Nomads: There's no place like roam

— -- Being away from home is the toughest part of life on the road for many frequent business travelers.

Chris Timar, who cleans oil storage tanks for a Houston company, has no home to return to. He's been traveling on business for five years, and the road is his home.

"I like to travel, and I enjoy my lifestyle," says Timar, 40, who is divorced and has no children. "I couldn't see being stuck in one place."

Timar's life is extreme — even by the standards of the most-hardened business travelers, including many who spend more than 100 days a year on the road. Unlike Timar, they own or rent a house, an apartment or a condo. They have a town or a city they call home and find comfort in it.

Take Kevin Wilson. Wilson, a consultant who spent about 250 nights in hotels last year, says the thought of living full time on the road recently crossed his mind. But he thought better of it. He likes "having roots — a home base." Wilson and his wife, Rhonda, own a home in St. Louis.

Or Tevilla Riddell, a consultant who travels "so much that the hotels start to blur." She's also thought about a life like Timar lives, "but couldn't do it," says Riddell, who spent more than 200 nights away from her Trophy Club, Texas, home last year. She needs hugs from her husband and the camaraderie of her friends and cats. "I need a nest," she says.

Timar's nest is always a temporary one. It's a hotel, motel or transient apartment near his latest job. His company forwards all his mail. His belongings are what he takes in bags, along with his tools for the job. He'll often leave behind what he doesn't need at his next stop.

'Crazy lifestyle'

Timar's newest stop is Honolulu. He flew there Feb. 6 after a 14-week stay in Linden, N.J. He's renting an apartment near Pearl Harbor.

He works for TriStar PetroServ, which employs about 100 workers and calls itself "the largest stand-alone tank cleaning and degassing company in the United States."

He is one of nine employees who supervise one- to nine-month projects across the country, says Troy Anderson, the company's division manager. Even among them, Timar is unique.