Photo credit: www.nomadicmatt.com
Why I’m Choosing a Nomadic Life Over Traditional Expectations
When I began my journey into travel, I often faced questions from my dad about what I might be escaping. Similarly, onlookers would suggest that I confront life’s realities rather than evade them. The sentiment seemed to be that anyone eschewing stable employment for extended travel must be running from their own issues.
For the long-term traveler, society’s perception often leans toward seeing them as avoiding adult responsibilities or being akin to Peter Pan. The broader cultural view favors short-term travel, suggesting it’s something to be done and then set aside, much like a temporary indulgence.
Our shared understanding implies that embracing a nomadic lifestyle is synonymous with shirking responsibilities. Yet, this stereotype fails to capture the essence of why people pursue such a path. To those who claim I’m running away, I acknowledge they’re partially correct. But rather than fleeing from problems, I’m seeking something more profound.
My travels are a deliberate choice to sidestep a conventional life path filled with routines and societal expectations. I travel toward discovery—new places, diverse cultures, and my own version of happiness. The goal isn’t to evade life but to encounter it fully on my terms.
Many embrace the nomadic lifestyle not out of trauma but from a desire to savor life’s richness beyond the corporate grind. They step away from routine to experience world cultures and forge an authentic life dictated by personal happiness instead of conformity.
The American dream often paints a narrow life journey, one where exploration takes a backseat to career stability until retirement. I diverge from this narrative, embracing the freedom to carve a different path. Society’s template of normalcy leaves little room for deviation without judgment.
In an era facilitated by social media and remote working trends, the idea of continuous travel grows more mainstream, yet it remains viewed as unconventional. I chose to leap from societal norms not from rebellion, but for the intrinsic value of living life uninhibited by convention.
The notion that long-term travelers are escaping life needs rethinking. Instead, they’re opting into a broader experience, questioning and defining what an ideal life looks like.
This aspiration and the influence of others who tread this path inspired my departure from conventionality. I ask myself, “Why not me?” as I step toward a personally defined normalcy where the journey, not constraint, is central.
I am, indeed, running—but not away. I’m running forward into a life of my own design, continuously chasing new horizons without the intent of ever looking back.
Source
www.nomadicmatt.com