How to See The World But Not Pay The Earth!!!....... Part I. Living Rent Free.

in #freedom6 years ago (edited)

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Traveling can be expensive, especially when you
travel full time like we do.

Staying at a campsite all year is not cheap, in some cases, it can cost the same as renting a small apartment. I don't know about you? but to me, it doesn't make any sense, you might as well just rent a place with a nice garden, park your camper there, and then rent the house out to someone else.

As I was writing the above I suddenly realized what a great idea it was, but then it wouldn't really work for us because we like to be on the move all the time.

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So how do you live rent-free on the move?

Because we have been doing this a long time, we have made lots of friends in many different countries, you meet people who are always offering a place to park up and you always get great tips on safe, free park ups usually with a spectacular view.

Getting to this point can take some time and until you are at this stage the wide open road can feel like a maze of uncertainty.

We travel mainly in Europe, and although it's safe in general, there are some places where you should be careful about staying overnight, especially if you have a family to protect, sometimes it's worth paying 35 steem for a safe night in a campsite.

  • Always plan ahead.

  • Always have a backup plan.

  • Stop before you get tired so you can think straight.

  • Having internet access makes life much easier.

The best advice I can give is to just go with your gut feeling, this has worked for us and after 5 years on the road, we've never had any problems. If you have to stop at the side of the motorway then make sure it's at a well lit 24hr service station, preferably near a surveillance camera.

  • Keep your valuables hidden.

  • Don't drink lots of alcohol after a long drive.

  • Buy a BIG dog bowl, put a giant bone in, and leave it outside your door.

  • Install an intruder & narco-gas alarm.

There are lots of things you can buy to make you feel safe, but really they're just there to help you sleep at night and nothing else, the best way to keep safe is to use common sense.

Before we sold everything and hit the road we had a tonne of worries

  • Where would we live in these strange new countries?

  • What if the money runs out?

  • What if something terrible happens?

  • What if bigfoot stole our tinyhouse?

If there's anything we have learnt after all this time on the road with a family, it's that worrying is a massive waste of imagination and that 99% of the things you worry about never actually happen. just have your wits about you and always follow your instincs

We have also learnt that when you just let go and follow the flow, everything has a magical way of working out and then you realise how much time you wasted thinking the unthinkable.



What about longer stays? How do we stay on someone's land
for a long time without paying any rent?

Well it's not like we go around trying to avoid paying rent, but the truth is we usually don't have to, we are usually on land that belongs to friends who refuse any payment, or like now, we are staying on someone's piece of land in return for a helping hand.

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So, we get to learn a trade by helping to renovate an old ruin
Todays job, remove an old fireplace.



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We also get to park our house in the middle of the beautiful
Portuguese countryside.



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And as if that wasn't enough, we then get to look at land in an area that interests us, that's full of people who are all doing what we have been dreaming about for years.



And this all came about because of a friend of a friend,
which is how it often plays out when you
follow the flow.



After some hard work its time for some play.

Follow us as we go for a ride in the hills to explore our surroundings.

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Take a quick 0.37min ride with us in the hills.



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Follow us on our quest to build an eco-community.

Peace and love to the World.

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You and your beautiful family are so inspiring! It was such a pleasure to read this post and get to peek into your set up. I think the gift you are giving your children by living this way while their ideas about the world are forming is incredible. I was delighted to meet you and your daughters at steemfest. Thank you for taking the time to document your way of life so we can be challenged ourselves, and feel more brave to redesign our own life without fear and be creatively charged. Blessings to you and yours.

Thank you @lifemovedbysteem
We feel happy knowing that we are an inspiration to others.
It's really healthy to challenge ourselves and take giant leaps into the unknown.

It was lovely meeting you, we shall be swinging by to check out your latest adventures too :)

such an amazing life! I especially love your tip about buying a big dog bowl and putting a big bone in it xD genius! haha I bet it is effective too! If I had some land, you would be more than welcome to park up here in the UK, but alas, I am not quite there yet. Hopefully in the future though! I am glad you and your family are safe and it makes me happy that you are enjoying your time together as a family should do :)

totally agree. loved that big dog bowl idea! - once we have a van it will make it a lot easier to 'pull the trigger' on the lifestyle. i've been collecting bits of information, things about water top ups in certain places and i know once i've got the van things will cascade forward quickly. i can't wait.

I shall save you guys a spot on my welsh plot too then @teamhumble! :D I could set up a steemit campsite! How awesome would that be! hehe I'll have chickens too, so you could fetch your breakfast freshly laid! :D

That sounds lovely @beautifulbullies
I was born in Abbergaveny so a trip to Wales is definitely going to happen at some point in the not to distant future :)

I wanted to send @markwhittam a reply but you already wrote the words I would have written
Very well said!!!

Awww thank you @clio! It just goes to show how much the lives of your family have touched so many of us @markwhittam! You guys will always have a place to stay, I am sure of it :)

Thank you @beautifulbullies.

We are often in the UK so you never know :)

My plan is to have some land in Wales by 2021! :D

Haha, that dog bowl idea is really smart!!

Hehe, yeah, you'd think twice if you saw that, right?

You are true nomads:). Thanks for sharing!

Thank you @arunaelentari

Har det bra!

A wonderful post my friend. You and your family took the initiative to plan and prepare so you could live the dream. Thanks for documenting it here so others can learn and follow your lead. living with friends and helping them out would be great barter tools to live rent free provided you have the right skill sets. Thanks again for sharing. the dream with us that only some can imagine.

Thank you @enjoywithtroy for taking your time to read and comment on this post.

We all have skills we can offer instead of money.

One day it will normal, again.

It's always nice to hear from you. You are awesome and leading a very wonderful life trip. I feel very happy to see you and your little kids safe and happy, lots of good wishes from your friend to you and your family.

Thank you @maya7
It's always a pleasure reading your comments.
Always puts a smile on my face :)

Bless.

Oh friend it's my greatest pleasure to meet you here in the community. My good wishes remains always with you. Happy steeming friend.

Always plan ahead.
Always have a backup plan.
Stop before you get tired so you can think straight.
Having internet access makes life much easier.

Also all my rules for freelancing!
Good to know they apply for the road as well- thankful to be able to learn from someone a little further along on their freedom journey

Great rules to stick by, the trick is to remember them in the heat of the moment :)

Thanks for dropping in.

nicely comparison on mobile living room, good tips on strategy, plan and about security during travel.

Cheers @sheikh27
Glad you like it :)

Much respect Mark for living the dream.

This must be a fantastic life experience for the children too.

I've never heard of narco-gas alarms - but they sound useful!

Thank you @pennsif

A narcogas alarm warns for sleeping gasses that thieves 'apparently' use to send you into a deep sleep so that they can take everything without being disturbed.

Again I'm not sure if this is just another scare tactic to make people spend more money on there 'safety'

Just hunted around for narcogas alarms - but I can't find anything in the UK.

I love the bowl with the big bone trick :-)

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