Is Full-Time Travel an Act of Withdrawal?

In a philosophical conversation with an acquaintance the other day, I was informed that he doesn’t like the way I travel. Not only does he not like it for himself, but he doesn’t like it for me; he feels that full-time (and long-term) travel is an act of withdrawing from the world.

For him, ducking out of society (at least the society we grew up in) means shirking responsibilities, and ultimately depriving society of the many talents we have to contribute.

Not that he’s driven by society and society’s expectations – at least not any more so than anybody else – but my flitting off to “fight forest fires” so far away as he dubbed it (while suggesting that there are others who can fight fires in my stead) and other such gallivanting appears to him as an act of escapism rather than engagement.

The timing of this conversation fell brilliantly at a time when I was also catching up with old friends who were curious about my continued desire to travel. I was in a perfect position to take on his point of view and further explore my own motivation for long-term traveling.

Continue reading on theprofessionalhobo.com

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