Wandering Roots
A Journey to Inner Home
In the mid-1990s, a time when the digital dawn was just breaking, I embarked on a journey that would irreversibly shape the contours of my life. This was an era when the World Wide Web was in its infancy, social media was a concept yet to be birthed, and smartphones were the stuff of science fiction. I didn’t use apps or electronic devices, but notebooks, paper maps, and a compass that pointed me towards unseen horizons. Venturing into the unknown, leaving the familiar behind for continents afar, possessed an irresistible allure and a flavor of adventure that was profoundly different from today's hyper-connected digital world. Without the conveniences of Google Translate, Airbnb, or GPS, I relied on a blend of traveler's intuition, the openness of strangers, and the serendipity of chance encounters. This was travel in its most authentic, a very real and analog form - unfiltered, unpredictable, and surprising.
30 years ago, my passion for traveling had no limits. Every facet of my existence was oriented towards my adventures across the globe. It was more than mere travel; it was a pilgrimage of growth, self-discovery, and profound connection. The world became my classroom, mentor, sanctuary, and mirror, reflecting back the limitless dimensions of life itself. I became an adult as I traveled the world. I created a nomadic lifestyle, carried what I needed in a 32-liter backpack, and made the planet my home. If you were around some years ago, I’m sure you’ve heard me say “The world is my backyard.”
At the outset, such a path was not just unconventional; it was seen as outright madness by many. Amidst the skepticism, there were some voices of encouragement, a couple of friends who found inspiration in my journey's authentic rawness and freedom - they were so important to me. I would only be happy forging my own path, and they supported me doing something they had never seen done. As I reflect on those transformative years now, in an age where digital technology has reshaped the very fabric of travel and human connection, I feel a profound sense of gratitude. It feels so special to have been able to explore the world in ways that are no longer possible. In a time when digital footprints often precede physical footsteps, recalling analog exploration feels like recounting tales from an almost mythical age. And I am so happy to have lived it.
After 22 years of nomadic life, having already lived in around 20 countries, traveled to over 100, visited my favorite ones at least 10 times, and having best friends scattered around all corners of the planet, something in me started to change. It was gradual. On the one hand, traveling had become too habitual, there was no learning curve anymore. I started to feel like the next big journey would have to be set in just one place. I became intrigued by the new challenge of stopping and grounding in one location, and felt excited with trying something so new. On the other hand, traveling had changed so much that I struggled to find that real sense of adventure I so much loved. It was difficult to find places on Earth without wifi connection, to engage in communication without social media no longer had that old freshness, and I missed traveling without a phone or any digital device - but to keep doing that also felt unnatural. It was strange to stay analog in a digital world, and digital traveling felt boring in comparison to my previous experience. And surprisingly, the mundane sounded so appealing, like an unknown destination waiting to be explored. It was time to pause, and reflect.
I had a few options in mind for my pausing time. Either moving to Japan, start a community in the Azores islands, or do something more radical and root in my childhood home in Portugal. I had received that house as a gift a few years before, started renovating it and was using it as my basecamp. Having a basecamp helped me travel quicker, because many logistical things were sorted by having a base, and I had extra time & energy to roam the globe. Still, that was just my basecamp for a couple years, and when I considered rooting down, Japan was the most likely option. I went on a trip to New Zealand and came back home to Portugal for Christmas, pretty set on grounding in Japan the following year. I went to Spain for a silent retreat to help me decide the next steps. Then I got “stuck” in Portugal when Covid hit the world by surprise.
Since the very beginning of the lockdowns, I decided I would make this option great. Alongside being an adaptable traveler, I’ve also been a psychologist for 24 years, and have been dedicated to my spiritual path for the same amount of time. So, when life showed me where I needed to be, I felt well resourced, used my psychological & spiritual tools, and saw the moment as a clear blessing in disguise. I set myself to savour the gift I had received. It felt like Life had created a new continent and I had been invited to explore something wildly new. I feel so much gratitude for this deep invitation. By far, one of the deepest journeys I ever took!
I discovered that the world is so deeply imprinted in me that I never feel like I’m away. The things I missed the most, like the Himalayan mountains, Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, sherpa kitchens, drinking tea in Asia, the sound of Japanese temples in the morning, and friends’ houses in far away lands, all of them live in me. In over 2 decades of nomadic life, they became part of the fabric of my being. My feeling of gratitude for that enriches my days and my life.
Staying in one place came with a reinvention of the sense of home. Home for me used to be the world, and slowly I created that same comforting feeling as I stayed in one place. It wasn’t obvious at first, but I was determine to explore this as an unknown land. More importantly, I expanded the sense of home as something that’s deeply grounded in myself. Now it’s so cool to feel rooted independently of my surroundings, and have a deep sense of belonging on the road and at home too. My days changed shape but kept the essence. All of my spiritual teachings turned real.
And what a unique vantage point, being back at the house where I grew up - exactly where it all began, where I started to dream of traveling the world! I can’t think of a better setting to appreciate how much I’ve changed, assimilate what I have learned around the globe, integrate wild nomadic experiences, embrace expanded perspective, and take in the huge transformation of the world. As the world became digital and so different from how it was when I was a kid, I changed in equal amounts, and my hometown has transformed too. Observing life from here, I’m reminded of how much I wished for change when I was a teenager and felt trapped in the limitations of the culture that surrounded me. I was always wanting to explore new things, and the digital world was a huge part of that. I reconciled my connection to technology, created rituals of intentionality around it, and brought back into my life a lot of analog expressions, finding a good balance. Slowly, I’m finding ways to have that balance when I travel as well.
I found the most freedom when one day I jumped on a flight to go back to Nepal, and knew that I would be equally happy staying home. What I used to call my ultimate freedom - traveling the world non stop, turned out to be not as free as I thought it was. Back in my nomadic decades I felt free traveling, but I was actually never free to stop, and therefore was not that free at all. Now it feels deeply sweet to be free of form, independent from the scope of my movements - both on the road and at home, it feels completely grounded and exciting inside myself. The deep connection with the mountains, towns and sacred sites of the world, all ripples as deep connection within. And the love of the world is well nourished inwardly as well.
These inner & outer journeys have been my life’s work. It’s from that space that I opened my travel company - Namkha Trips. It’s from that spaciousness that I offer my Psychotherapy sessions. And recently I started offering Life Mentoring sessions that allow me to accompany your growth journey in a free format that mixes all of my skills. It’s such an honour to share this life journey with you.