I think we all view the grass as greener on the other side. I know with me I am in a constant struggle for balance between my inner soul & my outer environment. As an adult with a nontraveling spouse & children; I must compromise. I think that there must be some psychological reason to my wanting to always traveling. Fight or Flight reflex on a slower more involved scale. Maybe I have a fear of responsibility & fear of becoming a sheep in society. Often we read about those who are desperate to get away from negative consequences made from bad decisions or bad luck, usually they are stuck. It is comforting to not have to run away from my life, just because it isnt perfect. I think being stuck is purely a conception & rarely reality. If I want to deal with the consequences I can do anything, go anywhere & be anyone I want to be.
Sometimes by taking a short trip & or being away from your support network do we fully appreciate what/who we have. I think constant wandering gets old but is always available regardless how old we get. Traveling alone & not being in a serious relationship gets lonely. Then again being in a serious relationship can feel constrictive. I have been trying to convert my wife to live in a sort of hybrid life between the stability of stationary life & full time travel. Since she requires a home to feel emotionally secure & I crave the Road we are always at odds. I am not willing to abandon my family to start another life, only to be alone & make them suffer. If we must suffer then we can all suffer together, I guess. Who knows maybe I can convince her to move into a motorhome or relocate to a more off grid type place to achieve more from a stationary/semi nomadic lifestyle.
These are not, new or novel questions. We are all conflicted, I think. How many of us can benefit from having loved ones in our life & a stable homelife & income source. That being said, some of us can certainly go stir crazy with the notion that we have settled for less & compromised our souls so much to the point that we are no longer free. That feeling of being imprisoned surely exists with those who are housed up & off the road. Most of my homelife is that of sheer boredom. The knowledge that my pack is always ready & if that inner turmoil gets to be too much for my personal health & welfare. All I need to do is open that door & walk out. Not to run away but just to get away.
I think much of the naivete in traveling with young people is the notion that it gonna be long term, full time & indefinite in nature. Being happy, joyous & free, whether traveling fulltime, parttime, seasonally or not often at all most certainly is a yin & yang scenario. I dont have a job atm ,no legal problems, little connection to my local community. What I do have is complacency. I dont want to sound like a quitter in that I am not striving to improve my Life with some internal sense of urgency. The drive is there but through experience I know that that "the grass on the other side" may not even be green at all. I have my basic needs covered atm. My wife receives disability & has a car to get to her many Doctors appointments, my daughter is in school, we get food stamps free health/dental insurance, shutoff protection from our utility providers etc. I get to hit the road once in awhile. I am usually looking for work & struggling to pay for my housing costs. Having a stable home & address enables us to receive the long term benefits that we need to live, and puts my wife & daughters minds at ease. My mind usually feels conflicted & constricted. Being sober helps me have sanity in my life, where i can recognize the good & bad in my life without having to sabotage it all for a different version.
Survival can be complacent. Sometimes Survival is just what is needed & at other times we need danger & risk.
To me, Tue Utopia doesnt exist! We need to find what works for us, find who we want to share it with, where we will be or go. We need to accept our situations to make the best of them or move on & try again. We all need to solve this ancient uniquely personal question ourselves.