Global Nomad

I sometimes wonder if I'm really weird for wanting to live like a global nomad (and keep in mind that this career has only just begun).  I look on Facebook or in old year books, and I see people I grew up with who are in the same town they were born in.  They went to school there, college there, got married there, started their careers there, and are now raising their families there.  And I believe that to be a very natural and normal cycle of life so to speak.  It's quite amazing actually.

 I remember having friends when I was younger whose grandparents lived next door.  Maw Maw and Paw Paw had them over for Sunday dinner every week, etc.  And, now, many of those friends live next to THEIR parents.  And they get together with their parents every weekend.  And the cycle continues.  I think that's beautiful.  They know exactly where they come from and exactly where they're going in life, and they don't seem to ever question that (as if I would know any different).  I have never felt that way: just knowing WHO I am and WHAT I want.  I've never really known what I want(ed).  I've always been on the lookout for a way OUT, for a different place and a different life--that is VERY different from the way I was raised.  I've given the possible reasons and reasoning quite a bit of thought over the past few years.  I am no longer searching for a way out; I'd actually say that I am now looking for a way in.

First, let me say that I believe the way that I am--this wanderer, if you will--to be a genetic predisposition.  Most of those people who know me know that I was raised by my mom and my stepfather (who, to me, is my father in every way except in blood and chromosomes).  My biological father has always been a bit of a wanderer, although that usually dealt with different women/wives and different children in between.  I think this desire to seek out things comes from him; in fact, all of my half-siblings seem to have some or all of this same trait.  It generally consists of thinking that the grass is always greener on the other side (usually combined with an almost phobic fear of commitment to anything or anyone).  I, however, think I've figured out how to beat it.

Through my hubby's job in the Foreign Service, my life is constantly changing.  I always have something to look forward to because we're pretty much always planning a move or just recovering from one.  I don't ever get that desire to wander or to want something "more" or something intangible because I know without a doubt that there is more out there and soon I'll get to see it!

And, second, I am trying (and may or may not be successful) to get a job with the Foreign Service in my own right, as a diplomat like my husband but just in a different section.  I mean, my employer is the State Department; but my job is one that was created with a spouse in mind (i.e., it ain't exactly rocket science).  I've had two different jobs with State so far, and I have loved them both.

I like the fact that I have a chance to learn about each part of the State Department and how it works.  I like to feel like I am DOING something. I finally feel like I belong somewhere and to something so much greater than myself.  So when I say that I'm trying to find my way "in," what I mean is that I have finally realized that being a part of this life and this organization is what I have always been looking for.  Now, I just want to be able to get in on my own.

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