What are your dreams for a life off the beaten path?

I’m so excited to have just finished recording the latest podcast in the 20×20 Your Money Or Your Life series.

I’m interviewing someone who nurtured a dream of an off-the-beaten path life for 12 years…and has finally made it happen.

I’ll be sharing it next week so do sign up to the series if you’d like to hear it:
www.cowsfrommywindow.com/masteringmoney

But in the meantime, I’d love to know what YOUR dreams are.

- forest ranger?
- delicatessen owner?
- spy? (well, why not!)
- horse whisperer?
- counsellor?
- nutritonist?
- author?
- shoe designer?
- conservationist?

Whatever it is, I bet you’ve found a million reasons why it’s just not sensible.

But the fact is that these ways of life exist. Other people are living your dream right now.

Even the most quirky ideas can be made into profitable ventures. Just look at the huge trend for glamping - luxury camping - featuring stays in tipis, yurts and “ecopods”:

http://goglamping.net/united-kingdom/ecopod-boutique-retreat-argyll/

If other people can make a success out of a dream that isn’t sensible, why not you?

I think the real issue isn’t the viability of the idea per se, but our faith in our ability to pull it off.

I don’t want to be glib. It’s easy to say that whatever your dream, you can find a way to make it happen and I do believe that in the vast majority of cases that’s true.

But let’s look at that unspoken fear. After all, life can be brutal. You might indeed find you just don’t have the talent, or meet the necessary requirements.

Let me show you why, even if that proves to be the case, it still doesn’t matter. I’ll use every boy’s one-time dream - being an astronaut - as an example.

Here’s something I pulled off the internet :

Astronaut requirements

1. Bachelor’s degree (engineering, biological sciences, physical sciences, mathematics) from an accredited college or university
2. Three years of related experience - A master’s degree equals one year of experience, and a doctorate equals three years.
3. Passing a NASA space physical examination
4. More than 1,000 hours experience as pilot-in-command of a jet aircraft (pilots only)
5. Height of 64 to 76 inches (162.5 cm to 193 cm) for pilots

If you’re very short, not in top health or not sufficiently academic, you can wish all you like but it doesn’t look like you’re going to make it as an astronaut.

Which would you rather do:

- Squash that dream and do something sensible instead. With the unrealised dream remaining as an undercurrent “what if?” throughout your life.

- Go for the dream, and even if you miss it, have a ball getting a close to it as you can.

It’s a great truism that if you shoot for the moon, even if you miss you will land amongst the stars.

With approach 1, you’re maybe an estate agent (no disrespect intended to any estate agents reading this).

With approach 2, you’re NASA ground crew. You have a job where every day you are right at the heart of innovation in space travel.

Back to your dreams…

I love this quote by Carrie Fisher’s character in When Harry Met Sally (just substitute the man for the life you’d like ).

All I’m saying is that somewhere out there is the man you are supposed to marry. And if you don’t get him first, somebody else will, and you’ll have to spend the rest of your life knowing that somebody else is married to your husband

How about putting a small stake in the ground now….please comment below to share your unsensible off-the-beaten path dream!

I’ll start with an unrealised one of my own:
Spending every late summer/early autumn writing and relaxing in a log cabin in Canada….very On Golden Pond.

Over to you….