"Nowhere Man" by Pico Iyer
Message Prompt

Pico Iyer discusses the type of people called "transit loungers" in his essay. Transit loungers are the people who often spend their time in transit space, the space where people pause in between their travel to another place. This transit space can be a train station, a subway, a rest stop, and so on. Transit loungers are the ones who grow accustomed to transit space and traveling so much that leaving one area no longer phases them. They see the world and travel constantly. Yet they are people who are constantly seperated from their family. They have no defined home that they are emotionally attached to. There is no one place they can go return to for comfort and a familial sense.

There are quite a few advantages that come with being a transit lounger. The most obvious is that a transit lounger is always traveling. They get to see a lot more of the world than most people do. They lead an exciting lifestyle in which they can wake up in a different place every week. They never have to worry about becoming bored with their surroundings, as they are in a new one all the time.

Transit loungers also form a strong sense of independence. They are traveling on their own throughout their life. They have no home and no close relatives. While this may seem lonely and scary, they are able to form independece and self-reliance. They do not go running to their family or friends when they have a problem becuase they are too far away. They deal with the issues of their lives on their own because they are strangers to their own home. It may seem lonely to be a transit lounger, but at least they are not dependent on others. Another advantage similar to this is that they are never emotionally attached. Therefore, they never really feel tragedy. If they lose something or someone, they do not feel extreme sadness because they were never emotionally attached in the first place.

One last advantage of being a transit lounger is that they are obviously pretty rich. It takes a great deal of money to be able to travel today. If one travles by car, they must pay a large amount for gas. If they travel by plane, they have to deal with costly plane tickets. No matter what form of transportation is used, it is expensive to travel between different places. Therefore, if someone is constantly traveling, they must have a decent amount of money to spend. They are financially secure. However, as the phrase goes, money cannot buy happiness. In the end, it is probably much better for one to have a defined home, a limited amount of traveling, and a smaller amount of money because at least he or she has a family. At least he or she would have a family for comfort and happiness.