Six Months of Nomadic Life

It is hard to believe that it has been over six months since we sold or donated everything we owned and embarked on this nomadic lifestyle. We have learned a lot about travel, and ourselves, over the past six months. And yet we continue to make mistakes, course correct, and consider new ideas for the future. Let’s dive into it all!

Transitions

In our marriage, I am definitely the one that craves change, and Eric is the one who prefers routine. So as we entered this lifestyle, we have had to find a balance. So far, the one month stay, and limited air travel has proven really good for us. We have established a routine when we first arrive in a new location: quickly unpacking and organizing so we feel like we’re living there, and hitting the grocery store for a restock. Working has helped to keep us on a routine, and that definitely helps with transitioning from one location to another.

We always take a travel selfie to commemorate the transition!

We have learned that we like to get out an explore a bit as well. This year, we have a few times where we’ll travel farther than a day trip, and as a result “double dip” on rent payments when we stay at a hotel. As we are roughing out plans for 2026, we are building some faster travel transitions between our month long stays. We may have times where we take 4 days to get to our next destination, with 3 nightly stays, so we can explore a bit more as we go. That will give us the best of both worlds.

Our ultimate goal is to find the right balance of Go Go Go vs Be Be Be. We want to see, explore, and learn. But we also don’t want to hit that travel fatigue wall too soon in this journey.

Food

• We were talking the other day about how differently we approach food than we used to. Instead of weekly shopping trips in the US where we would drive to the grocery store and fill the trunk with plastic bags, we now walk to the grocery store every day with our two lightweight, packable/reusable Sea to Summit tote bags. Carrying your groceries up to 1 mile really limits what you can buy! But we’ve found that 1) we’re eating healthier 2) we have far less food waste 3) we’re getting creative with our cooking! We tyically cook 1 big meal a day, and that is at lunch. We eat breakfast at home each day, and 4-5 times a week we make a full lunch. Dinner we snack on popcorn, peanut butter toast, etc. We’re eating a lot more vegetables than we ever used to! We make our own salad dressing for each day’s salad. We make our own pasta sauce with cherry tomatoes and olive oil. We eat a lot less prepackaged processed food, and much more lean protein and fresh vegetable side dishes. We have learned to make coffee in multiple different types of coffee makers (MokaPot, French Press, Nespresso pods, and drip coffee). Most importantly, we have realized we really enjoy cooking from scratch when the stress of driving home after a long day of office is no longer a factor!

Walking…Walking…Walking

My Apple Watch tells me that I’m walking WAY more than I did last year. Which makes sense. When you don’t have a car, you have to walk somewhere to get anywhere! We are walking at least 3 miles a day now, and Eric has started running again. On weekends, we’re averaging 6-8 miles a day as we go on hikes or explore neighboring towns. We’ve gotten to the point that if we don’t walk on a particular day we don’t feel good! We have learned that it is really important to have public transportation nearby. In Nazaré, Portugal, we didn’t have any train or short distance bus options and we got bored pretty quickly. As we look ahead at locations for 2026, we will prioritize finding stays that have easy train transportation options. I thought perhaps I would miss driving and having a car at our fingertips, and I have been pleasantly surprised that I don’t miss it one bit!

We walked daily along the beach in Nazaré

Accommodations

We’ve stayed in every variety of accommodations since we left the US. We stayed at a high end Andaz hotel in Mexico City and a boutique hotel in San Pancho. We’ve stayed in 2 bedroom, 1 bedroom , and studio airbnbs. We’ve had pools, we’ve had 3rd floor walk ups, we’ve had very comfortable, and we’ve had very uncomfortable. So what have we learned as we start to consider 2026?

A couch, a washing machine, and a table big enough for us to both work at are non-negotiables. That means that if we are staying somewhere more than 5 nights, we want an Airbnb. We’ve survived in double beds and were happy in king size beds, but as long as it is comfortable, we can make due with any size. We have had no ovens in several locations. 2 burner stove tops in most. And only 1 dishwasher to date. And we can make due with any of those as long as we have a microwave and something to make coffee in!

