It's not just about seeing people. It's about having deep connections and shared experiences. Eg: one of his friends has a life crisis and just needs to talk to someone. Are they going to hop on a train and track this guy down, or will they go see one of their other friends? So he will miss out being the person someone turns to, and these are the defining moments for long lasting friendships. Again, probably fine for a while, but if it goes on too long those existing friendships could fade away and he could miss out.

Is this train thing really different from the average "digital nomad"?

They too are away from their old standing friends, and since they are usually not intending to stay forever in the country they stay in, they're probably not investing in any deep connections there either.

In fact, given the huge loneliness/isolation trends, he is probably not that different to the average stationary person in this regard either.

DN here. It’s definitely different insofar that nomads frequently live in longer term shared spaces (ie weeks to months) and it’s pretty easy to meet people in these situations.

I don't live near anyone I could turn to like that, except my wife and mother. When I need to talk to someone, I do it on Slack, or I hop on a zoom call.

When I lived in New York, it wasn't that much different - my friends and I occasionally lived on opposite sides of Manhattan & Brooklyn; now I live in New Jersey, and if I want to see close friends, I have to dedicate at least half the day to it, and going somewhere on a whim is not always an option for me. Depending on where this kid is at any given moment, it might be faster for him to get to a friend than it would take me to get to mine.

Literally the other way around? Dude could hop on the train himself for free literally the same hour and see his friends no matter where they live in a couple hours?

Seriously, I have lived in remote regions and not everybody living there owns a car. Many people need hours to get to their friends as well.

> Eg: one of his friends has a life crisis and just needs to talk to someone.

He can hop on the train and trivially go to them. He probably sees his friends more than many others who are separated by long distances.

In a world of instant comms, he doesn’t need to be tracked down. He can be summoned and in a few hours, appear.