What Makes a Nomad1 a Nomad?

Nomadic Matt

What makes a nomad a nomad? Or a backpacker2. backpacker: 背著背包徒步（或乘坐公共交通工具）旅行的人，背包族。a backpacker?

How do you de fine a budget3. budget: 經(jīng)濟的，特價的。traveler?

Am I a nomad because I move around a lot or did I give up the rights to call myself that when I got an apartment? Am I a luxury traveler because I stay in a hotels or a budget one because I use points4. point: （用作計分單位的）點，分，這里指積分。to stay in them for free?

I was faced with these questions last month when asked how it felt to no longer be a nomad. I responded by saying I didn’t feel any different nor did I think the label had any special meaning. Once a traveler, always a traveler!

There are a lot of names for people who travel the world—backpackers, nomads, vagabonds, tourists, explorers, travelers.5. vagabond: 流浪者（尤指閑逛的人）；explorer: 探險者，勘察者。Labels are everywhere but seem especially prevalent among travelers seeking to differentiate their style of travel.6. 標簽無處不在，在那些試圖將自己的旅行方式與別人區(qū)分開來的旅行者中尤其盛行。prevalent: 盛行的，普遍的；differentiate: 區(qū)分，區(qū)別。For many travelers, these labels make them feel superior over another.

Andrew Zimmern fromBizarre Foodsonce said “Please be a traveler, not a tourist.7. Andrew Zimmern: 安德魯·席莫，《古怪食物》節(jié)目主持人；Bizarre Foods: 《古怪食物》，一檔旅游美食節(jié)目，主要以介紹世界各地令人作嘔、特別且古怪的食物。Try new things, meet new people, and look beyond what’s right in front of you. Those are the keys to understanding this amazing world we live in.”

你是背包客還是觀光客？怎樣的人算背包客，怎樣的人算觀光客？背包客洋氣，觀光客俗氣？背包客走進文化深處，觀光客只會拍照傻樂？是誰給你貼上了這些標簽，你又是從何時起形成了思維定式呢？其實，我們都只是行走世間的匆匆過客，本質(zhì)上沒什么不同，不是嗎？

This quote is symbolic of the mindset that travelers are better at exploring the world than tourists.8. symbolic: 表示……的，代表性的；mindset: 思維定式，觀念。They dig deep into the culture,drink it up, and get to know a place whereas a tourist takes pictures and claims to have “done Paris.”9. 他們深入探索并充分吸收當?shù)匚幕罱K了解這個地方，而觀光客不過拍些照片，然后宣稱自己“去過巴黎”。

But that mindset is elitist travel crap.10. 但這些不過是精英主義論者關于旅游的一通胡扯。elitist: （貶）精英主義論的；crap: 廢話，胡扯。

We are all tourists.

Out on the road, backpackers love to talk about how authentic11. authentic: 地道的，真正的。their travels are and how inauthentic tourists are. “Look at those tourists over there,” they say. They scoff at others who travel too quickly or to places they deem not off-the-beaten-path enough.12. scoff at: 嘲弄，嘲笑；deem: 認為，視作；off-the-beaten-path: （地方）人跡罕至的，偏遠的。And they do so from hostels13. hostel: （為出門在外的人提供廉價食宿的）旅社，旅店。while eating hamburgers and drinking beers with other travelers. An irony often lost on14. lose on: 對……不起作用，不能引起……的注意。them.

The only way to really get to know a place deeply is to live there. If you want to live like a local, find an apartment, get a job,commute15. commute:（乘公交車輛）上下班。to work, and do the same things you did back home.

We are all merely passing through a culture, getting a small taste of it before moving on to the next place. Even if we stay weeks or months, we’re just grazing16. graze: 輕觸，蹭。the surface. In reality, we are all really just tourists. Or travelers…or nomads. Call yourself whatever you want—it’s all the same.

Let’s take budget travel as an example. Who de fines what a budget traveler is? Though some places are more expensive than others, my average daily budget for travel is $50 per day. Sometimes I spend more, most of the time I spend less. However, to some that’s not cheap enough.

《古怪食物》主持人安德魯·席莫

“You spent $50 a day in London? Well, I spent $30!”

“Ha, I only spent $5 dumpster diving and squatting in homes.”17. dumpster diving: 撿垃圾；squat: 蹲，蹲坐。

There is a one-upmanship18. one-upmanship: （使自己）勝人一籌的本領。on the road about who can be a cheaper traveler,especially among backpackers. Everyone is trying to race to the bottom19. race to the bottom: 向下競爭，逐底競爭。thinking it makes them a better traveler. But no matter how much you spend—or don’t spend—we’re all trying to do the same thing: see the world.

Don’t label anyone and don’t let anyone label you. Your trip is your own. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad about how you travel, where you go, or the direction you take—dumpster dive,take a cruise20. cruise: （尤指為娛樂而）乘船游覽。, be a tourist, be a traveler, take tours.

We are all tourists. We are all travelers. What we are all doing is more important than what we call ourselves. Let’s stop labeling each other. Because it doesn’t matter.

There is a smug superiority among travelers when they use labels.21. smug: 沾沾自喜的，自滿的；superiority: 傲慢，高傲。The words convey the hidden message: “I’m a better traveler than you are.”

Sure, you haven’t yet hiked Kilimanjaro, sailed in the Amazon,22. Kilimanjaro: 乞力馬扎羅山，位于坦桑尼亞，為非洲最高山峰；Amazon: 亞馬孫河，位于南美，是世界流量和流域最大的、第二長的河流。or traveled across Central Asia—but you might one day. Or you might not. It doesn’t matter. It’s your trip—go at your own pace, do your own thing.

I don’t care where or how you travel so long as you go, see something new, and expand your horizon23. horizon: 閱歷的范圍，眼界。. Sitting at a resort isn’t my cup of tea,24. resort: 度假地，游覽勝地；cup of tea: 合心意的東西。but if you like it, you’re no more or less a traveler than I am. I call myself a nomad because I like the word (and how it combines with my name). But in the end, it’s a meaningless label.

The next time someone tries to de fine you, just tell them, “No travel labels, please. We’re all the same! Let’s just enjoy the fact that we are simply people on the road.”

No more, no less.