What is better: the nomadic life of travel and adventure or a life that is deeply rooted in one place?
My wife and I were driving through an unfamiliar neighborhood of a Midwestern city just a few days after Christmas. It was evening. Snow covered the ground. Street after street was decorated with holiday lights. “What a beautiful place to live,” I thought.
We had dinner in a lovely restaurant and the next morning found an old-fashioned bakery where those who lived nearby stopped by for coffee and conversation. I found myself imagining how great it would be to live there.
The greatest delight in traveling to new places is imagining what one’s life might be like in a new setting, among new people. The new invariably seems more interesting than the familiar, and what better way to make one’s own life more interesting than to relocate to a new place?
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That is precisely why Emerson calls traveling a “fool’s paradise.” Wherever you go, you take yourself with you. If satisfaction cannot be found where you are, it cannot be found.
The glimpse one gets when traveling of a place’s geography, buildings and people, is no more than a glimpse. One’s relation to the place remains superficial. But that also might be part of the draw. There is great freedom in traveling. There are few commitments, no obligation to deal with other people’s baggage, just one’s own.
It is the longing for freedom that drives so many people to leave home and get out on the road. We have thousands of songs describing that longing, like “Take It Easy,” “I’ve Been Everywhere,” “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” “Me and Bobby McGee” and, of course, John Hartman’s incomparable “Gentle on My Mind.”
About 3 million Americans live full-time in RVs, vans or other vehicles. And many more spend a considerable portion of each year away from home, in timeshares, second homes, regular long-term rentals, or traveling around the country from one RV park to another. In fact, a story in Forbes reported that 34% of Americans planned to spend at least a portion of the winter in a warmer location this past year.
Researchers who study the effects of travel report that there are several benefits. Those who travel to new places often find a boost in happiness, their stress levels go down, and their creativity is enhanced.
Traveling can also lead to a greater appreciation for one’s home. Upon returning, familiar things one is accustomed to take for granted assume a fresh appearance: the river flowing past the town, the neighborhood coffee shop, the big oak tree in the backyard, all hold more interest when seen with the traveler’s eye.
It is especially good for young people to spend some time traveling before settling down in one place. Those who have never spent time away from their home are more apt to feel “stuck” later in life, whereas those who have experienced life in other places are more likely to feel that where they are is the place they choose to be.
When retirement age rolls around, those who feel stuck are more inclined to take the opportunity to leave their home altogether. Five years ago, my friend Brian retired and promptly purchased a large RV. He was eager to visit all the places he had dreamed of seeing. He would come back to his hometown three or four times a year for a week or so, see friends and family, and then head back out on the road.
But one can have too much of a good thing. Excessive traveling can leave one feeling rootless, as if there is no community to which one belongs, no place that is one’s own. Deep friendships are harder to cultivate when one is always on the road, and in times of crisis, it can be hard to find practical and emotional support.
That is why Brian decided to sell his RV a few months ago. After several years on the road, he began to long for the familiarity of home and the steady reliability of a few good friends. He still plans to travel occasionally, but he no longer wants to be away from home for months at a time.
That is my attitude about traveling as well. I love to see new places, meet new people, explore parts of the country I’ve never been before, but the sweetest part of the journey is the return.
Driving home after our recent trip, we arrived at the edge of our hometown just as it was getting dark. Snow covered the ground. Street after street was decorated with holiday lights. “What a beautiful place to live,” I thought. There’s no place like home.
The Ethical Life is a reflection on the ways that ethical thinking influences our actions, emotions and relationships. Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse.