The best equipped kitchen we have had!

We don’t need a tv, and we’re glad we didn’t bother with bringing a firestick or an apple tv. Let’s be honest. We have a LOT of together time. When 8pm rolls around, we’re more than happy to open up our own laptops, put our headphones on, and each escape into the entertainment of our choosing. I think in six months we have watched less than 5 shows together.

The last non negotiable is a drying rack. I feel like I’ve mastered the art of doing laundry without a dryer. We do a load about every 4 days. In the winter in Portugal, we had to dry things indoors so that took 2-3 days for some things to dry, which dictated how often we had to do laundry. In warmer weather, a load could air dry in 4 hours so we didn’t have to plan ahead quite as much.

Clothes dried fast in Mexico!

Living without STUFF

This is probably where I had the most anxiety. How would I survive with 4 pairs of pants, 3 pairs of shorts, 3 long sleeve shirts, 4 short sleeve shirts, and 3 pair of shoes? I’ll admit, I had a bit of a shopping addiction in the US. Important work meeting? Buy a new outfit! Going on vacation where no one has ever seen you before? Buy 6 new outfits! I was nervous about downsizing, and it was hard to put all those clothes in the donation pile last November.

We usually have limited hanging space, but love it when there is a dresser next to a mirror!

So how am I doing 6 months later? I’d say pretty good. It does help to have the mindset that no one I see in any given day will ever see me again. And of course I know that no one was ever really judging who I was or what I could do by what I wore when I was in the “real world”. But a nomadic lifestyle has helped me break that need to have a “protective shield” of shiny new trendy clothes.

We did do some shopping just last week here in Cardiff. For me, I wanted some clothes that weren’t all “athleisure” and t-shirts. Eric needed some new shorts. We both needed shoes that could support hiking and longer distance walking. But for every new item that came into our suitcases, an old item had to come out. We have strict weight and capacity limits we have to maintain!

It all has to fit in these 4 bags!

What has been tough is to have only 75L of capacity to cover all the climates we’ve been in, and will continue to be in. We have needed clothes for 90F with 90% humidity, and 40F with rain. Generally since we left Mexico, temps have been in the 50’s and 60s, which means pants and sweatshirts. We each also travel with a windbreaker and a packable puffer coat.

It has also been tough to get comfortable with new brands. In each country we are in, we see some familiar brands (Dove, Cetaphil, Pantene, H&M, etc). But there are a lot of brands we are not familiar with, and sometimes, we have to try something new. Eric was a long time user of Crest mouthwash, which they don’t have here. Trying to find a flavor you like can be an expensive trial and error! I’ve had similar issues with contact lens solution. I had to switch to a new brand here in the UK and it takes a while to get used to.

Being Apart from Friends and Family

Feeling isolated and missing friends and family was also a big concern of ours, and honestly still is. We are so thankful that our kids could come visit us in Mexico, and my sister Amy and her husband Chad could come to Porto. We’re looking forward to a month with Eric’s parents in September as they join us in London, Budapest, a river cruise, and in France. And then we will have our son Andrew joining us for a two weeks in France. We’ve been able to stay connected to friends and family through phone calls and facetimes, and constant text messages. But seeing our loved ones can’t be spontaneous, and we know we will miss out on key moments in their lives. That is hard.

Our favorite past-time…playing Catan. Can’t wait to play it with our guests later this year!

Looking Ahead

We embarked on this journey for several reasons. To take advantage of this season of our lives where we’re healthy, strong, and have time and financial means on our side. To keep learning and challenging ourselves. And to experience different cultures and ways that people live their lives. Six months in, it has been all of that and more. As expected, we’ve had some hard times and some amazing times, and we don’t regret the decision at all. We’re excited about the rest of 2025 and where 2026 will take us!