image courtesy of striatic

Jim, of live.work.dream., wrote a great story about what it’s like to find a good place to get a haircut while traveling full time. [Note of warning: If the word “fuck” offends you, maybe you should skip it (and seek help ASAP). Just know that you are missing a really great story and a good laugh.]

Jim brings up a good point. There are some basic day-to-day routines in our normal, stationary lives that are easy to take for granted. It becomes very clear when you are on the road full time, however, exactly how difficult it can be to perform those necessary routines while moving around from place to place. Getting a haircut is one of those things.

What if you could have a hairstyle that didn’t require constant maintenance, though? A hairstyle that saves you stress, time, and - most importantly - money while traveling full time?Dreadlocks will do just that.

I have had dreadlocks now for eight months. While still considered to be “babies”, they are quite lovely and I am quite fond of them. In that short amount of time, I have noticed quite a few differences in my day-to-day hair routines now compared to when I had “normal” hair. I’ll list some of those differences and point out how having dreads has already saved me stress, time, and money.

Pre-dreads, this is what my hair routine consisted of on a regular basis.

I had an arsenal of products that I required in order to do my hair: various kinds of shampoos, conditioners, gels, sprays, hair brushes, curlers, hair dryer, and accessories. It would take me at least 15-20 minutes every day to get my hair looking halfway decent, and I still hated it. I had to wash it every.single.day. I couldn’t walk out the door without rushing to the bathroom to make sure my hair looked ok. I could never just roll out of bed and walk out the door. Every six weeks I needed a haircut. Every eight to ten weeks I needed a color to cover up the gray hairs that have been invading my head since I was 15.

Post-dreads, this is now what my hair routine consists of .

I only require a bar of natural soap or a bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap to wash my hair. I only wash my hair once a week. Every two to three weeks I do a deep cleaning of my hair and scalp using common ingredients found in the kitchen: baking soda, lemon juice, sea salt, and tea tree oil. My hair air dries, thus eliminating the hair dryer. I no longer require hair cuts at all. And it seems that I can go eight months before growing tired of seeing the multitude of gray hairs. I can roll out of bed and walk out the front door without thinking twice. When it’s time to go somewhere, I don’t have to make sure my hair looks ok first. And for the first time in my life, I actually love my hair.

When we finally get our bus and start traveling full time, I like knowing that a little thing like having dreadlocks will help eliminate stress in our lives, save time when doing things on a daily basis, and end up saving us money. The only thing I will regret, I think, is never having an awesome story, like Jim’s, to tell about finding that perfect place to get a haircut.

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An aside: I feel it necessary to state that “saving money” is only a benefit of having dreadlocks that I came to realize after reading Jim’s entry. In no way was that the purpose or reason for me getting them in the first place. If you are interested in that story, let me know and maybe I’ll write a post about it one day soon.