NuNomad

What Does it Cost to Travel the World? Numbers from our First 2 Months

2009-09-14T06:35:31-05:00

Before I left home I wrote a post titled, "What Does it Cost to Travel the World - What Does it Cost Not To?" where I was discussing the costs of a nomadic lifestyle and how I believed we would save money while being on the road. This week I got a prod from a commenter, Drew, who was frustrated I hadn't used actual numbers in that post. It was a relevant point. At the time it didn't seem right to use concrete numbers since we hadn't gotten on the road yet and I would just be "guesstimating". But now we've been out for 2 months and I'm ready to share with you what the numbers look like.

I realize that, like everyone, our family situation is unique. What we spend money on, the number of children we have, etc. will make our numbers look different than yours. Still I hope our example will give you some idea of what a nomadic lifestyle might look like financially for you.

Let's start with our expenses back home. We lived in a 4 bedroom home in rural Austin, Texas. Our family had 2 cars and we had 2 kids in private school. Our third child was being homeschooled because we just couldn't afford tuition for 3 as much as we loved the school. 2 of our kids were taking private music lessons.

These numbers only reflect regular monthly expenses that are affected by our travels. For instance, our mortgage is not included because we continue to pay that while we are traveling. Health insurance, utilities, etc. all stay the same at home. While we are away we are renting a section of our home to offset the rental paid abroad. We have also sold one car. You will see these numbers below.

Monthly Expenses Austin:

School tuition 2 children: $1800

Homeschooling 1 child: $100

Car payment: $270

Car insurance: $79

2 mobile phones on family plan: $50

Gas for one car used to transport children to school: $300

Food: $1000

Music lessons: $320

Netflix 3 at a time: $17

Total: $3936 per month

Monthly Expenses Brazil:

Rent 2 bedroom apartment electricity/water/monthly maid: $500

Tuition 3 children: $850

Gas: $17

SIM cards for 1 mobile phone: $25

Bus: $160

Food: $500

Total: $2052

Income while traveling:

Rent of home addition in Austin TX: $500

Total monthly travel expenses with home rental subtracted: $1552

Monthly savings of life in Brazil while renting home addition vs. life in Austin, Texas: $2384

Now, of course, some of this savings must be offset by our cost of traveling to our destination and back.

Cost of round trip airflight: U.S./Sao Paolo/Florianopolis for 4 passengers: $2966

Cost of visa applications 4 people: $600

Total travel cost: $3566

Projection over time:

Our current plan is to remain in Brazil for 6 months. However, if we can figure out how to extend our time to one year, we will. Let's see how the numbers will play out for our current plan or for an extension.

Monthly savings x 6 months: $14,304

Subtracting travel expense of $3566: $10,783 total savings for 6 months

Monthly savings x 12 months: $28,608

Subtracting travel expense of $3566: $25,042 total savings for 12 month stay

Of course, some of these numbers will change over time. For instance, one of our children is begging to start back to strings lessons. On the other hand, beginning January, we will leverage a larger portion of our house for rental and plan to bring in an additional $600 per month this way.

While I have reviewed the numbers in terms of our savings in comparison to our U.S. lifestyle, another way to look at this is that it is costing us approximately $2052 per month to live as a family of 4 in Brazil (1 adult, 2 teens, and one 9 year old) with all 3 children attending private school. This is a grand total of $24,624 per year!

So, once again, for those of you on the fence about whether you can afford to travel, I ask - what is it costing you NOT to?

3 Questions to Ask to Make Sure Your Nomading Trip is Environmentally Friendly

2009-09-10T09:37:34-05:00

by Carmen

As an environmentally concerned traveler I have often wondered about the environmental impact of a nomadic lifestyle. Writing about this in February of 2008 I estimated that if you traveled to a country where you lived with a much lower carbon footprint, you could not only offset the carbon footprint of getting there but actually impact the environment even less than if you stayed at home in your western comforts. So I thought I'd put my hypothesis to the test with my latest nomading venture and see how the numbers played out.

To arrive at my totals I used the carbon footprint calculator at Carbonica . On this leg of our nomading trip I traveled with our 3 children from Austin, Texas to Florianopolis Brazil where it is our plan to stay for 6 months. We are living in a small 2 bedroom apartment powered by electricity and gas and the children are going to school by city bus. This apartment has no central heat or air conditioning. I have added to our regular monthly activities the carbon footprint of our round trip flight.

These numbers are compared to our life in a 4 bedroom home in Austin, Texas powered by electricity where we drive a minivan about 15,000 miles per year. The home in Austin has central heat and air conditioning.

Here's how it compares:

Austin life:

6 months driving Dodge Caravan (2006) 2.72 tons

6 months electricity home Austin TX 30.94 tons

Total carbon footprint for 6 months Austin living = 33.66 tons

Nomading trip to Brazil:

6 months of bus travel .5 per day 3 people .6 tons

6 months living in 2 bedroom apt. (electric and gas with energy saving measure and no central heat) 7.5 tons

Round trip airflight Austin TX - Florianopolis Brazil 4 people making 2 stops 15.9 tons

Total carbon footprint of nomading to Brazil + 6 months Brazil living = 24.0 tons

These numbers reflect a stay of 6 months only because that's my current family plan. However, let's take a look at what they would be at 3 months or 1 year:

3 months:

Total carbon footprint 3 months Austin life = 16.83 tons

Total carbon footprint nomad to Brazil 3 months = 19.95 tons

1 year:

Total carbon footprint 1 year Austin life = 67.32

Total carbon footprint nomad to Brazil 1 year = 32.1

As you can see, the carbon footprint of air travel is high so if we were to stay in Brazil only 3 months the footprint of travel would be higher than remaining in the U.S. However, at one year, the low footprint of living in Brazil brings total carbon output to less than half of life in Texas.

