WHY YOU SHOULD MOVE OUT OF YOUR HOMETOWN

My wife and I are planning on moving from Boise to Chicago in the next year. Boise/Meridian is my hometown. I’ve moved away in the past for 1-2 year stints. I had a pretty positive experience growing up in a suburban small town, and being here is being in the height of my comfort zone. The place where you grew up is familiar. You have points of reference to go off of. This makes a person operate in a type of auto-pilot mode. In addition, having the constant input of family members who have certain expectations of you can cloud a persons sense of self. I want to be able to respond to situations outside the context of my hometown familiarity and familial input. Being in a new environment forces you to think in new ways. It’s part of survival. If you don’t have a history somewhere, you are able to discover who you are in an entirely new way. Participating in new activities, is going into uncharted territory. Uncharted territory allows for little to no past data for your brain to input and predict what will happen in the future. This can allow you to more easily stay present and sharp.

The hardest part of moving away from hometown familiarity is missing family and the sense of security and comfort that comes from being in a familiar place. I feel stagnant and restless when there is too much familiarity. Instead of clinging to the past, I have to continue to discover and create my own sense of family as I get older. I hold my childhood memories dearly, and I am grateful to have grown up in a home that felt consistent, safe, and secure. My hometown represents where I come from, my wonderful parents and siblings. And while I honor those things closest to me, I understand that life evolves. Cycles repeat. My siblings and I will go on to build our own families just as our parents and grandparents have done before.

“You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.” – Tina Fey

Sometimes being home is good. For example, if there is a death in the family, or if someone is sick. Being close to loved ones is important during those times. When my mother passed away in August of 2018, the thing I needed most was to be close to family, and the things I knew. My mother would want me to follow my adventurous heart. She had so many dreams of traveling to new places, and collecting new experiences. There is so much in this world to discover, so many interesting, lovely people to meet, and so much to learn.

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” – Brene Brown