Anyone ever have that desire to just drop it all and run away? To leave behind everything and everyone you had ever known for a fresh start somewhere else? I'm not talking about leaving in the middle of the night with a farewell note or something emo-dramatic like that, but just a general departure from the familiar.
In my current situation, this thought seems to be becoming more and more tempting. There once was a time when I couldn't bear the thought of leaving my friends and family behind, but as of the past few years I find less and less reason to stay, from both external and internal factors, and after a brief stint travelling across Europe, I find that I yearn for that kind of freedom - to go where no one knows my name, where you can truly be yourself around others, unbound by whom you've built yourself up to be. A fresh start. (Not sure how this mindset came to be, perhaps because of a particularly unique situation involving a girl in my town, one which seems to further burden me every day I remain.)
Anyone get my drift? The idea to move (relatively far away), so alien as it was to me before, recently occurred to me, and I finally realized it was a viable option, having denied it's possibility for so long. I figure I would benefit from the direction and distance right now. However, I have no experience in this matter, and I'd like to ask those who do:
Was it a good idea? Did you move for similar reasons as the ones I stated? Did you regret it, or were you glad you did it, and did it change you as a person? How badly did you lose touch with those from your past?
A forewarning, Email is nifty, the Telephone is grand, but you will lose touch with those around you without contact. Visuals are really really important, unless you can see them every year or so, the bonds that tie will certainly break.
That said there is certainly something to be said for the Courage it takes to get up and go. Leave everyone and everything behind. However as Couragous as it may be, living on your own in a foriegn place is still going to be extremely difficult. People aren't going to care sadly, and its going to be you, just you for some time.
Well, when I did something like that, it was an intentionally set amount of time- I moved out to Alberta to work for the summer, but I came back for school. But it was definitely remote- right in the middle of Banff National Park, with the closest thing that could be actually considered a town about a 45 minute drive away.
I didn't do it for the same reasons as you, of course. I was out there to work, mostly. And it was probably a different place than where you're planning to go (wherever that is)- as I said, it was a hotel in the middle of nowhere, 2500 feet above sea level, with nothing but mountains on every side. It definitely attracted a certain breed of people, and they weren't exactly magic players if you get my drift.
I didn't lose touch with anyone- the internet is great for that. I don't regret it, exactly- it was a very interesting experience and I made a fair bit of money. That said I don't think I'd do it again (at least, not to a place so remote). I don't think it really changed me as a person though. I learned a few things, but that's to be expected. I guess the personally relevant part would be that I learned that in a new situation, it's hard to be anything but yourself. Taking in all the new information and surroundings while trying to act in a way you want is quite difficult.
But I think putting yourself somewhere new is a great way to get perspective and learn things you couldn't otherwise. Depends where you're going, but if you can try to have a job and place to live ready when you get there, it makes things a hell of a lot less stressful for you.
I wanted to go away to college, see the country, etc. but didn't get into the school I wanted so I stayed home and went to the state school. Which wasn't a bad choice - I think I got a really good education for cheaper than I would have paid to move, live on campus, go to a private school. But then I had to find work, and by then my attitudes had changed. I was no longer eager to go very far away. And the choice wasn't mine any longer. So I ended up moving far away, and many different faraway places since then, and every year I tell myself I'll wrap this up and get a decent job back home so I can be with my family again, and it doesn't pan out. I feel trapped and like my life and my family's life are slipping past. Mom's had a stroke, Dad heart surgery and now radiation for throat cancer, I'm very unhappy here to boot because I'm a dirty hippie living in a rundown working class East Coast ghetto town, and I keep promising myself I'll go back but I can't even get halfway.
So, my advice is this. Go while you still have wanderlust, while things seem better on the other side. Get it out of yr system, but plan to settle down, keep your eyes and ears open for that place or city or lifestyle that clicks. And once you find it, DON'T LET GO. I've regretted leaving Mpls from day one, and not a day goes by that I wish I had trusted my instincts and turned the van around and gone back. Because when you reach a certain age, the wanderlust may still be there, but you lose the adaptability to deal with a life constantly on the move.
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In my current situation, this thought seems to be becoming more and more tempting. There once was a time when I couldn't bear the thought of leaving my friends and family behind, but as of the past few years I find less and less reason to stay, from both external and internal factors, and after a brief stint travelling across Europe, I find that I yearn for that kind of freedom - to go where no one knows my name, where you can truly be yourself around others, unbound by whom you've built yourself up to be. A fresh start. (Not sure how this mindset came to be, perhaps because of a particularly unique situation involving a girl in my town, one which seems to further burden me every day I remain.)
Anyone get my drift? The idea to move (relatively far away), so alien as it was to me before, recently occurred to me, and I finally realized it was a viable option, having denied it's possibility for so long. I figure I would benefit from the direction and distance right now. However, I have no experience in this matter, and I'd like to ask those who do:
Was it a good idea? Did you move for similar reasons as the ones I stated? Did you regret it, or were you glad you did it, and did it change you as a person? How badly did you lose touch with those from your past?
That said there is certainly something to be said for the Courage it takes to get up and go. Leave everyone and everything behind. However as Couragous as it may be, living on your own in a foriegn place is still going to be extremely difficult. People aren't going to care sadly, and its going to be you, just you for some time.
I didn't do it for the same reasons as you, of course. I was out there to work, mostly. And it was probably a different place than where you're planning to go (wherever that is)- as I said, it was a hotel in the middle of nowhere, 2500 feet above sea level, with nothing but mountains on every side. It definitely attracted a certain breed of people, and they weren't exactly magic players if you get my drift.
I didn't lose touch with anyone- the internet is great for that. I don't regret it, exactly- it was a very interesting experience and I made a fair bit of money. That said I don't think I'd do it again (at least, not to a place so remote). I don't think it really changed me as a person though. I learned a few things, but that's to be expected. I guess the personally relevant part would be that I learned that in a new situation, it's hard to be anything but yourself. Taking in all the new information and surroundings while trying to act in a way you want is quite difficult.
But I think putting yourself somewhere new is a great way to get perspective and learn things you couldn't otherwise. Depends where you're going, but if you can try to have a job and place to live ready when you get there, it makes things a hell of a lot less stressful for you.
So, my advice is this. Go while you still have wanderlust, while things seem better on the other side. Get it out of yr system, but plan to settle down, keep your eyes and ears open for that place or city or lifestyle that clicks. And once you find it, DON'T LET GO. I've regretted leaving Mpls from day one, and not a day goes by that I wish I had trusted my instincts and turned the van around and gone back. Because when you reach a certain age, the wanderlust may still be there, but you lose the adaptability to deal with a life constantly on the move.