Obviously, these are rough numbers but I can only believe that with more accurate numbers life in Brazil would be even easier on the environment than life in the U.S. For instance, in Brazil we have hot water only in the shower and this is produced by an electrical gadget that heats the water right in the shower head. We do not use hot water for dishes, laundry, etc. In addition, we do not have any laundry appliances. The energy consumption of an average clothes dryer is quite high, not to mention the electricity and water usage of the washer. Here we are washing clothes by hand in cold water. Going to the market it is easy to see most of the foods here are locally produced. Not so in the U.S. where every grocery has products from all over the world and it is nearly impossible to "eat local". It would be great to see the numbers if we could get to this level of detail.

So - what's the lesson here? If you are an environmentally concerned traveler, pay attention to three things:

1) the lifestyle of your destination in terms of energy consumption.

2) the length of your stay

3) your method of transportation to get to your destination

Your decision can be made a lot easier by visiting sites that will calculate carbon emissions. I have used Carbonica.org for this article but in the past I also used Terrapass. Both are great resources for helping us understand the impact of our activities. In addition, if you really want to keep your environmental karma clean, you can offset your travel emissions with a monetary donation to these organizations that will be used to better the environment.

9 Tips for Finding Nomad Friendly Accommodations in a New Destination

2009-08-25T10:02:10-05:00

by Carmen

How do you find accommodations in a new destination when you don't know the area, don't speak the language and have no transportation? Our family recently arrived in Florianopolis, Brazil. I don't speak Portuguese but I do know some Spanish. Our friends had told us many times, "Oh, it will be so easy. You are arriving off season and there will be so many places to rent!". While it was true that there were many places to rent, I found that actually getting an appropriate place to live with our 3 kids and to do my internet work was not so easy. Details such as whether a place was managed by a real estate agency, whether they were willing to rent by the month, and whether they were open to dealing with me in my broken Portuguese, made a huge difference. Once our Brazilian friends arrived life became simpler and we were able to see more places. Still, finding the right place took some effort.

Here are some tips from our own experience:

First, make sure you have a reasonably priced, safe and well located accommodation for your initial arrival. Ideally, this will be an accommodation where you can extend your stay if finding the right apartment or home takes longer than you expected. Consider whether you can afford to remain here longer if this situation arises. This first stop should be centrally located in your destination, making your subsequent search more convenient. Hostels can be a great option for this primary stop. Book this first stop in advance of your departure via internet or phone.
Get a good dictionary before you go as well as a language phrase book. Look specifically for phrases on renting apartments or homes. Phrases such as, "Is electricity and water included in the rent?" can be invaluable. Do not put this off to your arrival. It may be hard to find these books once you land and the quality may not be great.
Try to make relationships with expats in the area before you go. Research expat websites for your destination. Engage in forums about where to live, prices, how to buy groceries, etc. These can offer a wealth of information for the newbie. Also find out if there are expat groups that meet in your destination. While your ultimate goal may be to mingle only with the natives, making friends with a few English speakers who are familiar with the area can be very helpful when you first arrive.
Buy a good map of the area. Your map will ideally show public transportation routes as well. You may need these for getting around in your search and eventually for choosing the best location for your accommodation.
Make a personal list of what you need. What is the most important to you? Size? Safety? Public transportation? High speed internet? Make a list of the things you absolutely need in an accommodation and narrow your search.
Get someone to explain the rules of real estate for your area. For instance, here in Florianopolis, any property that has a "for rent" sign from a real estate company (as opposed to "by owner") will only negotiate annual rentals and will require 3 months rent up front. Learning this bit of information narrowed our search considerably. Find out what the norm is for your destination.
Learn what a reasonable rental looks like in your area. As tourists, it is easy to be swept into the touristy areas. My friend here had an agent who only wanted to show her the most expensive areas because she was from the U.S.. She had to insist to be taken to other areas against the agent's wishes. Look at local newspapers to see what prices are being offered. Learn about what is normally included (gas, water, electricity, internet, housecleaning?) and what is normally extra.
Look around by car, bus and foot. Take some time to explore the area's neighborhoods. You might want to consider renting a car during your search to get a quicker feel for the area. Ride the local buses to see neighborhoods. I found that by riding public buses I could get glimpses over walls into properties otherwise invisible by car or foot. Nothing really beats hitting the road by foot, however, when it comes to being able to see rental signs posted by owners.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. Even if you're horrible at speaking the local language - make attempts anyway. You may find other people can communicate with you in English or that they will be patient and appreciative of your attempts and willing to help you.
Remain open minded. If you have traveled to a foreign land you will likely find details of daily life to be different. Sizes of dwellings, types of amenities, etc. may not be at all what you expect. If you insist on having a microwave, washer and dryer, you may be insisting your way into some very expensive digs. Be flexible to the idea of living like local people and you will find much more reasonable possibiities. You may even come to love it! Believe it or not, my kids are asking to install an outdoor clothes washing sink when we return home because they love washing their clothes by hand.

9 Ways to Save Money When Taking an Air Flight

2009-08-20T12:25:00-05:00

Do you ever feel that every moment of your airline and airport experience is designed to suck a little or a lot more money from your wallet even after the large chunk you've already laid down for the ticket itself? Think about it, everything from parking fees to luggage charges, not to mention the ridiculous cost of food in both airports and aboard planes these days. I recently flew across the U.S. and then to Sao Paolo and eventually Florianopolis, Brazil, with three children. In order to have any hope of making this adventure we had to keep to a tight budget so I was extremely careful with planning when it came to our flying days. I realized I was vulnerable not only to being pressed to continually feed three hungry children over the long journey (which turned out to be more than 48 hours of travel due to cancelled flights which caught us in airports and overnight in a hotel) but also to incurring huge luggage fees because we were embarking on a year long journey that would span summer as well as winter weather. This time my pre-planning paid off. Here are a few of my strategies that saved hundreds of dollars:

(I won't be going into how to book a cheap airline ticket in this article - that requires a post of it's own.)

