photo credit: byJoeLodge
The package wasn’t supposed to come for another few weeks. When I saw it was addressed to me, I knew it was finally here. Another piece of the puzzle. A brick removed from the wall blocking my path.
My Passport arrived. I could now go anywhere on the planet without hiding in a suitcase.
The statistics say that only 20% of the 308 million Americans have passports (though it’s going up as high as 30% since you need them to go to Mexico and Canada now). There are many reasons for this. Nomadic Matt wrote a good article on Huffington Post about it a couple of months ago. When he asked what we thought the reasons for this were, my answer was, “I think you covered them pretty well in this article. Institutional fear, arrogance and ignorance if you want a short answer.”
Life in the 300-Mile Circle
I grew up and lived most of my life in a 300-mile circle centered around Los Angeles. I have lived as far north as Fresno, as far west as Vegas, and as far south as Orange County. While I’ve never had the same address for more than 4 years, I didn’t leave that circle for more than quick trips around the U.S. for the first 35 years of my life.
I was one of those Americans who never had a passport. There were always places I wanted to see, but I had never actively pursued overseas trips. I’d been to Baja California a few times, crossing the border on foot. Drove down to Ensenada for a weekend once to spend the single night I’d ever spent in a foreign country in three decades.
For 35 years, I only left the Pacific Time Zone a handful of times. I had always wanted to see more, but something always got in the way. No matter the different scenarios then, the something was always related to fear.
Getting Free of Convention
When I started to free myself of the self-imposed constraints I’d lived with for most of my life, I started getting out more. I stopped watching the news and watching much tv, and the world seemed to start opening up. We can blame the media and culture here (I can hear the scoffing from non-Americans at my use of the term “culture” 
), but it really rests with you to get out and do whatever it is that makes you happy.
I moved to another time zone since then and have gotten out more in the past few years than I had ever done before. I still haven’t gone anywhere that required a passport. A past trip to Puerto Rico and the upcoming St. John Island trip don’t need a passport as U.S. Territories, though they are technically different countries. I’m playing catch up on all that time I didn’t get out-of-town to explore what I can.
My answer to Matt’s question got me thinking more about it, and I realized I didn’t want that limitation any longer.
Do you have to travel to live your life?
Being a Digital Nomad is not necessarily about traveling around the world. It is something that can be done, but it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Hopefully you aren’t staying at home out of fear like so many do, but there is more than one way to live life.
In this community, you see every manner of traveler, wanderer and Nomad. But this isn’t just about travel. This is about happy.
You don’t have to go live on a beach in Thailand like Cody McKibben, or move to Chile like Ashley Ambirge to live your best life. Not everyone wants to travel constantly out of a backpack like Matt. Not everyone wants to wander in a tiny RV like Cherie & Chris, or even in a luxury bus like Louise & Sean. You don’t have to ever leave your country, or even the small town where you were born if that’s what makes you happy. Hell if you’ve got a Ted Nugent-sized ranch you never have to leave, then more power to you!
But please don’t spend your life in fear.
So am I the only one who has hardly traveled the world here? Tell me if you’ve got things holding you back in the comments.
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
You are right, James
It is all about HAPPY, or as an old (not in age) friend of mine used to say, “whatever turns you on, man.”
Thanks Rasheed. Too many people look for the differences instead of the similarities and end up writing off whole areas of knowledge they could gain from a scenario.
Hi James,
Great post! I’ve done a good amount of traveling, but “traveling” doesn’t always have to mean flying half-way across the world. I’ve done some sightseeing and exploring lately in my own “300 miles” which has been great. It’s all about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone…at least that’s what it’s all about for me.
Jason
Exactly! Do what works for you. I see too many people get hung up on thinking they have to move to Thailand to live life. That’s not the case! That’s just an obvious example of the possibilities.
Even within in the full-time RVing community, there is pressure to travel long and wide. We are often asked if we have been to all 50 states (um, no, the bridge to Hawaii isn’t done yet…) as if that proves something.
I love the motion of travel more than the arrival. Give me road moving beneath my wheels, by car, bus or scooter, and I’m a happy camper, so to speak. And at the end of the day, I want to be in my own bed, with my own cats. Is that adventure? Perhaps not, but I’m content in a rest area, listening to trucks idling and coyotes yipping.
Adventure means different things to different people. Those RV state maps are neat, and being able to say you’d been there I guess is important to some people. I could say I’ve been to about twice as many states as I’ve spent any time in if I counted layovers, but does that really “count” for anything?
Congrats on your passport! I very vividly remember holding my passport for the first time – an quite reverence seeping up as I realized that there were now possibilities in my life that 30 minutes ago hadn’t existed. Can’t wait to read about your St. John and beyond adventures!
I was really surprised how it affected me. I mean, I had always wanted to do it, but never had really given it too much thought that I really couldn’t go to Europe until I got it. Nothing was pressing, just one of those “someday” things.
When it got here, I was really shocked by the thought that now I could literally go anywhere I wanted on Earth. Like this silly little book was a magical ticket to anywhere. It felt like getting out of jail or something along those lines. Just the representative freedom.
James,
What you have really done is subconsciously crushed the preconceived notions that said “you can’t do that.”
Rasheed
You can “travel” anywhere you go, concurrently you can be landlocked in your metal constructs 1000′s of mules from your home. Travel is physical movement and a spiritual flowering when it reaches the threshold many people seek from their journey.
It is nice to be far, far away. It is also nice to turn over a stone in your backyard and discover hidden worlds right under your nose.
“if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
I’ve noticed people while traveling who are locked in their own view of the world. I saw it a few times while people-watching tourists in the Virgin Islands last week. They seemed miserable, despite being on a relaxing vacation in paradise.
You are right I know for years I only travel to the parts that were within that 300 mile circle. And even then it was only to the familiar places. Now I have expanded quite a bit but still have a little work to do to get out of my comfort zone.
It seems scary every time I do it, but after every time I step out, I laugh at myself for how I made such a fuss over it, when it turned out to be great.
It’s not easy. One thing I’ve noticed especially since I stopped paying attention to the news, and look elsewhere for information is that the concepts of travel don’t seem so far out there. I can turn on the news and see how mean and scary the world is according to them, or I can go read a travel blog about someone having the time of their life visiting countries I never even heard of in school.
I’ve been wanting to break out and travel for a long time; I’ve been wanting to see Australia since I was a kid. I’m 35 now, held the same monotonous job for almost 15 yrs, and have lived in Indiana my whole life. What I’m scared of is not knowing if I can get another reliable job “out there” and I’ve become dependant on it. After reading “Where’s Jenny?” I really want to sell my house and all my stuff, but what if I become a bum? That’s what I’m scared of.
What if you become a bum? You can become a bum right where you are. I don’t know what you do for a living, but people who thought they had “job security” get laid off all the time.
At least you know where you’ll be in another 15 years if you don’t change anything, right?
If you sell your house and all your stuff, you’ll have enough money to travel for a few years, and if you did that, you’ll have enough stories to fill a book and make a movie, and travel around some more giving lectures about why it the best thing you ever did. And all that activity will make you more money allowing you to travel more.
OMG, you might get stuck in a perpetual circle of travel and make money form travel and travel more and ….
I am doing my own little escape … ( escapade ?? ) 2 years ago i bought a 25 foot sail boat that was in need of major work .. now, 18 months later the boat is in the water , and in 4 weeks i am sailing her from Toronto Ontario Canada to Florida .. as a start. if i get brave enough , i would like to do some island hopping starting with the Bahama’s and work my way down the whole island chain ending up in Cuba … and then possibly back to the Florida Keys. At 55 years of age , I am tired of working the 80-100 hours a week that have plagued me for the last ten years .. it seems that the more you work , the more you HAVE to work . I will have all my debts cleared up and can then live for free … maybe do a few articles for some sailing magazines … The boats new name ?? GOT ‘R DID ( red neck yawt club founding member
)
I’ve always wanted to do the sailing/liveaboard life too. Since we went to St. John in the USVI earlier this year, and went sailing while there, that thought has pretty much consumed me.
I’m looking for anything to get me on the water now so I can learn to do boat-specific maintenance.
Let me know if you need help with anything on your way down!
I don’t know where you are geographically , But EBAY during the late Fall and winter is probably the best place to start looking for a cheep boat .. ( i missed out on a 50 foot Tri-mast sail boat last year .. it went for 500 bucks IN the water good to go ) it had state rooms!!! I also don’t know how “handy” you are … The boat i have , was mostly in baskets when i got it … all the wiring, plumbing and all the deck hardware were in baskets . The other option is to go to the islands , RIGHT after a major hurricane and see what there is thats damaged and hasn’t been looted yet… you can sometimes get a boat there for cheep from the insurance , and all it may need is a lot of fiberglass work ( which is easy to do )
I’m in St. Petersburg…so surrounded by water and lots of boats in various states of disrepair
I have a place I can keep one so long as it floats and isn’t too bad. Plenty of places to anchor, but tough to do too much work while on the hook. I have my eyes open all the time for the right one.
I have done a lot of building, motorcycle and car maintenance, just nothing too boat-specific yet. Helped a friend do the antifoul on his boat before launching it, but that’s about it so far.
We sold our boat, condo, furniture … etc. We leave October 1st for a year-long road trip. Thanks for the inspiration!
I don’t get these kind of comments as often as some people, but it sure does make it worth doing. Glad I could help in some small way.
I’ll be watching your travels on your blog!
hey James! first time visitor here. came to know about your blog about 5 minutes ago from @DigitalNomadAcademy’s tweet
your post hit home for me and I agree with you to a certain extent. of course it’s not necessary to travel to crazy places or live out of a suitcase to be a ‘digital nomad’. however, I believe you should do it as much as you can if you can afford the time or money. coz travel really does open up your mind.
I work in a 9-6 and I decided last month that I’m gonna take 2 or 3 days every month to travel some place I’d never been before. so I packed my bags and went off to Vietnam (I’m from Singapore) by myself for 3 days. I stayed with a local there, I met a Vietnam War veteran and chatted with him over a couple of beers in a busy street corner about the war, life and God. I met solo backpackers from the Netherlands, UK and the US. I learnt so much about Vietnam. and before this trip, it was a country I hadn’t even considered visiting. it was best 3 days I’d ever had in recent memory.
so yeah, I do agree with you. but I’m also big believer in traveling as often as you can if you can afford it. purely as a self-discovery thing.
anyway, I’ll be back. and ‘Live Collar Free’? what a great title!