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Tilted Cat Head
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shell
Interesting....hmm. I couldn't do it but I have to admit that there has been a time when it was a fleeting thought in my mind...but never significant.
First problem is love. For most everyone there is at least one person you love (even if you don't realize it until you move away). That would keep your heart and mind connected to your roots...and the pull and tug would be on.
Second problem is culture. My daughter is in the Peace Corps. She's in a village with no people of her color. No family. No friends. The villagers march to the beat of a different drum. She has to be in before dark...3 hours before bedtime...and after awhile books and hobbies got old. It started to affect her psyche and she began having anxiety attacks. She finally gave in and hooked up a TV with USA channels so she could feel connected with her culture.
Wherever you were born and raised is always going to be tugging at you. I moved from the east coast to California and lived there for 12 years. I made lots of friends but as much of a "paradise" as it was (weather-wise anyway), I never felt at home. There were no seasons, no lush greenery, very few lakes or streams, no waterfalls, and no family. I was drawn back to the eastcoast and once again feel at home.
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I can agree that it is hard to not be around people your culture, but you can just be around people that you get along with and have something in common with. This can be anyone who is expatriated, thus even though I didn't go to school in Singapore, I did feel at home wth all the expats from the various countries. Eventually though, one has to embrace where they are and enjoy it.
But as far as where I was born and raised tugging at me, bah, I don't agree to that at all. I was born on the Lef Coast in So. Cal, and I hated it as I got older. I learned in Singapore I was a city person and now have lived in NYC for close to 20 years. I cannot stand being in the suburbs and when I visit LA it is something I really do not enjoy at all save the visiting for friends and family, and roller coaster riding.
As far as disappearing, well it is much harder to do these days with the advent of the internet, the social media networks make that much harder. It's easy to disappear from friends and family, but disappearing from the law, not so much.
I could easily disappear from friends and family. Indonesian fisherman? No, Probably not, but there are many places that are places you can just slip into.
I must say that it gets harder to make new friends as you get older, having moved alot in my 20s I lost touch with many people and severed many relationships with family members.
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