Pack Light and Know Airline Luggage Policies - One of the most important ways to save money flying these days is to be sure you are within the regulations for luggage size and weight limits. Luggage that is too heavy or too many pieces of luggage can raise your trip costs by hundreds of dollars. It would be great if airlines could agree to a standard rule but they haven't. If your trip includes more than one airline don't assume you are safe if you adhere to the policies of the first. Your second airline may have different rules. Research each airline you are using for their specific size and weight policies and be sure to pay attention to differences in policies for domestic vs. international flights. In addition, if you are traveling with more than one person keep in mind whether your luggage will be transportable once you are off the plane. In other words, your 4 giant bags that make it through the airport might not make it in the Fiat the taxi driver has. Do you want to pay for 2 or even 3 taxis just to move your stuff around after you land?
Rule Your Own Luggage - When choosing luggage for travel, be sure to choose pieces that you and/or each family member can reasonable handle on their own. In other words, a 50 lb. bag without wheels will be unmanageable for an 8 year old child. My family rule when flying is that each family member must be able to handle their own luggage without help. Choosing luggage that everyone can physically manage will save time, headaches, be more secure, and also save money otherwise spent on airport luggage carts and tips to the poor guy who has to tote everything around for you.
Give Yourself a Little Cheating Space - When flying with more than one person, it is helpful if you factor in a little cheating space when it comes to your luggage. It can be difficult to know how much a large packed piece of luggage weighs. I, for one, was not able to heave my 50 lb. bag onto a home scale and still be able to see how much it weighed. To tell the truth, I was guessing: "Is it heavier or lighter than the 40 lb. dog food bag I buy at home?". Admittedly, this left a lot of room for error. So, our strategy was to be sure one piece of luggage was underweight. This paid off big time. When we came to the airport, two of our pieces were overweight (this would have incurred $100 in fees). However, we quickly unloaded a few things from the heavy pieces into our lighter piece and, voila, we were within limits! No fees.
Make the Most of Domestic vs. International Luggage Limits - Consider Post - Remember that you will usually be allowed more luggage on an international flight than a domestic one. We were in a difficult situation this summer as we were visiting the eastern shore for the first leg of our trip where we would need summer clothes, and then moving into the winter of Brazil which would require winter wear. Knowing that winter clothes would put us well over weight limits on the domestic flight to the east coast, I chose to mail a box of our winter things to Connecticut. With enough lead time, the clothes arrived within plenty of time to be packed for the international section where we could travel heavier. The total cost to send the winter clothes for 4 of us was around $40 US total - a lot cheaper than the airline would have charged!
Wear Your Heaviest Clothes - Another strategy we used to keep our luggage light was to wear our heaviest clothes for the flight. Yes, it may not be as comfortable to get through the airport in your parka and boots but it sure beats trying to pack them. Plus, as soon as you get to your gate, the heavy stuff can come off and eventually take the ride in the overhead compartment while you sit in your cooler t-shirt and pants.
Ask for a lift - whether you are going for a short trip or an extended nomadic journey, asking friends and family for a ride to the airport can save a lot of money on taxis, shuttles, and/or parking. Usually there is someone in your life who will look forward to seeing you off at the airport. Be sure to thank them with something afterward and reimburse them for their expenses of getting you there.
BYOB - One of the things that irritated me most when heavier security regulations began in airports was the loss of our ability to bring a drink with us for the trip. A three or four dollar bottle of airport water just ticks me off on principal. To top it off, when traveling with family that can turn into nearly $20 just for everyone to have one bottle of water! We get around it by bringing our own bottles. You may not be able to get a bottle of water through security but there is no regulation against bringing an empty bottle! Take your empty bottle through security and then re-fill it as many times as you wish at airport drinking fountains. Due to the number of delays we experienced I know this strategy saved more than $60 when all was said and done.
BYO snacks - Bringing your own snacks for air travel doesn't just save money - you also eat better! Bring as many non-perishable food items as you can in your carry on luggage. You never know how long your trip is really going to take and you'll be glad to have some healthy things to eat that don't cost you extra. Just remember the liquids regulations and stick to dry alternatives.
Do Your Transportation Research on the Destination Side - Once you arrive at your destination, remember there will be an entire other world of folks ready to be paid to get you out of the airport. Do as much research before you go on the best ways to transition from the airport to your first night's lodging. Shuttles may be the way to go in your hometown but they may not exist overseas, or the limousine you wouldn't dream of affording at home might actually be the most economical alternative where you land. Use the internet to find out before you get there.

And remember - enjoy the flight!

Top Reasons Nomads Need Friends

2009-08-14T10:08:21-05:00

by Carmen

As we have begun our most recent nomading journey I am keenly aware of how important my friendships have been in making our trip possible. In fact, without the friends surrounding us at present there is no way my family could have made this journey to Brazil. Many of us who are location independent or aspire to be are fiercely "sole-operator" types. The flip-side of independence can sometimes be that we are less attached to friends and family than others might be. If that describes you - think twice. None of us are islands. Developing and maintaining good friendships can dramatically effect our life experiences as well as world travel experiences. Here are some of my musings on the top reasons nomads should develop strong relationships.

Most Importantly - We Need to Give and Receive Love

Let me just state this from the beginning. None of the reasons I will give below will surpass this one in terms of importance. Nomad or not - we all as humans are social beings in need of giving and receiving love. This is vital to our emotional and physical well being. In fact, it has been scientifically shown that people with strong social relationships live longer and happier lives. What is our life about if not to leave this world a better place than we found it - and certainly that would include interacting with our fellow humans in a loving manner. If you are loving towards others whether in large gestures like adopting a child in need or in the smallest of gestures such as saying "good morning" to the person next to you - you are displaying love. When this is done regulary, relationships will follow automatically.

But on to relationships and nomading...

Friends Can be a Wealth of Travel Information

Strike up a conversation with almost anyone and you will find they have experienced some part of the world that you haven't. Friends can bring you a wealth of travel information. Better yet - if you love world travel, you are probably interested in people from other cultures. Seek out friends from other countries. Get to know their culture, hear about their homelands, how they lived when they were there. You can get a sense of whether you may like to visit sometime. If you would like to visit, get them to tell you all about their country. Most people love to talk about their homes and are enthusiastic to tell you about the beauty of their country or city. They can also give you amazing practical information such as what cities may be safe or dangerous, and what type of food is most affordable.

