Discussion: The Urban Nomad
Readers,
When I had been discussing the idea of spending more time away from the home a few months back, that was really just a part of a larger concept I had been thinking about for some time now: the idea of living as an urban nomad. Now I'm not talking about living off of handouts and scavenging in dumpsters, but about the idea of living without a permanent home and being an "urban nomad." If you've ever felt the pull of wanderlust, but don't want to live the life of the typical homeless person, perhaps there is a workaround.
Since 2002, I have moved approximately seven times, and when it comes to securing a place to live, transporting posessions, and staking out the resources in one's community has been a challenge. This isn't as bas as others I've known, and its always lead to establishing a "home base" for myself and usually one other individual, but I've never felt "settled" or been allowed to settle, for one reason or another, though I have tried; I've wondered if I ever would or how long it would take. I've felt the pull of wanderlust several times in my life and perhaps I'm already half way there, weighted down only by my financial responsibilities and posessions I cannot easily have travel with me. Perhaps it is when I have few of either that I might feel unburdened enough to want to give being an urban nomad a go.
You hear about the "homeless bums," the hitchhikers and squatters, and those people who backpack their way around foreign countries, but I've yet to hear about someone or a group of someons who've actually managed to build a healthy, qualitative lifestyle in the modern civilized world without having some sort of home base. Can it truly be done? What tools, techniques and resources would be required? What are the drawbacks? These questions and others are the ones I hope to further define and decuss further in followup discussions on this topic.
I want to make it clear that I'm not personally looking to become an urban nomad myself, at least not anytime soon. As a species, we once survived as other animals did, by going where the resources needed for survival and prosperity were available, then learning to develop and exploid these resources has lead us to develop permanent settlements, but maybe there's still room for the nomadic approach to living, even if its still within your own city. If you have any thoughts at this time I'd be curious to hear them, though I will be elaborating on this subject as time passes so as to give the whole concept a chance to be fully explored and discussed.
Thanks for your interest.