THE CALL TO BE A NOMADIC FAMILY

At one time in history all of humankind was nomadic.

We moved around, gathered our food from forests, the mountains, the sea.

We were more connected with the land, we moved with the seasons, each environment provided food for us.

We took only what we needed and moved on.

Nothing was wasted, everything was returned back to the earth, to feed the soil, that fed us.

Being nomadic is in our blood, moving keeps us healthy, just going out and walking has so many benefits for us both physically and mentally. We are meant to keep moving, move forward with our thinking and with our lifestyles.

I started travelling in my early twenties, it brought me great healing and allowed me to feel even more alive and free. It also opened my eyes even more to all the wonder that surrounds us in the world. It shown me that beneath all the labels we may put on one another, we are all the same, our needs are all the same.

Every country I travelled in I saw this, but I also sensed a divide. A divide that was created by man through fear and lack of understanding.

I travelled on and off, up until I got pregnant with my first child. I knew I wanted my children to grow up in an environment where they saw that all people, every living thing is equal and deserves our respect. To me and my partner that meant being nomadic. So upon returning to the land where I was born and grew up, Ireland we began to look for our new home and when I was 6 months pregnant, we found her, a Mercedes 811D.

Me and my partner build the inside from scratch, neither one of us having any idea what we were doing. We just knew that we had to, so with sheer determination, we built our first home. We equipped her with 2x 100 watt solar panels, one massive battery and an inverter, we were ready for the road. We moved around, mostly in Co. Cork and up the West coast and into the Midlands. Ireland is a beautiful country and we wanted to explore more of it. We loved the fact that one day our garden was the forest and the next it was the sea.

My daughter really got to explore nature, and even though I was born and brought up in Ireland I never felt more connected with the land. We really were so much more aware of the seasons, being outdoor everyday, gathering wood for our fire, leaves to use as liter in our compost toilet and foraging for wild greens.

We lived our lives to the fullest and then I got pregnant again. Another amazing being was coming into our lives. She was born next to our bus in a bell tent. We were parked up very close to the sea and during the earlier stages of her birth I got to walk along the beach, listening to the waves. The sea really helped sing my second daughter into the world.

6 weeks later we took the ferry to France to visit my partners family. Being nomadic was alot easier over there. In Ireland, we found that people were sometimes quiet suspicious about us and how we lived. It had been getting harder to find places to park up. There was also alot of barriers in place, especially at beaches and national parks, trying to put a stop to the Irish travellers lifestyle .Andthen there was the damp, try drying cloth nappies in Ireland over a small pot belly stove, 9 months out of 12.

We spend a total of 2 and a half years living in our bus in Ireland. But after that 7 week trip to France we decided it would be better to be over there. So after returning to Ireland for a few months we left, a family now of 4, with our dog and our Home.

To be continued...........

All the photos are mine.

Here are some links to some of my other articles:

NOW IS THE TIME TO RISE UP!

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REACHING OUT TO PARENTS

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WHAT IS MY VALUE NOW THAT I AM A MOTHER?

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