Rethinking the idea of a base

Sometimes I feel like I’m a tennis ball, bouncing back and forth across the net when it comes to our travel ideas. There are times when the idea of having a base is really attractive. We’ve been in Romania for almost 3 months and have done some short trips while here. It has been quite lovely to leave the suitcase behind and just carry a messenger bag. But. . .

Well, we aren’t really feeling the whole being rooted thing.

Base or nomadic?

We adore Romania and have enjoyed our apartment, especially during Thanksgiving when I was able to prepare a big meal like we enjoy.  However, this being in one spot for an extended time (compared to what we’re used to) has been quite interesting.

I look back to the time when we were ready to leave Asia, and I thought we just really needed a long-term base. And once again, I think we were just really over SE Asia at that point. I can’t totally put my finger on it, and I think it was a bunch of things that led to that feeling. For sure the constant heat was not helping, and it was really tiresome feeling like a walking dollar sign. “Friend! Friend!” Ugh!

One thing we have thoroughly enjoyed in Europe is blending in. Unless we’re wearing shorts while everyone else is in jackets (yes, that happened), no one realizes we’re foreigners until they speak to us. And most items have price tags so I don’t have to wonder which tier of prices I’ve been given.

We’ve been hit hard by “the itch” lately, though.

Base or nomadic?

At first I figured it was just me since Tigger has wanted to slow down our travel quite a bit for a while. While considering our options after January, I asked if he wanted to return here in February or keep traveling. Without skipping a beat, he said “Travel.”

I was kind of surprised by his response but am pleased with it as well.

It’s been nice having a few months to be unpacked, to get to a know an area and the culture, and just have time to chill, but 3 months has been too much of that. We just have too much of the nomadic spirit left in us.

So, after Vienna, we’ll just go back to our usual, except we’ll probably try to stay a bit longer in areas. When we’re feeling like we need a break from moving, we’ll plant ourselves for 1-2 months and move on when we’re ready.

Base or nomadic?

We’ve definitely learned that flexibility is not only extremely nice, but when you’re doing long-term travel it’s really a necessity. Listen to your body and your heart, and go where they lead. Get a base when you need, and move wherever the wind blows when you desire.

Ultimate freedom.

What about you? Do you prefer a base or more freedom of movement?

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34 Comments

  1. I agree because of a similar experience. My wife and I set out on our trip with a set plan to spend a month in a location – to explore one place more deeply than several places just on the surface. Slow travel and all that. But plans are called plans because they change. After a month in Istanbul we realized that while the idea is solid, reality doesn’t always cooperate. We have now decided to stay a few days to a week to start, see if we like the place, see what else strikes our fancy, then decide what to do next, and so on. We love the extra freedom (it’s all in the head) and still manage to stick to our budget.

    I like that you like Romania.

    Happy Holidays from Koh Samui!

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    • We do something similar. We generally plan on a week in an area and see how we feel. After extending our time in Brasov three times, we decided to just stay.

      Enjoy Koh Samui. We spent a month on the island earlier this year.

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  2. First of all: “…Oh look, there’s a decent fare to Ethiopia. Hmmm. :D”

    LOL. Yup, you got THAT right Talon. The nomad’s “shiny objects” syndrome – and I too have it in spades.

    But that said – as you know I too am a “slow” traveler and never have understood how some can perpetually move every few days for 12, or 14, or 18 months or even longer. It’s not even the physical endurance of it – more so, my brain simply can’t continually assimilate so many new sights and exotic experiences in such rapid succession without a few intermissions to digest/savor/appreciate them.

    Then again, anymore, no way can I ever stay put in one spot for more than a few months without leastwise making some serious forays into neighboring countries. And even then, eventually I get the inevitable “itch”.

    Which brings me to… “…I think we were just really over SE Asia at that point.”

    Yup, like you, I too think I’m just “done with Asia” at this point. After 2+ years of staying put (in Saigon, then Dalat, now 2+ mo. here in Chiang Mai) mixed with plenty of amazing jaunts to Mongolia, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Australia, Nepal, Borneo and most recently Myanmar – I’m simply “over SEA” and ready to move on to a wholly new continent. Not quite sure yet whether that will be Europe or Africa or South America, but it’s deliciously fun to play with the possibilities, yes?

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    • Nomadic shiny objects syndrome. I like it! So very accurate.

      Having SO many possibilities can be both wonderful and frustrating, but overall it sure is great and is TRUE freedom.

