I believe this was the thesis of Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I feel there is no right answer, it’s a matter of temperament. Anywheres vs Somewheres could also be seen in frame or arguing the rightness of light vs. dark.
I think of it more as a seasons-of-life thing. Most of my twenties were pretty nomadic (even with little kids), then we settled down for a decade or so in Amsterdam. As we’re looking at being empty-nesters, we’ve bought a little place in Italy, and started making friends there.
I also feel like there’s often conflation between staying put where you’re from and intentionally settling in a chosen place. You can fully commit and contribute to a place where you’re not from, and I feel like that should be encouraged, not maligned.
I also think Somewheres and Anywheres isn’t necessarily something you can apply Kant’s Categorical Imperative to. We don’t have to all make the same choices, and both stayers and goers enrich the world.
Both desires (stay/go) can live happy inside us at the same time. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. The danger is when, as in Brexit, nativists demand it can be only one.
Anywhere is something that is only possible because a whole heap of us choose to be somewhere; it's not like the anywhere's are spear fishing their own food every day, moving their flocks from pasture to pasture or building their own computers on the fly.
Oof yes, Russell! I spent years thinking I was “choosing freedom,” when really I was just staying untethered enough to avoid the deeper commitments that actually make life feel like home — people, place, rhythms, responsibility. Thanks for putting words to the tradeoff so clearly… it feels like an invitation to plant a few seeds on purpose :)
Loved this, Russell. It reminds me of the Sailors vs. Farmers metaphors. How the world needs both, but it's impossible to BE both, at least at the same time.
My wife and I (both in our 40s) prioritized freedom for years to travel, then settled down for 10 years and dived deep into community building and volunteering. After that, plus covid (which we enjoyed for the reasons you described) and a few health surprises, we were ready for another adventure, which we're on right now. International living, overland travel, etc...
I suspect (or know deep down) that we will circle back to a tight-knit community at some point. When remains to be seen! Here's to finding that balance. Cheers.
i really liked the clarity of thought thru your writing. to also take this a lil further as someone who's still making attempts at the idea of nomading starting last year - i mostly found myself somehow separate from 'the moment' and if i remember correctly was either succeeding or failing at living in it
I've also faced a few of those forks in my career, resulting in relocations and assignments to different situations and geographies. Keeping my options open, indeed, but never intending to only be in the next situation/location temporarily. We've enjoyed all the relocations, they have widened our mental horizons, but now we're settled in Zambia, which also feels good.
Interesting thoughts, thanks for sharing. Lately, I have been thinking and writing about "where is home, when home is wherever you are". If I put myself in the definition from this essay, I am a Somewhere who can still be Anywhere. While I am a full time nomad, with no fixed address, my home base is a sailing yacht. An 80-foot moveable feast with room for the comforts of home and a bit of luxury. While we travel constantly, we also bring our "home" with us. And that's a whole different way of being. We often stay long enough in our destinations to make friends and form community.
It's a very different form of nomadism than flying around with a backpack and laptop. More of a hybrid approach to a life on the move.
I genuinely feel that part of digital nomadism's popularity is the lack of freedom to stay in the places people even with strong passports wish to move to as immigrants with minimal paperwork and hassle, so they compromise on that limitation and visa hop around the world instead
I loved this article. I spoke to my situation so much. We have been nomading since 2006, but found ourselves in Scotland when my MIL got sick and we were the ones who had the flexibility to come and live with her. My husband's school friends welcomed us back as though he hadn't been gone 30 years. After she passed, in speaking about restarting our nomading, with me complaining about Scottish weather, one friend said (quite aggressively), "There are more important things than weather you know." It made us set up our lives so we are multiple Somewheres instead of constant Anywheres.
An Anywhere forfeits their potential to really get to know a place, seeing it change over time in intimate day to day detail. They lack real connection to place. A Somewhere has meaningful time honored relationships with the local people, seeing them born, change with the seasons of life and ultimately pass. The Somewhere may leave their area from time to time, but the return to home is sweet, satisfying and savored. The perpetual visitor may feel like a citizen who belongs in the world, but simultaneously is rooted nowhere, feeling connected to everyone and no one, forever an outsider.
I am an Anywhere who has been Somewhere too long. I know the Anywhere lifestyle is not for everyone but I’ve been stuck in place due to illness for the past two years and I feel like I’m suffocating. Too many people wrongly think that we’re Anywhere’s until we find our Somewhere but it’s not like that for me. Thank you for speaking my language and making me feel a little less like an alien.
I can so identify with this. I spent years traveling and backpacking, and eventually realised that the freedom of travelling was no longer what I wanted -- I still wanted to be abroad, but to have somewhere to put roots down. I've finally found my Somewhere -- and I'm moving there with my family this year! So excited :)
Really appreciated your take on this, thank you! I think this is why many long term travellers ultimately end up settling somewhere. At one point you miss being able to put down roots. I even felt this during my world travels where I stayed and worked in Auckland, New Zealand for a few months - after months of moving every few days, it was a novelty and a pleasure to be fixed for a while, making friends and becoming colleagues at work, for a greater sense of stability.
