Beyond Borders: A Deep Dive Into the Nomadic Way of Life and Identity in Mongolia
Over the past five years, I have been learning from my nomadic friends on all different continents. Every year I get to travel with a group of them and spend three or four weeks in their country’s capital city/biggest city. The people you meet are usually quite different from the ones you make life-long friends with in your hometown, so that is reason enough for me to continue to learn, travel, and learn from the nomads I have met.
In Mongolia, I met an impressive group of people from all walks of life. All of these people were very open, honest, kind, welcoming, and respectful of others. They are more open than my own friends from the big cities, and more respectful than the kids at school. This openness has a very different meaning in Mongolia compared to other places. In the big cities the rules are very clear and everybody follows them, but here in Mongolia everything is on the line. You do what you like, how you like, and who you like.
For example, if you take a taxi somewhere in the countryside and they tell you that the roads are better, you can take a taxi and go somewhere else. But if they say they are better in town, you had better tell them they are better in a more direct way. After several weeks, I had no intention of going back to the car. I decided to start from the mountains, and then go to the cities. So I did.
The roads were always in good condition and very well maintained. On the last day we were in town, we were stopped by a driver at the top of a mountain. He looked at our car and said: “It was a good trip, don’t mind if we take it.” Then he took off down the road with his car. After a while I realized our ride was still there. So, I told him we would be going to town that night, and then he could take us there tomorrow too.
We went to one of the cities – in this case, my own city – where