The New Nomads

For those who travel regularly, it is easy to forget that until very recently, travel was something people did as a means of exploring unchartered corners the world. Journeys could take years and required a significant investment of money and time. Quite often too there was no return leg. I remember my grandmother talking about a childhood friend who moved from Melbourne to Sydney. They parted, knowing they would most likely never see each other again.

I find it fascinating that as air travel has opened up the world, on the ground, borders and visas have created barriers that slowed the traditional flows of people – stopping nomadic tribes or gypsies in their tracks. Borders have also created incongruous boundaries between families – at the pow wow we attended we heard many stories of native American communities split down the middle and of tribe members who refuse to present their passport at the border in order to walk across what was once their land to visit a close relative.

And yet for all borders are becoming tighter there is a resurgence of a nomadic community that is increasingly living beyond national boundaries: people, like us, who are foregoing traditional ties to land and structure and moving freely around the globe. Aid workers are one such community – moving in the wake of disasters and working wherever they are needed. The displaced people they work with too are often nomads by circumstance. The English Gents, whom we interviewed in Halifax, are close to earning the title of nomad, having been on the road now for over 18 months. The “grey nomads” have already adopted the moniker. Add to them professional house sitters, correspondents, mercenaries and even many business people, who spend more of their lives in transit lounges than in their own homes, and the list is becoming substantial. While gap year travel usually has an end in sight, there is a growing community of travellers with no ultimate destination, and a willingness to make the most of opportunities like 'couch surfing' to travel cheaply and connect with people on the way.

In Cape Breton we met two nomads who are travellers with a mission. In the tradition of The Man Who Planted Trees, Johnathan McNeil, is a 24 year old Cape Bretonner who has set himself a target of planting a million trees by the time he turns 30. He recently reached 250,000 so is well on his way to his target. He leaves Canada this week for a stint of tree planting in Ireland.

Rabanus Mitterecker is German, or Austrian, depending on who’s asking and in what context! Not ready to start university just yet, Rabanus is currently travelling in Canada as a Wwoofer. Wwoofers volunteer on organic farms in return for food and accommodation. After a week at Cabot Shores, Rabanus left to go and see a man about a yurt – actually many yurts, which he will be helping to build over coming weeks.

Both Rabanus and Johnathan have been inspiring people to hang out with – impressive for both their commitment to getting out and seeing the world, and their willingness to throw themselves into whatever is going on. They're also indicative of a culture of travellers who believe a community is not defined by borders and boundaries.