Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

V is for Variety

Day 22 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

One of the biggest attractions to living as a nomad is the endless variety it offers. All the possible means to get around, any level of accommodation imaginable and many spots on our globe are yours to explore. When the world is your oyster, literally, you never run out of options to entertain yourself as a traveler. Is there anything more exciting?

Playing with dolphins in Moorea

Playing with dolphins in Moorea

The term routine gets a whole other meaning when you roam about, since it is different wherever you go, another thing I like about this lifestyle. You make your own choices as to when you get up, whether you take a shower, what and where you eat and how your day looks like. The options are diverse enough, so you don’t have to follow a repetitive schedule or boring string of necessary if not anticipated events.

Sometimes, this much variety is overwhelming, especially when you have some trouble making decisions, like I do. Since I am a believer of “never regret what you didn’t do in life, only regret what you did do”, or better even, “don’t regret anything”, it is hard for me to pick between options when it comes to deciding (sometimes even the smallest) things. See, I don’t want to regret a decision later… A bit of restriction in these situations helps, like having dogs onboard as a deciding factor to visiting islands and anchorages, or taking the weather into account when sailing places, or trying to do everything on a tight budget.

With your mind set on the important things in your life, variety comes as a blessing, and being able to pick between options allows freedom, and opportunity to grow, learn, understand and experience parts of your life and of this immense and beautiful world.

Hiking through a pineapple plantation

Hiking through a pineapple plantation

(That being said, my adventurous spirit led to experiencing a sensation I had not felt in a long time, this weekend: physical pain! I fell on my left hand, braced by a rock while hiking. The middle finger was hyperextended – bent the wrong way – so my left hand is swollen and in pain. At the moment, I can only use my right hand to live my life. Another new experience, one that altered my current routine. The worst part is that my remaining blogs of the A-Z challenge have to be written with one hand now, so forgive me if they become a bit shorter!)

How do you find variety in your life or your job? Do you have a hard time making decisions? What are your biggest regrets?

Thank you for reading, commenting, liking, and following on Facebook! Tomorrow, W stands for Writing in my A-Z Blogging series: “Thoughts of Being a Nomad’ …

18 Comments

  1. It’s funny. I feel like we’re creatures of habit but, at the end of the day, our life on the water is full of variety — sailing, hiking, swimming, soaking in natural hot springs, kayaking, exploring, walking barefoot in the sand, and on and on.

    Cheers, Stephanie

    http://www.svcambria.com/2016/04/v-is-for-vista-15-easy-ways-to-improve.html

    • We actually create new habits and preferred activities while we travel. A variety of great habits and fun routines, we thoroughly enjoy! 🙂

  2. I actually second guess every decision, and I wish I wouldn’t! Why did I paint my nails pink instead of blue? Why did I paint them at all when they are ruined in about 90 seconds? It’s a sick cycle! I think my goal is to be happy with decisions and not worry about what I could have done instead.

    • And this, Lucy, is a great New Year’s resolution. Be happy with the choices you make! It drives my husband crazy when I second-guess things (I have gotten better because of his grumpy influence). His reasoning is that we make our decisions based on what we know at the time and we choose what we think is best, at that time. It is easy to second-guess when more factors are known after the facts… Let’s both make it a goal to stop the sick cycle. Pink now and blue next time! 🙂

  3. Sorry about your hand. I constantly second guess myself. My friends force me to make decisions. They think I’ll learn but they’re wrong. It’s painful and I hate it! ?

    • I am with you, Jessica! My husband sometimes forces me to make the decision as well, and me second-guessing afterwards often leads to a fight. I am getting better at it, though, especially when I feel strongly about something. Most of the time, though, I let him decide, since I am fine either way. Being flexible is a good thing, and sometimes easier than having to take the blame of a bad decision. 🙂

  4. Your poor finger!! I love not having a routine to get up for work, shower, drink coffee etc. and get out the door on time. But, oddly enough, I find myself having a bit of a morning routine even though I don’t need to.

    • Well, we all have to go to the bathroom (head) in the morning, Ellen! Just kidding. 🙂 I think it is part of human nature to prefer a little bit of a routine, some familiarity. Some things only work when done in a certain order. Like, I need my glass of fresh orange juice in the morning, before I do anything else!

  5. Poor you! One handed typing is no fun 🙁 hope it recovers soon. Wishy washy and indecisive? Me? Yes- often 🙂

    • Everything takes forever with one hand, but at least I am right-handed and the finger is, luckily, recovering slowly. I wonder whether this wishy-washy thing is a female attribute… Are you in Poland yet, Jo?

  6. I second-guess lots of decisions (and third-guess, and even fourth- ) and for me that’s part of the process of learning how to make better decisions. “I left, given that the weather forecast was X, and if it had really turned out to be X, that would have been okay. But now I know that I need to make decisions based on assuming the wind speed will really X + 5 knots, and the wind direction will 45 degrees closer to right on the nose than predicted, or the bad weather will arrive 12 hours sooner. Because by second guessing I learned how much margin for error there is in the forecast. (At least, that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it!)

    • Haha, great justification! In Dutch there is an expression “Al doende leert men”, which loosely translates into “One learns by doing”. The weather is a tricky one, though, and as you say, we make decisions based on what we know. If things change underway, we adjust. And, we anticipate differently next time. I hate unreliable weather forecasts!

  7. Ouch! How unfortunate. I hope your finger and hand feel better sooner than later. I am a creature of routine, but, being a stay at home parent, it is a routine of my choosing. In that set routine, the variety of things I do is quite extensive. I need that variety or I’d be very bored. If this stopped being entertaining, I’d find something else to do.

    • You have the right attitude, Ryan. Repetitiveness is not my friend, either, but a routine that is fun and your own choice, what’s wrong with that? 🙂 My hand is doing a bit better every day, luckily. I am so happy the finger isn’t broken! I should have written a blog about C is for Clumsiness!

  8. I hope your hand heals quickly! I love all the photos.
    http://carolsnotebook.com

    • Thanks, Carol! It is getting a little bit better everyday. I can now use one finger of my left hand, which helps tremendously with the typing! 🙂

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