The Professional Hobo

June 6th Update: We made it! After a week straight of travel and more than a few days without any sleep, we are in Cairns, Australia. We rest here for a few days before boarding our last plane for a while…to Brisbane.
Stay tuned for the upcoming World Nomads adventures to come! In the meantime, I have written a number of posts that were never published due to delays such as our Burma Relief Efforts, and the hospital stay from Dengue Fever.
Here is one such post, written while we were taking a cooking course at You Sabai.

Homesick in Paradise

I sit atop a hillside, looking down into a luscious valley below. The sun is setting over the layers and layers of mountains that form the horizon, each layer of rolling mountains foggier the further away it is. A temple in the valley floor shines with its colourful curved roof glinting in the sun. Music wafts up to me, echoing throughout the hillside and creating a magical ring. Children are laughing and playing somewhere out of sight.

I am preparing a delicious and healthy meal with all organic ingredients grown within two kilometres of where I sit.

And in light of this idyllic paradise, I find myself feeling homesick.

For a Hobo to feel homesick is an odd sensation; I have a country I call home and am very proud of, and a few cities within that country that I have lived in and have created homes in throughout my life. I have family in those cities who create an additional sense of home and belonging.

But I have no actual physical home to be sick for.

So why, in the tropical Thai paradise I sit, do I find myself homesick?

It all started when we were chatting with another couple about our experiences. We were reminiscing about our time in Hawaii at Popai, since it was a sustainable permaculture property, and our locale in Thailand is similar. We reminisced about our time in the mountains of Canada, telling tales of epic mountaineering adventures and relaxing in the hot springs after a long day of climbing.

It was right about this point in the conversation I found myself getting teary, and missing so much of what “home” has to offer.

Everybody’s reasons for traveling differ, but I wonder if there is a common theme. We all want to expand our horizons, step beyond our comfort zones, and grow as individuals. We want to experience adventure and culture, and see what the world has to offer.

But I also wonder if a deeper underlying (and possibly subconscious) reason for travel is one that ultimately encapsulates everything above and takes it one step further: if the real reason we travel is to better appreciate what we have right on our own doorsteps.

If we travel and are away from loved ones, we miss them and appreciate their good qualities when we remember them.

If we travel and are away from familiar physical places like our homes, we see those places in our memories as more than just dwellings and instead as sanctuaries full of personality and life.

And if we travel and are away from our climate and land, we remember all the temperate days and beautiful sunsets that we took for granted when we were with them every day.

When we are away from our loved ones, our homes, and our land, we rarely remember the bad things. We rarely complain about all the shortcomings of our homeland; instead we tell tales of wonderful memories and delightful adventures.

So for a hobo to feel homesick in paradise is okay. I believe that it helps me to define what I call home, and helps me get closer to it every day, regardless of physical location, distance, climate, or dwelling.