Breaking Free

The problem with living a nomadic (or semi-nomadic) life is of course, money. The root of all evil. I’ve long believed that the trick to happiness is to alleviate the need for this dirty entity. I don’t think I can think of a single problem that doesn’t have its origin in money, in some small way or other.

I love my current job and I’d honestly be loathed to leave it. This is going to be the deciding factor on which direction I take - a life on the black top or a life afloat. A sail boat means leaving my job completely, at least for part of the year. A canal boat (the favoured choice) will only allow me to keep my job if I’m lucky enough to find a permanent mooring for it, which would be great for a few years to accrue enough money to see me on my way. A campervan/motorhome is now the most suitable solution, if I wish to keep my job.

I’m still no nearer over the first hurdle - finance. Relying on winning the money is obviously not a certain or quick way of achieving my goal, but for now it’s all I have. So I need to make every penny count. Anything I don’t need is gone. If I own it, it’s sold. If I rely on it, a cheaper solution needs to be found.

To this end, I’ve started reducing my outgoings as much as I can. My wardrobe needs to be small which ever option I go for, storage is far from non existent, but if I ever hope to share my tiny home, it will be tight!

I always had to have the latest ‘thing’. In recent years, I’ve realised that I need almost none of it! My phone was the first sacrifice. Well, the newest phone, anyways. I now have a SIM only package, unlimited everything. It includes tethering so I can still keep in touch on the road/cut. This will allow me to make the most of any online work I can get my hands on. I’m hoping my phone manufacturer lives up to it’s legend and my phone stays functional for years to come. The metal armour case will surely help!

Food is my biggest outgoing or can be, if I allow my desires to get the best of me! I love junk food. I’d eat takeaway every day if I could. I’d love to know how much I’ve spent in the last 3 years alone. In fact, maybe I don’t!

I’ve tried all sorts of alternatives. Meal replacement powders, economy ranges, simply reducing my intake and the number of meals I have a day.

Currently I find the best solution to be pasta and porridge! Fresh pasta from the supermarket I work for is cheap and plentiful. For £3 I can eat for 2 days. I expect once I’m in my little home, I’ll have ample opportunity to make the most of fresh produce from farm shops or local fishermen. But for now, my tastes are simple!

To supplement my main meals, I’ve found you can’t do much better than porridge! Big bags of porridge oats are cheap and easy to prepare, using a relatively small amount of my most treasured-to-be commodity - water. Combined with some raw honey and dried fruit, I now have a healthy and staple diet that requires a relatively small amount of storage and fuel, whilst keeping me the right side of the dirt (and away from fast food!).

My next challenge is transport. I have a 25-30 miles round trip for work each day. I can do this on bus at a cost of £80 a month, but it takes an age and still involves a half hour walk on top of this at the earliest and latest shift times. I committed to a car subscription service at the end of last year. It seemed like a justifiable expense at the time, as in the heat of summer and in the worst of traffic, I was sometimes arriving home from work in time to shower, eat and then go straight to bed. Now I know there are people who who do this regularly who will think Less of me now - especially as I generally o my work 4 days a week. I appreciate that they need to work 2 or 3 jobs to survive - but remember, the aim of this project is to remove the need to live to work and to enable me to work only to live! I’m tired of existing, it’s time to start living!

So public transport is the cheapest but most soul destroying option. Not to mention putting me into a tightly co fined space with society, contrary to the aim of being able to escape society if I want to!

The other option is a motorbike. I’m still able to ride large distances, but at a significantly cheaper cost than renting a car. So we arrive at the next step - learning to ride. This will hopefully be the sun next of part 3. Hopefully in the very near future!

Wish me luck...