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  3. Totally understand the ambivalence about an actual longish-term base. At times we feel so zonked that we think we really want to settle down somewhere for a while, but whenever I’m in a country for more than 2 moths I begin to get stircrazy and I’m sure that would be even worse if I was really in one city for any length of time… I guess we’ll see because in a week we’re heading back to Vietnam and plan to spend 3 months based in Saigon! I’m hoping that being in a big city will help keep me from getting restless and there are plenty of shorter trips around that part of the country that we can do. Still, I won’t be surprised if come March I am ready to go back to my breakneck travel ways… 😉

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    • I think being in a bigger city definitely helps. There are just more places to explore and experience, more events, more choices. We’ve kind of exploring the heck out of Brasov which adds to the saturation feeling.

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  4. I’ve struggled with this myself. At times I feel like I want a base and would be happy traveling from there, but then I eventually get antsy and need to pick up again. It’s important to me to be able to have the choice to travel when I want to and then live places when need be.

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  5. Yep, hear ya. A constant battle between sitting still and moving around. If you do one, you want to do the other. I’m finding I want a base right now after 5 months of fast travel. Should have that out of my system by about February. 🙂

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    • Man, it’s SO nice after a period of fast travel. By the time we got to Vietnam, we had been popping from place to place to place. Went to a place few non-Vietnamese tourists go and parked it for 2 weeks. It was so refreshing. It’s been nice having these 3 months to pretty much chill, except for a few short trips. As you said, though, it’s definitely out of my system.

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  6. I’ve been thinking about getting a base but then I know after a few months (or maybe weeks!) I’ll get itchy feet and want to move on again. But maybe if I can find somewhere central and cheap I could rent something for a year and then come and go as I please. Even if I only spend a few months there each year, if I’m not spending too much it won’t seem like a waste of money. Have you thought about going away for a few months and then returning to your base in Romania?

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    • Yep, we considered that. And we might return to Romania after a few months. But spending money to rent a place we aren’t living in is just too much of an investment right now.

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  7. I know exactly what you mean. I feel like this often: the idea of a base when I don’t have one is so appealing, but then I get one for a month or more and I start anticipating the next thing. That’s been especially obvious to me since Zab and I returned to London (our hometown) just 10 days ago. I’m so ready to be off to Austria to work tomorrow! I completely relate to your sensation of being a tennis ball!

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    • How long will you be in Austria?

      What got me thinking was our trip to Austria. Once we’re there, it’s so close to some other countries I’d love to see so I find myself looking at where else we can go. Next thing I know we’re looking at being gone for months. LOL Oh look, there’s a decent fare to Ethiopia. Hmmm. 😀

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  8. Sounds as if you just needed to catch your breath … nothing wrong with that!

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    • Mostly we needed to get out of SE Asia, but I do think we just needed some extended time being planted without the obligation. When you’re housesitting, you can feel more trapped because depending on the situation you may not be able to go anywhere. Now we have the availability, but we’re finding that more than 2 months in one spot is too long. Nice to be able to just switch things up as we go along, though!

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  9. Interesting post, Talon. I know I think I idealize a base vs. roots because I don’t have to deal with life getting to be like a dull marriage that I have to revive, which ultimately, every base becomes. And the crap that I’m stuck in right now because some of the things I want to pursue require a BASE. . At the same times, there will always be moments where the grass is greener and I look at those who have established something and build it up through years. They have security to catch them, whereas sometimes I feel all I have is passion. ha Oh well.

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  10. We are just settling down now. This year, we traveled, settled for 3 months, traveled, settled for 3 months, traveled for 8 weeks and now will be settling. For a year!! We will travel some in 2014, but right now I’m happy to be in one place and in a routine.

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    • I’ve definitely enjoyed our settled down time. It’s been nice for a couple of months. Three months is just pushing it.

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  11. Well said, Talon. My wife and I are about to leave Cambodia after 3+ years of living and working in SE Asia, and while the notion of leaving is tugging at our heartstrings it is clearly time to move along. How do we know that? By having a clear idea of what kind of vibe we want in our lives and what characteristics we need in a temporary home country. We’ve learned that it’s simply too hot for us in Cambodia, that the political unrest here has residual effects (an uncharacteristic unhappiness on the streets, random crime and violence), and that the rapid development course this country is on is going to make it more like Boston than Battambang. Having the luxury of time and flexibility to go, do and explore is a gift of which we plan to take full advantage. Like you and Tigger, we’ve mastered the art of staying as long as it feels good and then hitting the road with an open heart and mind in search of the next great adventure. Onward!

