When we first started writing these posts on March 15, 2012 (see the first post here), we never imagined we’d still be doing this 10 years later. Today’s post is #3494. It would have been an easy 365 x 10. Still, in the beginning, we didn’t write every day, and we’ve missed some days due to circumstances beyond our control, such as power and WiFi outages, poor WiFi signals on ships, travel days without access to WiFi, and occasional medical issues.
Ten years? Who knew? When we started traveling seven months after the first post, on Halloween 2012, we thought we might last two to five years, tops. But, here we are, continuing with the same enthusiasm and passion as in the beginning. We aren’t tired of it yet. Its become a way of life.
Any differences in our state of mind is due to how we’ve learned to adapt to unexpected situations with less worry and concern coupled with bundles of resiliency. We realize that many could and have given up being world travel nomads with some of the challenges we’ve encountered.
Along the way, we’ve met countless nomads, like us, but most decided to retire from full-time travel for one reason or another. We don’t judge them for ending the lifestyle. Their circumstances may have changed, or they may have stopped enjoying it after a few years. Several nomads stopped traveling due to health reasons, requiring that they live near their medical providers.
Please let us know if any of our readers have been traveling for more than 10 years. No, we aren’t backpackers, mountain climbers, or even hikers. For that matter. We’re simply two people, now 69 (Tom) and 74 years old (me), budgeting, planning, and thriving in our desire to see as much of the world as we can. We’d love to share stories with you.
We don’t have a so-called “bucket list” or a certain number of countries we’d like to visit. We travel to countries and locations within those countries that appeal to our tastes and desires. We only did a “should do” when we traveled to Paris and London, thinking it made no sense to travel the world and not visit these two amazing cities.
As it turned out, we had a fantastic experience in both of these locations, leaving us with memories we’ll always treasure. In reality, isn’t that what it’s all about? Making memories. The added benefit for us is that we have almost 3500 posts enabling us to look back and read those stories and see the photos that have become a vital part of our “memory making.” How lucky is that?
Well, I suppose it’s not luck. I’ve spent the better part of almost every morning for the past 10 years thinking of topics, writing, researching, dealing with photos. Tom has been there right beside me, proofreading, fact-checking, and conducting research to support our daily topics. I may type the words and insert the photos, but he is constantly on the alert for photo ops, topics, and links to enhance our daily story.
Now, as we work our way out of a relatively stationary period since the onset of the pandemic, we look forward to what the future may hold. By walking over 25 miles, 40 km a week, I feel all the more optimistic that we may be able to continue for more years. At this point in our lives, the only thing that will stop us is allowing ourselves to become frail and out of shape as we age, resulting in the necessity of regular medical care.
Please check back tomorrow. We had the most unbelievable event occur in the garden only minutes ago. We have photos and videos we are excited to share.
So, there we are, folks, 10 years later, and hopefully, we’ll have plenty more posts in the future. In any case, the next few months will be fun!
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, March 15, 2021:
