While working and drinking tea, we are both waiting to find out when we can get into the Portland place. For me it could not be soon enough. Once the decision has been made, I generally just want to get on with it. Once we find out I will have to let my family know that I am moving again. They probably think that I am crazy. Dave Duncan in one of his Jaguar Knight books wrote of a character that “grew bored easily and sought new beginnings.” According to Ilona, I am by nature a wanderer.
I have always enjoyed moving and in most cases the excitement and adventure of going somewhere new far outweighs any sadness or nostalgia for the old and or familiar. As a child, I was routinely shuttled between homes in California and Florida. When I was 15 I went to live in NC, at 18 I left to spend a year in Japan. Home for a few months I joined the Navy at 19. Having spent a winter in Great Lakes for Basic, I was never happier in my life to leave a place. After that it was off to Orlando for A school and then to my ship which was berthed at the 32nd St. Naval Station in San Diego, California.
If you have not been to San Diego, I greatly recommend it. It is a beautiful city with great weather and a terrific public transit system. The people are also very nice, Hey Reece! We did not spend a lot of time there but I got to go to Comic Con twice and met Glen Danzig. We were never in port for very long but that was fine with me, there was a chance we would go somewhere cool. It did not matter to me if it was somewhere in S.E. Asia or Central America, it was all good. Except for Tijuana, in my experience something always bad happens when you go there. That could be its own post probably.
After the Navy, I went back to NC to attend school where I met my lovely Russian bride. She had first left her native land to attend a private school in rural north Ga. She actually turned down an offer of a full scholarship at Georgia Tech to go to Western Carolina University. To this day I have no idea why she would but I am glad she did. After all of my roving I did find a pair of brown eyes (Sorry, it is a reference to the Pogues song).
After school I joined the Army and we were off to Georgia for the first time. Augusta is a not a bad place and I think we all enjoyed our time there. Ft. Gordon is nice base and for the first time in my life I was reluctant to leave when the orders came down for Ft. Sill, OK. How to describe Lawton? When we first arrived we asked if they had a Chucky Cheese, our kids were still very small then, and we were told that they used to have one but that it closed after a guy got stabbed there. That story makes Lawton seem nicer than it actually was. Neither Ilona or I can honestly think of anything good to say about that place.
For some reason after we got out I had the mad urge to move again. People who had been stationed at Fort Stewart always spoke well of it and of Savannah in general. It looked cool in Forest Gump and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. We actually ended up in the suburbs west of the city with lots of woods and a decent elementary school that the girls could walk to. Sadly however, in our three short years here the woods have been largely replaced by town homes and shopping centers. Next year Kid 2 will go to the same somewhat sub-par middle school that Kid 1 complains ad nauseum about attending.
There are actually things I will miss about this area. The beach, where you can almost always count on seeing dolphins very close, but the water is sort of brown; the two movie theaters that are for some strange reason right next to each other; and perhaps most of all The King and I, a fantastic Thai restaurant. I will miss eating there with Ilona and sometimes our good friend Erica, who was stationed at a nearby Army base. We met her at our very first book signing. She was one of two people who came up to our table.
Truth be told, I have been itching to leave for close to a year probably. And there in lies the problem. Ilona has been a good sport, following me all over the country, but she has made it very clear that this is the last move she wants to make for a very long time. “We are going to get a nice house and stay in Oregon!” As excited as I am I know that in a few years I will feel again the familiar urge to hit the road. My oldest daughter and I discussed this and even she is convinced that it is only a matter of time before I start making moving noises. The little one is already planning on leaving the States and living in the U.K when she grows up. I fear she has inherited my wander lust.
So what about the rest of you? Am I the Last of the Irish Rovers or are there others out there who heed the road’s siren song?
I don’t think i have wanderlust per se…. but I know that Maryland is not home. I don’t pine for Georgia overly much, but I miss the south. I keep trying to convince shmoo that we need to move to Austin, but he’s very anti-Texas and keeps trying to convince me we need to move to Alaksa, but I am very anti-snow. Surely there is a middle ground for us somewhere within the 48 states.
