Pensees

I was in Jurmala, the seaside resort town, again the other day for a conference. I arrived very early (I don’t want to know how fast the driver was going) and had time to stroll around outside, enjoying the beach-y morning. There is a forest that comes right up to the beach, and as I walked through it, I breathed in gulps of clean, piney air. My footsteps on the path were the only sound. And it occurred to me… I really do love the country, the more rural areas of the world. But would I want to give up life in Riga for it? And this got me thinking…

Sometimes I have a hard time deciding what to do (believe it or not :)). Generally this is because I'm happy with so many things it becomes hard to make a choice.

For instance, I like the city and the country. I like the country's quiet, it's clean air, and its natural beauty. I like the city's bustle, the fact that everything is near to hand, and that all I have to do is walk out my door and let the sidewalk carry me around the corner to some adventure. I like most any climate as well, since I don't really hate any of the seasons. I like rolling grassy hills, the desert, mountains (be they Appalachians or Alps), and the sea.

I suppose that all this is a good reason to join the Foreign Service – you know, move around, see the world – all that jazz. Because I like all these things (and they're not all found in one place), I don't know that I could permanently live anywhere – at least, not without significant time spent traveling. I can be happy everywhere, but fully satisfied nowhere. (Granted, Northern Virginia contains most of the things I love: you have rural country and DC, you have all four seasons, you have hills, mountains, and ocean. It's the best place I've found so far.)

I suppose this is probably a trait I have learned through multiple moves and much travel. I've pretty much come to believe that there is no place on earth that is a whole lot better than any other (with, perhaps, the exception of the aforementioned section of VA). "Home" has never been linked to a geographical location and the things that come with it. So I can feel at home anywhere... kinda... “Home" has always been linked to family and friends – community. These are the only ties that could bind me to a certain spots on the globe for a long time. It is they that make living anywhere worthwhile; without them, life in the most wonderful paradise would be dull, at best. Yet the difficulty about moving around a lot is that community is hard to achieve...

So which do I choose? Do I make a "home" for myself? Or do I indulge my wanderlust and travel the globe? Are the two really mutually exclusive or can I, as my immediate family has done, have both - a sort of "nomadic home?" That would be ideal...

*sigh* Decisions, decisions...