Many people don't understand wanderlust - and that's exactly what it is. What do the Rockies look like? Do they feel "homey"? What about the the Mississippi Delta - maybe that'd be it? The east coast has some intrigue, perhaps the coastal area of Maine? Always wanted to see Florida, water and coast in three-directions, surely that'd cure the urge to travel. How 'bout the "old west", tales of vast deserts, and barron mountains intrigued me. The west coast?, yeah, that might be it - especially the pacific northwest, water abounds! The Great Plains, vast, and fertile appeal to the youngster I no longer am - what a bounty to the plow, and harvester.
Maybe the Gulf? Surely there would be something there that says "this is it", and squelch the seemingly insatiable urge to see what's next.

I knew as a kid that this urge was engrained in me. I knew as a young man, out of the Army, and turning soil on the family farm - that the day would come when I said "see you later". My wife knew too, she didn't understand, or share my compulsion - but she knew. My children didn't know (I tried to shield them from the inevitability). They grew, went on their own -- started their own lives -- and settled down. That's when I no longer felt compelled to stay-put.

My work allows me to travel virtually any direction, and for varying lengths of time. So slowly, I turned the accounts I'd built at "home" over to trusted colleagues, and replaced them with projects that have spanned the US, and even tickled a few areas of Canada. The calander doesn't lie, and it's been a decade of "seeing it all" now, finding the perfect spot to call home.

The harsh truth -- that I had to learn myself -- is that no such place exists on earth. Fact is, you could plant your flag almost anywhere, and make a go of it. I've learned what I do, and don't like in terms of weather, topography - things we can't control, and what I do, and don't like in terms of things we do (politics, religion, population density).

After all the miles, the countless cities, towns, and rural areas - I still don't have an answer as to "where". I do know that starting round two of "seeing it all" holds little appeal. Maybe, perhaps, it's time to lay some brick 'n' morter of my own.

Wanderlust, torment or satisfaction? I'm not sure of the answer, but am versed on the symptoms.

Home is where you hang your hat.

Bloom where you're planted.

Some folks never find their "home" and all that goes into the meaning of that word. I hope you find yours.

A few years ago I started thinking about retirement and looked at several places---Colorado, Wyoming, Tennessee and New Mexico just to name a few. I found that where I live now kept winning out over all of them so here I am.

I used to love to travel but have completely lost that urge. I never intend to spend another night away from home and hearth (if I had a hearth). I don't even like to go to Montgomery but it is necessary about once a week.

I am as happy as a dog with two tails and may be one of the most contented people on earth and I give thanks for it without ceasing.

That's a fact, and one that I don't understand. I grew up in a tight-knit farm family, then raised my own family with roots planted. The constant, nagging inner-voice just never left me - ever.

Oddly, I find the actual travel as being tedious. It's the being in a new area, seeing things - landscape, water - nature, that compells me.

Better wear an earring and a bandana with a broadbrimmed hat Pard because YOU are a Gypsy

I did!

I was over 40 before I lit-out.

Most days for that forty years, I'd waken, and fall asleep restless - wanting to "go".

I agree that you could make a go of it anywhere you plant your flag...that said, the Texas Hill Country is still God's country as far as I'm concerned. If my six numbers ever hit...I'll be spending part of my time on a Texas Hill Country ranch, and the other part of my time in the Colorado high country.
For now, I'll get by in dead-ass, dreary Oklahoma.

You write well about a subject I'm all to familiar with, Se�or.

GTC

>laughin'<

Got the hat - with really broad brim, needed for protecting this very Scandanavian skin ('specially the follicaly challenged forehead).

Bandana's I had to abandon, used to wear 'em on the noggin, which has become far to slippery to hold 'em.

Home?.....If it ain't in Dixie it don't exist.

Flower Child

I was curious 'bout you. Having grown up in the opposite manner I did, I was wondering if you were compelled to to be stationary.

You answerd that. Guess it's just "built-in".

Dixie, Texas hill country, the Adirondacks, the bluffs of WI/MN, all hold appeal - as do the coastal areas in any direction, and countless points in between.

My tastes I learned, run toward sparsely populated areas, with access to water, and temperate climate. I've found nothing that's "perfect", and believe it doesn't exist.

You can spend a lifetime chasing what simply doesn't exist, but if you have engrained in you the want, you will pursue it.

