The Difference A Day Makes

East Coast babes

I moved again. 1800 km away. That's like driving from New York to Missouri, for my fellow Americanophiles. It’s about a day’s drive, if you're the sort of person who can sit in a vehicle for an almost uninterrupted 24 hours including bathroom stops.

We did it over three days, because we are delicate flowers who wilt at the 7-8 hour point of doing anything. That, and we had a six year old and a cat in the backseats. Why risk meowing and meltdowns when you can just take'er relatively easy?

Moving is never easy.

I have drunk apple sauce straight from a jar, and lost my phone for a solid day or two. I drive around not truly knowing where I am and being sent in circles by Google maps. I embrace the chaos because it is self-contained, nestled inside a basket of peace.

This move has been good overall. The house awaiting us is lovely, and we're not alone in the area as we have a bunch of close family nearby. We've also lived on the Atlantic coast before, so nothing really shocking awaited us here.

Winding roads, water everywhere, lots of trees and the nearest (nay, only) city is an hour away. You know what that means? No real light pollution; you can see the starry sky just about anywhere.

If this sounds idyllic, that's because it is! Not everyone grows up in a place like this. Unless your job is relocating you, who has $5000 to $10000 lying around for moving expenses? Not everyone can afford to move simply because they want to: we had help.

People drive a little more slowly here than I'm used to. And, dare I say, they generally even walk around a bit more slowly, as if fewer things are important enough to hurry up for. Thus, I fit in. I take curves at 45km/hour and I couldn't care less about hustling myself around at anything faster than a middle-aged dog's stride. Surrounded by Dutch and Asian tourists on a sloping seaside street, I feel nothing but ease. The free treats for youngsters are handed out a little more liberally, too. Kindness in practice.

Moving 1800km put me behind by two months on a couple of major projects, but let's not think about that now. Let’s focus on the salty air and the springy earth and the fact that I'm fortunate enough to be writing this to you right now.