When I was in middle school I read a survey that most of my peers wanted to live within 50 miles of where they grew up. This surprised me. Didn't they want to escape just like me?
I did my own survey of my friends. Every single one wanted to stay in northeastern Wisconsin. Astonishing! Why?
In college I had dreams of spending years abroad. I traveled some at the time and that desire only grew. I figured that's how I'd live my 20s. In my 30s I'd probably settle down in San Francisco, Seattle or Washington, DC. Definitely not the Midwest. Then, I'd settle down and get married.
Right out of college, I moved to DC. A bit backwards plan-wise, but still a good start.
Then I got married.
Then I moved back to the Midwest.
Then I had kids.
So now I'm here for a bit. More than 1000 miles from an ocean. Definitely not in Europe, the Middle East, or any other neat foreign place.
At least I don't live in the same town I grew up in. I'm almost 300 miles away!
Why do we live the places we do? For most of us it's determined by a combination of jobs, affordability and proximity to family. Indeed, there are times I wish I lived in the same town as my kids' grandparents.
Driving out this month to Wyoming and Montana made me jealous of the Western lifestyle--at least the lifestyle I was exposed to in the tourist towns. Everything was beautiful. People were so friendly. Nevermind there are no jobs, I'd be far away from my family, or the different cultural and political values I'd have from my new hypothetical neighbors. I would be near mountains!
Sigh...
I love my home. I love my neighbors. I love my city. I'll love my state even more once we get rid of the governor this January. But sometimes I grow envious. Is the grass greener on the other side of the continental divide?
When I was 10 and my sister bet me $5 that she'd leave Wisconsin before me. At the time she hated the place. That was 22 years ago. Today she's still there, although now on the other side of the river. I'm still waiting for my $5 in the exotic Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Comments
A number of my classmates from high school cleared out of the town where I live north of NYC. I looked around and saw more reasons to continue to call this home than to move elsewhere. It's a bucolic area where people from the city like to have country homes and it's quite close to the city. Long Island Sound, while lacking in the rougher surf of the ocean, is about a 45 minute drive from here.
the next 20or so were spent in the mid-west...Iowa mostly. i raised my children there...it was a great place to do that.
a couple of years ago i moved to the west coast...first to the beach, now in the desert... so far, its my favorite place to live.
Remember, wherever you go, there you are... you can run, but you can't hide.
That being said, I'm a firm believer that where you live is a very minor determinant for one's happiness. If a person is unhappy, geography is not the reason for it.
Designat: proximity to city and ocean: very nice.
Ame: family is indeed key.
Mary t k: I knew it!
Just: the barns are pretty, but would you really want to live in one? Think about the mounds of cow dung that have passed thru those old buildings over the years.
Robin: we have a choice, we just forget sometimes about all the constraints on those choices.
Lorianne: I think I'd love the desert except for the part with the poisonous snakes.
But if I'd gone the family route, I would have likely ended up closer to home and to family back in Mass to raise kids.
I am permanently settled in South Florida now, because it's the spot I like the best!
Procopious: I think I could be happy just about anywhere, even northern Illinios. But I'd always think there was somewhere better (with mountains)!
Teendoc: I understand why it 'd desirable for some to get away. For me, being within a shrt day
hv
I do dream a bit...