Movement

I decided that this blog would be a good place to write about moving - the technical, the emotional.  Things about the cities (Austin and Seattle), the partner, the friendships, the everything.  And so I think that's going to be the focus, for a while anyway, while things go on.

Moving.  Moving far from where I currently live.  How did we decide?

It came about like this: we went on vacation.  Let’s go somewhere neither of us have been before.  For me that was difficult – I’ve been a lot of places.  I got the travel bug early.  My first trip was to West Germany when I was less than a year old (yes, forever ago when there were East and West Germanies).  My whole childhood, my father traveled for his job and whenever our family could, we went with him.  We’d spend days, weeks, months in a new city while our home base always stayed the same.  On top of that we drove everywhere we went, so there were many extra-long stay-overs in an even greater amount of cities and campgrounds while we traveled.  As an adult, I’ve lived long-term in Ohio, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Austin, and while living in those places I took weekends and weeks off wherever I could.  I love to explore and discover new places - in my town and in the world.  So I’ve been a lot of places.

 

In the end we chose to visit Seattle.  The Northwest is one of the most beautiful areas of the country - mountains, oceans, islands, the sound, parks, parks, and more parks.  Everywhere you look will knock your socks off.  Every time you go around a corner you might find a snow-capped peak in the distance, or boats bobbing along a dock, or a beautiful shop or bakery (oh, the bakeries!!!).  The rain makes it lush and verdant year-round, so that even in the gray it pulses with life.  It’s quite a difference from the dry, sweltering heat of Austin.  For all these reasons and more, even though it rained almost the whole time we visited , we both fell in love with Seattle. 

Over months it slowly came out.  Would you move from Austin?  Yes.  Yes.  Where?  Somewhere far?  Yes.  Yes.  Somewhere colder?  Somewhere exciting?  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  Shall we move to Seattle together?  Yes.  Austin is wonderful – oh, sure, I could do without the heat and the dryness and the drought, and my own summertime cabin fever that comes along with it.  The rest has been overwhelmingly wonderful – the people, the food, the improv, the employment, the living, the memories.  As the idea took shape, though, it felt like a good change.  It felt like the right time with the right person to the right place.  And so, over a few months, it solidified from the mists of an idea into the shape of a plan. 

I am very excited to be headed to Seattle, to get to explore every day, and hike (probably not every day), and meet people, and have adventures, and find new places, and eat new food, and think about them, and reflect, and expand.  I'm glad the world is such that I can keep in contact with friends and family over long distances.  And who knows what will happen?  Could be anything.