I met Cez, virtually, by responding to a twitter mention about his business, bloginstallations.com. However, not only does he provide great services for my WordPress website, but he has also proven to be a kindred spirit. Cez is a wonderful representation of a young modern-day freedom lover. In the old days, he might have had the gumption to travel west in a covered wagon in search of adventure and opportunities. Nowadays, he travels east to beautiful locations and is managing a creative lifestyle that is at once inspiring and interesting. Hope that you enjoy this interview.
1. How did you end up leading a nomadic lifestyle?
Cez in China
I never realized that I have it in my blood. Although, I moved homes several times in my life and never got too attached to one place, I never felt the need to travel. It all started in December 2011, when I quit my job and gave up everything I owned. I embarked on a journey of a lifetime with pretty much nothing apart from smile and a belief that nothing is impossible. Up to now it proves to be true and I hope it will stay this way.
2. Where have you been? Where are you going?
As soon as I left the UK, where I lived for over 6 years before I started my journey, I went to Poland, my home country. I needed one month to spend with family. You know, there’s a feeling you may never return when travelling to the other side of the world. Poland was also a place where I tried long-distance hitchhiking for the first time in my life (I travelled the full length of Poland from south to north). The initial plan was to do it around the world, but I soon realized that I need more freedom.
Since then I have been to Vietnam, China, Tibet, Cambodia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, but the list is growing fast. The highlight of my journey is the cycling adventure all the way from north to south of Vietnam, only 2500 km in 54 days. That’s the level of freedom I was happy with. Plus, we (me and Agness) managed to do it for less than $20 a day in total.
3. How do you support yourself?
I work very hard, together with Agness – my best friend, to contribute to travel bloggers’ communities. Apart from the many joys it supports our travels. Most of my income comes from assistance I offer with self-hosted WordPress websites of fellow bloggers. Installation, migration and management are only some of the things I do through the website dedicated to my services - bloginstallations.com.
Also, we had a motto, “slowly, but surely around the world”, which emphasised that we stay in each country long enough to fully appreciate its uniqueness. While we stayed, we usually worked and saved for further adventures. This included being a teacher in China, or having a web design company in Cambodia. Now our blog,etramping.com, is more about travelling on the cheap. We want to prove that this is possible to travel around the world for $25 a day or less. I’d say that everyone who dreams of doing it, too, should subscribe to our posts. There’s a lot of experience we have gathered now in this area and we want to share it all.
4. Tell us about a few of your favorite places?
I can write them all down, but I’m worried this interview would change into a book. Let me tell you more about ZhangJiaJie in China as my most favourite place of all time.
ZhangJiaJie is located in Hunan Province and is usually overlooked by travellers visiting China. It’s a real shame because I doubt there’s another such place in the world. If you remember Avatar movie, an American blockbuster, well this place looks like floating mountains from far away fantastic Pandora. In real life mountains do not float, but with a little bit of mist they look like they do. There’s even a balcony-kind-of-sidewalk on a 800 meter high vertical cliff. Personally, I nearly had a heart attack when I fell through a hole. Fortunately, it was too small for me, only large enough for half of my leg. It ended with some scratches, but no fatality. (hence I can answer this interview).
5. What do you see yourself doing in 5 years?
I think that’s the hardest question you could ask a traveller. If you asked me 2 years ago I would have a solid answer. Time proves I would have been wrong. Now, I’d say for certain that I will do what I love, whatever it will be.
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Great interview. Helping people with blog installation is such a great, portable job. After traveling for almost 5 years myself, the only thing I see changing is that I don’t want to move around as much. I’m staying in places for longer periods and revisiting some favorites instead of adding a new place in.
It is fun to see young people having the cour
age to do what Cez is doing!
Hey Teresa,
Thank you for interviewing me and your continuous support.
I think your story and your book, especially the latest one, show other people that this is possible. Even very young can see that there’s no longer a need to stay in their home towns to earn the living.At the same time it’s so much more fun out there in the world.
Hope that your efforts will get more followers and more people will turn to creative paths to freedom as a way to live life.
Thanks,
Cez
Hey Connie,
Thank you for your kind words and sorry for a late reply. I somewhat got buried in many different projects and somewhat lost track. Nevertheless, this should not be an excuse, so I’m sorry.
Wow, your story is amazing. I can see that you not only travel continuously, but also help others do the same. Very impressive!
Yes, this job is great for me, not only I love it, but also it doesn’t require me to stay in one place.
I also found out quickly that moving fast does not pay off. It’s way more interesting and the countries look different after a while.
Thanks and happy travels,
Cez