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    • That’s unfortunate to hear how Cambodia is changing. Guess it was bound to happen, though. 🙁 We definitely can’t handle year-round heat. Must have breaks in it. One thing we liked about Utila was that even though it’s in the Caribbean, during part of the year the temps come down enough that you have cooler weather but aren’t freezing (except the locals who look like they’re dressing for a trip to the Arctic).

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  12. For my wife and I, the answer is simple: stay somewhere to get a feel for the place, or simply to see what we came to see. We spent six months in Bangkok (which felt long, to be honest), but saw what we wanted to see before moving on to Chiang Mai. For the time being, a year isn’t too long to spend in one place. There’s really something to be said about seeing a place in every season – for the good and the bad.

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    • Definitely depends on your travel style. I think a year would drive us absolutely bonkers until we took 1-week trips every month. LOL

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  13. Sounds like you are having success with finding the perfect combination for you!! I like a combination of both – although there is far too much of the “base” part for us at the moment.

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    • A combo definitely seems to work for us nicely, although I thought we’d be plenty happy staying put for about 6 months with perhaps a week or so of travel every so often to spice things up. It’s a bit of a surprise that we’re just really not at that stage and still prefer to roam.

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  14. As usual, I appreciate your openness and admire your communications style with Tigger. The wonderful thing about the nomadic lifestyle is that it can be tailored whenever needs and want change. My family has been super slow-travelling for almost 7 years now. We typically stay between 6 months to 18 months in each location. I find we fit in the middle ground, where “traditional” people think we move A LOT and the nomadic communities ask us when we’re gong to “start traveling” . But, for us, this pace has been wonderful, allowing us to experience different regions of the U.S. very deeply, with periodic vacations to international destinations. The only times we’ve felt this timing didn’t work was when we moved before we were ‘ready’ due to a job offer that was too good to pass up. It will be interesting to see how our pacing changes as the kids get older, we spend more time internationally, and our work allows for more location independence. Thanks for the post!

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    • Having this level of independence sure does change things! I figured as Tigger got older, he’d want to slow down more, make local friends, etc., but since he keeps in touch with his friends and plays with them online so much it doesn’t seem to be something he really misses. It will be interesting to see if that changes when he’s an older teen, though.

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  15. Isn’t it awesome to have that flexibility? It sure is tricky to find the right balance of moving and staying in place a little longer. And our needs and desires keep changing. The beauty of it is that we can listen to then and leave on a whim!

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    • I love the freedom of being able to do that. Love an area, we stay longer. Don’t care for an area, we’re off to some other place. It is so wonderful to have that kind of freedom!

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  16. Interesting- when thinking about what I want to do in the future part of me definitely thinks it would be nice to spend a little while where you spend a year where you spend a month at a time in places- use it as a base while writing, then move on after the month. Moving on every few days is fun, but you just get burned out after a few months I think. (I also wonder how different my opinion would be on this if I did the RV or sailboat thing- I’ve noticed from my friends who do that full-time that it’s a bit different since your home moves with you.)

    Right now I’ve been in Amsterdam two years, two years to go until my thesis is done- and I really didn’t have long-term travel cross my mind much before the one year mark at least, as I love the city and the rhythm kept changing so much during the course of the year. Might be nice to move on soon, but I have a thesis to distract me a fair bit so that helps. 😉

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    • I don’t like moving every few days either. That leads to burnout quickly. We like to stay a bare minimum of a week in a place, preferrably longer. A month in one spot would be pretty good. We seem to do fairly well up until about 2 months, then we have a major itch to move on again.

      I think if I had a thesis or location-dependent job, etc., that would change how I feel about staying in 1 spot for a long period of time.

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  17. To base or not to base is a really tough questions!

    What is working for us currently is getting a mini storage unit and returning to a ‘base’ in NYC but not keeping an apartment here. I’m going to go order some electric beaters and some cupcake pans so I can bake etc and then just leave them in our mini storage while we’re away next time. Even in NYC, it’s only $40 a month.

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    • That’s a great alternative when it’s available. A lot of countries don’t have any type mini storage. It just isn’t a concept that is part of many cultures. Plus it has to work out for you to return to that place. Sounds like it’s a great workaround for you, though!

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