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