Locked in or locked out- when switching it up means going home

I have this theory that I’d like to share. It’s somewhat personal, but I wonder if it’s something others will be able to relate to…

dogfromchile

Have you ever seen a dog pacing inside the confines of a small space, restless to escape?

Sometimes I feel like that.

But…have you ever seen a dog returning from its play outside, waiting for someone to open the door for it so it can come back inside?

Sometimes I feel like that too.

There are times I’ve tried to live the stationary life and after awhile, I feel locked in by the routine. Trapped by a 9 to 5 job or trapped by the feeling of monotony. But likewise there are times in my nomadic life that I feel locked out, a day’s worth of transit away from my parents or my friends. Locked into a timezone difference that keeps me from feeling like home is accessible, even in the form of a phone call.

I talked to a friend the other day who is in the middle of a hitchhike project, interviewing everyone who picks him up as he hitchhikes around the country playing music. (You can check out his fascinating hitchhike interviews here.) He was taking a break in his hometown for awhile when I asked him how it felt to be back. He responded saying he missed movement. And I knew exactly what he meant, but from the opposite application. He missed the movement of being on the road and I was beginning to feel as though the road was monotonous.

You see, we are growing, changing, evolving creatures. We adapt and adjust and we are satisfied by the mental activity that change requires, whether we realize it or not. We move. We need movement even if it’s not literal movement. We need things to change now and then.

In my case we had been on the road so long that it became sedentary-feeling. Our were constantly moving and we were constantly packing and unpacking from one hotel to the next, but the routine was so ordinary that it was not engaging us as movement anymore. We checked out of hotels. We checked into hotels. We checked out. We checked in. And that is when I knew it was time to fly home. (Where “home” is could be a whole blog post of its own). Because at that moment, sitting in the old coffee shops I used to frequent and chatting with old friends would be movement- it would be new again.

Until it becomes sedentary…then I’ll move on..

It sounds endless, doesn’t it?

So when does it end? Does it end?

Tell me what you think. Do you feel locked in? Do you feel locked out?

 

Posted by | Comments (2)  | July 17, 2014
Category: General


2 Responses to “Locked in or locked out- when switching it up means going home”

  1. Stephen Says:

    Does it end, though? I’ve gone through several cycles of this over the past few years, and while I’m currently in a ‘settle down’ phase in Kyrgyzstan I always wonder in the back of my mind how long it can last before I have that urge to dig up roots and hit the road once more.

  2. Caroline Macomber Says:

    I’m beginning to feel that it doesn’t end. But that I can be happy with that cycle :).