I’m 40 Years Old and Still Living at Home

(Today’s bonus post.)

Several years ago, my family and I seriously considered moving away from the U.S. Why? We realized that we were just as caught up in what everyone thought we ‘should’ be doing rather than what we ‘wanted’ to do. Culturally, society has changed quite a bit since we were children. The most annoying of which is the ever increasing pace of life that many people feel they must keep up with; driven, I suspect by the nearly instantaneous speed by which we communicate.

We contemplated moving to a remote location, dive into other cultures, and just slow down for a while. Where did we plan on going? We searched the globe for a destination doing our research as interesting places arose. A, big fan of Polynesian culture, I concentrated my efforts on the islands of the South Pacific. I’ve never had to shovel an inch of sunshine in my life.

Several island nations seemed viable, but we settled on the last of the true island kingdoms; Tonga. Tonga’s climate, location, level of technology, low crime rate, extremely high literacy rate, income opportunities, low cost of living, and favorable visa requirements proved the best mix throughout the South Seas. In 2003/4 we had the motivation and financial ability to make the move. But we hesitated. It was a tremendous undertaking that proved too much too overcome then. But as we continue to get older, it begins to look good again.

We are exploring a potential move sometime after 2015; when both kids have graduated high school and have begun making their own decisions. They are welcome to come with us or to stay here and follow their own paths. (When grandchildren appear I imagine we’ll be moving back.)

I have established a new page on this blog to follow our progress and commentary. I will keep things updated there as they develop.  We have a lot of time, but there are a lot of preparations too. Check back from time to time!

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Posted in: Expatriotism