Nomad or Wanderer 1

When I think of nomadic life I think of people, like a group, who know what they want and move around to obtain it. Wandering, on the other hand, seems more intrinsic, without direct purpose, and solitary (mostly).

If pushed to answer why I move around constantly, like for literally my entire life, I'd be unable to give a specific answer. Of course, in hindsight, I can see why I moved to certain places. But there's never been any sort of focus on the result (or cause, for that matter) that's driven the movement. Sure, I can give practical answers when asked by regular people, so I don't sound crazy. "It's too hot, too cold, too big of a city, too small, too little diversity, too little culture, too many rich white folks, too little interest in history, too flat, too redneck, too conservative, too liberal" Those are reasons to leave a place, of course. The reasons to go to a place are nearly the same - culture, diversity, history, etc. (remember, these are publicly acceptable answers I give when asked). When pressed to come up with the true, raw reasons, I usually cannot. How does one explain why packing up and leaving a comfortable setting is right for him? Isn't that a gauge of "success" - to be settled and comfortable?

I recently purchased a "guide book" that someone has spent over 30 years writing. It came in the mail today, wrapped in brown grocery bag paper. It only comes in homemade paper form and there's no website or clear directions on exactly how to obtain this book. The fact that it took 30 years to write isn't the neat thing to me (though it's definitely cool). It's the experience he lived to gather the information first hand and be able to record it. The second I learned of the guide book, I thought of one of my favorite pieces of writing, the Lewis and Clark Journals. The comparison is a little heady, at first thought, but when you think of one guy on a motorcycle winding his way all over (and I mean all over) Mexico and Central America alone and having the presence of mind and desire to record practical details of it, you begin to see more than just a slight resemblance to the Lewis and Clark journals.

His "lifetime" gathering of information and deep desire to share it, albeit in a rudimentary manner, is impressive to me. I love passion in people, especially people who place themselves in difficult situations to live their passion. I'm guilty of romanticizing certain lifestyles that recall the past, hardships, exploration of the mind and the unknown. I think we all do that to certain degrees. Why else do we place such social media value on people living "on the edge" - climbing mountains, living in the woods, seemingly living minimally? If one is doing those things, why the need to share it with Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram? And why share it, especially, if there's really nothing of value given to the audience other than a photo or a "look at us" message?

This guy, who spent over 30 years gathering information, obviously didn't do it for accolades or any other pats on the back. He's steadfast against overtly promoting his guidebook and yet it's so obvious that he takes great pride in every word of it. I'm grateful for people like him and it gives me hope that there is more to daily life than being settled and comfortable. Being stationary is fine but at least be creative and unique.