We only learned that living as nomads in a motorhome was a lifestyle to be considered when our daughter, Lara, started following some social media accounts of families living on the road. Before that, I thought that people who lived in an RV did this because they didn’t have another choice.
When we started considering this possibility, immediately thoughts like “How would we be able to live if we quit our job?” “This is only for those who have money saved,” “How would it harm children’s education?” “What if it doesn’t work?” began to appear. Everything that is not normal, everything that is different from what our friends are doing is scary. Especially for people like me, who always tried to do what was expected.
As we continued to talk about the possibility of leaving home to live on the road, the main fear revolved around money. Up until that point, with Beta doing volunteer work at the children’s school, it was unthinkable for me to close the agency, no matter how little I was enjoying what I was doing.
Of course, we knew we wouldn’t starve if I left the business. I could always find a job doing something else. But as it is common today, the financial concerns were less about completely running out of money and more about a drop in standard of living. What would other people think?
I didn’t know it at the time, but it had less to do with an impending real lack of money and more to do with the fact that I was raised in a culture that constantly promotes a sense of scarcity. A culture that convinces you that your life’s purpose is not to be who or what you are, not to do what you love, but to earn money to pay taxes and consume.
The truth was that I always had financial worries, regardless of the numbers in my bank account. Even when the agency was at its most successful, my mind would always find a way to wake me up at night and create scenarios where I would lose everything.
I know it’s the mind’s job to come up with the worst scenarios possible, but at the time, I didn’t understand that it was my job to ignore it.
Send feedback here or on Twitter.
Have a wonderful day,
