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Wanderlust
Wanderlust is the strong or irresistible desire to travel. When reading Pyle’s chapter Drought Bowl in “Home Country” wanderlust was the word that came to mind. Pyle talked about the idea of constantly traveling, and never having a home base. Travel for Pyle was a means of escape. “We don’t have to stay and face anything out. If we don’t like a place, we can move on…Stability cloaks you with a thousand little personal responsibilities, and we have been able to flee from them.” Pyle was asked if he got sick of traveling his answer was no because to him he could escape responsibility. Does this desire to travel constitute wanderlust, or does the definition only allow for a strong desire to travel because the person wants to see the world. I would argue that traveling for escape would count as wanderlust. Many people on the road at this time had wanderlust. They had a very strong desire to travel as a means of escape. Yes, maybe not because they wanted to see touristy things, and they might not have been interested in the wonders of the world, but they did not want to stay in one place. 
Authors such as John Allen write that wanderlust is ones individual choice to become homeless. John C. Schneider in his essay “Tramping Workers, 1890-1920: A Subculture View” takes this idea a step further suggesting that these people were addicted and were unstable. “For those who wanted to make of tramps of a lazy and irresponsible group the wanderlust theory had much to offer, and it was only part of a substantial argument reformers made about the psychological instability of the homeless man.”(220) Why would one want to be homeless? Does responsibly really out weigh stability that a home offers? I guess to some it does. Pyle later writes that he would not stay in one place too long even if he loved it. He talked about the places he was sad to leave. “And we still love all those places because we always had to leave before the sweet taste could turn to vinegar.” Maybe if he moved to one of the places he loved so much he would have realizes he did not love it anymore. What would it be like to never have a home base? I love to travel, but I also love to come home, where there is some stability. I like spending time with friends and family. I like having familiar food, and being in a familiar place. Sometimes it’s nice to have predictability, to know where the closest grocery store is, and to possibly bump into a friend on the way. I don’t’ need to escape my responsibilities indefinitely, although from time to time it would be nice to go on vacation.
Wanderlust
I definitely agree with you that when I travel, I also want to come back home. I also enjoy the stability predictability provides. But for me travel is a luxury, not something I am driven to in desperation. I am also comfortable at home, not being driven from my land and way of life. When I set out on a trip it is always with the knowledge that it is of limited scope, and that I will ultimately return. I think that this consciousness of a finite trip likely changes my experience of it, while Pyle, without any definite terms to his stay might be able to experience the places he visits with a different outlook. He can become as immersed or not in the places he travels, but I think his urge to leave the places he loves has to do with this feeling of appreciation for that which is limited, before it can be taken for granted. Of all the places I’ve travelled to and loved, I have ultimately wanted to come home. Even if I stayed for extended periods, over months, the intrigue and enjoyment I drew from a place would have faded had I thought I would be living there permanently. Part of the enjoyment of visiting another place for me comes from its finite and limited nature. I also don’t think that I would enjoy traveling as much without knowing that home is always waiting, so no chosen homelessness or wanderlust for me.