Living life like a vagabond

Many a time we feel occupied and overwhelmed due to some unfortunate and sudden instances in life where we often consider fleeing away to a place where no one knows us, and this happens at least once with everyone. Even as kids, the easiest escape for many of us, post an ugly fight with our parents, which might seem petty now but wasn’t back then, was planning a fool-proof plan to flee away with your favourite belongings.

Each one of us is committed to something and someone. Commitment to the people we love, commitment to the job we do, commitment to the actions we execute to build our dreams, and the list will go on. A very few of us make commitments for ourselves and that is exactly why we fail to keep our soul swirling to the music of life. When you cannot commit yourself with some things in life, the urge of running away to free yourself from the other bounds increases to such an extent that the commitments transform into a burden.

I am a travel enthusiast, and I am sure many of you are just the same as me and that the thought of fleeing and travelling to all the beautiful destinations on this globe and not returning is a wild fantasy in your mind already. Did you know this is a legit thing? 

Well, read on to know more and unveil the crazy fact!

What is Vagabond?

A vagabond is a person who roams and travels from one place to another without a home or job. Yes, you read it right! They are commonly called gipsies, nomads, and wanderers. Vagabonds roam for their survival. A vagabond’s life is not just ‘aimless’ travelling or roaming, but also exploring and experiencing new places and the lifestyle each place offers. Some vagabonds also take up this lifestyle to attain enlightenment and a unique perspective towards life.

These individuals have either experienced the worst of the ‘rat race’ in the corporate world and otherwise or voluntarily chosen not to be a part of the same. Vagabonds are not bound to anything or anyone and they define ‘free spirit’ in the truest sense, unlike so many ‘pseudo influencers and motivational speakers’ on social media. They savour themselves solitude and freedom for almost a lifetime. 

Pros and Cons of the Vagabond lifestyle: 

If you have read till here; ignoring your message notifications and other stuff, then you certainly want to know the pros and cons of this lifestyle. Let us have a look at the pro and con chart. 

Pros of having a lifestyle like Vagabond: 

1. The living expenses are extremely low and reasonable. The reason being that vagabonds carry only essential stuff with them and they cut short on the goods that would make shifting from one place to another difficult. 
2. Exploring and travelling around the world is always an advantage. They go wherever they feel, they leave whenever they feel. They live a ‘heart driven’ life and not a ‘money’ or ‘mind’ driven life and I think that is beautiful.  
3. Exploring and travelling opens up a human mind’s arena of creativity. It is rightly said that a change in environment and culture improves creativity and improves one’s perspective and outlook towards life. 
4. Vagabond lifestyle helps you devote your entire time and energy to attaining and enjoying your passion without work commitments.
5. Vagabond lifestyle helps you spend money wisely and cuts short on your unnecessary expenses. 

Cons of having a lifestyle like Vagabond: 

1. You miss out on precious occasions related to your loved ones. Also, you might miss your sister’s wedding, her baby shower ceremony, or even your parent’s 50th anniversary! You tend to lose people who were once an eternal part of your life.  
2. Moving from one place to another can be very exhausting and may seem pointless after one point of time.
3. You need to be a ‘one-man army’. If things tend to go wrong, you would rarely have anyone to support you, emotionally, physically, and financially. 
4. Life can be tough in foreign lands where there is a barrier of the language and people are sophisticated to extend a helping hand.
5. Not all vagabonds carry on with this lifestyle until their grave. Some choose to return to their homes and the real challenge starts to post the return. Vagabonds find it very tough to find a job and also a partner because of their questionable commitment.
6. People who are reckless saving money earned with temporary jobs have it the tough way. 

Some Famous Vagabonds:

The most famous vagabonds are mostly articulate people from the field of literature. Having said that, vagabond lifestyle fosters creativity and helps you acquire your passion. Lawrence Durell, Jack London, Jack Kerouac are to name a few. Some vagabonds are keeping up with the digital era and keep the world updated with their vagabond lifestyle. Some of them are Mathew Kepnes, Jodi Etternberg, and Stuart Mcdonald. 

Series based on Vagabonds: 

There is only one Korean drama series based on a vagabond lifestyle named ‘Vagabond’ which is quietly appreciated. There are many documentaries like – ‘One-way ticket’, ‘The new nomads’, ‘The wireless generation’, and ‘The reality of #van life’, which are indeed worth a watch.

I am not sure as to how many people tried this one out, but there has always been a sense of comfort in feeling the need to flee away. I think that the troubles or the unfortunate demise that we experience have very less influence on that feeling. It is our illusive perception about life that compels us to seek something so far from reality. It feels comforting because our conflict between our desire to live in a certain way and our actual way of life seems to end.   

I hope this article fascinated you and the traveller in you to explore. Hope you discover the world and the surprises yet to be unveiled. Travelling is a beautiful medium of self –exploration as each journey has a different story to tell you. Each story deserves to be felt.