===================

Yes,he does. It seems restlessness from familiarity is setting in with our friend,Mako,and the comfort that accompanies it has been discarded for the time being. Look at your inner circle and focus on those who left that comfort zone of familarity and then ask yourself where are they now. I feel that what you might be experiencing is age specific and completely natural.

Snap the [bleep] out of it! Folks depend upon you.

"Don't build on a mountain or linger in valleys
Or be thinking too highly of any one place"

I was just trying to cheer up a good man. I've seen this with friends and family many times in my life. Some do something about it,which is admirable,some do not.Inevitably,most seem to find their way back home,if it's still considered home. Mako is a wise man. He'll sort it out.

Maybe he feels his Sunday football picks would be better if made them from a new environment!

Families from Colorado and Oklahoma. Thought about cashing out and moving west from Virginia. Went west visited, second wife was not interested and third was OK with it.
One evening, while having a beer and watching the sun go down here in Virginia, I realised that I like trees and didn't like relatives close by.
So I'm staying.

Jim

>snort<

My prowess for football picks is as good from a mountain top, as it is from a boat, in the middle of an ocean (I just have enough sense not to bet 'em). >grin<


As a kid, I'd participate in the group functions; family get-togethers, sports, group hunts, but never felt "a part" of it.
At the first opportunity, I'd break away from the classic deer drives, and still hunt -- at times, for days -- just to see what's over the next ridge.
As a young man, I worked, raised my family, and had my roots, but absolutely thirst for "seeing in all". And I have! Oh the wonders of this ol' earth - they're inumerable, but finite. The vast richness of mountain, prarie, stream-to-ocean is endless, yet confined. The lust for finding "it", is fed, then dashed when a cool morning at 8,000 ft on a New Mexico mountain top turns to blistering, dry heat by early afternoon. Time for the next thing, maybe that'll be "it". Catching fish on a warm Wisconsin afternoon, turns to bone-chilling discomfort by the next day, when the winds blow from the north. Pouring concrete in the winter of south Texas has tangable advantage - which rapidly evaporates -- literally! -- when June rolls around.

I just had to see it, and I have. Home? I still don't know.

Best I can tell, I'll have at minimum - dual residence. Things like gardens, and aquariums become quite problematic.

Dual residence? Maybe triple residence?

I list my position as Alaska and Texas for the same reason you travel. I have the affliction as well.

I will make a trip to Germany before New Years, I will probably make a journey to NC to visit my Mom, and then there is work...

Take heart, my friend, there is always another sunrise, another breeze blowing from a different quarter, another rise to climb, another river to cross.
It is the journey, not the destination, that concerns us on this earth.

Ed

As we thought and looked for our "final" place we ended up with two as we could not find that one place. One in the mountains of north Idaho and one in the Texas Hill Country. Having worked and lived abroad, both with and without my family, since 2004 there is nothing, I mean nothing finer than landing in either of places we now call home. You will find yours I am sure.

I got it and you exhibited a remarkable amount of insight into the human mind [for a lawyer .

Since he was waxing somewhat poetic this morning , I posted part of a song I wrote for my grandson a few years ago.

Seems we're outnumbered, but not alone.

I don't understand, or regret it - it's just the way I was made.

Either of your options are in compelling areas. The Texas option -- to me -- lacks water, and the time I so love on it. The northern Idaho option has all the appeal you want for splendor, beauty, and big game options - then, it starts snowing, and doesn't stop!
Perfect examples, as either could be home, but both would keep me looking for "what's next?".

I do wish you well, and hope that home is everything you want out of it.

Learn this

Lack of water? Have you been to East Texas? I know we're in a drought right now, but there are so many big lakes within an hours drive from my place that you could stay busy all year long trying to explore them all.

Ed

Yes Sir, I've in Dallas right now, and have been canvasing the area from here towards Houston. Landed a nice account with one plant in Granbury last week. Nice lake, but thirty-feet low, so low in fact the public boat launch is closed.

If Cher could cook Itailian, I might be convinced to settle down.

As am I. I understand I was that way from and early age.My mother said that as soon as I could walk a trail in the woods held more appeal for my that the playground behind my house. I know that as recent as yesterday around noon it still did.My wife and I made a two hour hike in the woods because of lure the trail firmly embedded in my being. I can hear it calling "Come, come follow me".

I was born in upstate NY it the hospital at a place called Little Falls. At two I was moved to Dayton, Ohio. ten years to the day later I moved to Ballwin, MO. From there I finished school and joined the navy.

