A Nomadic Call to Settle In

To my fellow nomads:

Whether you are weeks, months, years, or even decades into your nomadic life, I am all but convinced that you, like me, are in love with your freedom of movement. You can move from house to house, or jump across continents, with just a little planning and maybe a little luck. Nomadic life is a great adventure! But, please, it’s time to settle in, if just for a few months. Please.

The privilege of global movement comes with global responsibility. We may give to local charities and volunteer, offer our services pro bono to great causes, contribute to the local economy, use public transport, reduce plastic waste, live minimally — all of these intentional micro and macro acts part of our attempt to make both our temporary homes and the whole world a slightly better place. So now, let’s show true global responsibility in a time where that responsibility is crucial to the lives and economies of so many. If you can, set aside your delightful freedom of movement, and settle in.

You’re likely relatively young and healthy, and maybe you even have medical insurance. You probably have at least enough incoming remote business or rainy-day savings to make it through a few weeks of lockdown or quarantine. If you cancel that next ticket and prolong your current rental, you stand to suffer at most a minor loss and some basic re-planning. But what about your neighbors, in the country that has been so generously hosting you and your freedom of movement? They didn’t have a say when you moved into this neighborhood, and the neighbors in your next place won’t, either.

Most of your neighbors do not work from home. If one of them gets sick, they’ll have to figure out how to work remotely or how to go without pay, and how to find and pay someone to watch their children. And if enough of your neighbors get sick, entire communities or even countries will be on lockdown, losing rent-making pay days, crucial economic activity, and instructional hours for their children. What about their elderly parents and grandparents, who are more at risk? Is your freedom of movement worth jeopardizing their health?

You may not be at risk yourself, but travelling during this time could make YOU a risk to OTHERS, if you become a carrier. Freedom of movement gives us the choice to move or not, a choice that the majority of the world’s citizens do not have. In service and recognition of the communities that host you, use your freedom this month to choose to not move. Instead of becoming a traveling petri dish, settle in.

Now that you’re settled, think about giving your current community even more love! Wash your hands, don’t buy masks, stay calm. If your area isn’t under quarantine, think of contributing a bit more to the local economy. Go out to dinner, see a movie, host a small skills workshop — complete with handwashing station — for those who have unwanted time off of work or school.

Maybe settling in, if only for now, can be your new adventure? In any event, your global community thanks you for your global responsibility.

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