Moving away or staying close to home.
By 41Combedale
@41CombedaleRoad (5952)
Greece
January 5, 2013 5:18am CST
I left home at 18 and have moved many times in my life. As a result I am kind of rootless. However I have seen a good part of the world and got to know a variety of people in all sorts of circumstances. I love my family dearly but we have never lived near enough to spend time together on a day to day basis.
My brother has lived in the same area all his adult life. He is surrounded by long standing friends and family. He has never wanted to see the world and is very content with his life.
I lived in a small village for 10 years and the older people there were closely related and had memories of growing up together. I feel a little envious of people like that with roots that go so deep.
2 people like this
10 responses
@sylvia13 (1850)
• Nelson Bay, Australia
5 Jan 13
I have also moved many countries and cities in my life and also feel kind of rootless. So much so that the most difficult question people can ask me is "where do you come from"! My close family lives in many different countries, so it is not that easy to have a family reunion, as at best only some of us can get together. My roots don't go that deep although I can even trace them back to the 1800's, but just like my own family: always moving!
@41CombedaleRoad (5952)
• Greece
6 Jan 13
I have exactly the same problem when people ask me where I come from too. If I give my place of birth where I spent my first 18 years it seems totally irrelevant to the rest of my life. Iusually just say London and hope they won't ask which part as even London has become rather a vague place to me now.
@celticeagle (160064)
• Boise, Idaho
5 Jan 13
I have lived in this same town all my life. Sixty one years of it in the same part of town. I live with my daughter now and from the apartment upstairs window I can see over across the Highway Department parking lot(that used to be a pasture with five horse in it that I used to feed and ride) I can see where my grandparent's house is and further down the same street where my mother and I moved when we came back from Pocatello. I have travelled alot too and have seen a good portion of the US and Canada and I have only found two places in those travels where I might like to live rather than right here.
@41CombedaleRoad (5952)
• Greece
6 Jan 13
It seems as though you have made the best of both options. It must give you a sense of history to look back on how things were when you were growing up there. thank you for such a heartwarming response.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (160064)
• Boise, Idaho
7 Jan 13
I enjoy looking back over the years and thinking about what a life I have had.
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
9 Jan 13
It took me 27 years to move out of my parents home and get my own flat, then suddenly I was moving constantly, within the space of 9 years I moved 6 times! It doesn't get any easier and because of circumstances beyond my control I find myself back exactly where I started at my parents home. It seems strange still living in the same house where I was born, grew up, went to school. It was only going to be a temporary measure but I have been here now for 5 years. I want to move on, as where I live has unhappy memories, mind you I don't care where I live providing I can live on my own. I prefer my own company and I am independent.
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
7 Jan 13
Your life and mine seem to run at parralells. I too have moved an awful lot but mostly on the eastern side of Australia...two states actually. My siblings have all resided in the same homes since they left home basically. I live now in a remote community away from the hustle and bustle and rat race of city life and I am content. I have little to do with my family although we keep in touch fairly regularly.
I used to envy people with deep roots but now I don't. I'm living in a community inhabited by people who have lived there all their life and I think it's kind of weird that that has been their life.
@wilsongoddard (7291)
• United States
5 Jan 13
I have moved numerous times as well. I am looking toward another (major) move within the next bit.
I grew up in an area where too many people were related to me in some fashion. I would have to say that the (family) tree didn't fork much in that area. I am quite happy not to be in that place; it isn't somewhere that I could ever see raising a family.
Roots are nice, and I would like to put some down somewhere eventually. However, there is definitely something to be said for freedom.
@bounce58 (17387)
• Canada
5 Jan 13
Like you I also moved many time in my life. From a small town, I went to school in the big city, an hour and a half plane ride away, when I was 17. After establishing a good career in the big city, I moved half way around the world almost 10 years ago to start my life all over again.
And like you I have a brother who lived in the same area, my home town all of his life. I can see the many advantages he has over me. Yet, I'm still glad that I got to experience other parts of the world.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
5 Jan 13
We mover from Great Britain to Canada and lived in the Vancouver area till after I married, then moved to Saskatoon and then to Winnipeg. We have traveled mostly on vacations to the North west States, the North central states, Alaska, and the States down to West Virginia. I have relatives al over the place but would probably remain here unless I get enough money to travel. It used to be that my family would have stayed where they came from - like my father's family in Moldavia where they were Germans, but then Communism happened, and the War so they had to move.
@jenny1015 (13366)
• Philippines
5 Jan 13
Some people are just too eager to be in different places. And I think it s great to experience to be in a lot of places and be able to get to know the different cultures. But you can always come back to where you grew up and have some time with them. I am sure they would all be longing for your presence.
@sunshinesophie (794)
• China
5 Jan 13
If I can choose,I prefer staying together with my family and sometimes when I am free,I can go somewhere but just as a trip.I work in another city where it is more than five hours away from my hometown.When the first time I came to this city,I got homesick,especially during the holiday.I would like to have a stable home instead of being a bird of passage.
Your are a brave and independent woman,I really admire you,have a nice day.
