Like many others, when the pandemic hits, my life hits a brake. I had to pause everything I wanted to do and lived in fear of the unknown. All of my plans of living in other places, even countries, were halted until early this year when I had a ray of hope that I could live in other places within or even outside the country. As soon as the borders reopened and traveling restrictions were eased, I made a plan to watch motogp which was a childhood dream. I never plan on staying in Bali longer, I thought I would only stay a couple of weeks then move elsewhere. Long story short, I just did a 6 weeks stay in Bali in which I learned what was wrong about my previous nomadic habit.

Fast and Slow Nomading

It is a nature of mine that I want to see everything and be in different places even when I was young. Back when I was 19-20, I was proud that I could visit different places, even countries within a few weeks. I could sleep anywhere, take longer flights, longer train rides and I considered that fun. But, it was all happening too quickly which eventually led to a burnout. Not only burning out, fast traveling is really costly and I didn’t learn anything worthwhile nor feel a sense of belonging to a place. The other cons of fast traveling is that it is financially and energy consuming. In terms of emotional sense, it is also taxing and a bit unhealthy. I personally think that to me, now I prefer slow traveling.

I learned the difference when I chose to stay in Bali much longer. I enjoyed the place more and it was easier getting adjusted to the island. The financial cost was not something burdensome and something that would leave a huge hole in my pocket. It was reasonable because by staying longer, I am trying to live like a regular Balinese than a tourist. Had I been traveling only in 1-2 weeks, it would have been a different story. Slow traveling gives me a sense of belonging. I enjoyed the connections I made on the island and was happy that I could even do that. Unlike in the past, making connections was difficult because I would only stay for a shorter term. Slow traveling also helps me minimize fatigue that I have from traveling. I noticed that I feel much content that I get to see the place and even still excited to go back. Unlike when I traveled too fast, everything was in a rush and was not fun to be.

Home Base

What even is a home base? It is a place where you can shut yourself from the rest of the world after a series of vagabonds.

No, just kidding. A home base is a place where you plan to stay much longer, settling down, and feel the sense of familiarity around. It’s no different than a regular ‘home”. I personally have tried “rent” and also “ live in with parents' '. The latter is much cheaper because the financial burden isn’t as much as independently renting but for me, I still help with the upkeep of the house which is again, still less than renting.

I only started noticing a pattern that I only stay 6 months in my apartment and in those 6 months, I would be a digital homeless, going anywhere my heart pleases in search of a space I could call home. So, this year, I am going to close down my own place and move back one more time with my parents somewhat permanently and use it as my “home base”. Then, I could think about living somewhere else for longer.

Having a home base is an easy way to rejuvenate. I, myself, need a lot of alone time after a series of socializations. So, a home base is nice to have. But the difference is that living with my parents offers much nicer financial options than at my apartment where I hoard things and don’t even use them. With them, I only pay utilities which isn’t much. And besides, there is a difference in terms of feeling. In the past, it felt like everything was erratic, chaotic, unplanned, and spontaneous. But, after trying other ways of nomading, I prefer a planned, less chaotic experience where I could actually synthesize something from that experience.

All in all though, it takes years to notice these things and to experience the differences. But again to summarize what I’ve been saying;

• Fast “nomading” might be nice as you can cover many places but it comes with cons such as financially more expensive, more fatigue, having no sense of belonging, and easily led to burnout.     
  

• Slow “nomading” is less expensive, more sense of belonging, connection and familiarity. The cons would be a boredom especially    for people who constantly seek novelty like myself.     
  

• A home base is a safe haven where you can restrategize,rest, and recover emotionally and financially too.     
  

• At some point, you’ll crave to find a place to call home and seefor that familiarity. This is where you create a “home base”.     
  

• If viable, living with parents isn’t a bad option. (depending on your relationship with them)