So I have done some research and worked my way through a slew of ‘slow travel, ‘location independent’, ’ ‘out of the box’, ‘non conformity’ blogs.There are tons of them. Some are really, really good. Some are just spam machines trying to get you to buy silly ebooks, courses and to pay for advice that other better blogs give you for free without the added claim of having ‘the’ solution. Much more agreeable in other words.

What struck me more than anything is the gender division, it is very divided indeed. Money-talk, especially fast money talk is the mens’ domain. Success, personal and money success is all men talk. Quality of life, combining family and travel, finding oneself, education/worldschooling/unschooling is womens’ domain. Sometimes the two cross, but mostly not. Some women talk about making money as a location independent person, but it usually stops at blogging, travel writing the odd freelance gig or two. Men however, talk about grand schemes, running enormous location independent seminars on beaches in the Philippines whilst chugging down the beer, meetings and important pow wows (isn’t that what we are trying to get away from?). The mens’ blogs are more preachy, more assertive and certain, do this, do that, whereas the female blogs are more reflective, more grateful for the opportunity of change Mind you, this a general observation and naturally several blogs deviate from the mean.

I much prefer the toned down blogs, the ones depicting real life and real hurdles and such, to the scheming ones that claim to, in so many easy steps, tell you how to rebuild your life, how to be free and successful. Anyone who has attempted and maybe even succeeded at a reconfiguration of life, know that it is not easy, it is not fast. Especially not as a family. It involves not just one person’s feeling, but severals and it takes money, time and resources. Building a business to support ‘nomadic’ or ‘location independent’ or a ‘tiny house, downsized’ what have you life, is not done fast or easily. Anyone who claims otherwise probably already started with a pretty good bourse. There are no set steps to changing a lifestyle, there are no set steps to building a business to sustain you and your family. The biggest hurdles are internal, getting over all the musts we have been taught and programmed to adhere to. One day simply getting up and disavowing all that we know and all that everyone else still subscribes to is not simple. It involves other people’s feelings, it involves considerations and planning and thinking and evaluating. It involves being so sure that you are strong enough to say no to all that everyone else holds certain and true, from traditional schooling to traditional housing and traditional employment. Deviating in one such area is hard enough, deviating from all is scary.

So what is up with the divide? Why do women focus on the emotional aspects and men on the traditional success stories? Or I am the only one who ses it?