Wednesday, June 23, 2010

A Modern Mobile Nomadic Life

Nomads are historically groups of people who do not settle down for long periods of time but rather move from place to place, usually in search of food or work opportunities. This sounds to me like the current phase in my life. Culturally, there are three different types of nomadic people.
The Nomadic Hunter-Gatherers. These are the people who moved around in order to follow the food that they were chasing. I can't say that I'm well suited to a lifestyle of chasing wild game or herding sheep from location to location. So, it might be a bit of a stretch to classify me in anything that has the term "hunter" in the title. Unless you want to count my recent move to South Florida in order to continue my hunt for the illusive Charlie Bird.
The Pastoral Nomads. These are people who have several different homes and move between them throughout the year depending on where the best resources are at any given time. I could classify myself into this category. It does rather accurately describe my living situation- I tend to avoid filling in location, current city, or city/town when prompted. It's a very loaded question. Hmm... Iowa, Fort Lauderdale, or Chicago. How do I define home?
And finally we have t
he Peripatetic Nomads. This is the type of nomad that moves about from one place to another but is in search of work instead of food. Typically, these are tradesmen and they may travel together or individually. I'm going to go ahead and tag myself in the peripatetic category. Come July I will be living the peripatetic nomadic lifestyle. Pack up my gear, and wander from place to place for work. Be that extension, recruitment, or a chapter visit. I will be in search of work, and from what i hear- food as well.

I will be a nomad.

In 50 lbs or less: Okay, so I'm not totally a nomad, at least not yet. I prefer denim and cotton to deer skin and will always choose tofu to wild game. But I will call myself the Modern Mobile Nomad partaking in an ancient, exhilarating and ever changing lifestyle.

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