Why Are People Staying Put?

The bags aren't packed . . . yet.

Here’s a fantasy I’ve nurtured for the last 20 years:

No permanent home address. Just two suitcases and my laptop. Moving to a new town every three months.

Call it radical mobility.

Many people share this dream. Others are appalled at the thought.

But here’s the thing. Anyone who does share this fantasy is much less likely to pursue it today than they would’ve been just a few years ago. Americans are staying put at record numbers.

Why?

For some, it’s the mortgage-rate trap. They got into a home at just 3% and now they’re unwilling to give that up.

Some are handcuffed by a dual-income. One person in a relationship might be able to pick up and go, but not both.

And the cost of everything has ballooned so much that people find it hard enough to make their current living situation work, let alone fund a nomadic lifestyle.

The Evolving Fantasy

My fantasy has morphed in the last couple of years. I originally thought of traveling the entire U.S., my bags tossed into the back and the open road beckoning. I even imagined getting temporary part-time jobs in each town to provide a few bucks while I spent the rest of my hours writing and exploring.

Lately, though, my eyes have wandered across the pond. Now, the fantasy doesn’t take place in the States, but rather in Europe. Passport in hand, one suitcase on a train instead of two, an overseas adventure that follows the earlier prescription but adds an exotic touch.

Some of us have the “Go West” gene baked in, maybe fueled by some DNA left over from our ancestors’ hunter-gatherer days. There’s no denying a certain romanticism associated with the freedom.

At times, it even became part of our cultural mythology. In the 1950s and 60s, people were either inspired by Jack Kerouac’s “On The Road” or stayed behind and felt a tinge of jealousy. The book was all about rejecting the mainstream and instead embracing freedom while we “found ourselves.”

My fantasy has nothing to do with anything that deep. I honestly don’t think I’m searching for anything, at least nothing profound, and it’s certainly not tied to politics. It’s rooted in curiosity and a desire to ditch the often suffocating responsibilities of home ownership. Call it a release valve.

The Anchored Generation

There must be a sizable number of people simmering with the same desire for freedom. Surveys show 8% of Americans now move on a regular basis—when, not long ago, it was 20%. What does that say about us? Have we become the Anchored Generation? Are we free in spirit and yet trapped in practice?

And more importantly, have we made peace with this reality, or are we quietly restless?

I work from home. I own my house outright. By every measure, I’m freer to pick up and go than most Americans.

My bags aren’t packed. I’m one little nudge away.

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Dom Testa writes fiction and nonfiction, and has two suitcases that are starting to give him the side-eye.

Find all his work, including his books, here.