No big bucks for gypsies
Travelling the country might be a fun way to live, but life as a gypsy isn’t always easy.
They may have the freedom of the open road, but New Zealand’s gypsies don’t follow their lifestyle to make big money.
Merv, of The Gypsy Travellers Fair, which was in Hamilton at the weekend, said the gypsy life was “definitely not a profitable one”.
Selling their wares only pays for part of their living costs, and the gypsies rely on goodwill from various organisations to keep on the move.
“The Gypsy Travellers Fair is a good little group of people,” Merv said.
He has been a gypsy on and off for more than 50 years, leaving to raise his children and to go on missionary trips overseas.
“You have lots of experiences, there’s a certain freedom, you go where you want to go,” he said.
People join the travellers for various reasons, some due to unemployment, the lifestyle and some for social contact.
The Gypsy Travellers Fair features art, crafts, crystals and more. The Hamilton events website will show when it is next in town.
