What is Home When You Never Stay Long?

We wanted to understand how living on the move changes our relationship with home. As more people adopt flexible, location-independent lives, the traditional idea of home—a fixed place to return to—begins to break down. Can a home still exist when you're never in one place for long? And if so, how do people create a sense of home while always on the move?

Philosophers Deleuze and Guattari suggest that "home becomes an assemblage of connections and relations, rather than a singular, fixed entity" [1]. This framework guided our research into how people living nomadic lifestyles redefine home.

Unpacking the notion of home

Home is usually seen as stable, a place we return to at the end of the day. But what happens when you're constantly moving? Blunt and Sheringham argue that home is "constructed not just through where we live, but how we live in relation to the spaces around us" [2]. For travelers, home often comes from routines, not a specific location.

Daily routine (like making coffee or going for a morning walk) helps create stability. Cohen et al. describe this as a "blurring of boundaries between work, travel, and living" [3]. These actions give travelers a sense of home, wherever they are.

Exploring the lives of travelers

We found that many travelers don't tie home to one place. Instead, they create it wherever they go. Digital nomads, for example, rely on daily routines to stay grounded. Setting up work in familiar ways or revisiting favorite places offers stability, even as locations change.

But home isn't just about habits. Nomadic communities offer shared spaces and support systems. These groups reject traditional ideas of homeownership. They focus on shared experiences and connections instead. Blunt and Sheringham argue that home is also created "through how we live in relation to others" [2]. These collectives form a sense of belonging through relationships, not property.

Home as a feeling

Philosophically, home is more of a feeling than a place. Simone de Beauvoir writes, "our relationship with place is not just external; it forms part of who we are" [4]. For travelers, every new environment shapes their identity. Home isn't a place they return to—it's how they adapt to new spaces.

Deleuze and Guattari describe home as a network of connections. It grows and shifts as people move through different locations [1]. Each new place adds to this network. Travelers build home through routines and emotional ties, no matter where they go.

Loneliness and freedom

While travel offers freedom, it also brings challenges. As de Beauvoir writes, "freedom allows us to shape our lives, but the lack of roots can bring a feeling of dislocation" [5]. Travelers may feel isolated without a permanent home. This disconnection is real when there's no fixed place to return to at the end of the day.

Balancing freedom and stability can be challenging. Some travelers choose this lifestyle, while others are pushed into it by changing work circumstances. Cohen et al.'s study of lifestyle mobility points out that work often merges with travel, blurring boundaries between work and leisure. This overlap forces many into mobility-driven lifestyles, making creating a stable home even more challenging [3].

An evolving definition

For nomads, home isn't tied to one place. It's built with each new destination. Li and McKercher's research shows that people can form connections with many places, creating a dispersed sense of home [6]. Routines, objects, and relationships play a role in this process, making home more fluid and adaptable.

Trdina and Pušnik emphasize the role of personal belongings and memories in shaping a sense of home while traveling [7]. As locations change, travelers carry home with them through the familiar details of their daily lives. Objects and routines serve as anchors, allowing them to maintain a connection to home even in new environments.

Fluidity of home

Deleuze and Guattari suggest that "lines of flight are what make it possible to hold things together" [1]. Home is not fixed for travelers—it evolves with each step forward. Each new place, relationship, and routine adds to the fluidity of what home means. Movement doesn't erase home; it reshapes it into something flexible and personal.

We must reconsider home in an increasingly mobile world. It's no longer tied to a single location or structure. Instead, as de Beauvoir reminds us, freedom is found in adapting to and shaping new environments [5]. Home is something we create through our interactions and relationships. The notion of home becomes an expression of human adaptability—a space of possibility and reinvention.

• References

  1. Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1987). A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. University of Minnesota Press.

  2. Blunt, A., & Sheringham, O. (2006). Home: City, Geographies, Urban Dwelling, and Mobility. Routledge.

  3. Cohen, S.A., Duncan, T., & Thulemark, M. (2013). "Lifestyle Mobilities: The Crossroads of Travel, Leisure, and Migration." Mobilities, 8(1), 46–61.

  4. Beauvoir, S. de. (2010). The Second Sex (C. Borde & S. Malovany-Chevallier, Trans.). Vintage Books.

  5. Beauvoir, S. de. (1948). The Ethics of Ambiguity (B. Frechtman, Trans.). Citadel Press.

  6. Li, T. E., & McKercher, B. (2016). "Exploring Effects of Place Attachment on Home Return Travel: A Spatial Perspective." Tourism Geographies, 18(4), 359–376.

  7. Trdina, A., & Pušnik, M. (2014). Travel Beyond Place: Touring Memories and Displaced Homecoming. University of Ljubljana Press.