Roots or Chains?

It's good to have roots. It's to know you belong somewhere. For many people the biggest thing that connects them to a place is owning a house. A friend recently bought the house she had been renting. She had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, she felt she was making a deeper commitment to the community. On the other hand, she felt like she was tied down. Once you buy a house it's a lot harder to pack up and leave.

Of course, there's a lot more to roots than home ownership. There's family connections, friends, your church, people of your same culture and jobs. Nostalgia and memories that are formed over time can bind you to a place. Unless you live your life as a hermit, you are bound to put down roots. Even the love of your favorite restaurant can form ties. Maybe nobody else makes your favorite dish the way they do.

There is strength in having roots. When times get tough there are people and local resources that you can call on. They can help you survive.

On the flip side, roots can get you killed. Have you ever wondered why its usually only a tiny fraction of a population that leaves before their country becomes a war zone? All the signs can be there, but most people close their eyes and hope for the best. It's tough to leave those roots behind.

Being tied too tightly to your roots can stop someone from traveling. They become afraid of anything that's different. One of the whole points of travel is to discover different things. Travel opens up the mind, usually. Today it's possible to “see the world” in carefully managed groups that avoid too much contact with local conditions. That's not really travel. That's bringing your cultural bubble with you -sorta like a hamster in an exercise ball.

One of the sailing YouTube channels I watch is “Sailing Uma.” In their first video they say, “Don't buy a couch.” In short, once you buy a couch, everything snowballs from there. A couch is an investment. Then you need a job, a place to put the couch, and so on. Before you know it, you have a house, credit card dept and everything else that ties you down. This nice young couple did not buy a couch, they bought an old sailboat and have been traveling for three years now.

My lovely wife and I enjoy both worlds. We love having roots, but we also love travel. It's possible to do both. The key is not to get too attached to your things. Over and over again I meet people who are afraid to leave their house for more than a week or two. They don't own their house, their house owns them. Roots are good, but never let them chain you down.

-Sixbears

Small Town Life and the World

I went to a potluck dinner for local small business people. It's the first time in a while since I've felt well enough to go out and socialize. It was great to see people again. There was a pretty good turn out.

One of the guys, a new resident to the area, happened to notice that some of us were related. He asked how many of us were. It turned out that just under half of the people there were related to me in some way. That's life in a small town.

My family on my father's side live mostly in one town still, with a few in neighboring towns. That gives me deep roots in local community life.

On my mother's side, I'm about the only one left anywhere near the old home town. There's a strong grouping at the other end of the state, but the rest are scattered all over. My lovely wife's family is also scattered across the country. About the only family left in her home town are in the graveyard.

My lovely wife and I have three daughters. One is local. Another lives in a neighboring state. Our youngest lives clear across the country. All of them have passports and have traveled to different countries.

For me, it's the best of both worlds. I know what it's like to have roots in an area. I also know what it's like in other parts of the country and the world. I've my tribe of family and friends close to me, where we are around to support each other. Through the rest of my family, I know what it's like to be a citizen of the world. That's good too, as it expands my knowledge and influences my views.

There are different ways of dealing with people from other regions and cultures. You can fear them because they are not like your people, or you may find the differences interesting. My attitude has always been the second part. Don't knock it, that's how I ended up with a lovely wife from a different state with a different religion from my own. Our 40th anniversary is next month, so I must still find her interesting.

Roots are good. There is a strength there. Being exposed to the rest of the world is also good. Everyone on this blue marble in space is trying to find the best ways to live. Some do a better job of it than others, for various reasons. Why not adopt best life practices from those who are living a happier life? Personally, I think it's a blessing that the world is more connected and communication is easier.

-Sixbears

Passing on the travel genes

Since I've been staying pretty close to my dad's place these days I've been doing a lot of reading. As you might expect a lot of that reading is travel tales, especially sailing stories.

No doubt helping provide end of life care for my dad has put me in a reflective mood.

There are people who sail over the horizon leaving friends and family behind. Those bonds don't seem to hold them as tightly as their desire for the new and different.

Other people are are content to send down deep roots. They build a life around their home area, family, friends and their community. At the end of their life they are content to have surrounded themselves with children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

There really is such a thing as “travel genes.” If there wasn't humans would be an isolated species off in the corner of the world somewhere. For some people that travel is their strongest motivation.

Some of those genes get spread around by travelers. More than a few strays have been let behind in someone else's nest. Another successful strategy is to stay and nurture your offspring to do what you can for them.

Then there are those of us who want it all. We want roots and connections, yet also want to experience new things. So what do we do? Some of us raise kids then travel. Other take their families on adventures. Everything is a compromise. I may envy those who's dropped anchor in exotic distant ports and were young and full of energy. On the other hand, I would not have paid the price. I needed that youthful energy to raise my kids.

. . . besides, I ain't dead yet.

-Sixbears