Seven years of moving around and seeing strange places and once again in Missouri. Then I made the big break. I bought a hundred dollar car, filled it with what I thought I needed and left nine years of hell on earth with the wrong woman. I pointed my nose west and did not stop driving until I hit the Oregon coast. Thirty five years later I find myself planted on the Olympic Peninsula and for the most part content.

I have spent enough time in all fifty states to make an accurate judgment. There are good in all fifty but some places you have to look hard to find it. For me the Pacific NW is the finest place to live followed by Alaska.

But even while old, bent, and busted I can hear the trail still call, "Come, come follow me".

It is no better when it is full , as far as fishing.Forget it.

You've looked at P.K. I'm sure.

What is wrong with it?

And how!

It just incessant - nothing satisfies it, and I mean nothing.

I've spent 30 years chasing the buck around the country. Lived in Ohio, California, Oklahoma back to Ohio then back to Kentucky.
All of my work has been project type, anything from a few days to a few weeks. I have had the wanderlust as long as I can remember.

Now I have the majority of my work in Texas and homes in Ky. and Tx.

I absolutely abhor Texas, really I do. I feel like a wetback most of the time. IE, I make most of my money here but, only spend what it takes to survive, for the most part.

I spend most of my time trying to get out of here and into the mountains, somewhere, anywhere.

I could probably cash it all in in the next couple of years. I just need to decide where the second home will be. I'm pretty much set on Idaho, Montana or Colorado, in that order. I want, no need, seasons.

This hot humid crap ain't for me.

A perfect example.

No Sir, don't know what P.K refers too, but now that you've planted the seed, I'll estimate that inside of a month, I'll lay eyes on it.

And, so it goes!

Mako;
I trust this finds you and yours acceptably well this fine and finally cooler Sunday morn. I really should have run up the mountain to look for a small mulie buck before church - our any buck season just started yesterday - but instead here I sit, listening to the family stir and slothfully enjoying my 2nd cup of coffee....

I can honestly tell you that empathy has always been a struggle for me. In the main I have no clue how others feel and admittedly have a tough time putting myself in someone else's place.

With that bit of explanation, hopefully you understand when I say that I've no idea how you or my other cyber friend Ed feel.

If there were an exact opposite or antithesis of how you feel Mako, I would be the poster boy. My good wife used to kid me and say that she never worried about me running away because I'm such a home body. She said if a saddle and one of the horses were out then I'd be home by dark - otherwise she'd find me in the shop.

The bad part of my ailment is that I don't even travel well and don't tend to take even very calculated risks. My family did get me on a plane to Hawaii this past spring, which they still talk about as a minor miracle!

Anyway my cyber friend, though I really can't say I know even a wee bit how you feel, it's my sincere hope and prayer that you do find at least a couple places where you feel "at home".

All the best to you and yours Mako and good luck on your upcoming hunts.

Dwayne

PS;
You do know that both you and my cyber friend Ed have standing invitations to drop by if you are ever close right? We're just north of the medicine line from north central Washington.

There, right there - is exactly what I'm talking 'bout. Even having seen, having experienced "it all", nothing just says - "here it is".
Just a cold, hard, reality that apparently -- thanfully! -- I'm not alone in having.

Dwayne,

As always good to hear from you.

Odd how two folks -- polar opposite in their make-ups -- can both have the sentiment of friendship. The difference being, you'd invite me into your wonderful home, and I'd invite you on an adventure of some sort (fishin', huntin', hikin' etc).

One day, I hope to experience both.

Possum Kingdom Lake - the prettiest lake in all of Texas - straddles the Stephens / Palo Pinto County line.About an hour from Ft Worth to the water.

Holler and I'll meet you down there some time.I got nothing to sell.

That tickles me!

You're on. Feedin' my Gypsy ways, and I'm lookin' forward to it as well. There's another reality to being a wanderlust - you really don't have to look very hard to find folks are (for the most part), very welcoming. In fact, -- in direct contrast to my beliefs as a young man -- most are looking for the good - it's much more pleasureable than the alternative.

P.K.. chalk 'nother adventure up!

"Now I have the majority of my work in Texas and homes in Ky. and Tx.

I absolutely abhor Texas, really I do. I feel like a wetback most of the time. IE, I make most of my money here but, only spend what it takes to survive, for the most part.

