{Passport} {to Paradise} or Excuse to Stick to What You Know?

For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to travel the world. It all started with ballet, where I learned to plié and jeté, which soon became a fixation on learning French and heading to Paris. Years later I decorated my room with Eiffel Towers and fleur de lis, and enrolled in French class.

But soon after my first international adventure, travel for me became about more than a vacation. It became a way to explore the unknown, learn about other cultures, see the beauty in the world, and truly appreciate what you have.

To find new and amazing places, you don’t necessarily have to go far. Growing up on the outskirts of Philly, there was always a perception about going “downtown,” that made it seem like a theme park or some exotic destination.

So when my husband and I announced our plan to move from the suburbs to this foreign land known as “Center City,” our friends and family were shocked and surprised, as if we told them we were moving to Casablanca.

Because change is difficult, many people avoid it as much as possible. They follow in the footsteps of their parents, buy a home nearby, raise their kids in a similar neighborhood, and the cycle continues. Breaking the mold isn’t always met with understanding.

For some, our news was met with much resistance, acting as if they needed a passport to come visit us in our new zip code. They couldn’t understand why we wanted to leave the burbs and downsize at age 30. To rent instead of own. Why we would move to a place without driveways and parking lots, making the thought of visiting nothing more than an inconvenience. And what in the world would happen when we had a child! People move to the suburbs to have kids, not the other way around! The horror!

If you told me 10 years ago, I’d be living in an apartment in Center City and raising my son here with plans to send him to public school, I’d have called you nuts and kept raking 12 bags of leaves a month in my modest suburban home. But we took a chance. We made a change.

It’s not that I can’t imagine life any other way, but that this is the way I imagine my life today. Some people still don’t understand our move or lifestyle. But after walking the city with them, a few trips to our favorite places, and showing people what they never knew about the city, most of our friends and family have come around.

Is change scary? Sometimes. But if you never take the chance, never explore that new land, you’ll miss out on a lifetime of discovering new things.