An Accidental Wanderer

I never thought I'd be a person who craves change. Yet, even as a young teenager I felt fortunate I wasn't someone who had lived in the same house in the same town for their entire childhood. I definitely see the value in that lifestyle, but it wasn't for me. Maybe part of me has always craved change to some degree or maybe life experiences have made me restless. Despite this, change is hard and it always take a while to figure out my place. I remember when I was looking at colleges I told my mom, "if I don't go away for college, I feel like I'll never leave." Meaning, I needed to push myself and break out of my bubble. I think that's what I find so appealing about moving and traveling - it allows me to stretch myself mentally and emotionally while throwing new challenges my way. My family moved towns when I was 7 years old, moved halfway across the country when I was 12, and when I was 17 I went to a different city for college. In 16 years of marriage, my husband, kids, and I have lived in five different cities (one of which being overseas!). We have grown together in our love for moving and traveling. Our three sons have all been traveling with us from the time they were babies. If I could make a career out of being a nomad (with my family, of course), I would sign up for that in a heartbeat! Even outside of the huge changes associated with moving or the excitement of planning our next trip, I look for smaller opportunities to change up and add excitement to my life: trying new jobs, rearranging furniture in our house, buying new décor, trying a new recipe. I know I drive my husband nuts when he comes home from work and I've rearranged all of the kitchen drawers. I don't mean to say that I'm not happy with my life how it is - I love where we live and the calming feeling of calling a place home. However, I get the travel itch when I don't have trips lined up on the calendar.

My husband and I like to play this game where we think of 163 hypothetical situations and paths that his job could take us. We talk about the places we would like to live, having never been to any of them, and start looking up houses and schools in those areas. On one hand it's exciting to not know where our future will lead us, and on the other hand it makes us feel better to have the illusion of control over our lives. He works in a government job that could in theory move us anywhere. When we moved to Georgia four years ago we thought our next stop would be Washington, D.C. and that was that. We felt so good to finally know what our next step was! However, life had other plans and somehow our kids grew up before our eyes. With Kid #1 starting high school, the prospect of moving him became daunting. Hubby had to start a new position in D.C. no matter what, so we started discussing him just moving and the boys and I staying in GA. I have to admit that I hated the idea at first and always thought people who do things that way were crazy! In our MANY discussions, we came around to the idea that it was best to keep the boys stable until they all finish high school. Stable?!?! That will mean at least 13 years living in the same place! We don't do that! It took me months to come around to this idea but we both feel like it was the right decision for our boys. School started a week ago and I think they are all happy that they were able to stay in their schools, with their friends, and in their numerous activities. This accidental wanderer is turning into an unexpected settler, with plans to take every opportunity to wander where life takes me.