Friends Can Allow You to Experience Another Culture without Leaving Home

In the same line of thinking, for those of you who are still at home but want to do world travel, cultivating friendships with people from abroad can be the next best thing to actually boarding the plane. I will never forget when we hosted some Polish friends of ours who wanted to visit Austin at Easter. Easter is a very important holiday to them so they wanted to find Polish food suppliers in our city, get their traditional foods, and attend a Polish Easter service. The kids delighted in having their Polish Easter baskets complete with sugar goats and sausages blessed by the Roman Catholic priest at the service.

Hosting is a Wonderful Way to Cultivate World Friends

This memory segues me to the next topic. If you have a spare room or even a couch, consider hosting people from abroad who need a place to stay. Your local social networks such as schools, churches, clubs may be a source for finding such people. If not, join an online organization such as CouchSurfing.com and start hosting right away. Our family has hosted circus performers including a Mongolian contortionist who traveled with Cirque du Soleil, Brazilian dancers, Broadway performers, and students from abroad. Every one of these experiences has been positive and life enhancing for everyone in our family. We have learned customs, languages and have been entertained by wonderful stories. Most importantly we have made friends for life and have done good for others who needed help. One of the principal reasons we are now in Brazil is due to our experience last year of having 3 Brazilian dancers stay with us for 3 months. In fact, one of those dancers hosted us in Sao Paolo and was an amazing resource for showing us the sites. How great to stay in a family home with friends as opposed to some sterile hotel room!

Nomads Can Be Super-Friends!

You'll be amazed when you nomad how interested people become in what you're doing. Remember that as much hard work and planning that went in to make your trip possible, you are still incredibly blessed to be able to have such a lifestyle. I am grateful every day for the privilege of being able to travel. Share your good fortune with your friends back home. Keep in touch via phone, email, mail or Skype. Can anyone visit? You could be able to provide a place to stay and make a trip possible for someone who otherwise could not travel. Additionally, you can be an inspiration and information source for any friends who may like to follow in your footsteps. Plus you'll get the benefit in my next point.

Friends Can Stave Off Homesickness

As much as I wake up feeling blessed each day to be able to have this lifestyle, sometimes I get homesick for things back in the U.S. I find that keeping in touch with friends on a regular basis is a great remedy for this. 20 years ago when I traveled for a year, communication was not so simple. I found my mind going into depths of homesickness at times, exaggerating my memories of how great my life at home had been. Now, when it is easy to communicate with others back home, I find that my mind cannot make these exaggerated wanderings. I am reminded that life back home is the same as it always was with its ups and downs, triumphs and struggles. I can keep a balanced mental image and enjoy my life abroad more fully.

Friends Abroad Can Be Life-Savers

A lot of people have asked me how we chose Brazil as a destination. In fact, for years I was telling my friends I wanted to take the kids to a Spanish speaking country. Obviously, Brazil doesn't fit this bill. Well, the way it came about was actually because of a friendship. A Brazilian friend in Austin (Marcia) who knew I was planning a year abroad in Mexico or Ecuador called one day to say she had decided to return with her family to Brazil and asked if we would like to come along. She had children who were friends of my children at school. The temptation to go somewhere where we would know a native person was too great (not to mention it was an exciting destination!) As it turned out, having Marcia as a friend here in Florianopolis has been a life saver. The difference it has made to have a native person help with finding housing, education for the kids, and simply explaining the basics of everyday life (such as how to use a Brazilian pressure cooker without exploding it) has been immeasurable. I can't imagine that we could have made this transition without her.

On-line Friends Are also Amazing

I've talked a lot about in-person friendships but I want to add that online friends can be equally important. Cultivate relationships with people you find in social networking arenas. People who share common interests can also greatly benefit from each other. Of course, here you want to use common sense about safety issues - but it is possible to develop lasting and meaningful relationships online with people from all over the world. In fact, Richard (my NuNomad co-founder) and I met online and without us developing a trusting relationsip across the globe NuNomad would not exist!

Friends Can Make all the Difference

As I look back on our first month of travel I am so grateful for the friends and family we've seen along the way. I can't even begin to thank everyone for what a positive effect they have had on our family and how much support we have felt from each of them as we've gotten started. Here are some folks I'd love to mention:

Dede Clark who trusted me to build a couple of websites for her business which provided the extra funding I needed to make this trip happen.

The Holland family who hosted a going away party for us

Our Zaia/Cahill cousins who put us up in Boston and lent us a car

The Gawlick family who fed us lunch in Brookline and with whom we had an afternoon concert! (sorry I didn't get a picture).

The Hunnewell/Julian family who hosted us in Cohasset and took the kids sailing

Grandma Zaia, Uncle John, Uncle Phil, Dave and Aunt Eileen who made our stay in Connecticut a great one! (the roles of family members will be played today by Canadian Geese on the CT shore since I couldn't find a picture with everyone included!)

Charlie and Vanessa Pollock and their kids Hudson and Sloane who met us at 5 Napkin Burger for lunch. Charlie is currently in 9-5 the Musical! Good luck with the musical and the new baby!

Rick and Holly Bologna and David. Thanks to Rick and Holly for your advice on how to see David in his amazing performance as Michael in Billy Elliot! We loved it David!

The Ferreira family of Sao Paolo who hosted us and showed us the sites

Dirce Guarda who allowed us to stay in her wonderful hostel Casa Brasil in Lagoa de Conceicao off season while we looked for permanent housing.

And, of course, Marcia Pirmez and family without whom we wouldn't be in Brazil at all!

Hello Brazil! Arriving and Getting Settled

2009-08-11T07:04:39-05:00

by Carmen

So much has happened since the last post on our travels. To be honest, there have been several bumps in the road that have kept me from blogging - including technology snafus, illnesses and lice! However, things have settled out a bit a the moment and I'm finding some time to write.

