I’m a traveler and I grew up with 7 strict rules – sleepovers were a no go
A travelling girl has revealed the strict rules she grew up with, from not being allowed to stay overnight to not having boyfriends.
Zoey Pon, who left school at 13, explained that she grew up in a traveler community and was therefore not allowed to have a phone or drink alcohol.
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In addition, the young woman claimed that she was not appreciated when she had contact with people outside her community.
The Irish traveler shared a glimpse into her childhood on social media, which left many surprised.
In a short clip shared online, the gypsy girl responded to a comment that read: “Can someone explain what a traveller is?”
At this point, the curly-haired beauty revealed everything, as she said: “So basically a traveler: our girls are allowed to go to school around the age of 10, 11, the boys don’t go to school.
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“The women stay home cleaning and cooking, the men go out to work, and so the men are actually taking care of the women’s needs.”
Zoey acknowledged that travelers “travel a lot” and experience a lot of discrimination that “rural residents” don’t experience.
Furthermore, she explained that phones are also not allowed at a young age.
And if that wasn’t enough, Zoey also opened up about the strict rules when it comes to dating.
She continued, “And we weren’t allowed to have a boyfriend until we actually had a future “My husband actually comes to the door to ask for us, but beyond that you’re not allowed to have a boyfriend.”
Zoe also claimed that travelers are not allowed to smoke or drink until they are married.
She also explained that there was caution about mixing with non-travelers, saying: “When we were younger, we weren’t allowed to mix with certain people.”
Finally, the content creator shared the general activity that was prohibited in her community.
Facts about Gypsy and Traveller communities
Normally, the term Gypsies is used for the Roma people who migrated to Europe from India, while the term Traveller refers to a person of Irish, Scottish or English ancestry.
It is estimated that there are around 300,000 Gypsies, Roma and Irish Travellers living in the UK.
All three groups live nomadically, but as it becomes increasingly difficult to find land to live on, many are moving to permanent housing.
They value family life highly and often continue to live close to each other even after they grow up and get married.
Often it is the men who take care of the family, while the women stay at home.
While many English gypsy girls are allowed to drink alcohol and go on holiday with their girlfriends before they get married, this is not the case for their Irish gypsy girls.
She concluded: “And we weren’t allowed to have sleepovers or anything like that, that was out of the question. That didn’t happen.”
The TikTok clip, which was posted under the username @zoey_ponhas clearly caused quite a stir, as it quickly amassed over 26,000 views.
In addition, Zoe previously revealed the strict rules she has for her caravan.
The young woman explained that she does not allow dirty feet in her caravan and that guests must therefore wash their feet before entering.
Furthermore, Zoey, who doesn’t cook at home, claimed that eating and drinking in her home is forbidden.
She said she does this because she doesn’t want her house to get ‘dirty’ and then have food smells lingering.
