Traveler Interview: Travel Life Experiences

We recently had the good fortune of stumbling into another inspiring couple on twitter: Dorene and Troy of Travel Life Experiences. They are a mature, professional couple from Canada who say they had “lost their way stuck in corporate life.”

Now, they are full-time digital nomads and travel bloggers.

Travel Life Experiences: Nomadic Couple

We love how they’re pursuing slow travel, prioritizing their health on the road, and sharing their journey through video. Watch this:

We recently asked Dorene and Troy to share more about their new, chosen lifestyle with us. Here’s what they said:

Tell us about becoming Digital Nomads

After 20 years in high profile careers – we woke up from what was expected of us to redesigning a life that was defined by us, on our terms. We choose to live a new, simpler life and sold everything we own to fully commit to our dream of long term travel.

It took 12 months of planning to sell everything, and the sudden death of Dorene’s dad 4 weeks earlier, but that just reinforced our commitment to enjoy life NOW!

We used to travel one month out of every year (banked our holidays at christmas to travel) for the last 13 and it was never enough. We just started on our new life of full time travel January 2015!

What over-arching goals drive your life choices?

– A life where experiences define us – not job titles or possessions.
– Simple Living to make space/time/$ for a life of happiness, on our terms.
– Sharing how travel can inspire you to change your view of the world (or country) and more importantly transform you to become your best self.

When you compare your current nomadic lifestyle to your past, what aspects of your life have gotten better from making the change?

We have definitely learned patience. We are respectful that things in another country are different and may take longer than we’re used to.

For example simple things no longer bother us in the same way they used to, either at home, or when we were traveling shorter term. We appreciate the pace, service and culture of a place that is different than home.

The second, and very important one, is daily learning- whether it’s learning how to work or fix our website, making travel plans, or talking to locals. 

We are learning something new EVERY DAY, and its all new, outside of our usual sphere of influence like our past jobs, or friends or neighborhood back home. And we love it! Daily learning!

What are the biggest challenges of being nomadic?

Building a new business on-line and finding the balance between living, working, travel planning and enjoying ourselves. 

Once our decision was made to move to this kind of lifestyle, there was no turning back- the planning, organizing our old lives to this new one was a lot of work, but it’s now surprisingly easy. We think that is because it was meant to be.

How do you sustain long-term travel financially? (How do you pay for your trips?)

Currently we are spending our savings, and living off the interest of our investments (proceeds from selling our home, plus our goods and investments we banked from our years working).

We may take on video production and marketing consulting from our past lives, but right now we are just 2 months into this new life, so we have our training wheels on and are enjoying it now and seeding now for the future in our full time travel and blog.

Are there any online resources you find especially useful in your travels or travel planning?

There are so many great travel blogs that can help support more independent travels. Travel blogs are better than guides in our opinion, they give you a more overall perspective and other travelers also weigh in and comment with updates.

If you could give one piece advice to others interested in your lifestyle, what would it be?

Be patient, be humble, be present. The best thing about this life is accepting that travel changes you – not only your view of the world but also yourself.

We encourage everyone to take those learnings and pass them around to their friends and family back home, and hopefully we can spread the word to the western world to be better global citizens.

Lessons We Can Learn From Doreen and Troy

Here are five important things we can learn from Doreen and Troy:

• Define Your Own Life. Take control of your life and redefine it based on your own terms and desires. Don’t let job titles or possessions dictate your happiness.
• Simplify for Happiness. Embrace simplicity to make room for experiences that truly bring happiness. Prioritize meaningful experiences over material possessions.
• Embrace Patience and Adaptability. Traveling long-term requires patience and adaptability. Appreciate and respect cultural differences and the slower pace of life in different countries.
• Continuous Learning. Traveling offers daily opportunities for learning and personal growth outside of your usual comfort zone. Embrace new skills, knowledge, and perspectives every day.
• Financial Sustainability. Plan financially by leveraging savings and investments for long-term travel. Consider freelance work or consulting from your previous career to sustain your travels.

You might also like these posts:

– What Is A Digital Nomad?
– Around the World Travel Sabbatical Planning Tips
– 5 Reasons Why Everyone Should Experience Life Abroad