Nomadic Connections

Recently I have been looking at what unites those of us who do not have a solid home base. Having grown up in a family of digital nomads long before this was an actual term, I have always wondered how large nomadic groups stay in touch.

My nomadic experience as a child was one that would have been impossible without modern technology- we flew from country to country by plane, our vast amount of belongings was shipped over in sea containers, and when these arrived we would move out of our usually comfortable hotel into our new home, plug in the computer, and send emails to family and friends. Our cultural identity was maintained by forming little communities with other international families and attending Dutch classes and social events. Though I never really thought about which community brought us closer to 'home', we were and still are part of many different groups of people, and stayed close despite not having a traditional home space through:

Family community: letters, emails, sending pictures, and more recently: facebook, parcels of presents, skype, whatsapp, letters, postcards, visits by plane/car/bus/boat.

Friend community: see above

Dutch community: Dutch classes, embassies, Dutch embassy and other events, cultural activities, barbecues, parties, Dutch clubs.

International community: Schools, international organisations, international activities, word of mouth

After looking at my own nomadic communication system, I did research on several groups of people that are connected through communities but not through specific places. This research included Irish Travelers, Mongolian Nomads, Mormons, and the Masaai of Kenya and Tanzania. While cultural differences are so vast and there is still little focus on research that answers my question of communication, I did find a fascinating article on communication between Mongolian nomads. Link below.

https://www.wired.com/story/what-mongolian-nomads-teach-us-about-the-digital-future/