Travel

I've been thinking about going to Puerto Rico this spring to get away from all this miserable winter weather and distract me from missing Adam.  I sent an email to five of my female friends and relatives trying to find out whether anyone will come with me.  I love Puerto Rico, I've been four times.  It's the only Caribbean island I've been to, in fact.  That made me think.  I love this place, but shouldn't there be other places that I explore?  Puerto Rico is probably the easiest Caribbean island, with direct flights from Eastern US cities, no currency exchange, no passports required, and little to no language barrier.  It has great beaches, great food, lovely people, history, nature, and chirping coqui frogs!  But it wouldn't be that much harder to go to the Dominican Republic, or Belize, or Iceland.  Maybe it's love, but I'm using valuable vacation resources (time and money) going to the same place over and over.

I was hoping that when Adam gets back from deployment he might look for a job that would allow us both to live overseas for a few years.  I've moved around a lot in the last 12 years (7 different states), and I loved exploring and immersing myself in new places.  If I could choose where to live for the next 10 years without having to think about the logistics I would want to spend a few years overseas (Europe>Asia>South America>Africa>Middle East), then a few years someplace blissful and tropical (Hawaii maybe?) before settling down somewhere in the southwestern U.S. (anywhere except Phoenix).

Unnnnfortunately, life does not work that way.  We pick the careers first, and that dictates where we get to go.   That probably means staying where we are, for both Adam and myself.  There are probably good things that come from living in one place for more than a couple of years.  We can make friends and keep them.  If we get married and have children, stability will help them develop and feel secure.  The city where we live is not as "outdoorsy" as my dream town, nor is it as laid back as would suit me best.   Not a lot of joie de vivre.  But it has other things to compensate, such as culture, sophistication, and many interesting people who are the crème de la crème of their professional fields.

Since I've been "an adult" I have moved between states at least every couple years, except during college (4 years in one state, but 4 different apartments) and law school (3 years in in one state, but 3 different apartments).  But I also go to the same handful of places every single vacation.  I suppose I can learn to do it the other way around.

Santorini, Greece

A beach in Thailand