What Is Your Travel Manifesto?

How you travel is as important as Why you travel

“Why do you want to be a nomad?” my friends asked, “You must love traveling!”

And seeing the world. And eating the foods. And learning the language. And embracing the culture….

But when we set out on our travel life as full-time nomads, we also wanted to make sure that the HOW matched up with our WHY so our experiences would be rich, full, and true to our travel and life values.

So we made a travel manifesto.

A manifesto helps guide us around our intention and travel choices. It frames who we are as world citizens and provides guide rails for the thousands of decisions we make as we see the world.

Our travel manifesto contains seven points.

Our Travel Manifesto

In order to guide us through our travel decisions, we reference our travel manifesto.

1. Travel Lightly. Not only does this mean to limit our carry-ons to less than 10 kg a piece, it also means to leave a lighter footprint every where we go, including eating a vegan/vegetarian diet. By reducing our carbon footprint via physical weight and through dietary choices, we contribute to a cleaner world.

2. Error on the side of comfort. Although we do travel on a budget, we aren’t necessarily budget travelers. We have a minimum requirement for each night’s sleep. Each night’s accommodation musht have

   a queen bed,
   hot water,
   private bathroom,
   a private entrance.

   When we first launched we’d buy a cheap night’s rent and we skimped on those necessities in favor of saving a few dollars. We soon realized that in Nomad Life, if we skimp on those things, every night becomes an uncomfortable night. Maybe when on vacation we might skimp on comfort to afford a better location, for example, but in Nomad Life if we don’t maintain a minimum standard of living, we will burn out.

3. Leave the world a better place. We try to volunteer when we can. When we can’t volunteer, maybe we’ll fix a squeaky door at an Airbnb. Or perhaps we’ll mow the lawn at a housesit before the homeowners come home. But regardless of where we stay, we follow the Girl Scout Rule. Leave it better than you found it. Because frankly, being nice goes a long way in the karma currencies of the world.

4. Make friends along the way. There is no reason to be isolated in this nomad life. Make friends with locals. Join hiking clubs. Meet at language exchanges. Find other nomads in town. Play a pickup game of pickleball. Friends make the experience brighter.

5. See the world. At times during our nomad life, we’ve arrived to places, and we’re simply just tired. We’ve given ourselves permission to relax and NOT do all the tourism of the location. Yet on the other hand, sometimes we do have to push ourselves out the door.
   
   We do have to remind ourselves that we’re here to see the world. So we put the walking shoes on, hop on the local bus, and just go for a ride. If we see something interesting, we jump off and enjoy. Sometimes it doesn’t take a giant plan with a guide. It just takes motivation and a bit of curiosity to get outside.

6. Speak the local language. I’m fluent in Spanish, and Steve can get by. But as we visit other parts of the world, we always learn at least
   
   hello,
   good bye,
   thank you,
   excuse me,
   good morning,
   how are you,
   I’m good,
   two tickets please.
   

   There’s nothing more satisfying than saying good morning in the local language and getting a local response!

7. Share our Nomad Life. The reason we have a youtube channel, a Facebook group, books, and a Substack is to GIVE BACK to this community. Richness comes from fullness, and our social media life feeds us with giving back energy to fuel the top six points of our manifesto.

What is your Travel Manifesto?

Travel Manifestos create guidelines and make wonderful reference points for when decisions get difficult. What’s one value you want to bring into your own Travel Manifesto? Comment below. I’d love to read how you’re thinking. Let’s share.

I look forward to sharing my next story next week,

Chris

P.S. As we were preparing to launch, our emotions ran wild. I wrote about it; going back now and reading how I captured those moments is a bit heart-wrenching. My favorite piece of art disappearing, my hand-made shoes that were the symbol of my success as a sales rep going up for auction….I hope you’ll enjoy this vintage look-back at Getting Emotionally Ready for Nomadic Life.

P.S.S. Coming up next week, Talking With Your Partner/Spouse about Becoming a Nomad. Sometimes it’s easy, but many times the big doubts of Nomad Life pop up.