Day 31: If you had to pick one place in the world to move to, where would it be?

If I could live anywhere I would live exactly where I live now. Well, maybe a few miles away in one direction or another, but basically in the same place. You see, I live here by choice. I already made the decision to put down my roots someplace other than where I was raised. It’s been over twenty years, so I’d say it was a good decision, but who knows if it will be forever.

I wanted to live someplace where there were opportunities for me to grow. When I finished grad school there were very few teaching jobs available in my hometown. It seemed that you really DID need to know someone doing the hiring, and I knew nobody. I applied to virtually every district in the western half of the state, often times for jobs that I really didn’t  want in tiny isolated communities where I really didn’t want to live. Fortunately for me, although it didn’t feel like it at the time, I wasn’t offered any of those jobs.

The time was right for me to pick up stakes and go west. I wanted to live where there was sunshine and opportunity. I was tired of long, grey winters and too few rewarding jobs.  LIke millions of people before me I saw a westward move as a chance to improve my life. There were bumps along the way, but overall it has been the right move for me. My extended family visits regularly and I go back east every year. The way I see it, I get the best of both worlds.

I love where I live and I don’t see a reason to leave in the near future, but somewhere down the road maybe life will hand me different circumstances. Then I might contemplate a new move. I might go back to my hometown, but I doubt it. I love to visit and there are people dear to me there, but I think I would try somewhere new. After all, I still don’t miss the snow.