4 Ways to Prepare Yourself For a Nomadic Life

4 Ways to Prepare Yourself For a Nomadic Life
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Finally ready to take the leap from full-time daydreaming, wanderlusting and map obsessing to full-time nomad? Good, it's about time. If you want to be successful at living a life moving from place to place, it is in your best interest to get some preparation out of the way. Yeah, some of it is boring and tedious but if you deal with it before you set off, it will be all smooth sailing. This isn't a vacation, it's your life, so you better get ready!

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Sell Your Stuff

My training in writing would tell me that using the word "stuff" is a lazy way to get my point across when the thesaurus holds so many more colorful options. However, "stuff" is the perfect way to describe all of those things that are taking up space in your house right now. The less stuff that you have, the less attached you will be to your static life in your home country, making it that much easier to abandon it all to live your dreams. The clothes that you never wear, the furniture that you want your parents to save in their basement-forget about it. Have a garage sale, utilize Ebay, Craigslist or your local newspaper and get rid of everything that is weighing you down. If you can't fit it in a backpack and you won't use it at least once a week, toss it aside, you probably won't remember it a year from now.

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Get a Power of Attorney

Not the first thing that usually comes to mind when people are looking towards a life of travel, adventure and life-long dream fulfilling-yet, a power of attorney can make all of the difference in your success. A legal agreement made through a lawyer either in person or online, a power of attorney allows you to appoint someone you trust to deal with your finances in your place. Filing taxes, speaking with loan companies or withdrawing money from your bank account, your power of attorney makes it a whole lot easier for you to deal with your finances from across the world.

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Set up a Way to Handle Your Finances

Finances are on everyone's mind and it is important to organize yours before beginning this new lifestyle. If you have bank accounts in your home country, make sure to let your banks know where and when you will be traveling so that they do not flag your card for security reasons. If you are planning to withdraw money from those accounts quite frequently from ATMS, switching your bank to a Charles Schwab account is a fantastic money-saving option. Travelers often use this account as it has no ATM or international conversion fees. If you can't pay off your credit card and student loan debt before you leave, make sure that you have enough funds to continue the payments and even set them up to come out of your account automatically so you don't forget.

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Make a Loose Plan of Action

A little planning can be a lot of fun but too much can leave you feeling tied down. Don't over-plan. Hell, don't plan your trip at all and just see where it takes you. However, you should come up with a basic idea of how you are going to sustain your lifestyle. Being a full-time nomad isn't just about bumming around from country to country but actually building a life for yourself that can be sustained without having to crawl back home and start all over again after your bank account is dry. Spend some time researching opportunities for you to learn some useful skills, make money or trade services for free room and board. There are plenty of companies hiring for English language related positions, farms looking for a hand or organizations looking for volunteers on their projects. Whatever you choose, make it interesting, exciting or just something that you are going to enjoy day in and day out.

If you want to be a nomad, give yourself the tools you will need to be successful at it. A comfortable, adventure filled and sustainable life is waiting for you out there, it is just up to you if you are going to do what it takes to make it work.

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