The downsides of an interesting life
I'm the luckiest SOB you'll ever meet.
I'm healthy. I've got a supportive family. Wonderful wife. Economically secure.
I've taken advantage of so many opportunities that have come my way and could not be happier with how things have gone the last few years. (jk, things could always be better. I'm human.)
In my hometown people think I'm interesting when they hear all the places I've lived. Here, moving around isn't that common.
Here's where I've hopped around over the last decade
- Rural Wales: year split between the beach and working on an oil refinery
- Melbourne, Australia: 6 months pretending to study with my (now) wife
- London, UK: two years doing the corporate job thing
- Toronto, Canada: two years in my fav summertime city
- Austin, TX: two and a half years with the other tech bros overtaking the city
And that doesn't count the extended vacations in between: hiking across Peru, hopping across rurual Catalonia, biking in Vietnam, or driving through Eastern Europe. Or the dozens of work trips around the US (airport, taxi, hotel, conference room, and back again).
Moving every few years has become normal. I've had so many experiences younger me dreamed about (I'm just missing a stint in APAC).
And it's starting to suck.
I'm sick of:
- Minimalism
- Losing friends
- Buying used furniture
- Learning new running routes
- Facebook marketplace messages
- Not owning an espresso machine
- Selling anything 'non-essential'
- Starting again every couple years
This hit home on a recent trip across rural Spain. People watching in plazas before dinner, we'd watch locals get together: friends and families (grandparents in tow) catching up while their kids play. People actually knew eachother. In the bars, on the street, in the cafes.
These relationships help people live happier and longer.
I might be romanticizing a lifestyle that isn't possible everywhere; UK cities (and weather) aren't setup for this. But there was a real sense of community. You can build that anywhere.
I think that's what I've been searching for. I've always thought that the next place will fill some gap.
I've been searching for a place, when I should be searching for people.
It's the people that make the place.
So now I'm looking forward to settling down. Regrowing roots. Right now we're in the UK, and work may pull me back towards London. But this time, I'll do it with more intention.