First, you start in your hometown and that is a great place to be. In a lot of ways it makes you who you are for the rest of your life. You forge friendships when you are young and learn exactly how to make friends. You learn what it is like to start from the beginning with someone, how to make something special out of nothing. This will prove to be a useful skill when you start fresh again so many times. In every new place that you move, you will have to build something new from nothing. After you have spent your childhood in your hometown, you will make your first big move. This move could be for college, it could be for your job, or for many other milestones. The point is that in some time you will have to pick up all of the pieces from your childhood and place them gently somewhere else.
That is just it though—you place them gently. I have no desire to put myself anywhere for too long and part of that process is making sure that you never truly settle down. Whenever I move into a new location, I don't unpack all of my belongings. People always laugh and make fun of how lazy I am but that is not the real reason there are still boxes in my apartment six months later. There are still full boxes in my apartment because I want to be able to pick up and leave at any time and having them already packed makes it easier.
Who says that I have to live in one, two or even three places in my whole life? I have a whole life to live and there are so many beautiful places in this world. For some people like me, visiting places for one or two weeks just isn't enough. You have to be in a place for a couple of months to get the lay of the land and figure out where all of the really awesome places are. You have to find the places in the city that call out to who you are as a person and make you feel something. They could remind you of who you used to be, they could teach you something new about yourself, or they could remind you of where you come from and have been previously.
The problem is that eventually, you will get bored. You always do. Even in a city with a million things to do and places to see, you will need to move on. That is perfectly okay. Your time here is done and you have soaked up all that you need to learn from this location. On to the next one. There is a great sense of adventure when you pick up and move everything that you own across the state, country, or seas. A new journey is full of new challenges and new ways to learn about who you are. You, my friend, are addicted to the journey. The journey calls to you and makes you restless in every new home you find.
It is a great gift to say at the end of your life that you have visited so many places. That is one of the reasons people love to travel, is it not? Everyone wants to see new places and have the pleasure of experiencing events that don't happen anywhere else. It is an even better blessing to be able to say that you have lived so many places. Think of all the places that you had the pleasure of seeing. Think of all the people that you have met in your new towns and had the honor of calling friends. People that you may not have been able to meet while just passing through on travels. Finally, think all of the spots that you have been able to call home. Those places where you have gently placed a little piece of yourself have impacted you in many ways and shaped who you are today. Who says that homey feeling only has to come from one location? I have many homes in this world, all I have to do now is find them. So do as you do best my fellow rolling stones, roll on. Don't listen to anyone that tells you that you can't.
