Nomadic Living -what you need to know

Nomadic living has many benefits. For me as a photographer nomadic life means I am constantly able to see and shoot new things. I have been able to shoot so many things that I simply would not have been able to if I was living in one place. I have been able to shoot rainforests in tropical North Queensland along with epic lightning storms during the wild wet season in the rugged North West. All in the same year whilst making enough money to support ourselves and even save a little. I have gained and experienced so much by living nomadically.

Firstly when I say nomadic living, I mean living in places for a short period of time before moving on. My girlfriend and I have done this for the last two and a half years. We have found that living/working in one place for 3-4 months and then spending 3-4 months on the road exploring/camping was the best way to do things. We have been doing this in our ford station wagon and tent, after two and a half years we have it down to an art. This is a great way to explore a country and see not only the sites but make friends with the locals. Living in a spot for a while means that you gain local knowledge and find all the amazing spots that you simply will not see if you are just passing through. Living nomadically is achievable on any budget, we lived as cheaply as possible meaning we could spend more time on the road. There are two main things you will need to find once you settle into a town. A place to live and a place to work. You need both of these to work out, there is no point being in a place where only one of these is available.

Places to live:

Ideally you want to find a cheap place close to work. For us we wanted to save as much money as possible and spend as little as possible on rent. Normally the places that you want to stay are tourist hotspots, meaning they are expensive places to live. Also if your only staying for 3 months or so your going to have a hard time finding a place for rent as most places only offer a yearly lease, 6 months if you are lucky. We found caravan parks can work well, you are often able to stay for as long as you want and leave with little notice. We often lived in our tent for months at a time at caravan parks for a fraction of the price of renting a house. Caravan parks normally have nice public bathrooms if you are on a budget this is a great way to live. Although in Broome as we moved into the hot wet season we decided to upgrade to a permanent resident cabin. Living through the wet season in a tent would have been impossible. Living out of our tent almost permanently wasn’t exactly the comfiest but the discomfort was worth the money saved and realistically once you got used the minimalism it was not that bad. If your comfort is more valuable there are always more comfortable options it will cost you though. Just remember nothing good comes from the comfort zone.

Jobs:

This is the part we had the most trouble with. We started picking citrus in South Australia where we new someone who owned and ran a farm. We were treated well and made money things where all good. After spending time on the road we where going to have to find work soon. We applied for fruit picking/farm work online but got no replies. We learnt that farms only wanted workers who needed a place to stay on there farms so that they could make money back of there workers charging them rent in there farm share houses. Also overseas workers need to do 88 days or more work on a farm to get a second year visa. This means the farmers are able to exploit overseas workers and they do not need any Australian workers (us). After even more searching as we where getting desperate, we finally found work picking strawberries. We where massively under paid and conditions on the farm where far from great. We only worked a day there before leaving. There are good farms and bosses out there but they are very hard to find, because of the overseas travellers farmers are able to really exploit there workers. We gave up on fruit picking after the strawberries. My girlfriend is a chef by trade, so as we where getting desperate she found a job as a chef. The restaurant was also looking for a kitchen hand, I had no experience but nothing to loose. We worked at the restaurant for 3 months and gained good references from our boss, references are very important. If you can have someone vouch for you that can mean the difference between getting jobs or not. With these references we where able to continue nomadic life. Since then I have worked in 5 kitchens, some bad some great. When moving around unfortunately you are probably going to have to work for an asshole at some stage, you just have to make the most of the good places when you have them. The hospitality industry suits nomadic living very well, there always seems to be jobs going in the hospitality industry. Bars, Cafes and resorts always seem to have job opportunities. I found myself working in maintenance at a resort in Broome along as a kitchen hand during the night. Anything to do with maintenance, gardening, cleaning or house keeping always seem to have work. These are the jobs we look out for when we start to get desperate for work. Unfortunately some jobs are not well suited for nomadic living. I myself am a joiner by trade and I doubt that I would be able to find a job for only a short period of time. I think most trades like this are not very suitable for short time work. Builder, plumber, electrician ect.

The negatives:

Friends and family

If you are exploring a country like Australia, inevitably you are going to find yourself far away from your friends and family. You are going to miss out on things that is just something you are going to have to accept. One of the worst days of my life was trying to sleep in our tent knowing that one of my best friends was getting married 5000 odd kilometres away. You will miss birthdays, weddings, parties and maybe even funerals. This is something you have to accept you can’t make it home for everything and it sucks.

Home comforts

You will miss all of this home comforts you have taken for granted. The simple things like a toaster or instant hot water. It seems stupid but trust me you will miss it. Laundry at home, not using communal bathrooms or personal space these are more things you will miss. You think you know someone, live in a tent or car with them for months on end. You will miss personal space at times.

Holidays

Christmas, Easter, your Birthday ect. they just are not the same when you are away from your family and friends. You just have to try make the most of it.

Hobbies

Your hobbies will most likely be neglected. I am a keen BMX rider, before all the travel I competed at a high level. I thought the travel would mean I could ride heaps of new places all the time. This is not the case, unless you are travelling to focus on your hobbies nomadic life will only give you less time for your hobbies.

I do not say these thing to scare you from nomadic living. I say them simply to make you aware that nomadic life is not for everyone. These are things you need to know and consider before adopting this kind of lifestyle. Nomadic living can be hard and at times i’v questioned if it was all worth it, but there have also been amazing times that I am so great full for. In my opinion being a nomad is one of the best ways to see a country, you will make new friends and create so many incredible memories that will stay with you forever. For me at least the benefits massively out weigh the negatives. Being able to easily pack up and move on when work dries up or adventure starts calling has been absolutely invaluable.