Lifestyle travelling
Encyclopedia
Lifestyle travelling is a type of alternative lifestyle
practised by people who travel for many years, usually from country to country.
Lifestyle travellers often engage in free lance jobs, entrepreneurship, or own companies, but some do not work at all.
In preference to "settling down" with a family or other traditional life goals, some lifestyle travellers can actually develop a career or even start a family whilst "on the road".
Younger people often pursue a year or two of travelling, called a Wanderjahre, before settling down, returning to university
, or otherwise resuming a "regular" lifestyle. This is known as backpacking
. A very small minority, however, follow the path of a lifestyle traveller, as a path for a major part or even all of their adult lives.
Some lifestyle travellers purchase a sailboat
, which provides a place to live and a mode of transportation at the same time. Others rely on cheap berths on cargo ships or modern aviation to take them from destination to destination, purchasing, for example, inexpensive standby
or open-jaw ticket
s to meet the flexibilities of their schedule. Others, according to their budget and way to generate income, travel with a van, or in rare instances have their own airplane, or even continue backpacking.
Popular destinations include Goa
and other areas of India
, Thailand
, Mexico
, South America
, Vietnam
, Cambodia
, Morocco
, and to a lesser degree Egypt
and Turkey
.
Lifestyle travellers, as opposed to shorter-term backpackers, often spend at least three to six months in their various destinations, usually to cut down on costs but also to get a fuller experience from each new culture they explore. Stays of two, five or even ten years are not uncommon, at the far end of which the only distinction between being an expatriate
and a lifestyle traveller is the certainty for the latter that one is leaving.
Alternative lifestyle
An alternative lifestyle is a lifestyle generally perceived to be outside the cultural norm. Usually, but not always, it implies an affinity or identification within some matching subculture...
practised by people who travel for many years, usually from country to country.
Lifestyle travellers often engage in free lance jobs, entrepreneurship, or own companies, but some do not work at all.
In preference to "settling down" with a family or other traditional life goals, some lifestyle travellers can actually develop a career or even start a family whilst "on the road".
Younger people often pursue a year or two of travelling, called a Wanderjahre, before settling down, returning to university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
, or otherwise resuming a "regular" lifestyle. This is known as backpacking
Backpacking (travel)
Backpacking is a term that has historically been used to denote a form of low-cost, independent international travel. Terms such as independent travel and/or budget travel are often used...
. A very small minority, however, follow the path of a lifestyle traveller, as a path for a major part or even all of their adult lives.
Some lifestyle travellers purchase a sailboat
Sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails. The term covers a variety of boats, larger than small vessels such as sailboards and smaller than sailing ships, but distinctions in the size are not strictly defined and what constitutes a sailing ship, sailboat, or a...
, which provides a place to live and a mode of transportation at the same time. Others rely on cheap berths on cargo ships or modern aviation to take them from destination to destination, purchasing, for example, inexpensive standby
Standby (air travel)
On most modern airlines, flying standby occurs when a passenger travels on a flight without a prior reservation for that specific flight.- Why fly standby? :...
or open-jaw ticket
Open-jaw ticket
An open-jaw ticket is an airline ticket in which a traveler returns to the airline from a city other than the one in which they arrived, or in which the final destination is not the same as the original departure city. The trip between these two cities is then made over land, sea or with a...
s to meet the flexibilities of their schedule. Others, according to their budget and way to generate income, travel with a van, or in rare instances have their own airplane, or even continue backpacking.
Popular destinations include Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
and other areas of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, and to a lesser degree Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
Lifestyle travellers, as opposed to shorter-term backpackers, often spend at least three to six months in their various destinations, usually to cut down on costs but also to get a fuller experience from each new culture they explore. Stays of two, five or even ten years are not uncommon, at the far end of which the only distinction between being an expatriate
Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
and a lifestyle traveller is the certainty for the latter that one is leaving.