The Link Between Traveling and Moving

Warm buttermilk biscuits. Cheesy melt-in-your-mouth grits. Mason jars filled to the brim with sweet tea. Despite zigzagging up and down the east coast my entire childhood, it’s always felt like home to me in the South. The people are friendly, the sunshine abundant and the pace just a little slower…plus, my momma’s there. So I took the last six months off from writing, packed up my family and booked a one-way ticket to Charlotte, NC.

 

As I reacquaint myself with NC life (I called Wilmington and Chapel Hill home for highschool and college), I’m finding myself in this weird place where travel and home intersect—but don’t. Charlotte is a city exploding with growth and filled with things I desperately want to explore. New restaurants and breweries are opening daily. Neighborhoods are being transformed with social clubs tucked into shopping plazas and rooftop bars overlooking the city skyline. Naturally my instinct is to “go, go go” as my old boss used to say. But I have a pile of boxes in every room that are saying, “can’t, can’t, can’t.” And it’s a total buzz kill.

Part of the allure of traveling is that there is always something new and exciting to experience. Moving resembles that at first. Everything is new—from the grocery store to the local wine bar—and making those discoveries each day is invigorating. But slowly reality creeps in—the chores, the bills, the everyday mundane tasks that “home” encompasses. How do I balance my desire to be a permanent tourist with my need to be a responsible adult?

I’m still figuring that out. I’m going to start by embracing all that my new city—the Queen City—has to offer. Armed with a massive bucketlist, I plan to treat the next few months like a series of mini vacations—you know, all that “love where you live” stuff. Meeting the locals, making connections and discovering the heart of this city.

Moving is traveling someplace and learning to be content there—not always my strong suit, but I think Charlotte may just be the (one-way) ticket.

*Photo by www.teachtraveltell.com