananged to sell everything!
Hi Simone, wow wow wow! I’m so happy you and your family are pursuing your dreams! It definitely sparks excitement in me. I take my hat off to you with the most love and respect that you are taking this step with everything in you. I can sense how strongly the fire was burning in you. All the best hey and may you share all your experiences and live your best life!
I’m so excited that its also sparking something in you! Dream big!!!
This is amazing Simone, congratulations to you and your family, I can’t wait to follow your journey
Thanks Futhi! Can’t wait to share with you