NC is very nice and it did not snow a lot in the mountains. I have heard that it is very nice on the coast and you would still be in the South. Or you could come with us to the PNW, shmoo and I can look for Big Foot on the weekend. Yay!
I htink I last at a location longer than you do, but I do eventually start itching for somewhere else. About every 5 years, we up and move. In the interim, I satisfy myself with re-arranging the furniture on an annual basis and little home fix-its.
My moves seem to be getting longer in distance – the last one was Boulder Creek, CA to Albany, OR. Who knows – the next one may be to Alaska.
We keep threatening HI, but I think it’s too hot for me to live there (although I sure do enjoy the visits). I think I like starting over, as well as experiencing new places. Moving seems like a clean slate somehow…
Our wanderlust is tempered a little too well by practicality. My husband and I moved from MO to Austin straight out of college for a job. After that we just kind of… settled. We want to live a year or more abroad, probably in Japan, but we keep putting it off. We have good jobs. We own a house. What would we do with our stuff? Who would mow the grass? How would we pay the bills? And so on and so on and so on.
So, no, you’re not the only one, but you’re certainly one of the braver ones.
@Laura (soapturtle) – Austin is fantastic. Not what I was expecting from TX at all.
I have lived in a variety of different places in California, but have not stretched my wings to other states .. at least states that don’t have relatives in them. *shrug* Moving is a costly undertaking and is hell on the nerves for anyone, but especially control freaks.
I’d really like to move out of the west coast some day.. yanno when I win the lotto, or find a job that’ll let me relocate. But at the same time, I’m so used to southern california and its bizarreness… not to mention great food and diversity, that whenever I DO go somewhere else for a visit or to gather intel, I end up missing the place that I left more than I like the place where I am. *sigh* Go figure. I’d really like to have the wanderlust gene. Seems nice.
I’m not really a roamer, just trying to find where I will be comfortable. I have moved five times in six years and know that once the lease is up at this place I’m going to be moving again. I really want to leave PA but the husband is scared to leave the state with his whole “bad experiances” with leaving the state. (He went to Iraq for a year, but before that it was Georgia, Cali,and Miss. and he didn’t like those.) I’m from coastal Texas and I do miss the ocean greatly but I won’t be going back down there. Some day him and I will agree on somewhere. I’m glad you two found a happy spot, for the moment at least.
Since my DH and I first got engaged in December 2004, we have moved a total of 4 times. Wyoming to Colorado to Nebraska back to Wyoming.
Since my DH graduated high school in 1994 he has moved a total of 22 times. I am not talking about moving across town to a different house but rather a move from one city to another. DH is making noises to move again. Frankly I am tired. But this move will probably just be to a larger town. I am not doing well in the small town I am in, I want grocery stores and a bookstore.
My Mom had wanderlust but my father did not so she just moved us from one side of town to another every year or so. I attended 5 different schools before HS. When my hubs and I were first married he was in the AF and we moved from SC to CA to MS to CA to SC when he got out. I miss CA sometimes and MS as well (They sure know how to party! *G* Although I don’t miss the humidity you could SEE.) We’ve been in SC for 5 years now and for the first time we’ve bought a house. I liked the area, but do so wish we could move again. *G* And my hubs is the same way. Who knows. Our kids however, do NOT want to move.
You lived in Lawton?!?!?! Bwahahahahaha!!!!
Oh yes, creepy Disney animatronics are singing in my head now.
As a (repeated) victim of the black hole phenomenon that is Lawton, OK, I have been sucked back here, twice, and may end up staying this time (home is where my family is). Although I do love the area’s mixed-grass prairie and wonderful sunsets, I have to agree with you that there really isn’t much to reccommend the city itself.
