If I had a million different lives to live, I think I’d choose a million different ways to live them. Id be a writer and a chef and a journalist and a teacher. I’d live on every continent and in every town in every country in the world.
As for my husband, he’d like to let the tides take him wherever they would. No plans, just a goal of adventure and joy and peace.
I think that’s why this way of life has landed so well for us. I get to be a farmer and a writer and a photographer and teacher and a world traveler and a culinary artist all at the same time. We are part time homesteaders-traveling homesteaders–and in our only slightly biased opinion, I think it’s the perfect lifestyle for people like us.
It makes sense, as I really think about it, because since we got married, we have always led a somewhat dual purpose life. My husband is from Los Angeles, and I am from a small town in Oklahoma. I grew up on country music. He toured as a DJ for a hip hop group. I was a home body. He spent his days and nights out as often as possible.
Those two people were never going to harmoniously be able to settle down into one cozy lifestyle that can neatly fit into a box. Thankfully, we have grown together and learned to compromise so that now, we value those things in one another that could have easily torn us apart.
We ultimately settled on living in Oklahoma when, as a young married couple, we were able to get a great deal on a small plot of land right next to my parents’ home. It was ideal as we planned to build a home and a life close to family. As he lovingly joined me, it meant his time in LA would close, so we made sure to always keep time in our year we could devote to a trip back west. We have driven that long stretch of I-40 so many times now that it has equaled over a month of time total on the road. We loved our road trips, and as our family has grown, we have loved including our children on those long drives. Traveling has been in their blood since birth.
A few years ago, as I grew in my culinary abilities, it became apparent to me that in order to afford the quality of ingredients I wanted, I would have to put out the effort to source them outside of standard practices. In order to stay in a reasonable budget for a one income homeschooling family, that meant growing as much of it as possible ourselves. Does it save us money? Maybe. Does it save us time? Energy? Absolutely not, but I love it. It gives me peace of mind to know where so much of our food comes from, and it allows me to make the best dishes possible for our little tribe.
So we became homesteaders.
We have had horses. We had a cow, rest in peace. We have more chickens than I can easily count. We have ducks and a goat and bunnies. We have gardens that we have expanded and will continue to expand. We planted a small orchard. We added a berry patch and grape vines, and we are in the kitchen or in the dirt constantly building something peaceful and beneficial. It fills much of our hearts, but if this were it, I don’t think I’d ever be content. And since I only have this one life to live, we have had to be creative and figure out ways to be able to live it a million different ways.
So we became world travelers.
In 2021, we decided to take the leap past California. We took our pictures and filled out our paperwork and got our passports. We took our first steps on foreign soil that next spring, and now we can’t imagine a life where regular travel isn’t a part of it. We have danced in the streets of Paris and marveled at the artwork in Italy. We have stood on the black sanded beaches of Guatemala as we felt the warm waves break at our feet. We have sat in a coffee shop in Germany with our hot chocolates and city maps, and we have felt the Grecian sun on some of the most beautiful islands in the world. That love for adventure and exploration doesn’t stop once we make it back to our own gravel driveway, though, and we hope to add more travel closer to home in the coming months and years while we work out our next steps across the globe.
This dual life isn’t hard, but it certainly takes some planning and creativity. I genuinely believe if you want to homestead but cannot devote your entire life to it, it’s possible. If you want to travel but cannot devote your entire life to it, its possible.
If we can do it, I know you can, too. Let us show you how.
Signed,
The Traveling Homesteaders
