THREE THINGS TO DO BEFORE BECOMING A SLOMAD

Know your numbers before you leave: Know your numbers before you leave: This is the part a lotta' people skip and later regret. Before you go anywhere, get honest about your actual monthly costs. Not the dream version, your real sustainable budget. Rent, food, transport, plus a cushion for emergencies. Then line that up with where you plan to travel since different parts of the world can have vastly different living costs.

Do you plan to make money on the road, or are you planning on stretching your savings for as long as you can? Maybe a combination of both? Know approximately how much will come in each month, as well as how much will go out. So you’re never left in a bad situation. There are ways to drastically reduce your travel costs using resources like WorkAway. Consider all of these things and have a budget plan before ever heading out. If the numbers don’t work on paper, they won’t magically work in Bali.

Consider your Gear:

We’ve watched so many people overpack and then slowly ditch half of it (including us). The truth is simple, you don’t need much. Minimalism inherently couples well with long term travel, the less you have the less you have to gather and bring with you every time you change locations. Running to catch a plane or bus is easier for every kilo you don’t have to carry. The less you have the less you can lose between trips. For example if you don’t have checked bags the airline can never lose them. Know what you will really use on a regular basis. For example some of our essentials might be our workstation, laptop, mouse. A week's worth of clothing, some camera gear, and toiletries for essentials. We also travel with dominoes, flashlights, and some art supplies etc, as non essential choices. But all airlines have weight limits which have to be met, such as 7 kilos for carry ons. The lighter you go, the easier it is to say yes to moving.

Mentally Prepare:

Something else to consider is yourself. If you plan to travel with a partner or travel alone. Do you value interaction with others, or time alone? Can you self motivate, analyze and deal with stressful and sometimes overwhelming situations or environments. Are you ok with being outside of your comfort zone and trying new things? All of these can be a big part of traveling fulltime. The beauty of exploring the world is seeing and trying things you have never seen or done before. Solo travel can sometimes be lonely, new cities with a foreign language can be exhausting. Learning new currencies, managing your routines and building good habits all help to make this a sustainable lifestyle and separate those who quickly burn out or end up on the journey of a lifetime. Know yourself and be prepared for unexpected events, good and bad. For example, once on a bus in Peru, due to our own negligence our backpacks were stolen with our work laptops, cash and passports. This is a worst case scenario. Thankfully planning and flexibility saved us. We had the emergency savings to purchase new gear, our next couple of months on AirBnB were already paid for and we researched how to get new passports from the US Embassy in Lima. Things like missed flights, stolen items and general bad days happen just like any path in life. But the highs and good times can also be spectacular. Meeting friends in beautiful places around the world, coming across a hidden gem or getting invited to Samba Night in Brasil by your neighbor. Stay open minded and stay prepared for anything.

THREE HIDDEN GEMS IN SOUTH AMERICA

Loja/Vilcabamba, Ecuador:

Loja is a smaller sized city sitting at about 2000 meters above sea level in the Andes mountains of southern Ecuador. With a city population of around 200,000 it feels small but still has everything you need. Due to the elevation its cooler as well with temperatures ranging from about 16-21 celsius. Perfect if you want to escape the heat of the tropics without getting too cold. Think small markets, music in the streets, and a strong local culture that feels untouched by mass tourism. It’s the kind of place where slow travel actually makes sense, with easy access to nature without the chaos of bigger cities. The city is in the Cuxibamba valley surrounded by beautiful mountains and the whole area is very green. If you like nature and hiking to waterfalls this area has you covered. Since it is relatively unknown the prices here are affordable but the town itself is quite pretty with lots of colonial architecture still present.

On a side note if you want something even smaller for a close community vibe check out the nearby town of Vilcabamba which has less than 5000 people living in it. Vilcabamba is surprisingly international with a decent expat community from around the world. If you want something smaller, calmer and surrounded by local culture and nature without the heat then check out these two towns.

Torres, Brazil: Tucked away in the far south of Brasil, you can find Torres in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Torres is home to Guarita State Park and boasts the only rocky coastline in the area with both Sandy beaches and spectacular sea cliffs. Also a relatively small town with an average population under 50,000 but the amount of people can grow significantly in the summer with local tourism from other parts of Brasil, Argentina and the world. The winters here get a little chilly and have less people. This is when we prefer to visit Torres. But the summer here is hot and with more people. So whether you like hot and lively or cool and calm this city can offer both at different times of the year. It is big enough to have a variety of things to do like paragliding or fishing, but is overall a more laid back area. Many locals head to the seaside cliffs to watch the sunset in the evenings. The beaches around Torres are beautiful and the infrastructure is solid. The city is well maintained and clean with drinkable tap water and a solid internet connection. The locals are friendly with some European vibes from immigrants that arrived between 1870 and 1920 from mostly Italy and Germany. Torres and the south of Brasil in general is also quite safe. There is even a beautiful lake in the city that is home to turtles, otters, and many birds. We loved our two month stay here!

Rosario, Argentina: About a three hour drive from Buenos Aires in Arenginta you will find the riverside city of Rosario. Rather unknown to tourists Rosario is a unique medium to large with around 1.7 million people. Built along the western bank of the Paraná River. One of its main attractions includes the neoclassical, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco architecture that has been preserved in hundreds of residences, houses and public buildings. The city center is lively or dense with lots of shops, bars and restaurants. The city is also quite affordable even compared to other parts of Argentina. The river Paraná also offers some unique experience as many locals take boat taxis to “island” restobars along the river where people swim, bbq and drink a beer in the sun. Out of the three suggestions so far this one definitely has more big city vibes but isn’t too overwhelming. You can find cool graffiti walking along the river and enjoy some Argentinian BBQ in town. The city is also convenient with its density; you are never far from a minimart, pharmacy, restaurant or pretty much anything else you need. Although the city is considered more dangerous than some other places in Argentina we had no issues and felt safer than some places in Peru, Colombia or Brasil. If you want city vibes along the river but not in Buenos Aires this is a good bet.