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Life Nomadic

For a long time now I've wanted to be a PT, or Perpetual Traveler. My recent massive simplification has been a step in the right direction. I used to have too much stuff to even consider going on the road. Living in the RV has been another leap towards PT.

But first... why be a PT?

The idea, at least for me, is this : there is no "best" place to live in the world. Tokyo has the best trains and a fantastic culture. The Caribbean has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Europe has the history and food. "Settling down" in one place seems a lot like "settling" to me. If I live in Taiwan for a couple months out of the year I can brush up on my Chinese and become more fluent.

Imaginary Obligations

I was sick of being a nomad. Every day I had to make the choice between work and actively experiencing the city I was in. I was staying with friends and in hotels for a few days at a time. The hotels were nice and my hosts were beyond gracious, but I was missing that element of having a "home base". The wonders of the world were flying by my eyes so quickly that they blended together.

At the same time, the thought of staying in one place wasn't appealing either. I felt like I had one foot on one boat and the other on another boat, and the boats were drifting apart.

Then I realized two things. First, that I had no obligation to do anything in particular. Just because I had been traveling for two years didn't mean that I had to keep doing it. It's my life and my path to choose.