I come from a gypsy / travelling family AMA

[TowerTumble]

I have name changed for this. I see so much misconception and ignorance around the travelling community and towards families like mine. I've started an AMA so if you have any questions to try and stop this misconception I'll answer everything I can!

How do you earn money? Is it all cash in hand?

Do you pay income tax? Or national insurance?

How large is that community now and do they still travel ? Or is it predominantly static caravans ? And if so why is living in one important?
I ask because there are proposals to put in a site near where I live and I was surprised that half the site is for static caravans and I wondered what the appeal was over a standard home (forgive ignorance on this !)

Do you call everyone Boss?

Is the actually travelling part of your community travelling in UK only, or goes/went beyond the borders?

Good luck OP, genuinely.

I'm a gypsy and I've realised that a large amount of people on here absolutely hate us and think it's fine to be disgustingly discriminatory.

This is a common misconception. I work full time as a data analyst, contributing like everybody else does. So does everybody in my immediate family

Whats your favourite thing about being part of the travelling community?
How do you keep your cool in the face of ignorance and prejudice?

Do you have any favourite cultural dishes you like to have for dinner? Or breakfast or lunch.

I'm hungry.

The vast majority in my community are settled in a mix of houses and static caravans. People on the community can prefer to live in caravans for practical reasons if they do live on the road but it's a minority. The other reason is for culture and work. Many travellers have seasonal work and move about due to this. Maintaining cultural identity is important

No because not everyone is my boss. Do you?

The vast majority tend to stay in the UK. We do go on holiday but tend to holiday in the more conventional methods than taking our homes abroad.

A gypsy sold me lucky Heather yesterday and gave me crystals for a note. I gave her £2. She gave me a brief prediction. So many gypsies still do this? Are they genuine?

It's horrible isn't it. There's a thread running at the moment with racist comments about travellers. I've reported the comments but they still stand unfortunately

What is your favourite flavour crisp?

Do you speak Romany or the traveller language?

What is your favourite thing about your culture?

It was probably a European Romani gypsy. I come from the Irish travelling community.
A lot of European Romani gypsies sell things like bracelets, crystals and flowers in the street. They can be pushy and hand it to you free of charge and then demand money. I would steer clear of anyone who did this as they can scam people

McCoys steak ridge crisps

How old were you when you got married (if you are) and was this arranged for you.

She was definitely English. There’s a big traveller community (houses and caravans) not far away.

No, I'm not a Romani gypsy. There are words in our culture that we tend to say which settled people don't. But my first language is English

Oh I love these!

The ones who live near me tend to pull their kids out of school around secondary age. So they aren’t getting a great education. How did you become a data analyst- I’m assuming your family was different?

She could still be a romani gypsy even if she didn't have an accent or look European

How do you view gipsies who live in houses and marry out? I knew a woman who did this when I was younger, she had 4 boys. I got the feeling she was quite pleased to be free from that culture but never asked her about it. She’s now happily living in Devon with a couple of buy to lets.