BootsnAll Travel Community

I find myself roaming the boards and reading the travelogues, day dreaming about the day when I too will venture out for months with no end. But why is this desire? Why do i feel at times like there's enough of 'us' that are constantly on the traveller's tracks, and sometimes reading the boards here it feels like we're a small minority facing this urge to leave everything behind and become nomads? I sit at work (which so happens that's where I am right now when I should be working) and scream (inside) about just dropping everything and going!

Maybe it is the simple fact that the"puritan work ethic",our parents brainwashed us into believing. Is actually a lie that enslaves us to the EVIL of meaningless corporate drudgery!!

BIG-TARGET: Do not think you are,know you are!!"-Morpheus(The Matrix)

I think that people in the workforce at this point in time are basically being whipsawed between three trends/mindsets.

First, we've been steeped in an essentially protestant/puritan work ethic -- your self-worth is measured as a function of your ability to support yourself/your family, to live well and keep up with the Joneses, and to (to a certain extent) accumulate cool material goods (damn those iPods). Plus you've got the influence of anyone within 2 or so generation of the Depression -- work doesn't have to be interesting -- it's just got to feed you - you've got your personal life for the interesting parts.

Second, we're caught up in this incredible focus on increased corporate productivity, which has many people doing jobs that in the past generations would have been divided between two or even three people - encroaching deeply into free time and personal life.

Third, you've got the influence of the philsophy of the 60s (or thereabouts) that basically tells you that if work is a defining characteristic of your life, you'd better be doing something that's personally meaningful or at least aligned with your personal interests.

Getting caught between the three (esp. the productivity trend) leaves you in a sort of pyschologically untenable position. So the answer is to drop out and re-set for a bit. And then re-enter (or not) the workforce on your own terms.

Personally, I think long term travel is great way to refocus your life, disconnect at least temporarily from many of the bad aspects of US (or Western culture), such as materialism, media saturation, etc., and reconnect with your own values. Then you can choose to jump back into the rat race, but on your terms -- because you know what the cheese really is.

For me, when I'm traveling I feel more alive, therefore, like a drug, I seek that feeling on a regular basis.

Going to a new place presents challenges, and in so doing it creates an atmosphere for growth in all aspects of being (mental, physical, emotional and spiritual).

In essence, I'm a druggie always seeking the next fix.

_____________________________
Cleverly Disguised as a Responsible Adult.

Travelling is just addictive to me..like Chey said, like a drug.

Since I first left the country, I've opened my mind so much. I have a strong desire to learn about different people, cultures, and countries; and to be challenged - how to get by, can I speak the language well enough, what if I can't. I have learned so much by travelling and meeting people that can't be conveyed in any textbook.

I always want to leave..it never stops. I think of what I do at home..work, school, watch too much TV, commute, work, school, etc...it gets old fast. I like to travel sans TV, and have a new adventure every day. It keeps you on your toes.

*sigh* I want to leave now!

Marisa

http://www.geocities.com/mumsawas

For me, it's simple. The familiar is a comfort to most. For those with a nomadic spirit, the familiar is boring and boredom is a type of death. Therefore, we wander to stay alive emotionally and spiritualy.

and I, I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.

R.F.

The Austrailians have it right. Work is just a means to the celebration of life. I figure thats why a lot more backpackers are from Australia and Europe.

Wandering Atty, youve got it down. The trends of the culture seem to be a huge influence. Many people feel that a 30 year career with a retirement check is a great accomplishment.

If you say so.

Davin Bowerman,
Your average vagabond, anthropologist, philosopher on a snowboard. Take it easy.

The 9-5 just does'nt cut it anymore...WanderingAtty said something about proving your selfworth through work...that is so true...i think we have forgotten there is so much more out there..

I think we are doing it because we have more choices than the previous generations...they might have had the urge to do so too but maybe not the means..i think today we have those..

not sure why I want to do it...maybe to calm the restlessness..something has to cure that..maybe some long term travel will.

