Want a Full Life? Balance the New and the Familiar

Nomadic life is a wise teacher.

In 2024, my wife Lisa and I sold our home and most of our possessions and for the last 14 months have lived nomadically. We stay in hotels, AirBnbs, on cruise ships, and with friends and family all over the world.

This lifestyle is bursting with benefits—freedom, spontaneity, low fixed expenses, no home maintenance, and meeting interesting people in fascinating places while having new experiences across the globe.

But there are drawbacks—transition days (waking up in one place, going to sleep in another) are hard, we miss having a place with our favorite furniture and decor, and time-consuming travel planning is tedious.

Now in year two of this journey, we’re learning to lean into the benefits and better manage the drawbacks. We’re “building our nomadic muscles” as one nomadic writer put it, and figuring out what works for us. There’s no one way to do this lifestyle.

One of the lessons I’m learning is the need to balance the new and the familiar. We spent much of this past summer traveling in Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, and the Netherlands. We explored new places, took new hikes, ate new foods, met new people. My heart and mind were stretched by different cultures and perspectives. It was exhilarating, eye-opening, wonderful. 

It was also tiring. After a while, it felt like I couldn’t absorb any more “newness.” I found myself craving the familiar.

We’re spending the next few months back in our former home state of Arizona in the US, staying with dear friends and pet sitting for several repeat clients in a neighborhood we love.

And it feels good. Right. Needed. Grounding. I can already feel my shoulders relaxing, my mind settling, my breath deepening, my energy returning.

The lesson I’m learning is this—I need the new for growth, excitement, and freshness. I need the familiar for stability, refocus, and renewal. For a full life, the beauty is in the balance.

How’s your balance? Is your life feeling boring or stale? Seek freshness in a new place, a new relationship, a new hobby, a new routine. Are you feeling overly stretched and road-weary? Seek familiarity in a comforting place, a grounding relationship, a beloved routine. Balance the new with the familiar. If you do, you’ll enjoy a full, energized life, and you’ll take another step toward Becoming Yourself.