Moving

Per usual, our little family is in the midst of the chaos of choosing a new 'home'. I'm not exactly sure what our deal is, but for the past two...nearly three! (omg!) years, we've seldom lived longer than a few months in any one location. We've traveled across the country and back again three times, we've lived everywhere from the tropics of Hawaii and Puerto Rico to the bitter cold of New Hampshire in later winter. And, somehow, nothing sticks.

The idea, when we started this journey so long ago was that we had nothing tying us to our (then) present location...we were free to pack up the car and abandon the usual path of life and find 'home'. Since then, 'home' has become this word that is sort of revered. We have put SO much meaning into the word, so many expectations of what the perfect community will be like, that I'm beginning to think it just doesn't exist. And, in the meantime, life is flying by at an ever faster pace, and there doesn't seem to be much hope of suddenly stumbling upon wherever it is that we're meant to be living happily.

As it happens, we jointly hate our current location. It was an arrangement chosen under circumstances that urged us to choose rashly, and now we fervently wish to live elsewhere...any place else really. Our lease is up in two months, and we'll have to do something. The problem is that we just can't pick where. I know, that's probably not something most people complain about...or can even imagine BEING a problem. But, trust me, if you're in a constant state of relocation for three years, you'll eventually run out of places that seem worth the move and expense.

It's become something of an issue for my partner and I. Neither of us is happy here, and its near impossible to pick a next location, so we're both in grumpy moods whenever the topic of "where to next, honey?" comes up...which, lately, seems to be nightly. I'm beginning to think I should just make a list of where I'd live in reasonable peace, close my eyes, and point!

To make it all more difficult, we're a car-less family. Currently, we're enjoying the gift of my mother-in-law's car for a brief period of time because otherwise we'd surely die from boredom, but we do hope to return to car-less living at our next home site. I never really enjoy driving, although I DO enjoy the freedom it provides, but lately, it's grown even more tiresome and annoying and hardly seems worth the expense of buying our own car and then maintaining it. So, when we look for a new location, we have to factor in that we need walkability...walkability with a three year old in mind. In the middle of winter...

Yes, now you begin to see the problem. And, we need it close because money is a factor this go around and we'd rather not give up all the furniture ect... we had to buy for this current location. And, we need some manner of people we would get along with or we will truly go insane...which means folks who fall a bit outside the box...if there's ever a chance of having another child, then I need a local birth community that is active and quite comfortable with homebirth/unassisted birthing. If we are to keep our son happy, then there must also be a community of parents who raise their children without the assistance of traditional schooling. If my partner is to be happy, then we need a community of people who fall under the title of 'radical'. If I am to remain at home with my children and not feel shut-in, then I need a community where the right sort of parents actually DO things with one another...and it would be nice to have a local vibe of creativity/ eclecticism.

Do you see now?

And I haven't even BEGUN to list all the things like proximity to parks, libraries, ect...

So, good luck to us in these next two months as we try to figure out the 'next' place!