Living on a Shoe String

Living the life I've chosen, I've often been asked how can I afford to travel and live as I do?

The truth is, I haven't had a steady 9-5 paying job in well over 18 years now.. - Between the age of about 16 to 29ish, I had a pretty normal steady well paying career in the computer industry, often being privy to working with the very latest in cutting edge main frame technology available during that era.. (those so called super computers , chunky old dinosaurs, that were slower than most bog standard laptops in treacle available these days!)


At work.. Crawling through the undergrowth
(click to enlarge)

Of course that was long before the internet appeared on the scene, - although it did sort of exist as a collection of smaller independant networks loosely and frequently flakely connected with one another...

But i'm digressing..

Yes, since quitting my day job, with the inital dubious quest to bike around the world, I've been the forever opportunist with eyes and ears alert for ethically acceptable paying work that happens to cross my path, and although I have some times gone for months with no income at all, I've never had to go hungry.

I should hasten to add, that when I let go, I had virtually no savings due to an extremely badly timed property purchase (immediatly preceding a collapse in the property market), that left me about as penniless as I'd ever been..

Anyhow, that all seems like a lifetime ago now, and since jumping into the unknown, there has been an endless stream of conveniently spaced temporary or seasonal job opportunities..

Not in any particular order - Most definitely not chronological, I've worked as a cleaner, shelf stacker, fruit picker (various flavours!), gardner, sawer of wood, mover of rocks, pathway builder, wall builder, webpage designer, tree planter, guesthouse receptionist, farmer, vegan chef, masseur, table builder, translator, tv/movie extra, interpreter, pond cleaner, math teacher, swedish teacher, english teacher, firework display assistant, nude model, juice maker, postoffice sorter (christmas rush), deliverer of junk mail (briefly, - until I came to my senses!!), scrap metal collector, and more...

Currently I'm helping an elderly woman with her cottage garden on Mondays (see image below), and collect little lost wayward golf balls from the bushes on our local golf course (see first picture).. So, by no means have I a proven way to get financially rich, but certainly know how to make enough to cover daily food expenses (which besides the car, telephone and electricity is pretty much our only real expense).


The cottage garden I've helped create
(click to enlarge)

I am reminded of that biblical passage that basically states that just as the birds of the field, and other animals are provided for, so too will we be if we have the faith to take that leap.. So I am in no doubt that anyone else stepping out onto the fruitarian path, desiring to let go of more traditionally accepted lifestyle choices, would have every success in finding their basic necessities and more along their path, and should one truly wish to travel vast distances, a means to do so will inevitably manifest itself..

Peace,
Mango.