Bismark, ND. I’ve never spent any time in North Dakota as an adult, so I decided to spend a night here on my return from Minnesota. I’m enjoying a hot chocolate at a little coffee shop (Terra Nomad) while I reflect on my recent visit with friends and contemplate what I want for my future—and how that has been shaped by my past.
My friend “Joseph” and I had a chance to have some great conversations late into the night during my visit and I’m once again confronted with the feeling of longing for infinite free time to spend with my people.
I’ll occasionally buy a lottery ticket—it is more for the exercise of hope for unrestricted potential. A blank slate for daydream imagination combined with a problem-solving panacea.
Minnesota is beautiful and green. Most of the little towns hit a lot of my dream-home buttons: sparse populations; tight and bustling communities; quality local shops, bakeries, and delis; well-maintained and cared for public spaces; beautiful old architecture; virtues of hard work, respect, honesty, and balance all clear and effortless. If there were mountains and milder summers (with fewer bugs), I’d become a resident tomorrow.
Is it possible to replicate the success of these dream conditions elsewhere? I kind of think it is. When I visited Germany and Slovenia, I got a similar impression (though it was admittedly a brief sample). Both of those visits included mountains, so what’s keeping me from moving there? If money were no object, I might be compelled to test out such a move, but ultimately the truly lacking variable would be my friends and family. At the end of the day, I need my people.
*Does that mean I should try to make my people (i.e. marriage and children)?
**Should I try to transplant my people to the same location?
***Should I find a way to be happy with limited access to my people?
