Itchy Feet, Part Two: The Dark Side

I love going to new places. I really do. But there are downsides to moving every few years. Obviously there are always the inconveniences of moving - finding a new place, finding a new job, switching all of your information, closing accounts, opening accounts, etc. But there are some deeper issues as well:

1. Financial - Moving costs a lot. Especially the moves we make, which tend to be across the country.

2. Friends - I am constantly having to make new ones. And I don't make friends easily. It takes me a while to even feel comfortable enough with people just to hang out with them. It takes even longer to find anyone that I truly love as a friend. Since high school ten years ago, I've had two. And I left both of them around a year after we really started being good friends.

3. Jobs - While sometimes we move somewhere in order to get new jobs, I feel like I am always starting at the bottom, again. You can't build up a strong record at your job when you keep leaving it after just a few years.

4. Church - I hate looking for a church. You have to go and meet new people, all who really try to be friendly and open, and who should. But refer to my number 2. Also, finding a church where you can really feel comfortable gets harder and harder the more Bible and theology classes  your husband has had.

5. Starting Over - This kind of applies to all areas. While it can be a good thing in some ways, it is also really hard. You have to prove yourself over and over again. You have to show people who you are. You have to be vulnerable with  new acquaintances. It's a hard position to be in so frequently.

So there you have it. Before you decide to start hopping around the country, take a minute to decide if it is really worth it.

Moving

So, I started this blog to talk about travels and moving, and we haven’t really done any of that since I started (other than my trip to PA). But, we are in the process of looking for a place to move to, so I guess I will talk about that.

Before this move, Josh and I have always just moved wherever we felt like and figured it out after we got there. We have never had jobs or places to live lined up before we pulled into town with everything we owned. That always worked pretty well for us up until this last move.

Springfield has been a bit difficult. We found a perfect house to live in, we’ve made great friends, but the job situation has been less than stellar. I figured it up the other day, and out of the 22 months we have been here so far, I’ve worked full-time for 11 of them. During one stretch of non-working I told Josh that I’m done moving without jobs. Ergo, this move has been less about what seems like the most exciting place we can go and more about job applications, which I hate.

So far Josh has been the one doing most of the applying. We figure that his job field is a lot smaller than mine, so he is going to try to get a job first, then I will try to get one in the same area. At first whenever Josh would find a job that interested him, I would immediately start looking for jobs in the area. I soon quit when I realized that most jobs I would be trying to get would require me to get certified in that state before even applying. I really don’t want to get any more certifications unless there’s a good chance that we will be moving.

The good part about this move is that we could end up anywhere. Really, anywhere. That is pretty exciting.

The bad part is that we don’t know where yet. I hate not knowing things. I like to have a plan, or at least an idea of what is coming next and at this point, it’s just a big blank.

I don’t know how other people do moves. I haven’t known many who have moved as much as me and Josh, and I don’t think I’ve known any who have moved as many times as we have with literally no idea how they were going to make it once they got there. It just all seems pretty stressful to me.

Maybe after a few more times, we’ll get the hang of it.