We left the U.S. on July 7, flying from La Guardia to Sao Paolo. This was by far the most economic fare that I found. Interestingly, flying from Austin to the east coast and then to Brazil was cheaper than flying from Texas to Brazil. What was really crazy was finding a well priced flight that originated in New York, stopped in Houston and then went on to Sao Paolo and being told that if we only flew the Houston - Sao Paolo leg of the flight the price was much higher! Anyway, this worked in our favor since we had many family members and friends on the east coast to catch up with. I highly recommend FareCompare as a great site on which to do your price research.

Our flight was delayed out of La Guardia, causing us to miss our scheduled flight to Sao Paolo. We were put onto the subsequent flight which was then delayed another 6 hours. However, we made the most of our airport time, watching the Michael Jackson memorial service in La Guardia, and setting up camp for sleeping on the airport floor in Miami. Finally, we had a bit of good news as we got on the plane to learn we had been given bulkhead seats.

It is always exciting to board an international flight and immediately feel that you've left your home country as you hear people speaking in the language of your new destination. After 7 hours of trying intermittently to sleep and watching our own personal televisions, I knew I was away from the U.S. when the flight attendant offered Mia (our 8 year old) cafe com leite (coffee with milk).

We proceeded through customs without incident and easily found the airport taxis. Sao Paolo airport taxi service is very impressive and well organized. You request your taxi at a large kiosk outside the airport. They take your destination, give you a receipt for the amount it will cost and summon the appropriate sized vehicle for you. What a relief not to have to wave one down and hope we wouldn't be overcharged.

The taxi ride itself was an adventure. Sao Paolo is an enormous metropolis - one of the world's largest cities. You immediately feel that you are in a sea of never-ending tall white buildings and sky scrapers. The traffic is heavy and the drivers are agressive. The ride to our friend's home took almost 2 hours due to the traffic jams but any pains we were feeling soon disappeared when we were greeted by our friends in their home.

The mother of the home is an attorney. Her office is the first room of the house. The home was a continuous stream of activity from the other attornies, the secretary, the housekeeper and two more house guests who were also visiting. Lunch was served by the housekeeper in two shifts - first for the law firm, second for the family and guests. How different than most American homes!

Although our stay in Sao Paolo was short we were able to stroll down Avenida Paulista (said to be the most affluent street in South America), see a local park, and have an enormous sushi lunch in Sao Paolo's Japanese neighborhood (for more photos of or Sao Paolo visit please go to our Flickr page). We also came to the stark realization that we really had arrived in mid winter when the sun set around 5:30 pm. I can't tell you how grateful I was, though, to be comfortable in my long pants and sweater, knowing that I was missing everyday temperatures in the 100s back in Texas!

After two days we hesitantly boarded our plane wishing we had more time with friends in Sao Paolo but knowing that our final goal lay ahead on the island of Florianopolis.

Meet the Nomads - Family on Bikes

2009-07-02T04:39:00-05:00

by Carmen

Through wanderings of Twitterland I came upon @familyonbikes and was intrigued by their bi-contintental cycling adventure with two young sons. The Vogel family has literally been "on the road" for two years now. Beginning in Alaska they have slowly biked their way to Costa Rica and will continue until they reach the tip of Argentina. In doing so, their youngest son, Davy, will be the youngest person in world history to make this biking trek. Read on to hear from Nancy Sathre-Vogel about their life on bikes.

I see on your site that the two of you were biking long before you had children. How many bike trips had you done before this adventure and what countries did you see?

John has been cycling much longer than me, but together we cycled through Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Yemen, Mali, and Israel. He has also cycled in Australia, Zimbabwe, Norway, Taiwan, and Malaysia. Of course, we’ve also cycled quite a bit in the USA and Mexico as well.

Taking your children on such a long and physically demanding journey must have been a huge decision. How did you make the choice that this would be your way to travel and how did your children’s ages factor into the decision?

John and I had always dreamed of taking off for a year-long journey with our kids, but we figured it would always remain just a dream like most people’s dreams do. But one day John came home after a particularly rough day in the classroom and told me he wanted to take off on a bike trip. I thought he was crazy – I mean, parents just don’t do that!!

For the next three weeks John kept talking about the bike trip and he managed to convince me that we only live once, and we had to take advantage of this time with the kids if we were ever to do it. Four weeks after John first raised the idea, we ordered our bicycle built for three. Two months after that, we were on the road.

Our biggest concern at that point was that the kids wouldn’t like touring by bicycle. We had quit our jobs, spent $6000 on a bike, and taken off. And if the boys didn’t enjoy it? We were terrified.

It became evident immediately that our concerns were unfounded – the boys loved their life on the road! They took to cycle touring like a duck to water.

And so it is that we are still on the road – this time riding from Alaska to Argentina. The boys learn way more on the road than they ever could in a classroom, and they love what they are doing. For me and John, this is our one and only chance to spend this time with our boys – soon they will be grown and have lives of their own. Right now, they are enjoying being with their parents – and their parents enjoy being with them!

Do you cycle every day or take days of rest on a regular schedule?

We take lots of days off. LOTS!! In fact, we cycle less than 50% of the days.

How do you decide how long you will stay in a location?

That depends on a lot of factors – what there is to do in that place, how tired we are, what the weather is like, etc… Basically, when we are ready to move on, we do.

I see you have many sponsors both corporate and individual. Have you been able to sustain your life on the road through sponsorships and donations? If not, are you also deriving income from other means while on the road?

We do have a few corporate sponsors who are providing gear, and a few individuals who donate a small amount of cast each month. However, the vast majority of our expenses are coming from our retirement account.

John and I decided that life is too short to not take advantage of it. Our boys will only be boys once. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so we decided to go for it. We will be poorer when we retire, but we’ll have loads of memories!!

How do you fit homeschooling into your life?