Two words:

Perspective
and
Appreciation

By traveling to other places I get to experience how other people see the world and interact both with it with each other while living in it. This is very basic... What do they think of cats and dogs? Marriage? Death? How do they treat a guest in their house? What is important to them? What do they consider food? What gender roles exist for men and women?

Everyone grows up to think a certain way about the world. It is not brainwashing, mind control, wrong, or bad. It is culture. It is ever changing. Every one has it and there is no way to escape it. One is not better than another. They are simply different.

Through travel, whether it be two states over or half-way around the world, I get to meet new people and learn about their culture. I get to learn how they go about navigating through all the aspects of life that everyone on earth faces during their lifetime. I get to see their perspective.

With an open, hopefully non-judgemental, (Lets be honest, it is hard sometimes and we do not always suceed at it.) mind I can learn to appreciate their culture and also develope a greater appreciation for my own culture.

And without a doubt, EVERYONE could use a little more understanding these days when it comes to other people in the world.

Archaeology is the lucky branch of science,
we get to become part of what we have always loved,
the archaeological record.

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Travelling is just addictive to me..like Chey said, like a drug

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And once you're hooked it's a slippery slope. I often worry that I will never get to visit all the places that I want to. And if I do, I want to go back to all the places that I have enjoyed. And those places that I didn't like (such as Las Vegas) I feel I should give another chance.

I wish I was rich just once.

Jon.

Boat Drinks

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I wish I was rich just once.

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Well Jon, now if you would only stop wasting your money on frivilous things like traveling, we could remedy that couldn't we?

We're all rich with time, and thats really all we need.

I'm not lazy. I'm just not motivated by money.

I agree with the point of perspective. I agree with the "Australian" ideal that work is just so you can live. I don't agree that it's all about seeing how different people spend their lives.

After every trip, I come away with the sense that most everybody has the same attachment to family and building a better life as everybody else. People in far flun parts of the world can make themselves happy just sitting out on a stoop and watching (a very very small portion of the)world go by.

Why can't I do that? Why can't you? I think that, different from not wanting to get caught in the "drudgery" or the "puritan work ethic" there is just something more that we have to see. Chey is the closest, in my mind. It's all about deciding on new challenges. I have no urge to "challenge" myself to get that promotion or that new car.

Robert Frost's poem, The Road Not Taken, is sort of a funny aside Both paths were the same, one maybe had slightly more wear. But time had worn them "really about the same"

I prefer to think of my travels along the lines of Frost's "Stopping by a Wood..." A person, travelling alone, with just a horse for company, sees something that makes him stop and appreciate. No strong intent, but a willingness to see something that probably others would just ride by and appreciate it for it's beauty.

Most times I intentionally go someplace to see some wonder, I come away dissappointed. But in taking a random turn down a random street, often times I see something that makes me say: "Shit man, now there's something you don't see everyday." That's why I travel, for the small moments that are unexpected and that no one else gets.

Okay, that and the stories I get to tell later.

D

PS. This probably makes not one ounce of sense. Sorry

Okay...Where next...?

Since August last year (when I made a theatrical announcement at a party), I've been telling everyone that has ears to listen, that I'm selling my house and using the money to fund my dream of travelling the world - indefinately. Their response is 'aren't you brave!' I don't see it that way, I think I'd be braver to stay, same old job, same old house (with mortgage), same very old car. The prospect of working at least another 10 years (or maybe even 15 - heck, I've just given my age away!) then maybe to be told 'the pension pot is empty, work for another 10 years' scares me ****less! If I have to come back eventually and do a few more years work, so be it, at least I'll have had a good time travelling.
So I've burnt my boats now, the house is sold, the contents of my loft are on eBay and the backpack is bought.
The world will have to wait for the background to my decision, it's the preface to my first bestseller!!

Have nothing other than this: Hello Shannagh. Welcome aboard. Nice to meet you. Hope you like the place. Want some tea?

