d
said...
you know, what i didn't hear in all of this really, is where do you
want to live? i think it's always good to consider the practicalities of a
situation, but you should also listen to your heart and figure out what part of
the world you want to live in. you can make anything work and there are always
ways to live cheaply pretty much anywhere.so, i say, move someplace you have
been wanting to experience. and let everything else fall where it may.
This is very good advice, and very much in the vein of me actually doing things I enjoy (something that I haven't always been good at in my life). The problem, or maybe I should say one of the problems, is that I've never really dreamed of living abroad. And as a kid I never really dreamed about what I wanted to be when I grew up either. I've always been extremely good at worrying, but never very good at dreaming up things that I might enjoy doing with my life. I mean, I went through phases where I wanted to be an astronaut, or a painter, and most prophetically in the 6th grade I decided I wanted to be a "Beach Philosopher" which I kinda knew wasn't a real job, I just wanted to hang out on the beach and think about stuff. And honestly, if someone would pay me for that... I'm still up for it!
The other problem is that all I really want, or what I've wanted most for a long time is to just fall in love get married, and live happily every after in a little house in SE Portland - white picket fence optional.* Those of you who read this blog prior to my little excursion will not be surprised that I do really enjoy being domestic. I could be quite content with a life of knitting, quilting, baking, gardening, visiting the library and museum, working at a job that I don't hate, and occasionally going on exotic (but temporary) vacations... as long as I had someone there to enjoy it with me. The 'finding someone to enjoy it with me' part has proved far more difficult for me than I ever could have imagined... we're approaching the realm of 'impossible' here. And being a domestic goddess is just not as much fun when you don't get to share it with anyone else. Thus emergency plan B... get the hell out of dodge. I needed a shake up, I needed to get out of my rut, and I needed to have something to put in a Christmas letter!
So everything else, where I want to live, what kind of job I want to have is all kind of secondary to me. "Seeing the world" was always something just kind of in the back of my mind. Not something I ever thought about in great detail, or thought I could actually accomplish. I've starting to though, I mean that's how I came up with plan B. But I need some help dreaming up new places to go and new things to do.... and that is where you folk come in. I'm going to start collating the data as it were, reading up on the different places you've suggested and seeing which ones appeal to me. In fact, I think I forgot to ask about this, but Jonathan helped out a bit... if you know of any other blogs/websites about travel / living abroad, please send me the link so I can get clicking. Again, thanks for helping me out with this!
* I know I know I know I know I know! I promise I know the difference between real life and Disney... but still, I'd rather deal with the challenges of married or at least cohabiting life than have to deal with the challenges of life on my own. I've done the alone thing, I'm extraordinarily good at it, and I've been doing it longer than anyone else I know. I'd like to do the couple thing now. And no platitudes, I will go bitter-spinster on you and it's not pretty.
TAG: Code Watermelon
2 comments:
you would enjoy that, wouldn't you?
damn. reading what i wrote kind of makes me sound like a major a-hole. sorry. i just meant maybe if you live someplace you've always wanted to live then you would be happier. ??? maybe not.
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