For the most part, our journey is the boys’ teacher. They learn so much simply by traveling around the world! Mother Nature is also an awesome teacher and the boys learn tons from her.

That being said, there are a few areas where the learning can’t come so naturally. For those areas, we supplement their education with actual lessons. We have math books with us, and the boys work on that in the tent or hotel rooms. They also write journals or essays occasionally and are learning to make video documentaries. They are both avid readers, so our biggest challenge in that area is finding English books!

Can you describe the Reach the World program you are participating in? How does it work for you and the kids in NYC who watch?

Reach the World is an exciting program! We are connected with classrooms in NYC via the internet, and we become the eyes and ears of the kids in those classes. Each week we post online about our experiences – writing, photos, and videos. The kids call that up and learn about the world through our experiences. It is a neat way for disadvantaged kids to have a chance to experience the world.

Do you have any advice for nomadic families based on your experiences so far?

The main piece of advice I have is to never, ever, not even for one nanosecond doubt your children!! Children have an amazing ability to do way more than we give them credit for!

To learn more about the Vogel family, please visit their website Family on Bikes

And We're Off! Our Family NomadingYear Begins

2009-06-30T04:00:00-05:00

By Carmen

Getting ready to take off for a year of travel means a lot of activity around the departure date! With our departure from Austin, Texas set for June 22nd there was a lot to do in the final weeks. Our dear friends from the kids' school hosted a going away party for us, complete with Brazilian capirinhas. It was a wonderful way to be able to say goodbye to more people than we would have been able to have individual time with. The girls got to spend some final moments swimming, dancing and playing basketball and ping pong with their friends, and Tony and I got to have some fun conversations with other parents. It may have been somewhat awkward for Tony since he is not able to do the whole trip with us. Both he and I answered many questions about how this would work and when he would visit. I think for a lot of families it is difficult to imagine being separated for this length of time. Ideally, Tony would join us, but unfortunately in his particular career as a state employee, telecommuting has not yet become acceptable.

After a very lovely evening, we turned our attentions to the final preparations. The addition of our house needed to be readied to rent. A renter had already been found through our school community and we needed to remove all of our personal belongings and get the place clean. I was thinking it shouldn't be too difficult since we had only lived in the addition ourselved for 2 years but it is amazing how many personal items and dust can accumulate in even a short time. As everything got emptied out, Mia and her friend, Bianca (who will be joining us in Brazil) had a grand time climbing to the top shelves of the closet and peering over the walls! It is our hope to break even with the money we spend for rent in Brazil and what we bring in in Austin.

I tried each day to do a few hours of preparation and be sure to include some fun in the day. Since the kids were already out of school it was too much to ask for all work and no play. We spent time visiting our favorite swimming spots in Austin, including Deep Eddy and Barton Springs. During these last few days our oldest daughter turned 16 so we also had a birthday celebration and attended an outdoor concert.

Since our new renter will be sharing the kitchen with Tony, my cleaning efforts needed to extend to other parts of the house. I'm really not a great housekeeper! I'd rather be working or homeschooling than mopping. As a result, I was pulling things out of the refrigerator that looked like the mummified remains of King Tut!

On to packing.

One of the biggest challenges with this particular trip is that we are starting out in the summer of the U.S. and moving on to the winter of Brazil. We hear Florianopolis is having one of it's coldest winters and friends have told us to bring full winter clothing. I have been determined to keep everyone to one suitcase and one carry on with the exception of my daughter's viola. The cello did not make the cut! In order to do this and have access to summer clothes for the first leg and winter clothes for the second leg I did this: I had each of us pack our summer things and as many winter things as possible into our alloted bags. Then I mailed a box to Connecticut with our winter coats and a few sundry items like school books. We have been using our summer clothes on the east coast. When we depart the east coast on July 7 we will unpack our winter coats and put our summer clothes into the box. I will mail the box of summer clothes to Brazil (since we won't need them for a couple of months). That way hopefully we will save some money. I found it was pretty difficult to weigh our bags at home and only hoped we were within the 50 lb limit. The picture you see is everything we took for 4 people to stay away for a year (minus the box of winter clothes).

With everything ready to go, we awakened at 6 am and Tony drove us to the airport. We said a short goodbye since we would see Tony a few days later on the East Coast and moved towards check-in only to find that one of our bags was overweight by 6 pounds. Rather than pay the fine we did a frantic re-arrangement of stuff from the offending bag to another slightly underweight bag and were able to get everyone into compliance. The flight from Austin to Dallas was uneventful. Unfortunately the travel took a turn at this point.

We had a scheduled 3 hour layover in Dallas. This turned into a 4, then 5, then 6 hour layover as the flights were delayed for weather in Boston. Next, we were told the landing gear on the plane was broken. Finally, we chose to spend the night in Dallas when it became clear that our arrival in Boston would be well after public transportation shut down. This was the right move as it turned out other people waited much longer and eventually the flight did not go at all. We tried to make the most of our night in a somewhat seedy hotel with a final meal of Tex-Mex food and breakfast of Texas shaped waffles!

We were very happy to finally arrive in Boston that afternoon where we stayed with cousins for 2 nights. It is so wonderful to be able to reconnect with family and for the kids to have a sense of how there cousins live on the other side of the U.S. We were greeted with cool temperatures and rain. Although all of our East Coast friends were feeling down about the un-summerlike temperatures, I was overjoyed to be out of the Texas 100+ heat! Our cousins live on a lovely pond and there is a feeling you are in the wilderness even though in reality it is the suburbs. The kids also enjoyed feeding their chickens, seeing their huge vegetable garden and eating my sister-in-law's homemade yogurt, strawberry syrup and fresh eggs.

