Mini Farm Living + World Travel: an unlikely pair
My two passions.
Horses have been in my life since before I was even born (ya know, my mom was riding with me in the womb).
My Mom & I on our horse Copper and my Dad and brother, Landon, on our horse Gale
Travel runs through my veins just as strong. My Dad is Air Force turned commercial airline pilot and I’ve been traveling since I was just a youngster.
I never really thought about how difficult it can be to keep a balance between these two loves of mine until I actually started doing it.
Anyone with animals knows how hard it can be leaving them behind, but if you love to travel like I do or have another passion that takes you away from home you have to learn how.
Finding a good caretaker is THE most important thing.
We have an excellent caretaker who is such a blessing to us. I trust her with our place and animals 100%. This is what you need to feel in order to be able to go on trips and have peace of mind while you enjoy traveling. There are websites where you can locate someone who does this for a living, or I’d suggest asking around and posting on your local equine groups on facebook. Meet the person and if it doesn’t feel like a good fit, keep looking!
Prepare, prepare, prepare.
You can never be too prepared. Even though we’ve had the same caretaker the entire time we’ve had our mini farm, I still type up instructions for her EVERY TIME. I usually refer back to my original and edit as needed. Don’t expect your caretaker to remember everything between visits and make taking care of your place/animals as easy as possible for them.
For example:
-I have rain coats for the dogs and clean towels at the back door just in case it rains.
-horse feed is pre-portioned into zip lock bags
-depending on the time of year, I have the appropriate blankets/rain sheets/fly sheets in a convenient location along with an equine medical bag of “just in case” supplies
-provide a list of emergency contacts. Of course your farrier & vet, but also 3-5 people who you trust to make a decision on your behalf if you are unavailable
-provide access to your truck/trailer if possible just in case they would need to take your horse to a veterinary clinic
-if you have neighbors who you are close with it’s always helpful to let them know someone else will be at your home while you are gone
The easier you make it for them, the more they will appreciate you and the more likely they will be happy to care for your place/animals in the future.
How to maintain your equestrian lifestyle + travel the world
Horses can be ridiculously expensive, and I understand why in general it can be thought that if you have horses or multiple animals (especially at home) world travel would be a challenge.
Is it easier to travel when you don’t have animals? Of course!
But, it’s still entirely possible to travel even if you have a little zoo like me! We have 2 dogs, 2 horses, and a barn cat. We traveled the world before we had animals, and we’ve traveled the world the entire time since.
The crew prior to losing Malmo (my fluffy black barn cat) unexpectedly & gaining another Australian Shepherd doggo, Hallie
What it really comes down to is what you love to do in life and where your money is going. My husband and I have always had a shared passion for travel, putting it at the top of our priority list.
He’s from Europe and we met one summer in Florida shortly after my 19th birthday. He was on a student work visa, I was going to college, and we were working at the same hotel. When his visa expired at the end of the summer he had to go back to Poland to finish his degree and apply for another visa. I went to visit him twice, by myself. Even though I had plenty of travel experience under my belt, I had never traveled abroad alone. It was one of the best times in my life. I remember selling some jewelry to a pawn shop from an ex-boyfriend to buy my plane tickets (lol).
We got married a year after we met and have been to nearly 40 countries since.
Trail riding in Chile
If you want to know how, keep reading.
We lived in a tiny studio apartment for several years followed by 1 bedroom apartments. Even our home now on our mini farm is a modest 3 bedroom/1.5 bath.
Even with increasing salaries over the years, we’ve always chosen to sacrifice square footage and cost of living to easily fund our travel.
One summer we went to Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Peru. I remember so much about each of those places, but if you asked me what my favorite outfit or tv show was that summer, I couldn’t tell you- because I don’t remember.
San Juan, Puerto Rico
In a village in Costa Rica
Monserrate in Bogota, Colombia
At Machu Picchu in Peru
Having animals, we’ve never wanted to miss out on traveling because of something like an unexpected vet bill. Some things we’ve done and recommend to everyone:
Never live beyond your means
Never live paycheck to paycheck
Never go into debt for a trip (save up for the entire cost, caretaker included. Besides plane tickets and hotel, a good rule of thumb is $100 per day per person)
Always have savings
Always have funds available (separate savings account) for any emergency that could arise with a pet
Now, we’ve added a baby to the mix.
If the world weren’t in chaos over the pandemic and borders closed, we certainly would have continued our world travel plans this year even with a baby under one year old. We will be continuing to travel as soon as possible, but of course this doesn’t fully depend on us.
At the end of the day, just focus on what is important to YOU. Don’t concern yourself with what others have or do or feeling like you need to compete with or impress anyone but yourself. Find a balance between your passions and pursue them whole heartedly.
“Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.” - author unknown
Spending a day at the track in Buenos Aires, Argentina