I’m sat typing this blog post at the start of week 10 in Ribe Denmark – yes TEN WEEKS since we left our comfy home life to live full time in a motorhome as a family of 5 (plus a small Jack Russell dog) and this is only the 4th proper blog post I have done in that time!
I have been much more ‘prolific’ sharing my experiences in this time via my social media accounts on Facebook Twitter Instagram however even so I think it’s safe to say at this stage Nomadic Dad is not going to be the next high profile travel blogging superstar 🙂
Hopefully though if you are still reading this then you are happy to carry on reading my occasional ramblings via here, click on links to things I find interesting via the above social media accounts as well as look at the pictures I take and share too.
Also I think it’s only fair to let you know that I never had any grand plans or thankfully pressure to use this site to earn £XXXXs by selling YOU the reader ‘the dream’ via online courses or affiliate links to travel gear etc in order to be able to feed my family as by being self employed for many years previously I was able to bring existing work on the road with me. What Nomadic Dad and this adventure so far has allowed me to do though is take a step back from all the distractions of suburbia and my life of mild routine and slowly piece together what I think is the best way to navigate modern life in order to be healthier, happier and more content.
I really do try to share any pearls of wisdom I come across via the above means and have had some amazing feedback sent to me from my limited output so far such as linking out to the great online article How to Be Happy – 26 Strategies Backed by Research that was really helpful for me last year but I would HATE to come across as some know it all that was trying to ram what is working for me down your throat!
However seeing as you are still here – I’m finding the more I’m travelling again and the more time I have to be with my family and the 3 amazing children we have created the more I am grateful for the little things in life. Haha you say, you mean like having a few hours to yourself at the pub with your mates every so often and yes there are of course also downsides to all being together most of the time 7 days a week BUT honestly the positives FAR outweigh the negatives at this stage of the journey. For instance today I have rode a horse with my eldest daughter across miles of Rømø beaches before we got to let the horses go paddling. This was intermixed with trotting and cantering across the beach with several others (mostly Germans) who were also on the ride and certainly not a bad way to start a Monday morning!
If I was doing this all properly as ‘a thing’ I could / should write a blog post about how each of the children’s skills and interests are developing in ways we hadn’t expected, how much healthier they are all looking being outdoors 90% of the daytime etc. I think the main reason I don’t write about this here is that we are also using a closed Facebook group alongside here for close friends and family to both share their learning journeys and any questions they have along the way. Another large reason for keeping this side of things a bit more private was that both the kids and us felt sharing ALL this sort of information online seemed a little too personal given once something is on the internet it’s pretty much on there forever – internet security / privacy homeschool lesson ticked!
I also think if I was really looking to attract more readers here maybe I could do some keyword research and write some practical tips for families on how we find the best camp sites or how we (in reality my wife!) cook in the motorhome etc but even at this early stage of our trip as this is our new normal trying to write such posts seem a bit ridiculous to me. I mean in our old life back home I would NEVER write a blog post about how to find the cheapest car parking spaces etc so why would I try and write about all these things we do everyday now as part of this new normal life we have created?
Please don’t interpret the above as I don’t value other AMAZING travel related blogs out there, many of which INSPIRED us to break free from our old lives for this adventure. All I am saying is their rankings and followers are safe as Nomadic Dad is not going to be competing with them anytime soon and I will continue to just link to such sites in order to let them do what they do best.
Like a lot of things in life, the hardest thing about making a change, kicking a habit etc was making that initial decision to do all this in the first place! Once we made that decision and worked on a plan to achieve that goal the travelling side of things has just opened up before us. I’m truly grateful that I’m able to travel so many miles both physically in Lightning our motorhome and internally with my thoughts this year and looking forward to several more months of us all continuing our journeys.
My new normal
Great blog, Andy – I shall be following you all the way ! so good to hear the background thoughts on your adventure! also loving all the pics etc on FB.. keep everything coming ! Much love to all XXXX
I love hearing your thoughts Andy – you set mine a-stirring!! Thank you and keep doing what ya doing!
Loving hearing about your adventures.