From the suburbs of Northborough, Massachusetts we made our way to the town of Cohasset. Cohasset is on the Massachusetts shoreline north of Cape Cod and is the town that was used in the filming of "The Witches of Eastwick" with Jack Nicholson. It is the quintessential New England shore town with lovely homes and gardens. Here we stayed with an old college friend of mine and her family. My 8 year old was completely impressed when our 10 year old hostess told us she owned her own sailboat. We walked to the end of their block where a boat picked us up to take us to the Cohasset Yacht Club. Here my friend's daughter took each of the girls out on her sailboat one at a time for a short ride. It's amazing how a 10 year old child can command her own boat with such precision! Unfortunately, all the water in Cohasset was closed to swimming due to bacteria so the next day we went to the shore in Scituate. Here the water has nice big waves, there is a long stretch of sandy beach and a rock that makes a natural slide. We finished our visit with burgers and ice cream at the local street side joint. Then on to Connecticut.

South Lyme Connecticut is the home of Point O' Woods, a beach community where my mother in law's father built a vacation home in the late 40's. We arrived here 3 days ago and will remain until we fly to Brazil next Monday. Our family has enjoyed our visits here for many years but not until I was able to make my income mobile have we been able to stay for longer periods. It's great to let the kids enjoy the same traditions that their parents, grandparents and great grandparents have enjoyed. Ice cream on the beach, beach movies, crabbing and swimming to the dock are but a few of them. Yesterday was spent catching 57 crabs and letting them race back to the water 2 at a time, then finding sea glass. Later we'll go hunting for an abandoned grave in the woods.

The challenge ahead of us lies in reconfiguring our luggage for the trip to Brazil and trying to get the girls to continue practicing their Rosetta Stone Portuguese despite the constant lure of fun with their cousins. I can't tell you how thankful I am to be traveling again, to be able to give our kids these experiences and to be able to maintain my work while doing so.

Meet the Nomads - Brian - Around the World with No Debt!

2009-06-23T04:44:00-05:00

by Carmen

I recently met Brian of No Debt World Travel through Twitter (@brianepeters). While he's not a NuNomad in the sense of maintaining his income while on the road, I was intrigued by his experience of a round the world trip without incurring any credit card debt. In addition, as an African American traveler, he has written about some of his unique experiences while on the road. Brian's sense of humor and positive outlook is amazing. Enjoy!

Brian, I’m intrigued by your blog, No Debt World Travel. Obviously, you began your adventure attempting to prove that you could travel around the world without going into debt. How long were you on the road, what did you see, and did you stay out of debt?

I stayed on the road for four months and covered 4 continents. Australia, South America and Antarctica will have to wait for the next trip. I visited

Hilo, Hawaii
Tokyo, Japan
Bangkok, Thailand
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Hong Kong, China
Cape Town, South Africa
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
London, United Kingdom
Paris, France
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Athens, Greece
Barcelona, Spain
Marrakesh, Morocco
Rome, Italy

When I arrived back home, there were NO travel charges from the trip on any credit cards. Completely debt free! Currently planning the next trip!

I saw that you started your trip with savings. Did you travel entirely on this savings or did you derive some income while on the road? If so, what did you do to create income?

This was all done on savings. I realize now that if I wanted to stay longer in places there were plenty of opportunities to work locally by teaching English, working in hostels, or like many nomads do now, freelance over the Internet.

I realized that teaching English is huge overseas. So many want to learn because it provides more opportunities for better paying jobs.

What type of airline ticket did you purchase? Round the world or did you buy as you went? What have been the pros and cons of your ticket choice?

I bought a round the world ticket from Airtreks. I could have chosen a round the world ticket from one of the airline alliances or gone with an agent like Airtreks.

Airtreks goes for the cheapest possible price regardless of the airline and pieces them together into one round the world itinerary. The problem is potentially the airlines connecting are not in sync so tickets are not carried over as easily for the next flight.

An airline alliance (Sky Team, OneWorld or Star Alliance) are groups of airlines that have codeshare agreements, use connecting terminal space, etc. So for example, American Airlines and Japan Airlines are part of OneWorld. American would take me from New York to Los Angeles and then I could connect to Japan Airlines from Los Angeles to Tokyo, Japan. With an alliance the connections and reservation setup should be seamless and should make the trip much easier.

When I got to Europe I bought the tickets as I went, usually departing from the smaller Gatwick Airport outside London. I also used the EuroStar train from London to Paris. That was a very enjoyable ride and I highly recommend it. Just book early to get the best prices.

What did you find were the best ways to save money while traveling? What mistakes did you see others making in terms of money spent while on the road?

I stayed in hostels which I am a big advocate of. I stayed in Hawaii for $25US a night. Tokyo was $30US. Those were the highest prices I experienced the entire trip, except when I splurged at the Venetian in Macau for my birthday. Thailand was $13US a night. In Cambodia I was in a hotel, but it was $6US a night! SIX DOLLARS!

Hostels are far beyond what the movies portray them to be. You can get clean, centrally located hostels with great roommates. In fact the only problem I had was a loud snorer in a few rooms. Otherwise, everyone is there to enjoy themselves. I also saw families and older travelers, so hostels are not just for the straight out of school 21 year old. (If You are Nervous About Staying in Hostels..)

The biggest cost would be food. For those of us who don’t want to live on Ramen noodles and candy bars, it can be tricky. I tried to pick hostels that had kitchens with functioning stoves and refrigerators. One of first things I did after getting settled was to find the nearest grocery store and buy some pasta, meat, etc. Take it back to the hostel and cook up something there for cents on the dollars and will last for a few meals. I did a lot of that in Tokyo and Rome. Cheap food was most plentiful in Thailand. No need to do that there.

You are the first African American nomad that I have interviewed. Knowing that race relations vary greatly from country to country would you say you had any unique travel experiences by virtue of being African American? Were there any particular places that you have found to be especially welcoming or unwelcoming because of race?

My experience has been great. I did not have any issues. Needless to say I stand out in a crowd in certain places overseas, and my uniqueness usually makes me the center of ‘good’ attention.

