It sounds amazing and adventurous – pack up your life, sell everything, take a single suitcase and off you go!
But in reality, we live in a world of defined boundaries. One reality is our “work reality” and one reality is our “holiday reality”. And they are conflicting.
Our “work reality” has a lot of structure – you generally have fixed hours where you are trading your time and value for money. Your meals and family/friend catch ups are designed around this basic concept. Your free-time tends to be 2 days a week, where you:
- Eat out for breakfast or bunch
- Do your grocery shopping
- Do your clothes/ techie/ fun shopping
- Participate in sport
- Do little day trips. Or on the occasion, a weekend away
You are also able to budget financially around the “work reality” as majority of the week is work time.
Then we have our “holiday reality”. You know what I mean. It’s euphoric. You count down to this reality. This is time where you are not working! They say that more people spend more time and effort planning their annual holiday than anything else in their lives.
The “holiday reality” is a time for indulgence…
- Eat out all day everyday
- Eat more sweets/ junk food/ ice-cream than you normally would
- Do minimal or no grocery shopping
- Do A LOT more clothes/ techie/ fun shopping
- Buy useless touristic crap/ memorabilia
- Sleep during work hours
This is also a time where you give yourself permission to spend more money… to get the most out of your holiday.
Majority of people spend a majority of their time in the “work reality” and a tiny amount of time in to “holiday reality” and it is manageable.
Stuck in the Middle… A Hybrid Reality
When you pack your bags to travel and work around the world, both of these realities are no longer feasible.
After the thrill of starting to travel the world wears off, you may realise that you are suddenly living in a reality that has never existed for you. It’s a hybrid reality:
- Depending on your accommodation, most meals have to be eaten out, but since you are partially in your “work reality” you are careful of what your meals cost.
- Health on the road is SO important, so finding fresh fruit and vegetables becomes more necessary than finding sweets and ice-cream.
- You can no longer buy things – clothes/ shoes/ techie stuff/ tourist crap, as you have no where to put them. So you consider every purchase VERY carefully.
Also, if you do decide to work, and live as a “digital nomad” then a lot more issues arise, as you need a place to get your work done, as the fixed office address no longer applies.
So here I am, half way between the gutter and the stars, and it feels weird…
Are you living the hybrid reality? What do you do to adjust?