D

Okay...Where next...?

shannagh:

sorry to disagree with you strickly on your point, but confort and apathy with one's life isn't being brave. *YOU* are brave because you are pursuing your dreams. "travelling around the world" is an easily identifiable 'dream element'. There's obstacles that are also relatable in the pursuit of this objective - relationships that one must abandon, finances one must take care of, leaving everything that you know behind and set into the unknown.

Not that philosophically speaking any of this might be related to braveness. It's brave to get into a relationship, buy a house (and making all the commitments involving in being able to pay for it, _raise a family_, and the responsabilities. But, maybe that's what happiness is about for those people. My mom doesn't care to travel anymore. And,when I say I want to, she says 'haven't you travelled enough?'(I've been a 3-4 countries). Her idea of happiness is to tend to her home. Works fine for her, who am I to judge it in terms of braveness?

One could even argue that because those of us who want to wander around without many strings attached, we're being less brave, running away from a life that we can't or care to deal with...

Just food for thought. Promotes understanding.

Rogerio!!
Thanks for your thoughts honey, you are a year older than my daughter and it’s great to have the perspective of her generation, she’s a home bird and when she found out my plans (I was rather secretive, she’s heard me saying this for years!)she said “can I have your bike?”

You have a very good point, I am being brave pursuing my dream, by their own admission, many people just wouldn’t do it, they admit/submit to apathy! You’re right about something else too – the running away bit – quite right, I don’t want to deal with lots of things and I’m under no illusions that I may be exchanging one set of problems for another.

As for the other stuff - relationship, family, responsibilities, tending to my home (more importantly my beautiful garden which has taken me 25 years to develop) – well, done that, been there and I could procrastinate for ever. My own mother is quite elderly and lives alone, but I hope and pray that she’ll stay that way for a bit longer as I’ll probably have to high-tail it back when she needs me. In fact, she’s a bit like your own mom and doesn’t care to travel any longer well, maybe one last trip to Australia, (which will make it 3) this time flying1st class.

Perhaps your mom wants you to settle down, raise a family, etc., after all, it’s worked for her – or has it? Maybe she’ll get the travel bug again………..

I was raised traveling, so maybe that's what gives me my perspective... both my parents still have the travel bug, so it's been ingrained since birth (Most of my earliest memories are of their bike trip around Europe with me in a bike seat Interesting bit of info, my roommate's theory is that it's genetic... that some people are predisposed to wander and some to stay home, I think it's more personality and the way you're raised... makes for good discussions

Anyways, I love traveling foremost for the utter freedom it provides (I tend to shy away from any sort of planning and wing it all) and nearly as much for the exposure to everything new and different, new cultures, people, locales, architecture, etc... even things you don't tend to think about, like a new night sky

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One could even argue that because those of us who want to wander around without many strings attached, we're being less brave, running away from a life that we can't or care to deal with...

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I definitely agree... it's easier and is sort of running away. I've always noticed the huge change before I begin a trip, getting rid of anything that doesn't fit in my pack and getting ready to leave everything behind. Even before leaving it changes my perceptions... makes me realize that I'm not tied down to anything, friends and family will always be there (and easy to keep up with in any area with internet access It brings back the feeling that I don't have to stay where I am and really can go anywhere in the world and that it doesn't matter where I settle for a little while before the next trip. It all just seems simpler and easier, and provides this amazing feeling of clarity (Yeap, it is a drug It's also leaving behind any hassles from home, and yes, exchanging them for new ones (like where to sleep for the night , but as long as I've got my tent with me, it's no problem...

Anyways, there's what I've figured out so far... more depth to come as I find more and more of myself on the road

-Tim

What a neat topic! This is my second post here, and I was thinking about this last night after I applied to join. I would have rather lurked for a bit to get a feel for the board before posting, but this one got me...

I personally have always and instinctively been curious about other places. Grew up in the flat midwest, and remember meeting cousins from California as a kid and being in awe of them because they were from a place that seemed cooler than mine.

So, for me, I think its a need to see what else is going on. Some of the stuff mentioned above -- the BS of corporate culture and so on -- have reinforced that notion.

why the urge to leave?

every morning i wake up i know what is going to happen. that, in itself, is depressing.