Moving at AARP Speed

On a warm summer night after months of on-and-off list making, debate, and overall pontification, we had finally run out of excuses.  There was a potential life-altering move pending and it was time to take stock:

I had a great job offer for a terrific organization in a decent-sized city in the Midwest, closer to family than we had been in over nineteen years, but not knock-on-your-door-for-dinner close.  This counts as two points for the plus side.

We were empty nesters, no reason not to strap in for another adventure.

I was desperately in need of a change in venue regarding my day job. I wasn’t having any fun during the daylight hours, at least on weekdays. Twelve years in the same place, the same button down culture, same routine, you get the idea.  I needed a shiny new set of colleagues to drive crazy.

We always said, as we got older, we wanted to live in a college town.  Plenty to do, lots of arts and entertainment.  Minus the togas and binge drinking.

We are virtual vagabonds, by definition.  This move would be the twentieth residence I would call home in my brief stint on this planet.  I should build a spreadsheet. A dozen years in the same place created a lot of general itchiness.  Is that a word?  Spell Check seems to think so.

There were quite a few tics in the minus column as well, we had made some good friends in Chicago, the wonderful freeway traffic to the city, we would be further from our only daughter, but needless to say the plusses won out.  We weren’t moving to Mars, just Columbus, Ohio. 

After many trips back and forth we found a great house, cool neighborhood, plenty to do, even some quirky local customs. It turns out that in Columbus, folks at the grocery store (or in pretty much any public place) would just walk up and start an ad hoc conversation with you.  Folks would look in our cart and recommend a special butter to enhance the bread we had chosen, or joke about jinxing the warm winter by buying a snow shovel when there was no snow on the ground.  This was very disconcerting in the beginning.  Why are these smiling people talking to us?  Do we know them?  Do they want money or to compel us into an on-the -spot religious conversion?  We had clearly been living in Chicago for too long.

So here we are, a young at heart couple that had received their first AARP membership offer in the mail a few years back now.  (I gotta admit, the thermal tote bag was tempting).  In a nutshell, after all of the moving we have done together in the past twenty seven years together, give or take, this one really kicked our proverbial butts.  Real estate, numerous trips back and forth across the scenic rolling hills of Indiana (ha!), utilities, licenses, address changes galore, credit card updates, the actual move, fixing up the new place, not knowing a soul (except all of the friendly folk in the grocery aisles).  We were exhausted before the first day on the new job, and well beyond!

First day at the new gig comes along, even more of the same.  New faces, new names (I am terrible with new names), new culture (yay!), no connectivity whatsoever (meaningful access would take several months), unpacking the new office, more new faces, a virtually empty calendar for the first whole week (I should have taken a screen shot) that quickly blew up like a hot air balloon.  I could go on, but you get the drift.   

To put all of this into plain terms, moving across the plains ain’t for the faint of heart.  Your life will be in complete and utter turmoil for many moons.  You will, from time to time, question your very sanity, minimally your decision-making ability; why didn’t we join AARP, at least for the restaurant discounts and that awesome tote bag?  Awful handy for those spur of the moment picnics on a warm Central Ohio afternoon.  Then, just like the day after a really difficult labor or a true bender with some of your more questionable companions, “We will NEVER do this again!  This is definitely our very, very last time!” 

Fast forward a few years (Disclaimer: this part is pure conjecture at this point in time).  Our one and only daughter is having a brand new baby (is there any other kind?).  An intriguing call from a mysterious head hunter with an exotic foreign accent.  The subtle pull of a deep green ocean, or a lush mountain view.  Hmm.  Memories do fade with time, and all of the real pain of starting over is already starting to heal nicely….   Number twenty one may be in our future one day, you never know. Did I mention the vagabond thing? 

OK, in summary, (this is Linkedin after all, there should be some sage advice or a career lesson somewhere in this text.  Gotta make it past the editors).  My advice?  If you have itchy feet like the Mrs. and I, don’t drop too much coin into that home remodeling job.  Keep the living quarters on the spare side regarding heavy pieces of furniture or general accumulation.  Think Feng Shui.  Remember, any placed that is new to you qualifies as an official life adventure. 

Happy travels!  Don’t forget that membership offer and the handy tote bag.