Belgian couple Kim and Sebastian are the two minds behind Wandering Souls. This is the name of their nomad lifestyle, a way of life labelled by most of us as a pipe dream. Read on to learn about their adventures and projects. They might just inspire you to ride out into the unknown yourself.

An unusual marriage

It all started when Sebastian proposed to Kim. Marriage is, normally, the step into a new reality, a modern reality filled with finances, profession, dates in the diary. It comes with responsibility, and responsibility is normally attached to steadiness, the steadiness of routine. We emphasise “nowadays” and “normally” because these are two things very difficult to get rid off – modern society's rules and the lure of its routine-based lifestyle. We don’t need to tell you why this is, because we bet you know already! But we believe that from time-to-time, the modern sleepy routine should shaken up! And while some of us sleep dreamless, this couple is dreaming when wide awake.
 

“Kim’s dream was to get married on the beach which isn’t allowed in Belgium", says Sebastian, "since one of my dreams was to travel to Australia, we joined both ideas and came up with the plan of getting married in Australia. A long journey begs for a longer stay, and we ended up staying there for three months. We really enjoyed it and immediately thought it would be so interesting, and so cool, to do this more often. We came back and nothing was the same any more. And this is how our adventures started!”

Like the kid who dips his finger in the cake’s cream, they had had a small taste of what freedom can feel like. And that feeling overcame every fear that could hold them back. It made them realise what things they value the most in their lives and with that came a new mindset that gave them the ultimate push towards this new lifestyle.

Change your definition of success

“The valuable things in life are different for everybody”, Sebastian says, “but be aware that if you pursue this type of freedom you’ll probably need to say goodbye to a big career, a big car and a fancy house. It isn’t easy to combine the nomad life with financial stability. We’re still struggling with this, actually. Everybody needs to find their way and decide between money, a high position job and the ultimate freedom!”

On top of this, your future will look even more unpredictable. It's a future that removes a lot of responsibilities from your shoulders, but to some people it can result in a whole different type of worry. Some people do like to think they can control – to some extent – what their future might look like!

Turbulent times

Kim and Sebastian weren't immediately immune to this uncertainty. Two years ago the couple tried to settle and have a normal lifestyle in Tenerife. They thought maybe the nice weather and beautiful scenery was what they were missing the most in Belgium.

“You could say we had everything we wished for”, Kim muses. “We lived in a beautiful place with nice weather, we both had good jobs, a dream house and financial comfort, and after two years I was soaked up in a repetitive and boring routine. The routine is a silent killer, it slowly takes away your interest and your energy. It was very difficult to tell Sebastian I wanted to travel long distances again but I just knew I needed to go!”

Once again, they gave up everything to restart their epic travels. They are now back in Belgium getting ready for the next trip. What's the plan, you ask? There's no specific plan right now! It is impossible to know for sure what will come next, remember?

The best the world has to offer

Maybe its true that we can’t have the best of both worlds, but we can still travel to see the best of the world we live in. For some of us, that makes it all worth it!

“The most important thing I’ve learned was that the less people have, the more they share with you,” says Kim, “and this touched my heart deeply! People in the most remote places, living without some of the basic goods, are happy to help and share the little they have with the people around them. The community feeling is strong there. It is a shame that we seem to have forgotten this in Western society, where goods are so abundant.”

Give back to the communities you visit

Kim and Sebastian decided to take action and started a small charity project to help the communities they visit. It is not an official charity, it is “based on trust” as Sebastian describes it, and it’s their way to return all the kindness they met around the world.

“We received so much help from the people who didn't have much that we wanted to give it back!” says Kim. “The reason why we decided to create our own unofficial charity is because we investigated the known charity companies and the findings were unbelievably disappointing. Sebastian studied economics so he did the maths and realised that just a slim fraction of a donation reaches the people in need. “Much is spent paying for services, and sometimes only 10% of the money arrives at the final destination.”

With the funds they raise, they try to buy locally to help the local economy. You can read about their latest charity events and contribute for the future ones here.

With their project, Kim and Sebastian hope to “inspire others to follow their dreams and achieve what they want in life”.  Forget about the fear of the unknown and don’t jump to conclusions you’ve heard on the news. What surprised them most in their travels was that the image the media paints of the world, and the world's reality are, 95% of the time, not the same thing! Go ahead and embrace the rocky adventure of stepping away from your comfort zone. Rediscover the world, yourself and all others out there.

Follow Wandering Souls on Facebook.

Read more abour them on www.wanderingsouls.be