BTW, after the alleged stabbing, the Chuck-e-Cheese reportedly did not cease to exist, but instead was relocated to someplace in Alaska. Maybe one day I can try to hunt it down and just forget to go home. Or maybe I’ll just relocate to the Pacific Northwest, too… I miss real trees!
As a definite victim of Irish Wanderlust, I can confirm that completely rearranging the furniture in the house (and sometimes switching bedrooms) every six months or so seems to take the edge off for a while… Especially effective if you do it while everyone else is gone for the day. ;o)
Good luck with the move! Hope Oregon holds just the right mix of adventure, excitement, and newness and yet retains “all the comforts of home”.
When I was younger I wanted to travel the world. Some days I still do. But after moving from Cali to NC and then back again in a 4 yr time period, I’m kinda all funned out where moving is concerned. When I was little we had a place in Oregon so I spent a lot of time there, usually the summers, and then the rest of the time in Cali. If I could, I would move to the Oregon Coast. I’ve always loved it there, and I still have family up in that area. One day, when I’m rich
I admit, though, that as much as I hate the moving process I do like the excitement of starting over and seeing a new place and meeting new people. I guess there’s a little bit of the wanderer left in me somewhere *g*
Must be the Irish in us. In the past oh..25 years or so I have lived in Highpoint, NC, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, various cities around Detroit, MI, Walnut Creek, San Ramon, Concord, Rancho Bernardo and Temecula, CA. Dallas and Ft. Worth, TX. I have travelled all around the states, Canada and a bit of Mexico and a tiny bit of South America and am ready to go again! Having no kids helps. Having a husband w/ health problems doesn’t. We are stalled in Michigan but busy spinning plans of future moves. My family says I have wandering feet and they “wander” where I will end up next.
My parents moved our family twice within like a year. We left my birthplace of MN to head to Omaha, NE right before middle school. I HATED it. It wasn’t necessilary the move itself, it was having to move over Christmas, leaving all my family (who still live in MN) and friends. Omaha is (in my opinion, I do not mean any offense to anyone who enjoys Omaha, NE) the armpit of the US. After about a year there, the parents decided to do their own start up company. They pretty much flipped a coin, move back to MN to go back to be with family, or embark on a new journey to Arizona. Well, Arizona won, and here we are. I’ve been here in AZ ever since.
Hubby and I have been talking about moving for about a year now. Once he finishes school, we will probably embark out on our own. I’m actually kind of excited about it. I’ve always hated moving, but I am getting really sick and tired of AZ. It might be time for a change!
I think I am a nesting mallard duck. We have lived in the same place for 30+ years and the same house for 24 years. But I must have a bit of the wanderlust because in 2002 I went to work in Switzerland for a year. No relatives, no friends, no family nothing. It was a wonderful and stretching year. Every one at home kept asking if we were getting a divorce and the kids had to say we don’t think so. Having a home base means too much to me, besides I live in the PNW and with all my travels have not found a place I prefer. Hope that you have an uneventful move and that you find all that you want in Portland
You reminded me of Pa in The Little House books!
I am a nester. I’d love to travel, but I must have a nest to return to.
I know your need to move around. We’ve been entrenched here too long (13 years) and we’re getting the urge to move on once spouse gets closer to retirement age and/or I make enough to support the both of us. We’d love to settle on a small acreage, grow our own food and enjoy the peace and quiet outside the suburbs. Or we want to own a condo, maybe in downtown Atlanta, and travel a lot but still have a home base to return to after long weeks in Malta, Ireland or Oz. Option #1 would not allow us to be as mobile as we’d wish, not with a garden and chickens to tend, but our health would be good what with the exercise, etc. Option #2 would be grand as I want to see the world. So right now we’re staying put, trying to decide what would be best. I’m suspecting it will be a two phase thing — Option #2 for a few years, then transitioning to Option #1 somewhere in the world (probably outside the U.S.) when the wanderlust has faded a bit. If it ever does.
