I sat beside the pool of our Kuala Lumpur hotel couple of days ago basking in the sunshine and thought to myself “ahhh finally I am living the dream” . Yet on reflection I found myself asking the question “well what actually is THE dream?”
Possibly like many people, I always imagined that living the dream life would be winning the lottery (or The Pools as it was in my childhood!) never having the work again, buying villas in several different locations and having a yacht and a private jet to commute between each of them, whilst dining on oysters, caviar and vintage champagne.
Well let me assure you that I don’t have any of those things. I am surviving on the lowest income I have lived on in years, I am still working around 4hrs every day while I am away plus I am a full on, full time Single Mum & teacher, who doesn’t get a single minute break away from my child.
Now please don’t get me wrong I am not complaining, I don’t think I would stop working even if I did win the lottery, it is one of the things which brings meaning & purpose to my life. I am LOVING pretty much every second of this adventure, but the dream life can be so miss-interpreted. What I do have is freedom, flexibility and choice, and is the life style I have dreamt about and manifested for many years. I know many of us want everything yesterday but trust that the Law of Attraction works things out of you in its own time.
Cameron generally sleeps around 11/12 hrs a night, I generally survive on around about 6hrs. That leaves a lot of hours sitting alone in a hotel room each day, but I have learned to use these hours as my work time and ensure I do at least a couple of hours work in the morning before he wakes up, dealing with any emails etc which have come in overnight and then another 2/3 hrs in the evening once he is asleep. It works and means I can dedicate all of my time and attention to him during the day.
It was tough the first few days we were here because we were both so jet lagged we didn’t know if we were coming or going, falling asleep at 5pm, waking up at 3pm, but now we have settled down into more of a routine everything seems to have fallen in to place.
Tomorrow night I have actually have a skype meeting booked with someone in America who is 13 hrs behind me, it’s going to be a later night and I have to ensure I am still fully dressed and looking fresh faced at 11pm!! but I am actually looking forward to having some adult interaction after the hours of dark!!
What I have really discovered however is that long term travel really doesn’t have to have the huge price tag I always imagined it would. I guess that is why so many youngsters straight out of college etc make that decision to go backpacking around the world – it is SO much cheaper to survive in many countries overseas than it is in the U.K.
Yes I am fortunate enough that at the age of 48 I have a bit of money behind me, I finally paid off my mortgage in 2017 after 27 loooong years and I have an residual income from a couple of property rents and part of my business which I am managing to run remotely. It means that I have been able to book into some basic hotel rather than hostels, BUT I am still living on much less than I have done in many years.
So living the dream for me means scrapping the materialistic things from my life. Many of the things which I have worked hard for over the years but have finally realised I neither need or want. I am travelling with minimal possession and I am happier than I have been in ages.
Oh and food…well currently in Malaysia I am eating some of the best meals I have had in a very long time. Kuala Lumpur currently stands as being the cheapest city in Asia, but I am told that outside of the city you can get food for about 50% of the price.
The meal below cost less than £5 for a huge buffet and yet had so much flavour my taste buds were ready to burst – but just look at the ingredients, some of the cheapest you could buy: rice, cabbage, chick peas and vadai’s which are made from split peas! I took this photo simply to prove that great food does not need to be expensive.
So what have I discovered in living the dream?
– Appreciating what I have & discovering how much I don’t need.
– Not being a wage slave, but finding the perfect work/life balance in a profession which I love.
– Seeing my children happy, thriving, growing in mind, body & spirit and living as stress free as possible (I may only have one of them with me at the moment but I still want them same for both of them).
– The weather – yes the weather makes ALL the difference; the simplicity of being able to play and run outside, to feel the sand beneath your toes and the sunshine on your face! that costs nothing and yet makes such a difference to wellbeing and state of mind, and whether there is a warm ocean or swimming pool near by, somehow some warm water to play in really does make you feel like you have won the lottery.
There are of course some things which I would still do differently, aspects which are not quite as perfect as they could be, and yet are out of my control. So perhaps I am living ‘a’ dream as opposed to living ‘the’ dream. Who knows?
Maybe one day I will be able to enjoy this life style full time, the more I think about finding a haven in the sunshine the more it appeals to me, I just have yet to discover that one place that truly feels like home, but there is still a lot more of the world yet to discover…….
For now I shall just continue living this dream, enjoying every moment and feeling deeply grateful for all I have in my life.
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