Dearest Humans,

Maybe you stumbled across this article randomly or maybe a significant other or potential suitor sent it your way. Whether you're a wanderer trying to explain yourself or someone struggling to understand a wanderer in your life, this guide is for you.

Before you begin reading, you must listen to this. Because Mumford puts it best and music always has a way of explaining things.

A wise friend once told me that she was told there are two types of people in this world: adventure seekers and comfort seekers. When you stop and think about it, this is pretty true. There are people who thrive in the same town their whole life and couldn't imagine not living near their family and friends. There are also people who can’t imagine staying in one place for too long, and always have their eyes set on life’s next great adventure. Falling into one of these two categories, you may find the other hard to understand. But fear not, they are compatible! It will just take time, understanding, patience, and compromise.

One of the first things you need to know about wanderers is they fall into the adventure seeking category (okay so yeah, that was kind of obvious). They are fiercely independent humans, so let them be independent. They don’t like having to rely too heavily on others, and they can be so very stubborn (this also may be why many wanderers are the oldest child, but that's a whole different argument to explore another time). But just because they’re independent and stubborn doesn’t mean that’s all they are. Wanderers love hard. In fact, most wanderers have the tendency to be fueled by passion and driven to act more on emotions than logic. Being full of emotions and bad at hiding them, wanderers can tend to be those people in your life who word-vomit left and right and seem to somehow feel strongly about everything. Humor them. Be a listening ear. And feel free to point out when they're being unrealistic, because sometimes wanderers get too caught up in the moment to be able to see this.

Sometimes wanderers have the tendency to pull away. They "set you free." This doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t want to be with you, it means that they don’t want to hurt you with their wanderer tendencies. Especially if you’re not a fellow wanderer. You might make them feel vulnerable. Wanderers tend to have a fear of being tied down and losing out on the many adventures life has to offer. If you’re up for the adventure, the passion, and the roller coaster of emotions that all come from being with a wanderer, fight for them. Wanderers need someone to say to them, “it’s okay to leave, but know I will be here when you get back.” When they tell you they could potentially be in another country volunteering for two years or any number of places across the country doing any number of things, be understanding. When they tell you they want to teach English abroad or go to grad school abroad, support them. Encourage them. Seek to understand them. Tell them you want to make it work. It might be hard, but it'll be rewarding.

It’s only fitting to end with music as an explanation since we started with music. And as always, ZBB says it perfectly.

Now go out and embrace all those crazy, frustratingly wonderful wanderers in your life.

Yours Truly,

A Wanderer

{wanderlust: a strong desire to travel}