No wanderlust here, even though I am half-Irish. Just the thought of moving away makes me twitch and shudder. I love New England. I love having four distinct seasons. I love being less than a day’s ride away from both the beach and beautiful mountains as well as a dozen major cities including New York City and Boston.
I would love to travel around the world, but my home will always be here.
I’ve lived in Iowa, Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska. Actually, I’ve lived in Texas twice, in 3 different areas, and I’m about to go back to Oklahoma for the second time (different town). I like wandering, but I try to do that with vacations/traveling, because the actual moving process sucks. Right now, I only move if the company moves me.
No wanderlust here. We had this house built, and have been in it for 30 years. Whenever I travel, I am always happy to return home. I can see Mt. Spokane out my windows; there is a beautiful river running through our downtown; there are Evergreens everywhere; we have 4 seasons; we are not prone to floods, mudslides, earthquakes, or tornadoes. Perfectly happy to stay where I am.
(Doesn’t look like your family reads your website, or they would already know you are moving.)
Hope you are planning to do a book signing in Spokane when the next Kate comes out.
I’ll be first in line.
I’ve always admired people who could just pick up and start over somewhere. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll ever be one of those people. I’ve lived in the same town since I was 2 yrs old. My family is here, so I’ve always felt kind of stuck. It must be an awesome and scary feeling to move somewhere totally unknown, where everything and everyone is new to you.
Tijuana post? Yes please!
I can’t tell if I have wanderlust or if I’m just never happy with where I am. We moved a lot growing up–the longest I ever been in one apartment/house is 5 years–not cross-country moves, just moved around a lot within Orange County, CA. I continued this pattern once I turned 18. The longest distanced I’ve moved so far is to Las Vegas. I don’t recommend it: nice place to visit, but there’s no good reason to move there. I have since moved back in with my mom, and I now plan to move to Seattle within the next 12 to 18 months. I’ve never been, but I’m convinced that I will love it.
If not, it’ll be that much easier to move to Canada.
My Dad had it, growing up never went to the same school more than three years in a row. Went to five different high schools. We moved just about everywhere, Alaska, Newfoundland, Illinois, Missouri, Maine, when I graduated I went to college in Florida because it was supposed to be warm there, LOL Hated the humidity and the bugs though. I’d probably still be knocking around, but I met my hubby. We have lived pretty much in the same area for the 16 years we’ve been married and I cannot see that changing, I like my job and he owns his own business, it would be hard to leave that, plus we have family and made-family here. Guess I’ve finally settled after all these years!
oh god i roamed like nobody’s business. i felt like a stray cat that was owned by the whole block. even though i settled in san diego, i think i still roam a lot. i hate flying but i seem to do it constantly. and ah, california highways are GREAT for muscle car road trips.
::::waves hello:::: heh… portland rocks. you’ll love it.
I never wanted to roam, to stay away from ‘home’. I am where my heart wants to be. Now visiting? Yes, I love a roaming trip, but I am happiest at home. (and by home I not only mean a particular state, but a particular town in a particular state. I lived in many different cities, and this modest college town is the one that I chose to return to and settle in).
My parents told me that I was always saying I was going to live somewhere other than NZ when I was a kid and they are not surprised that I keep looking for new locations to move to. I have always wanted to be moving around. No-one else in my family is like this. I lived in New Hampshire for a year and loved it. We moved around a fair bit during my younger years and it never bothered me. I am currently planning on heading over to the UK for a while but being from NZ it can take a bit of planning and saving to make that happen
I’m sure in a few years I’ll finally find that place that feels like home and I will never leave but I am hoping I will get to travel around a lot more before then.
I’m an Airforce brat, so I grew up with the expectation that I would move every three years or so. Dad retired when I was 16, but I still get twitchy once every three years and have a phobia about putting nails in walls to hang pictures.
Since Dad’s retirement, I’ve mainly stuck to the south – Rockwood, TN, Clarksville, TN, Nashville, Charlotte, NC. The bf is from PA and we visit up there a lot. We have grandiose plans to move north to the 1,000 island region on NY and/or travel, but things like money and employment keep holding us back.
