What is THE SERIAL TRAVELER?
THE SERIAL TRAVELER is the story of my nomadic life. I travel with my husband Michiel, and we live in Airbnbs year-round. We travel with intention, and slower than most. We also travel light. We’ve managed to shrink our entire world down to two carry-ons each for a year plus of travel. Living with so much less has been an adjustment, but it’s pretty freeing too. Our extreme downsizing was an essential step to unlocking this new world, of full-time travel.
In this newsletter, you’ll be hearing about our stumbles and triumphs, what it’s like to live temporarily all over the world, and how logistically we pull this off. You’ll also get photo essays of where I am and what I’m learning from the people, cities, and cultures we’re residing in.
What do I do?
I’ve had some cool and hilarious jobs, but now I mostly plan our travels, write, and record and edit The Serial Traveler Podcast. I also run Global Denizens, a carefully curated community of women ex-pats, nomads, and others with hard-to-define lifestyles. I’m building it so we can trade notes and share resources for these unconventional, international lives we’re leading.
How did I start traveling full-time?
For the last 20 years, I’ve inexplicably found a way to sneak travel into all my jobs. In 1998, I landed an internship with the LA Times at the Cannes Film Festival. Overwhelmed and intimidated I took my first transatlantic flight to France. I lived and worked in a cute seaside village outside of Cannes for a month. I learned how to take the bus in, found my favorite pastry shop, and ordered my baguette with cheese, lettuce, and pas de mayonnaise. This first trip abroad revealed the value of integrating into local routines and set the stage for how I’d approach travel for all the trips ahead.
When Michiel and I established we didn’t want kids, we thought deeply about how we could take full advantage of the freedom that choice allows. We decided full-time travel is how we wanted to make the most of it.
Our departure date was March, 13th, 2020. When we settled on that date in January 2020, we, of course, didn’t know it would be the day the pandemic would shut down New York. We let go of our rent-stabilized apartment in Brooklyn, gave away all our furniture, donated most of our clothes, and downsized to 10 boxes in total. Early that morning, we drove away from Brooklyn, having no idea what was about to happen to the world. Over the next few weeks, we would slowly come to realize all our plans were disintegrating. It was our first taste, albeit a very big dose, of the central lesson of nomadic life. Always be flexible.
How much does this newsletter cost?
Right now all the content here is free, but if you’d like to support this project you can purchase a paid subscription for $5 a month (or $50 a year). I’ll definitely owe you some travel advice and/or a list of what to do in Mexico City—or anywhere else I know well!
Wait, you desperately want to support this project now but don’t have cash?
One of the best things you can do to help me lift this project off the ground is to recommend it to friends.
Truly, thanks for your interest and support! It means so much to me.
Erin
