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Whether you’re a retiree that wants to hit the road or you have a job you can do remotely and want to explore the world as you work, overlanding full-time is a great option.
Heck, there’s even entire families that hit the road together and explore the beauty of the planet together on a long-term basis.
Of course, overlanding full-time is not for the faint of heart or the ill-prepared…
In today’s guide, I offer up four simple, yet critical tips for making the most of living on the road full-time.
Think Purposefully About Working on the Road
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Being able to work from anywhere sounds like a magical thing – and it can be. But it’s not all sunshine and roses, either.
You have to think about developing a workspace that’s functional and comfortable. You need to consider the availability – or lack thereof – of internet access if you need it for work (and who doesn’t?!). Also consider whether you have the ability to resist the urge to ditch work and go out to explore the beauty around you! The desire to explore the great outdoors can be hard to resist, especially when the alternative is being stuck in your vehicle or camper working all day!
Explore more tips: What You Need to Work While Overlanding
Overlanding Full-Time Requires That You Make the Effort to Meet Other People
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I enjoy time by myself and if I were to move to overlanding full-time, I’d do it alone.
But even the most ardent introverts that need lots of alone time can get a little lonely when overlanding full-time.
Keep the loneliness at bay by making efforts to meet other people. Whether it’s the local barkeep, the campground hosts at your campsite, or other overlanders you encounter along the way, be friendly, make new friends, and build a network of people around the country (or the globe!) that you stay in touch with as you travel. Having that sense of community with people can be a wonderful asset as you travel.
Besides, you never know when you’ll circle back to a location, so having some folks you already know to meet up with and share a drink or dinner will be a nice change of pace from going it alone.
Learn More:
Learn to Go With the Flow When Overlanding Full-Time
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One of the most difficult things to deal with while overlanding full-time is the change of pace from typical daily life.
In your normal life, there might be tons of bills to pay, deadlines to meet at work, social obligations, and other things that require your time. But when you’re overlanding, there might not be many (or any!) obligations or events on your calendar. It can be slow-paced for sure.
But two problems can arise from making the switch to overlanding full-time…
First, you might be tempted to put the pedal to the metal and explore as much as you can as fast as you can. I think this is borne out of a culture of always having to do as much as possible in as little time as possible.
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Second, you might find it difficult not to have a set schedule or even a set destination. I know I would suffer from this if I went overlanding full-time.
So, the key is to work hard to let go of the feeling that you “have” to do something or that you “have” to get to a certain location by a certain time. Give yourself time to enjoy the journey, to change plans and to go in a completely different direction than you originally thought.
Sure, if you have to work on the road you’ll need to make the appropriate accommodations to get your work done on time. But other than that, try to force yourself to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride!