Image by Wolfgang Staudt
** This post was written by Leigh Haugseth. Find out more about Leigh below. **
The Pioneer of a Location Independent Life
Rita Golden Gelman is a pioneer of the location independent lifestyle. Back in the 80’s, before the term location independent was coined, Rita was out traveling the world, making money on the road and living her dream life.
She rarely carried a laptop and was far from being a digital nomad. She traveled the world on approximately $10-20k a year, writing children’s books as she travelled.
Before Rita embarked on this new, exciting life she had a husband, two grown children and lived a glamorous life in Los Angeles, California. But she always dreamed of other cultures and traveling…
After she and her husband divorced, the thought of renting an apartment and getting a ‘job’ horrified her. So at age 48 she set out on her own, becoming a nomad, traveling to exotic locations and exploring other cultures. Rita rented a place for a while and then moved onto the next when she felt like it.
She was very trusting of strangers and often relied on her gut instinct when choosing accommodations, restaurants and friends. She didn’t plan much and decided her next location based on signs or recommendations from people she met on the road. Her story is chronicled in the fascinating memoir ‘Tales of a Female Nomad‘.
What We Can Learn From Rita’s Story
One of the most interesting things about Rita is that she knew exactly what she wanted to do (travel the world), how much money she needed for the style of travel she desired ($10-20k a year) and how to make this money (writing children’s books). And then she actually did it.
She admits that she’s not very organized nor business savvy but she knows her strengths (creativity and writing) and uses those to create enough income to live her dream life in her own unique way. There was no internet or social media when Rita began her journey (although now she has a web site and a facebook page) and she continues to make her money writing children’s books. Today, almost 20 years later at age 72 , she is still traveling.
Her story can be a lesson to us all on how to define your ideal lifestyle – however different from the norm it may be – and then go for it, no matter what stage of life you are in. Rita encountered a lot of opposition when starting her travels but she ignored them all and did it anyway.
Focus on your strengths not your weaknesses and utilize them to live your location independent dream. Figure out how much time you want to spend actually traveling and enjoying life, and how much you want to spend working or at the computer. Define your own location independent life. And then live it.
Embracing Simplicity
While there are many different ways to be location independent and everyone who pursues this lifestyle will choose their own varying levels of income, workload and travel, Rita’s story is an example to us all about how simple it really can be, to live the lifestyle you choose.
In my current journey/transition, I tend to get overwhelmed with all the new tools, social networking sites, marketing skills, blogging, writing and learning that seem to accompany being successfully location independent.
While these are very useful and almost essential in today’s online world, Rita’s story has helped me recognize that you don’t have to be extremely savvy in all of them in order to be location independent. The trick is to figure out what you need to learn that will help you live your ideal life and primarily focus on learning those things.
I highly recommend reading Rita’s book. Her adventures flow easily into each other and she makes traveling to far off lands seem easily accomplished by any that are willing to follow their dreams a little.
It is also a great reminder of how to enjoy the simple pleasures that traveling can bring, even on a small budget. And while my idea of being location independent is a little different to hers, the fundamental idea is the same…Being free to move as you wish, when you wish, where you wish – and living your life doing something you enjoy.
What kind of ‘location independent’ life do you want to live? I’d love to hear your thoughts…
What an inspiring example, Leigh. Thanks for highlighting Rita’s story and her book – it’ll be added to my wishlist!
CathD
I want to “ramp up” into my LI life by starting out traveling around the US in an RV then either moving into a sailboat or begin traveling around the world.
My plan is to pursue the adventure in my life while helping others do the same.
The plan is a long-term one, requiring a year or so of “expertise building”, but even that will be something that I enjoy, and all for a good cause.
Great article, and amazing to see she was able to do that in the 80’s. I guess today’s technologies make our life easier but really the message here is that don’t wait to live your dream, just do it!
This is a very inspirational story. It takes the essence of what we all want to accomplish, but helps to remove the distractions that keep us from doing it.
Like you outlined, it’s all about figuring out what skills, income, or connections you need to make it happen. Just go get ‘em!
Hi Leigh: I really enjoyed reading your piece on Rita Golden Gelman. I first read Rita’s book about 4 or 5 years ago, and was in awe of the choices she made and the lifestyle she led. Now, as I work towards becoming more nomadic, I occasionally re-read parts of her book to remind myself that this lifestyle is definitely do-able. She is an inspiration to anyone interested in the nomadic lifestyle.
Anne
Thanks for the pointer, Leigh – I’m looking forward to reading more about Rita’s adventures!
@CathD It’s a great read, I really think you’ll like it!
@Matthew Sounds like your on your way. Not enough people pursue fun and adventure… kudos! :)
@Patrice and Baker Thanks! Yes, anyone can do it,you just have to make the decision.
@Anne I finally bought the book after checking it out from the library 3 times… I often re-read when I need inspiration.
Thanks. I’ll definitely read that book. I moved to the mountains of CO a few years back and LOVE the mountains…but miss my family and friends in KY terribly. Working on a life to include both!
Super cool post. As far as my location independent life… I would like it to be partially location independent. I want to have a sort of “home base” in the United States and then travel VERY frequently while working at the same time.
I recently set the goal of visiting 50 countries in my life and I would love to be able to work while doing that.
The point that resonates with me most is about not needing all the social media tools – I’m beginning to think it’s time to declutter and concentrate on the ones that are really essential. After all, how independent can you be if you are tied to frequent updates?
Interesting reminder – I’ve never read her book, bu have heard about her story before.
I haven’t ever actually thought about “locaton independant” lifestyles before – but I realise that this has been what I have aimed for , for a long time. To make most of my work possible from any location. However my recent project photographing various European cities has reminded me that I don’t actually want to keep moving as frequently as that – I’d rather choose a place that really appeals to me and live there for a reasonable amount of time.
Go have a read of the 1 star reviews of the book – great reading!
@Nate I like having some sort of home base too to travel frequently from. Good luck in reaching your goal! :)
@Sharon I totally agree. It’s important to stay involved in ‘real life’ more than virtual life although it’s tricky sometimes when so much is happening on line!
@Rhiannon Sounds like a great plan to me. Half the battle is knowing what you want. :)
Living a globetrotting life, I can only say that I love the challenge of moving to new countries and learning about the people and the life there. I have friends all over the world, but one negative about my life is that I don’t really have a home base to come back to and where I feel I “belong.”
Great inspiration! Thanks for that Leigh.