I believe this was the thesis of Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I feel there is no right answer, it’s a matter of temperament. Anywheres vs Somewheres could also be seen in frame or arguing the rightness of light vs. dark.
Probably about time I read that. You're the second person recently who's mentioned it.
I think of it more as a seasons-of-life thing. Most of my twenties were pretty nomadic (even with little kids), then we settled down for a decade or so in Amsterdam. As we’re looking at being empty-nesters, we’ve bought a little place in Italy, and started making friends there.
I also feel like there’s often conflation between staying put where you’re from and intentionally settling in a chosen place. You can fully commit and contribute to a place where you’re not from, and I feel like that should be encouraged, not maligned.
I also think Somewheres and Anywheres isn’t necessarily something you can apply Kant’s Categorical Imperative to. We don’t have to all make the same choices, and both stayers and goers enrich the world.
Both desires (stay/go) can live happy inside us at the same time. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. The danger is when, as in Brexit, nativists demand it can be only one.
Anywhere is something that is only possible because a whole heap of us choose to be somewhere; it's not like the anywhere's are spear fishing their own food every day, moving their flocks from pasture to pasture or building their own computers on the fly.
Oof yes, Russell! I spent years thinking I was “choosing freedom,” when really I was just staying untethered enough to avoid the deeper commitments that actually make life feel like home — people, place, rhythms, responsibility. Thanks for putting words to the tradeoff so clearly… it feels like an invitation to plant a few seeds on purpose :)
Loved this, Russell. It reminds me of the Sailors vs. Farmers metaphors. How the world needs both, but it's impossible to BE both, at least at the same time.
My wife and I (both in our 40s) prioritized freedom for years to travel, then settled down for 10 years and dived deep into community building and volunteering. After that, plus covid (which we enjoyed for the reasons you described) and a few health surprises, we were ready for another adventure, which we're on right now. International living, overland travel, etc...
I suspect (or know deep down) that we will circle back to a tight-knit community at some point. When remains to be seen! Here's to finding that balance. Cheers.
i really liked the clarity of thought thru your writing. to also take this a lil further as someone who's still making attempts at the idea of nomading starting last year - i mostly found myself somehow separate from 'the moment' and if i remember correctly was either succeeding or failing at living in it
I've also faced a few of those forks in my career, resulting in relocations and assignments to different situations and geographies. Keeping my options open, indeed, but never intending to only be in the next situation/location temporarily. We've enjoyed all the relocations, they have widened our mental horizons, but now we're settled in Zambia, which also feels good.
Interesting thoughts, thanks for sharing. Lately, I have been thinking and writing about "where is home, when home is wherever you are". If I put myself in the definition from this essay, I am a Somewhere who can still be Anywhere. While I am a full time nomad, with no fixed address, my home base is a sailing yacht. An 80-foot moveable feast with room for the comforts of home and a bit of luxury. While we travel constantly, we also bring our "home" with us. And that's a whole different way of being. We often stay long enough in our destinations to make friends and form community.
It's a very different form of nomadism than flying around with a backpack and laptop. More of a hybrid approach to a life on the move.
I genuinely feel that part of digital nomadism's popularity is the lack of freedom to stay in the places people even with strong passports wish to move to as immigrants with minimal paperwork and hassle, so they compromise on that limitation and visa hop around the world instead
I loved this article. I spoke to my situation so much. We have been nomading since 2006, but found ourselves in Scotland when my MIL got sick and we were the ones who had the flexibility to come and live with her. My husband's school friends welcomed us back as though he hadn't been gone 30 years. After she passed, in speaking about restarting our nomading, with me complaining about Scottish weather, one friend said (quite aggressively), "There are more important things than weather you know." It made us set up our lives so we are multiple Somewheres instead of constant Anywheres.
An Anywhere forfeits their potential to really get to know a place, seeing it change over time in intimate day to day detail. They lack real connection to place. A Somewhere has meaningful time honored relationships with the local people, seeing them born, change with the seasons of life and ultimately pass. The Somewhere may leave their area from time to time, but the return to home is sweet, satisfying and savored. The perpetual visitor may feel like a citizen who belongs in the world, but simultaneously is rooted nowhere, feeling connected to everyone and no one, forever an outsider.
I think it’s important to have base/home to come back to…
I am an Anywhere who has been Somewhere too long. I know the Anywhere lifestyle is not for everyone but I’ve been stuck in place due to illness for the past two years and I feel like I’m suffocating. Too many people wrongly think that we’re Anywhere’s until we find our Somewhere but it’s not like that for me. Thank you for speaking my language and making me feel a little less like an alien.
I can so identify with this. I spent years traveling and backpacking, and eventually realised that the freedom of travelling was no longer what I wanted -- I still wanted to be abroad, but to have somewhere to put roots down. I've finally found my Somewhere -- and I'm moving there with my family this year! So excited :)
Really appreciated your take on this, thank you! I think this is why many long term travellers ultimately end up settling somewhere. At one point you miss being able to put down roots. I even felt this during my world travels where I stayed and worked in Auckland, New Zealand for a few months - after months of moving every few days, it was a novelty and a pleasure to be fixed for a while, making friends and becoming colleagues at work, for a greater sense of stability.