Home Feels Temporary: How Constant Travel For Work Changed My Relationship With Space

With the emergence of new workplace trends, the hybrid system is changing the meaning of what 'going to work' entails. For many, going to work has become a form of travel, moving from one city to another while leaving behind the already fleeting notion of home. But the relentless pace of travel has entirely shifted my understanding of what a personal sanctuary embodies. Home has transformed from a place to a feeling as it is no longer a static location but a feeling I carry with me. Thus, the line between my personal and professional life has blurred, and my world has become a fluid, ever-changing landscape. Since I am a girl who lives in Aligarh and travels to work in Noida, here is what my nomadic professional life looks like and what it has taught me.

My Commute Is A Weekly Ritual, Not A Routine

My Aligarh to Noida cab ride on Mondays and return on Wednesdays is my sacrament; sometimes it feels like I am in a daily chaotic cycle of working three days a week, where I don't commute but just juggle between these spaces. The suitcase, packed and unpacked, is an extension of my existence in both places. Sometimes, I feel exhausted, and other days it is emotionally taxing in the grey areas between home and work. Sometimes, I just wonder how I manage. But then, I enjoy the quiet mornings in a new place, the familiar mess of the office and the special feeling of returning to Aligarh again. This constant back and forth has taught me a lot and has really changed my viewpoint of permanency in life.

This bag isn't just luggage; it's a testament to a life lived in constant motion (Image Credits: Canva)

A Guest In My Own Life

The ritual of unpacking my bag to pack another two days later has made me feel like a guest in my own life. The clothes in my tiny travel bag feel as if I have borrowed them. When I am home, I can smell my scent; when I am away, the cab or the office building smells sterile. I am always in motion and perpetually in flux, which leaves me feeling unsettled and questioning where I belong.

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Three Homes, Three Realities: Juggling Between Personal and Professional Worlds

Every week, I feel like I'm toggling between three different realities. Home in Aligarh, the familiar warmth of my own space, then the focused environment of the office in Noida and finally the impersonal and yet shared place of my PG, where I stay for two days. It's not easy hopping between these places, but it's also an unusual sort of self-discovery—every week I'm pushed to adapt and find comfort in my surroundings and experience the unknown. At each stage, there's a surprising sense of fortitude and resilience I never realised I have.

The Toll Of Transit: Physical, Emotional And Mental Impact

The implications of so much travel are also inflicting an emotional void in my life. I feel like an observer of priceless family moments rather than a participant. My physical health is constantly at risk as my sleep cycle is always chaotic, leading to constant tiredness and exhaustion. My ever-present reliance on convenience food has also restricted my diet and affected my overall well-being. As a result, the constant strain of travel, work and recovering has left me mentally burned out and emotionally drained. The cost of this sort of lifestyle is measured in more ways than just miles.

Growth On The Go: The Unexpected Lessons Of A Moving Life

This lifestyle, though challenging, has been an incubator for my self-discovery. Exploring new environments, cities and cultures has certainly expanded my view of the world and has trained and prepared me to be comfortable in uncertainty and change. Being on the move has also sharpened my discernment as I have learned to prioritise and be more independent as I pay attention to the limited time I do have with those closest to me. I’ve also learned that travelling alone, which I considered a burden before, has become a comfortable space of solitude for reflection and understanding my own needs to better distinguish my abilities from my values. All in all, these experiences have moulded a more constructive version of myself.

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How Travel Taught Me That Home Is An Emotion, Not An Address

Home for me has changed from a permanent place to a temporary and changeable idea. In this constant movement, the idea of home has collapsed from a fixed place to a feeling, to something I need to have with me and carry inside me. The things and places previously tied to a sense of permanence have turned into fleeting points on a changing road map. It has changed how I now view the relationship to space itself. Instead of seeking a place of belonging in a permanent address, I am finding this in stillness and connection, in transient encounters wherever I am. This may sound simplistic but the more I think about it, it's meta. I feel both challenged and liberated, discovering that I no longer have a sense of self based on some fixed place but simply a form of portable self that travels with me. The home I have found is the act of movement itself.