I moved quite a lot right after college– Wyoming then to Tennessee–I’m not a Southern type of person having grown up in Michigan. The cockroaches, wood roaches and spiders were enough to freak me out, and the humidity. Though it was very pretty. Wyoming I loved, but the winter was harsh. The history was awesome and the nature. I came back to Michigan, got rid of a nasty relationship, met my husband and we’ve been here 21 years. We both want to travel, but I HATE moving. HATE IT. I love the idea of traveling, then coming home. I think I will be a little old lady still living in this house in the country with my laptop and rocking chair:)
My 15 year old is going to go in some branch of the military- I have no doubt about this. I can’t explain it, but he loves everything about it–sigh. It frightens me, but then I read about people who did well and traveled-had good experiences. Nice to know:)
I don’t know if I have wanderlust or if I am just used to moving on a fairly regular basis. Longest I stayed in one place since the summer before my senior year in high school was my time in Augusta, GA. It wasn’t bad but I liked Savannah and the Thai place much better *grin*. I like where I am at now and actually wouldn’t mind settling down in this state I think. Of course I haven’t been here a year yet so we will see… I also have to admit that I enjoy traveling and finding new places to explore maybe I can still do that and have a home base here. *ponders*
I love living in different places but I think the best way to fight the wanderlust is to overdo it. During the last year I moved about every four month, changing continents once. So when I had to decide where to finish my studies, I actually moved back to the small town I started stuying in – because for once I did not want to start over
I share your love of hitting the road. I knew as early as 5 years old, that I would not live in my home town, where the vast majority of my extended family still live. I’ve lived in D.C., Northern Virginia, Atlanta, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Denver, Minneapolis, Sonoma, and am in the process of trying to return to Portland. I admit that the moving gets a little harder as I age, but I love the process of exploring a new city–and with the internet, it’s so much easier to keep in touch with others and discover where all of the critical stores and service providers are. I wish you the best of luck with your move.
Both my husband and I love to travel. But we both do so much in our jobs, that it has considerably calmed our need to do so outside of work. Because we are both gone so much, we enjoy being home. We miss getting out and exploring the region, but our favorite time is a week at home with no plans! I think this would be very different if we didn’t travel for work. So I really have the best of all worlds, even if sometimes the traveling is inconvenient.
My wanderlust has to be fulfilled with traveling these days. I was born in Greensboro, NC. After moving around in state I met my husband at Chapel Hill when he was in medical school. We got moved around, at the mercy of training placements for 12 years {Philly to Atlanta} for his residencies and sub-specialty work. We did set up in Charlottesville, Va. for his first practice but the snow got to us. Now we’re on the edge of the coastal plain an hour east of Raleigh in NC. We’re gonna have to stay here a while as moving a horse farm once, from Va to here is all I have in me.
Gordon, plan a good long trip to someplace awesome when the wanderlust hits. It’s hella easier than moving. We try and do 3 weeks to a month in Euro once a year. After that I’m damn happy coming home.
As a child I was forced into wandering. Growing up a military brat was hard. It was hard to leave family behind and see them only on the holidays. However, I grew to love traveling. Let’s see I’ve lived in NM, TX, TN, KY, Panama, CA. And I’ve visited many more places. Loved it in Panama and TN, and the only place I’ve really hated is…and I’m sorry to those of you who live there…Houston. I only managed to live there half a year if that. The people were rude and I just didn’t like the city. My husband loves Houston, though. Oh well. It’s the differences that keep things interesting. Anyways, after HS I ended up going to college and meeting my husband and staying in NM. My husband is a very grounded and non-wandering Irish/Mexican. Sigh and lately I’ve felt the wanderlust calling my name so far it is tempered by the birth of our second son, but I am ready to pull up roots. Would love to try AZ (Southern girl who hates the cold) as next home will see.
