“There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.”
― Jack Kerouac

I don’t have this typical western cliche “I quit my job and travel, sold my belongings and started traveling in Bali because it is cheap there”. Although I did really quit my corporate job to travel, sold some stuff which was, just some clothes, and my pet tarantula. I felt sorry selling my pet though. I really had nothing much even before I had traveled. I left the country with just my backpack, laptop, and my camera. Which in the end, all got stolen as I wasn’t really careful, maybe because I got used to not owning anything. I didn’t have a house, a car, things, and kids to sell, or put in the storage.

I had lived a life without clutter. Just a plain simple life, or maybe I just couldn't afford to buy a lot of stuff. When I was still in Uni, I wasn’t one of those girls who like keep up with the trend by always having new clothes, new shoes or new stuff. I was kind of buying things for the mind, like books. Yeah I know, I was that nerdy kid. When I was still working for the big machine, I almost bought a condominium unit though, but that time, I already thought that staying in one place and paying for it for the rest of my life would not be for me. Maybe I am still that irresponsible woman-child, with no future or whatever you call it. If it’s wrong, then I don’t want to be right.

I didn’t really have anywhere to call home and I like it that way. When I started traveling, it just felt good being homeless and unattached to one place, it just felt so natural to me. I didn’t have a hard time adapting as I was already used to struggle and discomfort.

So why did I choose to be a homeless traveler?

The feeling of FREEDOM

Having no permanent place to stay gave me the freedom to move around and leave anytime I wanted to. I am still young, (well, at least in my mind) and single, and I feel like I’m too selfish for any kind of adult responsibility such as getting settled, having a family or paying the mortgage. I understand that most people like the stability and the benefits of having their own house, then good for the most people. For now, my options are open. I want to have the choice and the freedom to move out of the country anytime, live off-grid, buy a beach house somewhere or live anywhere.

Less is More

I traveled with just a 32L backpack and a small carry-on for my laptop. I had a tent, diving fins, longboard and a book called “Atlas Shrugged”. I left my diving fins in Bali, I left my tent in Russia, my laptop got stolen in Vietnam, left “Atlas Shrugged” in Brazil, my action cam and my second laptop got stolen in Ecuador. It’s crazy to think how my stuff was just going anywhere, but I had no regrets. My life for the last 4 years was just in that backpack. So I guess, not having a home with a lot of things just made me realized that I could do more things with less, as I didn’t really need a lot in life. But it doesn’t mean that I am a total cheapskate my whole life, or that I don’t deserve good things. I like good things, it’s just that I invested more in experiences that helped me become a better person.

The world is at my doorstep

I was at some point during my travel, moving from home to home, hostel to hostel, volunteering communities to another, I was meeting a lot of people from all over the world nonstop, it was crazy. These experiences just left an ellipsis instead of a period in my life. Some people have changed my outlook on life and some I have inspired to travel. It was good that I had already gotten used to living with the constant changes. Every day there was something exciting going on, getting invited to house parties, a community gathering, a trip to the beach with my Couchsurfing hosts or just hanging out with my new friends at the hostel. Having no permanent place just opened the door to the world for me.

Home is everywhere

In the end, everywhere I went became my home. People I have met treated me like a part of the family, new friends who felt like I knew them for a long time, hanging out and being myself with people who have good vibes, or in spanish they say “buena onda”. I have called Cusco, Peru, Belgorod, Russia, Nha Trang, Vietnam and The Galapagos, Ecuador my other home. You see, home is what you make it. I brought the best part of myself to these places and I shared my smile, laughter, weirdness and my out-of-this-world craziness to those people I had spent time with. I can make a home anywhere I go in this world.

I had lived this kind of lifestyle for the last couple of years and even until now, I am still ready to move out and go anywhere. I have a place I can call home for now, just to embrace the much-needed rest and comfort. But anyway, I am still that homeless traveler who can go anywhere my heart tells me to go. I learned through the past years of traveling that living the life that I want would always be a better choice and would have greater benefits than living the life that I am supposed to want.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t have great stories to tell you here.