An Introductory brief to a life on the move
Most people have lives that are monolithic in culture. Some of dual and a few triple. There are some like me who go through four and I've met some that have always been on the move but primarily because they come from a family of diplomats, on-the-go business travellers, military brats or some other that I haven’t met yet.
I've grown up in four different countries excluding about a handful of auxiliary countries where culture for me has some how been embedded into my personality. Being part of this group, I can say — one can only wonder, in a world that is getting more connected — it is only a matter of time that there are more people like me or us. Why? I think its the new culture. And a greater reason for point to point travel (more on this in a later chapter).
But this is not about the science of cultural evolution which I think is fascinating. Instead, its just a bit about what its like to be someone who’s been moving around countries and within the country among different cities and towns. Living on the move is fun as there are both advantages and disadvantages. The benefits are travelling, experiencing original cultures of each geographical region, most importantly the food, then the people (which I think are pretty much similar everywhere), the touristy things (which I think is a bit over-rated these days for most things) but, most importantly the flora, fauna and the indigenous habitat in the wild. You experience what many wish they could, what many dream and end up doing backpacking trips for and gap years.
So whenever you see those friends posting up pictures of places they are traveling, doing that work-travel, volunteering, that gap-year, that backpacking adventure. A wandering nomad gets to experience this throughout his or her lifetime. Yet, the world is so big and an individual can never see and more importantly, experience every place in his or her lifetime, even in this highly connected world we live in today (which makes it seem small). I remember having a discussion with a friend once, who grew up in the south of Paris most of his life, when he showed me Paris. He remember him saying:
I don’t think a person can truly see and experience every facet of this beautiful city in his or her lifetime. It’s just too damn big.
I thought this was very insightful 'cause I never thought of it that way - where experiencing a city include the changes it goes through time. Saying all of this, there are some drawbacks. You never have life long friends like people who've lived their whole life in one (or two) places. You always have to make new friends (which you get good at eventually because you’re forced to adapt). You may not enjoy the loneliness but if you’re like me, you’ll enjoy the loneliness as it is quiet and reflective. Although, if you’re very extroverted then you should not have this issue. And you’ll have the constant repetition of introducing yourself as someone who is a wanderer of nations which you can make it sound exciting when meeting new people or going on dates.
So what’s the big deal about this introductory brief? Well, I want you to know that there are people like this around, and the world is changing in these terms. The future of the human race will be more in the lines like this with travel being more accessible to everyone and eventually quicker for very long distances. Although, it is easy for the human brain to classify people (stereotype), unless you’re smart about it — I would say from my experience (as a wanderer) of being the victim and perpetrator that 99.9% of the time classifications never work but only true at certain moments when you get to know someone well because of the scenario you guys are in which is almost always a funny one, as friends.
Let me finish by saying, being a tourist is cool, being a traveller is awesome but being a wanderer (a person to grows up/lives in multiple — at least two or more — countries) is better. There are drawbacks but the benefits definitely outweigh them. You get a more objective view that a tourist or traveller does not and you’ll always learn.