Good luck with the move. I loved the year I lived in Portland. Call me crazy but learning my way around a new city is so much fun.
My Dad was of Irsh stock, but he never showed that much of an urge to move around.
I was considered brave my some in family for going to college in Iowa. (We lived in NJ at the time.) Mind you no one blinked when my older brother joined the navy!
Moved around a bit when I was younger and unmarried. Getting married included moving to Ohio . I have managed to tag along on some great business trips of my husbands to places like London and Canberra.
Good luck on the move!
I didn’t mind moving too much as a child (7 moves, with a period of 6 schools in 6 years, until I graduated from high school.) In college it was kind of expected – a new place to live each of the 5 years I was in college – and my parents kept moving to new states while I was in college… But I’ve discovered that I prefer to live in one place. I’m definitely a homebody.
However, I wouldn’t mind moving to Oregon – it’s on my list of places I would not be upset to move to. I like the weather and the greenery. I love the Oregon coast. Hope you enjoy yourselve there.
well gordon
i have lived in nc my entire life that i remember. my dad was in the marine corp and i was born in camp pendleton california my sister in Hawaii and my brother in Vietnam. i don’t remember any of the moving. i know my roots are sunk deep in new bern nc and i currently live in wilmington nc. My great aunt showed how my family came over on the Mayflower and ended up in new bern nc and the surrounding area of Pamilco county nc. i like to visit places but i always think there’s no place like home. i decided early on i never wanted to be more than an hour away from the beach. that’s probably why i went to college at UNCW in wilmington. I decide to stay when i got a job here. The beaches here are sandy the water is beautiful. I hope your babies get to enjoy their inner beach bunnies up there. Wandering is a state of mind. Family can center you. At some point bringing your babies and their babies will probably replace some of the need to live some where else. but until then enjoy your wanderlust. I’m glad your braver than i am. i don’t think i could have picked up that often. I need the roots. i need the option the go up to Boone and see my history. I need to be able to go on my grandfather’s land and practice shooting at trees that my grandfather and his grandfather have been target practicing on since before anyone can remember. I don’t know that you can understand that need to be attached to a piece of land but that’s how i feel about southeastern nc. It’s a need. I could live in S.C. or maybe G.A. but i don’t know if i could be happy on the west coast. The beat of life rocks to a different drum there. A little quicker, a littler louder. I like my peace. I hope you find yours.
I think you will be quite happy in Oregon, Gordon. There are a lot of opportunities for adventure in the NW. Of course, I’m further north in Seattle, I can safely say I’m rarely at a loss of new things to see or try.
I’m not sure if this will truly fix your traveling bug, but you’ll find much variety surrounding you. There are oceans, mountains, deserts, farms, cities and a varied culture feel.
Good food, music, writing, art and of course tons of animal lovers….what’s not to like? You can also travel within a day to other cities should you want to explore (north or south) or take a cruise to Alaska for something less tame.
If you bored there are beaches to walk on, cheese and wines/beer to sample, festivals, river rafting, kayaking/canoeing, rock climbing, biking, camping, shopping, skiing, truffle hunting, and ATV driving… you get the idea.
LOL I feel like I’m writing a brochure. Anyway, I like to travel too, but since I’ve moved to the NW, I’m pretty content in making it my home. I hope you feel the same in time.
dude i count 11 moves for me in my life my thing 1 & 2 are tired of moving, but use to it
As I recall all your moves have been in NC but it does still count. Your mom, aka the Shopping Queen ( sorry about that I did not think she would get upset) says you guys visited Seattle and liked it. You should move out there, that way we will have some family close by.
I the type of person that needs to stay in one place I was born and stayed in the same place. When it get down to -40C I live in Canada My kids as us ” we live here because??. So last May my husband and I had an opportunity to stay in a friends condo in Phoenix we like it so much we bought one for ourselves for future plans. When I retire we will spend the summer here very nice summers here and the winter in Phoenix for now during the winter we just go when ever we can