When I was at the Venetian in Macau, a group of Asian tourists stopped to take pictures with me for a solid 5 minutes. Not like I’m not famous already (ok, maybe in my own mind) but I don’t think they ever met an African of ANY descent before. Too bad we could not understand each other or else I would have found out where they are from. (Instant Celebrity)

In Cambodia I was invited to a wedding reception. I was the only non-Cambodian at the event. I got a couple of looks when I walked in, but by the time the music started and the drinks started flowing, I was a member of the family. Had a blast! (Cambodian "Invited" Wedding Crasher)

Also in Cambodia, once we got away from the city and into the countryside, you could tell people had never/rarely seen a Black person. Kids would stop and wave. I swear one girl’s jaw dropped and she pointed when she saw me. I never took it personally because I never felt the comments or reactions were malicious. They were just surprised to see me.

In Ethiopia women wanted to marry me … within 10 minutes of meeting me. Ethiopia is a lovely country, nothing like the images of “We Are The World” from the 80s, but poverty is still prevalent. A little bit of crazy, funny and sad all at the same time. (Who Loves Ya Baby? Apparently...Everyone)

Anywhere on the continent of Africa I get mistaken for South African, Ghanaian, Moroccan, Senegalese, basically name any country there. While in Marrakesh, vendors called me ‘Barack Obama’ to get me to buy their goods or sit at their food stalls.

When walking through Marrakesh on foot the people would say, “Welcome Marrakesh! So nice to have you here!” And they would honestly mean it.

The point: No matter your race, gender or nationality, go into any new situation with an open heart and mind and everything will be OK. Smiles and laughter are universal and the tools of any good traveler. Use them early and often.

If you were to start your adventure over again would you do anything differently?

I would not have waited so long. Even when I booked the ticket I would say I had an even amount of excitement and nervousness. Once I touched down in Hilo, HI all the nervousness dissipated. Not for any particular reason, but I committed myself to my trip and all the anxiety was gone.

I would really use Couchsurfing next time around. I love hostels because of the low prices and the great people you meet, but Couchsurfing would have been a whole new experience. Meeting a local up close and personal would have added a whole new dimension to the trip. That is as close to living there as you can possibly be.

Lastly I would try to find a volunteer opportunity. I tried to do some work in Cambodia, but there was not enough time to get things setup. As a Westerner when you travel you realize what you have, even if you think it is a little bit, could be more than someone could ever imagine to have. If I can I’d like to give something besides money.

All the little things I’ve learned about the trip and round the world travel I am releasing in a book this summer. Once you get out there you see it is not that difficult and I want to get that message out to people. So please visit No Debt World Travel to find out about that.

Survey Results - Money, Nomads, and Fears

2009-06-19T04:37:56-05:00

Recently the results of a survey created by Free Pursuits and Location Independent have come out and the results are really interesting. While there is a lot in the data, I'd like to focus today on the area of money fears and realities among location independent/nomadic people and those who want to be. When asked the question, "What's the greatest fear you have about location independent living?" there was a significant percentage of both current nomads (we'll use this term from here on since it is brief) and aspiring nomads who named financial issues as their biggest fear. These financial issues were expressed in many ways including fear of running out of money, fear of losing their income source, fear of their businesses drying up, etc. So I wanted to take a closer look at these fears against the reported realities.

Current nomads were asked the questions, "Do you earn more or less since you became location independent?" and "Do you spend more or less since you became location independent?" Aspiring nomads were asked, "Do you think you will earn more or less when you become location independent?", and "Do you think you will spend more or less when you become location independent?"

Current nomads reported the following:
"Do you earn more or less since you became location independent?"

13 much less
23 less
11 same
22 more
11 much more

"Do you spend more or less since you became location independent?"

24 much less
29 less
18 same
16 more
3 much more

Aspiring nomads expressed the following:
"Do you think you will earn more or less when you become location independent?"

14 much less
50 less
27 same
52 more
15 much more

"Do you think you will spend more or less when you become location independent?"
19 much less
67 less
45 same
34 more
3 much more

For those of you, who like me, are visual learners, please click below to see a 3D chart of these results compared
Download Money and Nomads
Here's what I find interesting in these results:

If you look at the distribution of actual nomad earnings you will see that it is almost completely balanced. While 11 reported no change in income 33 reported earning more/much more and 36 reported earning less/much less. Differences between the extreme "much more/less" categories and their less extreme counterparts were also near mirror images of each other.

How does this reality compare to the image aspiring nomads have of earnings while on the road? It's actually pretty accurate. Aspiring nomads showed a similar pattern and distribution for what they imagine they may earn while living an location independent lifestyle. The only differences were in extremities. The actual nomads have less variability in their answers while the aspiring nomads show a steeper curve in those who dream they will earn more or less as compared to earning the same.

Now let's look at spending.

Actual nomads reported a definite reduction in spending while on the road as compared to their former life. Again, aspiring nomads have got an accurate image of this, the only differences being in the degree to which they believe they will spend less.

So, what does this all mean? We see here that there really seems to be no significant differences in earnings for actual nomads or in beliefs about earnings by aspiring nomads. As for spending, the majority of actual nomads are spending less or much less and aspiring nomads are envisioning a pretty accurate although perhaps exaggerated picture of this. In a nutshell, nomads are earning the same and spending less, and onlookers are gaining a fairly accurate picture of the reality.

We return then to the fear factor. In spite of the reality, there lurks a significant fear among actual nomads and aspiring nomads alike that the money coffers are going to dry up while they're on the road. As a coach and former psychologist I've spent a lot of time speaking with people about fears and their dreams. It's important when faced with any fear to try to sort through perception vs. reality. In other words, "You worry that you may run out of money on the road? What is the evidence that tells you this can happen?" "What about being on the road do you think makes you more likely to run out of money or work vs. if you were at home?" Now, I'm not saying that a nomad has never run out of money or work and had to come home. However, I think we can all name enough people who have run out of money or work without ever traveling or living out their dreams.

If you are among the many with this worry another question you might ask yourself would be this, "Given the worse case scenario (perhaps all your clients tell you to shove it in the same week and you are on a mountain in Timbuktu) what would you do?" "Are you really safe from losing your income if you stay home?" "Is it worth it?"