Are we Crazy??

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Maybe a little…

I must be honest, it was quite something when we started telling family and friends about our plans of selling everything and leaving. The shock on their faces and then the look….are they crazy…have they lost their minds…?

 

In South Africa it is nothing strange for anyone to emigrate. Sadly, this beautiful country is one of the most dangerous places to live in due to all the crime.

So why did we do this?? Why did we decide to do all this? Are we running away from debt? Did we win the lotto? Are we millionaires? The answer is NO, NO and NO.

The answer is simple; we realised that we are not enjoying our lives, we do not have a quality life and Kayla is already 6 and it feels like we have missed so much in her short life already.

We were trapped in the rat race. The race of not staying ahead, but just keeping up. The sad cycle of routine which left us running away from it all whenever we got the chance. We ended up never being home over weekends. We explored the great outdoors, fresh air, bonfires, beautiful sounds of nature at night, chasing butterflies in the great outdoors. We got this obsession to travel, this was our happy time and whenever you are happy, you automatically have a happy place…

Sadly, our beautiful home in the suburbs was not this happy place we worked so hard for just to flee whenever we got the opportunity. Our home was a symbol of routine – waking up, getting kids ready, shouting at them to finish up for school (both went to school since they were 4 months old), dropping them off at 7am, rushing to work, hoping to not get stuck in traffic again, starting your day with 100 mails, meetings, appointments, unhappy customers, chasing home to fetch the kids in time at 17:30 (geez, I am getting anxious just by recalling this), preparing food, bath time, story time….no quality time. That was our lives.

We decided to follow our dream of traveling. We are used to minimalism (something rural camping teaches you) and this is the key to being able to afford what we are doing right now.

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Camping in the wild

Will we make it? I do not know…at the end we won’t be 80 saying only if we had done this… we would’ve done it and hopefully we can guide you and give some tips through our experiences. To my fellow South African friends – maybe there is another alternative to emigration…living the life you want all over the world.

I would love to read your comments 🙂  To see what we are up to day by day, follow us on Instagram 

8 thoughts on “Are we Crazy??”

    • uslovingwanderlust says:
      Reply

      We are setting up a sheet with all our expenses which we will publish within a couple of months. Also, forms of income. This might indicate whether this was a good or bad move. Financials set aside, my children are already more stress free.

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  2. Jutta says:
    Reply

    Melanie you are describing my life exactly!! I am a middle aged person and wish I had the guts to make drastic changes in my life. But now it is the retirement worries, do I have enough money for my retirement, will we live comfortably, etc. and now our children are living far away, when will we see them, we have to make a plan to visit them. But yes, your blog has given me new insight and motivation to do something new in our lives. Keep on blogging.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Mariette van Wyk says:
    Reply

    Greetings from a snowy Aspen, Colorado!!! I must say I also have the travel bug!!!! From Aspen we’re off to Moab in Utah where Liezl is working on a building project. It’s snowing right now here in Aspen, it’s incredibly beautiful!! The temperature will be 29 deg. C in Moab. We will be hiking in Arches National Park for 3 days, going back to Denver on Monday. Lots and lots of love!!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Leigh-Ann Ludwig says:
    Reply

    Hi Melanie,
    Sorry I never got to say “goodbye” and “thanks for all the support” before you left.
    Your intentions are in the right place, so I have no doubt that this will turn out positive in more ways than you can imagine.
    Quality time with one’s family is one of the most treasured riches in the world!
    I also love travelling, which has always been of my most privileged and happy times too, so ENJOY, ENJOY, ENJOY!!!!!
    Take care.

    Liked by 1 person

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