The Nomadic Family Travel Blog

I just made up #28 cuz it sounds like a good number. Who was I? Where was I when I was 28? Oh, I became a mom at 28, almost didn’t finish my Master’s degree, and Kobi just got fired from Hewitt & Associates so we did what any unemployed family with a 2 1/2 month old would do- we bought an RV and road tripped from Texas to Oregon. Yeah, it was then that Kobi worked for the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) listening in to Hebrew-language drug dealer conversations and transcribing translations into English for the drug force on-call, ready to jump. Things got exciting, to say the least. He’s also been an ice cream truck driver, diamond salesman (with that suitcase handcuffed to him sort of terrifying thing), Dead Sea beauty products vendor, youth adviser, waiter, bouncer in a club in Israel, and a whole slew of computer jobs in big companies too like Price Waterhouse Coopers.

And we were talking about… saving money, tip #28: Other People’s Clothing. Yes. Focus. Now. Yeah. So, backpackers have been known to steal each others’ clothing off the line, and though I have not (officially) done that (intentionally, eh-hem!), I have (cat-with-milk-on-his-whiskers) enjoyed clothing that other people have (sort of) left behind.

A dear friend of ours in Mancora, Peru stayed in a dorm room with some cool guys from different countries. He had just said his goodbyes to a departing bunk mate. Door closed. Oh, nice button-down shirt forgotten. Rather than jolt out the door to find his mate, he starts feeling the fabric and reflecting on the grubbiness of his God-I-will-die-if-I-have-to-where-that-shirt-again wardrobe. He wipes the drool and gets up to try his newly-acquired snazzy plaid gem when the door opens and his friend, seeing shirt in hand, naturally thanks him for getting it for him. He he he he (satanic laugh). Little did he know our friend’s true darker intentions. FOILED AGAIN.

So, Walmart becomes high class compared to some of your backpacker’s clothing acquisition choices. So, there was that gorgeous translucent white cotton top that makes your bra show a bit much but looks amazing over a bathing suit shirt. I good-neighborly picked it up when it fell from the second floor in The Garden Village Guesthouse (FB album) in Siem Reap, and I did put it (crumpled and very off-center) on the bench in public view (with only one other article of clothing covering only half of it)  for at least four days. I admit, when no one claimed it I did more than just a happy dance, I did a FASHION SHOW!

Many backpackers have given us our now-favorite clothing. It’s a great sharing thing. There was that English girl who had really nice stuff that was too costly for her to ship back home, so she handed us THE ENTIRE BOX! And those two Israeli girls who I mentioned while walking around town how badly I wanted some short shorts (I know! I’m so proud!) and how nice one of their tops were. We woke up the next morning, after they had already left town, with five pairs of shorts and the aforementioned top in a bag on our door knob. I never even got to thank them. Oh, such kind people in the world. Let me allow this sentence to be an energetic thank you to those two Israeli backpackers. I want them to know.

And I could go on and on the number of people who have given us amazing stuff. (I’ll post about some of them individually cuz there’s this one story that is too adorable to casually mention.) Both backpackers and locals around the world have given us, and we have given them, endless amounts of stuff. You see, we can’t just stay with what we have. We must sometimes acquire new things to feel, to fell.. alive (does that make sense). Something new, fresh, a new color, a new fabric, it feels so nice. And we collect things, somehow, God help us, even without drawers and shelves and a kitchen counter we manage to collect stuff.

So, here’s a video of THE NICEST CLOTHING we have ever gotten to date! Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice. You’ll see. Oh, and as a bonus, you get to see me greatly annoyed with my kids who can’t stop talking to me as I make videos, and my new black-shirted male sex-model. Oh baby baby… so much excitement in one three minute and forty-three second video.

Proud Mama Out-Of-Place Note

OH, and this is my parenting moment of pride. Ready? All of the pictures you see here my kids took themselves. In Dalat, Vietnam one morning, they finished their studies and decided to do a fashion show. They got dressed, took photos, did it all without any interference from the annoying adults in their lives. I think that’s what happens to kids who have freedom, time to be creative, and no fear of messing up- they create cool experiences and projects for themselves. If you like the pics, tell us in the comments and  I’ll pass it on to the  kids. xoxo, Proud Mama

So, I said tip #28 cuz that kind of title just requires a number, I’m sure you’d agree. But I am posting now tons of financial tips, tiny and huge, that we use to afford our travel lifestyle. And, friends, never, never underestimate the value of the tiny financial savings, and know that there will be way more than 28 tips, but you know me well enough to know that I can’t put them up in chronological order- too stifling for my soul.

Got any good stories of you stealing (did I say that aloud?) other people’s stuff? Did you have a (eh-hem) friend who had good finds by helping clean up other people’s clothing drying in the sun? Ever had someone snatch your favorite shirt? Other amazing money-saving techniques? Have you met super nice people who have given you stuff they no longer needed, like Tricia who gave us everything we ever could have imagined for a new born baby for had had twins the first time and didn’t need double of everything any more? You do believe that I didn’t really take the white shirt, it was Universally given to me, and did leave it on the bench, right?

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