I spend most of my time trying to get out of here and into the mountains, somewhere, anywhere."

Don't let the screen door hit you in the ass on your way out;we got a wetback just jumpin' up and down to take your place.

DON'T trust him, Jeff! He'll get under your skin like a tick! I trusted him and now I'm stuck with another friend!

You and Gene will get along just fine, just watch out, he'll flip you for a meal, too!

Ed

Don't get me wrong, I still live for the occasional "road trip" but FL is HOME and has been for over 40 years, it is where my family is. Yep I sometimes long for the north woods or dry arid high desert of NM. But this is home and where I always return with great joy.

Funny stuff, nothin' to sell; but a two-sided coin to introduce me to. That's O.K., I've got loaded dice, and a deck of marked cards.>grin<

I was talking about flipping the waitress!

Ed

I'd say the vast majority have that sentiment, and one day, maybe, I'll fit into that category. As I tried to convey, the second lap 'round the track doesn't hold any appeal - so perhaps my time draws near.

You realize, I have that thought now on nearly every trip to a eatin' joint? Poor gals, just tryin' to make a livin'. I guess what they don't know won't hurt 'em.

Please forgive me as I am not meaning to insult anyone, in any way. But, maybe, just maybe, other than your children you have yet to find the one person that makes you want to stand still, in one place, without any doubts.

Why do you think he is checking out the waitresses?

Oh I have and am am keeping her but even though we both live it here we have talked about the next place. About half the time she brings it up.

See, my point exactly. Where you stand so too does she, and vice versa.

How about you? Seems tome you might be another one to hear the call of the trail.

Oh Idaho snow ain't so bad...



Especially when you know spring is just around the corner.





And then arrives.



I am blessed in all ways that is for sure.

My travels through northern Idaho were beautiful.

This is a great point. I too suffer from the wanderlust. Luckily, as a kid I was dragged over several continents and many countries, and that did nothing but further feed my interest to see and do as many different things I could in this life. I still have a strong desire to chase the wind, but now, only if I have my wife at my side (excluding some fishing and hunting excursions, naturally).

Home is where SHE is. Thankfully, I married a gal who has enjoyed things like trekking in Nepal, skiiing the Alps, wandering around the Med and going temporarily tribal in the Golden Triangle...

Fearless, Pink Floyd

You say the hill's too steep to climb,
Chiding!
You say you'd like to see me try,
Climbing!
You pick the place and I'll choose the time
And I'll climb
The hill in my own way
just wait a while, for the right day
And as I rise above the treeline and the clouds
I look down hear the sound of the things you said today
Fearlessly the idiot faced the crowd, smiling
Merciless, the magistrate turns 'round, frowning
and who's the fool who wears the crown
Go down in your own way
And everyday is the right day
And as you rise above the fearlines in his frown
You look down
Hear the sound of the faces in the crowd

No need to ask forgiveness from me, and certainly no insult has been taken.

I don't think the want to roam (or not) has anything to do with an external source - it's been in me since I can remember. As engrained as any other trait that makes my admittedley flawed self.

'Bout the only person who can make me stand still is a Sheriff - and only then against my will. >grins<

I am never happier than when on the road to someplace different. I like the getting there as much as what I find when I get there. May have something to do with traveling the lower 48 for 4 years in my early twenties. I miss it more every day. It kinda tears you apart when you have a home but you are always looking to the horizon. And ya I think it is something you are born with. Great thread I thought I was the only one like this.

I believe many are like me - I love to travel, but after a few days, my cattle need attention! (At least, that's my excuse!)
Mark

PINK FLOYD!!! Leighton, I KNEW I liked you!

Ed

Home, is with my wife: it's where my heart is.

Home is where you park your pickup.If you are married and live in a community property state,you don't own a home.

Big PF/RW fan. Been to a few shows...

Thanks for the dap. Back at ya.











Sorry for the 'jack, M25. Carry on.

but if you have something that is near perfect, your being there can be the completion of the perfect,but as men[ hunter-gathers,adventures,we become dissatisfied with the present and belive that the grass is greener on the other side,only to eventually become dissatisfied with that as well.
what we learn sometimes to late ,is that we can bring in more perfection,[wives-children-God],but that is only possible if we are willing to sacrifice of ourselves,..

On the other hand if we are not explorers ,are we not fulfilled??
and if not wonderers where does our world expand to ,

Through out the ages SOMEBODYS GOT TO DO IT