I came across
this article in the Des Moines Register today, telling the story of how a family uprooted their life in Des Moines and traveled to Croatia to live for a year, in search of the mother's family history.
It's something I often fantasize about - being brave enough to leave everything behind, travel to a foreign place, and live for at least a year, maybe more. Where I would go often changes, but most places I dream of are in Europe. I actually just had a similar conversation with Jake about a week ago and I think my answer that day was to go to Ireland, where I'd start a B&B. I've also thought about Spain, Italy, and moving out of Europe, I've dreamt of South Africa or somewhere in South America. I love to travel and experience new things, so to travel abroad and be fully immersed in one's culture is a very appealing thought to me.
But, back to reality, and the article. I really enjoyed reading it and rather than try to summarize any further, I highly recommend clicking on the link and reading it. I loved the last paragraph of the article - "Ultimately we found what we already knew: That we only need each other, and a little bit to live on. Everything beyond that is extra, and you can probably live without it. We’ve tried to keep our lives pared down, not only because it’s sensible and less stressful, but because it’s better for the rest of the world, too, when we don’t just take, take, take.”
The mother, Jennifer Wilson, also wrote a
book about it, "Running Away to Home: Our Family's Journey to Croatia in Search of Who We Are, Where We Came From, and What Really Matters." Long title, but I'm looking forward to reading it. I'm currently 3rd in line for it at the library, so it may be a couple months, but I'll post a book review once I finish reading it.
