Permanent traveler

Alan lives in Canberra, Australia. He is interested in becoming a 'permanent traveler' and traveling the world, and he is blogging about his journey through life. We have conducted a short interview with him.

What is the uniqueness about being a 'Permanent Traveler'?

Permanent Traveler, Perpetual Traveler, or even Permanent Tourist - there's a few different names for the concept of traveling to different countries and staying in those countries for as long as the tourist visa will allow you, and then move on to the next country.

For me it's about being able to travel permanently, not just for a holiday, but for my life. It's about spending my life seeing the world. Not chained to a desk or cubicle, but being out there seeing the world.

Most people just go somewhere for a holiday, and they get to live in another country as a tourist for a week or two. They see only the tourist locations, and they experience only the shows that are being put on for them.

Being a permanent traveler allows you to avoid all the tourist traps. You can live in a location and you can become a resident for a few months. You can explore all the places that tourists never see, and you get to meet locals that the tourists never do.

Your experience while in a country is much more 'intimate', memorable and meaningful than just being a tourist for a week or two.

How did you come to realize this goal?

I think I've always been living this kind of life, I just never realised it could be expanded until recently. My parents were itinerant workers, so up until I was 10 years old, we were never in any one place for longer than 3 months. This set the pattern of my life, as I've travelled around Australia, living in different cities and even in different suburbs in those cities. And then I moved to New Zealand in 2000 and lived there for a few years before returning to Australia in 2007. It's only in the past few months that I've discovered the concept of 'permanent tourist', and the whole thing excites me so much! Why not travel around the world the same way I've been travelling around my own country?

So now I'm looking at how I can change my entire life around so that I can achieve this goal.

Which are the countries you have traveled and why did you choose them?

I haven't started being a 'permanent traveler' yet, so this one is a bit difficult to answer! But I've travelled around my home country of Australia quite a bit. There's only Western Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania that I'm yet to see.

I've lived in New Zealand and travelled around it quite extensively, and I've holidayed in United Kingdom and China.

I plan on going back to China and spending some months there and see more of the country and its culture. I also want to do the same with Japan and Sth East Asia. And then there's Canada, South America, and Europe - so many countries to live in!

Which country will you describe as the most interesting/exciting to travel without the knowledge of its local language?

For me, I think Japan is going to be one of the most interest and exciting countries to travel to. I've wanted to go there for many years now, so having a plan to include that in my travels is something I'm looking forward to. I've heard that its culture is about 20 years ahead of our own western culture, so I'm curious about seeing what that actually looks like.

What do you mean by 'pack your life into one bag'?

When you're going to be traveling around the world as a lifestyle choice, you can't carry around suitcases of 'stuff'. Not only is it damned inconvenient and heavy, but it's a nightmare to manage suitcases through airports and flights, hoping that nothing gets lost or stolen along the way.

With careful preparation, you can sell or give away everything you own, pay off all your debts, and establish internet-based sources of income so that no matter where you are in the world, you're still earning money. It's called being 'location independent'.

The only stuff you need to take with you as you travel the world is your essentials for travel for a week or even just a few days. What you wear is half of it. The other half fits into a small backpack and it usually includes just a couple items each of underwear, pants, shirts, sweater, jacket, raincoat, toiletries, laptop and power cables.

All the clothing needs to be ultra-lightweight while also being top quality, so that in hot weather it's cool for you, but in cold weather you can layer warmer clothes. Anything else that you might need or want can always be bought in whatever country you're in, and either used or sold or given away when you leave.

Your life packed into one bag, always with you as travel.

It's certainly a lifestyle choice that's not for everyone, but I can feel in my heart that it's going to be my life. I don't know for how long, but at least until I see as much as I ever want to see.

I'm writing about my life journey on my blog (www.alansjourney.com) and is where I talk about my experiences, observations and insights about various topics of interest to me, as well as my plans for a future of pemanent traveling.