Years ago, I read an article. It had quite an influence on me. I will link it at the end.
In 2013, I decided to implement. My family and I drove up the East Coast from Florida to Maine. Oddly enough, we discovered that we spent less on the road than we did at home. We actually saved money on that trip.
In 2015, we decided to do it again. We drove out to California (from Nashville), drove up the West Coast (we made it to the Russian river), and then turned around to go home. Once again, we saved money. We spent less money on the road than we actually did at home. Of course, saving money was not the goal. Escaping the web of expectations and showing my children the world, that was the goal. But, I’m not going to complain because we saved money.
In six weeks, we are leaving for our biggest escape yet. On March 10, we will drive to New York City, park our beat up old van in storage, and fly away.
We are doing this for several reasons. Most of them are my reasons. My family is, of course, happy to come along.
Some of you have asked why we’re doing this. Here are my reasons:
- I was born and raised in Europe. In many ways, it’s home to me. I’ve been trying to raise enough money to return for the last 26 years. So, this didn’t come out of nowhere.
- I want to master the Greek language. Moving to Greece, I hope, will accelerate the process.
- 20 years in one town will develop a web of expectations around you. It’s time to break those expectations.
- I hate cars. We are moving to a location where we shouldn’t need a car.
- I need more time to run my business online, and especially to write. These days I am up at three every morning and going to bed about 10 or 11 every night. It’s getting to me. I need to kill some of my extra jobs. I’m going to move to a location with no expectations. I will tell everyone I’m a writer. They will expect me to write. So, I will write.
So, there are a few my reasons.
I grew up traveling. Mortgages and car payments took that away from me. This article was a reality check for me when I read it.
This is why I’m running away: http://www.earlytorise.com/why-you-should-run-away/
