I’m a traveller – 4 facts you didn’t know, from social event that gives us a ‘bad reputation’ to strict proposal rule
AN IRISH traveller has claimed they can get frowned upon for hanging out with non-travellers.
Zoey Pon, who left school aged 14, took to TikTok to spill the beans about her community and other facts people may not be aware of.
1. Travellers don’t mix with non-travellers
According to the 19-year-old – who makes guests take ”bleach baths” before entering her caravan – the majority of traveller girls won’t be seen mixing with girls outside their community.
Zoey, who insisted this wasn’t out of ”disrespect”, explained that hanging out with anyone else other than travellers would be frowned upon.
”Basically, we get a bad reputation – put it that way,” the woman told her 24k followers in the video, adding that it wasn’t the case if a traveller man was to do the same thing.
2. Traditional traveller gender-roles are changing
Zoey, who previously revealed that sleepovers were also off-limits, admitted there are plenty of former traditions have been dropped throughout the years.
In the past, a traveller woman wouldn’t work or send their kids to school – both of which, she claimed, have since changed.
Not only do a number of traveller children attend primary and secondary school, many women have also entered the workforce.
Someone in the comments shared their experience of this: “I’m a Irish traveller and I went to school got my GCSE’s and went to college got my L2 & L3 Beauty Therapy certificate.
“You can be anything you want to be when you put your mind to it.”
But for Zoey, who admitted to not going to college, or having a job or “working”, she said it was her husband who “goes to work and comes back and provides everything for [me].”
3. Strict rules around drinking, smoking, dating
Before the red-head tied the knot, there were also strict rules her parents had in place for her, such as going to parties or dancing to music at discos.
”Before you’re married, you’re also not allowed to drink, you’re not allowed to smoke and you’re not allowed to have a boyfriend if you’re a certain age – and if you do have a boyfriend, you have to keep it a secret.”
4. Proposal and marriage
When it comes to marriage, Zoey, who got married when she was 18-years-old, said there’s only one condition; the man has to be old enough to ask for the parents permission.
There is no set time frame for how long the boy and girl have to have known each other for, or been dating, before a hand in marriage can be asked.
Zoey said: “Everybody’s different, but a boy and girl [can be dating] three, four weeks, and he just goes up and asks for her [hand in marriage]. ‘Can I marry your daughter?’ And in a week they could be married.
“Then there’s more boys and girls that could wait a couple of years, just like non-travellers. [They want to] get to know each other.”
The TikTok clip has clearly left many open-mouthed, as it has quickly amassed over 39,000 views.
But this is not the first time the Irish traveller has spilled the beans about her community and the strict rules in her caravan.
As well as making sure guests wash their feet before entering her home, Zoey said that eating and drinking in her home is forbidden – and she doesn’t cook inside either.
The young woman shared that this is because she doesn’t want to make her caravan “dirty” or have food smells lingering around afterwards.
Facts on gypsy and traveller communities
Typically, gypsies is a term used to describe Romani people who migrated to Europe from India while traveller refers to a person with either Irish, Scottish or English heritage.
Around 300,000 Gypsy, Roma and Irish travellers are thought to live in the UK.
All three groups come from nomadic ways of life, however, as it is increasingly difficult to find land to live on, many are moving into permanent housing.
They place high value on family life and often live close together even after reaching adult years and getting married.
Often the men are the breadwinners of the family while the women stay home.
While many English gypsy girls are allowed to drink alcohol and go on holiday with their friends before they get married, their Irish counterparts are not.
”You’re not allowed to eat in my caravan, you’re not allowed to drink and even if it’s raining, you have to go stay under the umbrella and eat your food.”
Once you have gained her permission to go inside, you won’t be able to relax on any of the sofas, the woman revealed.
”You have to sit on the floor,” explained Zoey who was fearing the guests would make the furniture ”dirty”.