(Translation: On Wanting To Live Abroad)

As in, hens eggs.  Those bland, white orbs we keep in our fridges.  Do you know why we do that?  Do you know why in Europe and most other countries, eggs are never cold stored?  “Egads“, you just cried!  Eggs that are left on the counter?  Why yes, Dear American, it’s true.  And in just a few short paragraphs, I’ll tell you why.  But for now …

I was reading James Michener’s Chesapeake the other day when a topic caught my attention.  It revolved around the desire for American Royalty when we broke away from England.  The notion was that we wanted complete independence from whence we came, so we espoused all forms of leadership that involved nobility.  (Well, we kept the caste system, but called it something else).  Some wanted to call George Washington ‘King’, but most others, including he, did not.  And it was from this mindset that we descended.  Fiercely independent.  Creating our own customs and culture.  Wanting to be superior in all ways to the rest of the world.

This has it benefits, sure.  We did manage to become a superpower.  But we also lost the ability to learn from others.  We were so intent on creating something unique that we left behind some very interesting and useful concepts.

Now I’m not talking about eggs here.  And by the way, we refrigerate ours because we wash them.  As in, we wash away the natural coatings that keep bad things out.  So they have to be kept cold.  In Europe and elsewhere they are not washed, so their natural state keeps them safe for just as long.  There … now you know.

We also suffer from a lack of borders, and not much in the way of international travel.  According to YouGov.com, only a third of American adults say they have a valid and unexpired U.S. passport (37%).  Compare this to Germany with 90% passport ownership.  We Americans simply don’t travel as much over borders.  Which means we have limited direct experience with other cultures, unless they come to us.

Now … before you say I’m being just as competitive … I guess I am.  A little.  Forgive me, I was born here.  But I have also spent considerable time in other countries.  And that’s the real reason for this post.  To try and explain my desire to leave America.

“Egads“, you just cried again!  He wants to leave America!  Traitor!  Liberal!  Other forms of insults!

I don’t want to permanently leave, and all of the temporary desires have nothing to do with this country.  I really dislike the notion that to experience a thing, another thing must suffer.  It’s like whatever choices you make a winner must be declared.  Or more importantly, a loser must be shamed and insulted.  If I want to experience six months in Spain it’s because I hate the United States.  Do you hate spaghetti because you opted for lasagne instead?

I am a Europhile.  Or to be more specific, an Iberophile.  Because I experience things over there that I have not been exposed to previously.  And I find that fascinating.  Again, not because they’re better.  But because they’re different.  And it’s in contrasting those differing views that we can find truth.  See better options for ourselves and our greater species.  It’s ludicrous to think that American culture, which has only been formally in effect for 244 years, has found the right path for 100% of all human problems.  There’s a functioning wall over in Barcelona that was built over 2000 years ago.  It still stands.  And even between then and now, Spaniards don’t have all of the correct answers either.

And by the way, that number astounds me.  Twenty centuries.  If you believe in Christianity, Jesus had died just 21 years prior to this Roman wall being constructed.  The American continent wouldn’t be “discovered” by Leif Erikson until 970 AD.  And we sit on our superior perches with less than three centuries under us?  Makes you think, right?

Anyhoo … back to me.

I love creative and critical thinking.  Experiencing diversity.  It’s why I travel as I do, and miss it so when I can’t.  So that’s why I’m choosing to spend the next year plus wandering the globe.  What??!!  You didn’t know I was going to do that?  Really?  Well then, here’s a video explaining it.  Then keep reading for more.  🙂

Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFM-G-ZLNmo&t=2s

For me, living here in a mono-culture is what’s triggering my need to explore.  To have a great post-middle-aged life.  I need to break free from old dogmas and lifestyles and try something new, while I still have all my teeth.  For you it may be something entirely different.  Maybe there’s a “thing” that you’ve always felt was missing from your existence.  This is the time to explore that.  It doesn’t have to fit or work.  In fact, failure is still an adventure, so go fail.

The last concept I want to leave you with is this … guilt sucks.  Don’t let people put that on your plate.  Telling you that you’re taking away from something because you want to try another thing is wrong.  It’s limiting.  And all too often spoken by those who live in either fear or self-delusion.  Life is not a competition between countries, religions, activities, languages, or food choices.  Life is only a competition within yourself … as in, what are you going to do to grow and be happy today that you might have missed the day before?

Yes, I’m terrified about this next venture.  Mainly for financial and employment reasons.  I’ve heard from many a family member and friend that they don’t understand why I would ever want to step over this nation’s borders.  But I am a person who thrives when challenged with new ideas.  And the ideas I seek could be anywhere.  So I must go where they might be.  Maybe Iowa.  Maybe Singapore.  Maybe nowhere or everywhere.  I’ll only know when I find them.  Go seek yours as well.