WFJ wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 12:48 am
Has anyone been a somewhat permanent nomad for a time period of 1-5 years and have any experiences (good or bad)?
This may not be exactly the info that you are asking for, but I lived in a village in the Balkans with the Peace Corps for 2 years out of college, coupled with some extensive tourist travel around Eastern Europe, for a total of about 2.5 years abroad. I enjoyed the experience, on the whole, and what I enjoyed most was that it was long term enough--2 years in the same apartment, with the same "job," shopping at the same market, drinking coffee at the same cafe, hanging with the same group of locals, making the same occasional runs into the closest town for provisions and to catch a movie and hit up the late-night scene, learning to eat and drink by the seasons, etc.--that I wasn't a weeklong tourist, but it was short enough to be clear that, ultimately, I was just passing through before heading back "home."
A lot of the folks that were in my Peace Corps class continued on with the itchy feet, permanent nomad thing, joining the foreign service or one of the many international NGOs that cater to the "anywhere but home" version of the highly educated. And several others stayed in country and are there still, a few decades later. I thought about doing the former but thankfully as I was preparing to do that I reconnected with my high school girlfriend and got married and started preparing for a life of permanence. When we were younger (in our 30s) my wife and I would think about perhaps doing something like the Peace Corps when the kids are out of the house, as it is not uncommon (or at least it wasn't way back when) for married empty nesters to do the Peace Corps together. But now in my 40s neither of us can even fathom that we thought that might be a good idea.
I don't want to misinterpret @Jacob:
jacob wrote: ↑Wed Feb 08, 2023 2:05 pm
Well, obviously they don't. They may pay for [permanence] to enrich themselves doing activities that take longer than 3-4 months to finish (before the visa runs out); aren't mobile enough to fit in a piece of luggage; or isn't easily rented or enjoyed during an "2x8 hour experience weekend" for the tourist class. For example, growing a garden, learning a 1000+-hour skill (especially one that requires equipment), joining seasonal sports-teams, starting a real (not online) business, pets, being/having good neighbors, ... and even qualifying for a library card. Perhaps we can agree that not everything on someone's bucket list fits in a carry-on?
But, the stuff on our bucket list now are all things for which any sort of travel would be counterproductive, apart from extended weekend visits to see family for holidays, weddings and funerals, etc.
So, all that is to say, have you considered something like a Peace Corps or one of the other mission-related options out there. I seem to remember there being a "JET" program, teaching English in Japan; certainly there are other sorts of options where an organization would handle the paperwork and give you a "purpose" apart from just being a covet-or, consuming someone else's culture and folkways--I can certainly understand a person not necessarily wanting their "purpose" to be spreading 'Murica far and wide through the Peace Corps, but I suspect there are alternatives.