Patrick is a relative of mine who's created a nomad lifestyle for himself. Since the arrival of the pandemic, I've lost track of how he's doing with that and where he is at the moment. I do hope things are working out for him. He's smart and energetic, and he has skills.
I've been a nomad many times myself. I'm a nomad now. Before there was the World Wide Web, before there was the ability to work online from almost anywhere, photography and writing and the post office made the nomad life possible for me.
Travel is attractive and romantic. Everybody likes to travel. It's an adventure—one more hill to climb, one more land to see, one more stranger to befriend. But as a nomad, you're always passing through, never really an pivotal part of anywhere. As the title of this blog suggests, you're a stranger in a strange land.
As an assignment photographer, my main work was in the travel marketing genre. Travel marketing is the stepsister of advertizing. My clients were airlines and tour companies. I would fly First Class to exotic places and stay in lush 5-star hotels. But I was not on holiday, not there to relax and enjoy leisure time. The pleasure I had came from the work I did. And I did enjoy the work, but too often I was on the road alone for two or three months at a time. Back then, I had a home to return to. I was a part-time nomad. Too often, the time I spent at home seemed to be the part-time part.
Yes, travel is an adventure, but as with most adventures, there's a dark side.
Liverpool? Am I finally settled in my new home, this port city on the Irish Sea? No, I'm not. I'm still a nomad, still living out of a suitcase. As with Rome, Mallorca, Seville, San Miguel de Allende, Oxfordshire, Montreal, and Washington, DC, I'm not sure that I'll be staying here.
My weekly treat as always.
ReplyDelete