Occasionally about what it is like.

If this is the path you choose, though, then you are going to have to find someone who is also committed to a lifestyle and relationship (and possibly even an eventual family) that is anything but traditional.

  • You both want to travel? Great, you might not always be living in the same city (let alone country.)
  • You need to take 2 weeks to lock yourself in a room and code and write til your fingers bleed? They’ll slip coffee/tea/RedBull/Modafinil through a hole in the door to keep you going.
  • Lose a massive investment or miscalculate a trajectory? They’re there to offer a comforting hug and assurance that they believe in you and that you’ll be able to bounce back.
  • Need to downsize to a near-hobo existence? Sweet, they’re willing to figure out a car-sharing schedule and will learn to love the rice noodle ramen soup you have grown accustomed to.

Sure, we have a shorter lifespan on our reproductive clocks, but that’s not a reason for panicking and throwing our hands up in frustrated terror that we’ll never have what we desperately crave. In fact, that sounds like a most terrible idea, I’m sure you’d agree. This path is laced with a lifestyle of non-traditionalities, relationships and families are just part of that. I know a number of couples I’ve met on the road that make it work, many who are in their 30’s and 40’s, and a bunch with families or plans to start them soon. It is possible, but it isn’t anything like how we’ve been raised to believe “it’s supposed to be.”