Moving/living in different cities/countries in life

[shootingstar]

Well, jesse I met engineers who lived and worked world-wide for 20 years of their career and it's not over for most of them. They would live half a year up to 5 yrs. in the city/country of each construction engineering project.

Some people thrive on living for a few years in foreign locations or different cities. For me, the novelty would wear off after 3rd or 4th job-related move.

Badger- I can imagine how tough it was as ESL student in gr. 5. It was tough enough when I was ESL student starting in kindergarten. My knowledge of English was zero. I grew up in a completely Chinese-speaking environment until kindergarten --in CANADA. This is why I don't feel totally cocooned as a Canadian-born, even though I was born/lived in Canada all my life so far. My experience of learning English mirrors an immigrant. However unlike you, I did cultivate a handful of good friends.

Hard on kids, to move around often.

Crankin- I lost count of your moves. Yea, it's nice when friends and family in nice places...to visit.

Catrin- I dislike packing, moving. I'm a lazy bum-- all that effort!
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If I include childhood, then I've lived just in Canada in 5 cities/towns and 2 provinces.

[bmccasland]

Let's start this off with saying that I was born and raised a military brat. My Dad was career US Air Force. I didn't go away to college (university), home left.
So if we use that as the starting point...

I graduated from university in Tucson, Arizona while my parents moved to Austin, TX. I never considered Austin "home" that was where my parents lived. I lived in Tucson a total of 6.5 years (starting with the last 2 yrs of HS). Counting my parent's house, dorms, and apartments - I had 4 different addresses.
Phoenix, AZ - 4 different addresses in 10 years (said "I do" and "I don't")
Flagstaff, AZ - slightly less than 1 year
Williams Creek National Fish Hatchery, White Mountain Apache Reservation (in the mountains of eastern AZ) - 5 years
Anderson, CA - 3 years (far northern CA, which is culturally different than the rest of the state)
New Orleans, LA - well the suburbs - 8 years
Seattle, WA - 11 days so far

Since I grew up moving - I've only had two stints my entire life at 8 years the same address, two stints of 5 years at the same address, and everything else has been less than that - I guess I don't know how to stay. Military kids learn to make friends fast, and don't really sweat it if you don't get along with someone as one of you will be moving away fairly soon. I wouldn't say relationships are shallow, more like hard and fast. We've been the subject of multiple studies. We also have high divorce rates because we don't really know how to "sit, stay".

In general, I tend to be a loaner, have long ago learned how to amuse myself. If someone wants to come along, that's great, but I do tend to forget to invite others.

[Crankin]

Funny, Shooting Star, I don't consider myself as someone who has moved as much as say, Beth. Although I have lived in 4 states (one very briefly), most of my moves were just local moves, from one town next to another. There wasn't really a change in lifestyle from those.
Like Beth, my parents moved and I stayed on in college, for 3 years. Then my parents moved to San Diego, right when I met my DH. Though I have never considered it my home, I have spent a lot of time there, as now my dad and brother are still there (since 1979) and one son and DIL live there, too.
While I am very happy I came back to MA, I am also happy that I have the perspective of someone who has lived in other parts of the country. New Englanders are very provincial and moving when I was 15 cured me of that!

[emily_in_nc]

Since HS I've lived in North Carolina (Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham, Hillsborough, Efland, and now back in Chapel Hill) with brief stints in Florida (Lake Mary), Ohio (New Philadelphia), and Wisconsin (Richland Center). The longest we've ever lived in one house is 10 years, then 6, then the rest less than that. Now we're in an apartment and plotting our next move -- to Belize!