The Importance of a Home

I would like to note that our desire to live in Columbia is note purely a selfish one. Allison and I have talked at length this summer about how exhausting it has become to be without a home. For those of you who have ever had the experience of working seasonally and moving where the work is, though it is very exciting, it becomes less romantic the older one becomes. For one, the outdoor education industry is slightly "cultish" in that it requires one to move away from his family and friends and live in a communal environment where one has to share everything and has very little privacy. The work space, the living space, the eating space, and the social space are all the same and it is easy to become burnt out and annoyed with this lifestyle. What I have been recognizing this summer is the significance in having a place to call home. By this I mean the importance of having a community of people with whom you share a common sense of place, lifestyle, beliefs, etc. and who support you on your path to self-actualization.

I have fallen in with a large number of vagabonds over the last five years who are without home, without community and without a very strong sense of what is important in life. You have probably seen the cliche' Shakespeare bumpersticker quote, "Not all who wander are lost". While this is absolutely true, the implication behind "not ALL" is also very true. Many who are wandering ARE lost. They are direction-less, ritual-less and without a culture for which to compare and contrast the cultures of others. The relationships one develops from constantly moving from place to place are, at best, trite. There is simply no time to develop deep roots that allow a person to grow. Instead one ends up talking only of his travels and plans and experiences and taking little interest in other people's struggles and successes. There is no commitment to people, lifestyle, or ritual. One simply changes to survive in a new environment, and then changes again when it comes time to move on. I feel that traveling is extremely important for young people to do. It allows a person to explore different sides of himself, while seeing different cultures and broadening his horizons. However, I am beginning to see that all of this growth is for nothing if it cannot be brought back and applied to his own life and shared with society at large.

My hope is that Allison and I will be able to move in the direction of having a place to call home and creating a culture for ourselves that we can one day share with our children. I regret no part of my travels and hope that there will be more exploration to come, however at the end of my next adventure I want to return to my own home.