Selling Everything to Travel the World
Many people dream about selling everything and traveling the world. The freedom, the adventure, the idea of living without a fixed address. But what does it actually feel like to let go of security and prepare for a life of full-time travel?
In our previous blogs, we shared our decision to leave our life in Spain and everything that happens behind the scenes when you prepare for long-term world travel. We wrote about selling our house, winding down work, organizing documents, and slowly building a life that no longer depends on one place.
What we haven’t truly shared yet is how this process of letting go actually feels. Because honestly, preparing to travel the world is not just about excitement and freedom. It’s also about confusion, doubt, exhaustion, enthusiasm, and sometimes all of it at the same time.
The Emotional Rollercoaster of Preparing for a World Trip
Some days we wake up and think: this is exactly what we need to do. It feels logical. We look at our departure date and feel a surge of energy. The world is open. We have no end date, no rigid plan, only a starting point.
And then there are days when it suddenly hits us: everything we are leaving behind.
We’ve built something meaningful here in Spain. A home that feels like ours. A rhythm. Friendships. Peace.
It’s not like we’re running away from something, we have a good life. We even thought we had everything our hearts desired. That makes the choice even more complex. Why would we leave it all behind?
We are letting go of something good to do something we can’t yet visualize. Sometimes that feels liberating, sometimes it just feels heavy.
“What are we actually doing?”
That question has crossed our minds many times. Sometimes out of excitement, sometimes out of fear. Our emotions swing in every direction, but never so far that we truly doubt our decision.
The interesting thing is: we never doubt at the same time. When one of us isn’t feeling it, the other feels the strength. That keeps us in balance. It’s how we carry each other through this process.
Kevin notices that his doubt isn’t about the travel itself, but about everything happening alongside it. He’s working right up until departure. Meanwhile, we’re building our social media content, finalizing administration, and trying to consciously enjoy our last weeks here.
Sometimes it feels like we’re walking three paths at once: our old life, our current life, and the new life as digital nomads that is yet to begin. It makes it hard to stay present. Time moves fast, sometimes too fast, and the feeling of control is often elusive.
The travel itself doesn’t even feel like the scariest part. What feels more intense is having no idea what’s coming. We’ve committed very little to paper. The plans exist mostly in our heads. We know where we start. After that, we’ll see.
Sometimes we ask ourselves: can you ever really know what you’re doing when you step into the unknown? Or is that exactly the point?
Our Biggest Challenge: Traveling with Type 1 Diabetes
If we’re being honest, our greatest fear isn’t about money, work, or stability. For both of us, it’s about Nancy’s health.
Traveling with Type 1 Diabetes means you don’t just think about destinations, you think about medication, cooling systems, and access to healthcare. It’s not an “add-on” to the trip, it’s always there. We don’t want to leave with a nightmare scenario in our heads, Kevin doesn’t believe in living for the “what ifs”, but the thought of a medical complication in a country where we don’t know the system is there. Not constantly. But it’s present.
For Nancy, the tension isn’t the travel itself, but the idea that long-term travel with a chronic illness might not be as easy as we hope. That the “we’ll figure it out” attitude might hit a wall. That we might find ourselves somewhere where care isn’t as accessible as we’d like.
At the same time, we stay grounded: diabetes exists all over the world. If things get too complex, we can always choose a location where we know healthcare is top-tier. We’ve made that promise to each other.
Furthermore, there’s the fear of loneliness. We are leaving people and safety behind again. We are starting over. But we also know that travel means letting go even faster, starting over at every new destination. We did it in Spain, and it worked. But doing it repeatedly takes a toll. Still, we know: if we need connection, we can create it. We’ve proven that before.
Keeping Your Relationship Strong During Life Transitions
This period has highlighted how easy it is to lose each other in a demanding process. It asks a lot of our relationship. There are phases where we are both so busy with our own tasks that we are less “together.” Not because anything is wrong, but because there is so much to do. Finishing work. Selling belongings. Creating content. Managing logistics.
We realized we have to be very intentional about this. So, we plan moments without an agenda. Dates in our own home. Dinner out. No phones, no laptops. Just time on the couch. Moments where we don’t talk about the “to-do” list, but about how we feel.
A check-in to see if it still feels right. If we still stand behind these choices. If we are still doing it together. That’s our way of staying connected. Not heavy, but conscious.
In this process, we notice that when one has less energy, the other picks up the slack. We see each other’s strengths more clearly. Kevin moves easily into the creative side, Nancy switches faster to practical problem-solving. Security for us is no longer a house or a job. Security is how we treat each other when things get difficult.
Lessons Learned: We Didn’t Do Everything Perfectly
Looking back on our world trip preparation, we see things we could have done differently. Others gave us advice, but those who know us know we always choose our own path.
Sometimes we tried to do too much at once. Driven by enthusiasm, or perhaps a need to prove something to ourselves. We started everything at the same time: Podcast, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Website, Blog.
We were advised not to do it all at once and to stop working sooner. In hindsight, we probably should have taken more rest. Maybe scaled back earlier. But there was only one way to find out: by experiencing it ourselves.
If someone could have told us one thing beforehand, it would be this: this phase is also part of the adventure. Don’t just try to “get through it,” but try to live in it. Everything moves faster than you think.
Conclusion: Living as a Digital Nomad Starts with Letting Go
If we had to summarize this entire period in one sentence, it would be this: Build together, do it together, and make sure you don’t lose each other in the process.
A world trip doesn’t start with a ticket. It starts with the decision to let go of security when you actually already have it good;
- We are letting go of a house
- We are letting go of a steady income
- We are letting go of routines
- We are letting go of predictability
But we are holding on to each other. And as scary as it feels sometimes, for now, that is enough.
Two Wild Nomads. Stories about freedom, growth and choosing the life that feels right.
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