Travelling Thoughts

Ever since my early twenties, that persistent feeling of needing “something more” has followed me. Over the years, I’ve come to recognize it as wanderlust. And now, that very yearning is taking a tangible form in our new YouTube channel, Open Road Tales!

Like has happened to many others, the stunning visuals and inspiring stories shared by the motorhome and global trekking communities on YouTube have captured our imaginations. These videos, painting a vivid and quite enchanting world, it definitely has fuelled our own desire to explore this way of life and ultimately led to the creation of YouTube channel of our own – Open Road Tales.

There has always been that suble, ingrained aversion to the thought of being perpetually tied to one place, and getting stuck on the endless cycle of a 9-to-5. And it’s precisely this desire for freedom and exploration that we hope to capture and share through our upcoming videos – the possibility of a life with more adventure on the open road.

For far too many years, I’ve found myself in that very cycle, that self-deceptive belief that “just one more year…” would be the key to breaking free. But at the same time that little voice inside me has always cheered whenever an aeroplane crossed the sky or a flight ticket was booked, yearning for the gentle sway of a cruise ship carrying me to new horizons.

The passing of my mother just under a year ago, in 2024, undeniably brought a stark new perspective to life. It wasn’t about escaping Finland, a place I deeply call home, but about consciously choosing how we want to spend the precious time we have and what experiences we truly want to embrace. That realization became a significant driving force behind the dream of Open Road Tales. Yet, here we are, almost a year later, still navigating the familiar routines, working the same jobs, and that future of open roads and shared adventures still feels just out of reach. It’s a sobering reminder of how deceptively easy it is to get stuck in the daily grind, how quickly time slips by while we wait for the ‘right moment’ to seize our dreams. The question that now echoes louder than ever is: do we continue in this rhythm until retirement dictates our freedom, or do we actively break free and create the life we yearn for, before more of the precious time that we have left disappears?

At the moment, the practicalities of finances are certainly on my mind. My wonderful and more grounded wife would likely point out that there are many more considerations than just money when contemplating a life of travel, but one thing I know for sure: when we finally embark on this wanderlust-driven chapter, we will make it an extraordinary one!

In my idealistic dreams, our future motorhome becomes our mobile writing studio and the backdrop for our Open Road Tales vlogs. We envision traversing Europe, sharing breathtaking landscapes and unique experiences, inspiring others, and proving that a life of freedom and exploration is within reach for more than just a select few, even for us, middle-aged couple with poodles on tow!

But before we reach that idyllic level, we need to be sensible and figure out sustainable income streams. Your support through Buy Me A Coffee, for example, would directly contribute to keeping both Havestories.com and Open Road Tales running, allowing us to upgrade our equipment and continue sharing our journey and creating valuable content. It will be a vital stepping stone towards our goal of embracing a more nomadic existence.

I recently came across an article about identity crisis triggered by the loss of a parent. It was surprisingly insightful to read that. While I wouldn’t necessarily call it a crisis for me, this life-altering event has undeniably made me reassess my priorities and the limited time we have on this Earth; Do I really need to stay in the rat race until I am 70, and the society says I can retire? Do I really need to wait until society tells me I can finally enjoy the remainder of my days? Or could I, instead, decide that now is the time to break free?

I am incredibly fortunate to have a wife who shares my love for travel and is fully on board with the dream of a motorhome adventure. After all, home is truly where the heart is, and my heart is with my family, wherever the road may lead.