How long have you had your backpack?

I was standing in line ready to check into my flight from Lima to Mexico City. This young guy stepped in line behind me. It was clear from first sight that he was a nomad. Not just a backpacker, but a nomad. I took one look at his worn in Deuter ACT Trail rucksack and said “how long have you had your backpack?”. I wonder if anyone had ever asked him that before? What a strange question Emma! He didn’t quite understand me at first, and I had to repeat myself. But he eventually gathered what I was asking and replied “10 years” with a smile. I smiled back and turned to reveal my red Deuter ACT trail backpack and replied “9 years for me”. There was a short back and forth about how awesome the bag is and how perfect it is for travelling. And of course my Nomad- dar was accurate, cause it is rarely wrong. But even crazier…this guy was taking the same route as I was across the Pacific…almost exactly!! I mean come on universe! Mexico City — California — Singapore — Thailand. I was just taking a week in Myanmar to visit Matt and his wife before Thailand.

This, to a certain degree, was not the first time this has happened to me. In today’s global world, there are bound to be others like me — like you. We see them in the cafes, walking down the street and boarding yet another plane. Our eyes may or may not lock, we may or may not interact, but we know we are connected. Connected by an energy of travel, of exploration, of pursuit. What if every time we saw someone we thought was a fellow Nomad we asked a different question than “where are you from?” What if instead we asked “how long have you had your backpack?” Or “where are you headed?” Or “where did you get that travel yoga mat?” You see, I know how important that where are you from question is to most people, the problem is, we are no longer from where we are from.

I am Canadian but I haven’t been from Canada in a very long time — Canadiense pero no Canada. And I bet your bottom dollar that this guy in my airport line is no longer from where he is from either. We are all nomads. Yes, you may not agree with me, but the question becomes what degree of Nomad are you? If you have moved 2 times in your life are you a nomad? If you have moved 7 times in your life but only in your home country, are you a nomad? If you have never left your childhood home but have travelled to over 50 countries, are you a nomad?

Perhaps the question is not whether or not you are a nomad, but more “Am I a nomad?” Maybe it has everything to do with how we ourselves define it. Is this the most important question we will ask ourselves in our lifetime? Maybe not. But is it perhaps something we might want to ask ourselves a bit more. Or perhaps we can use it to help re-define this question of “where are you from?”

What opening line would you use if you couldn’t ask someone where they were from or, while we are at it “what they DO”. That’s a ridiculous question too, but for another piece.

Follow up: I caught up with this guy after the flight and read him the above. Just as I finished reading him the piece, the young Peruvian guy in front of us turned Around and said “where are you from?” And commented on what an interesting conversation we were having. It was his first time travelling abroad and he was excited for his semester in Guadalajara studying tourism. So there we stood, in line for immigration, two full nomads and a new traveller, and it was perfect.