The definition of moving is “transferring furnishings from one residence to another”. That sounds easy, almost like grocery shopping or getting a pedicure. But it’s not like that. And it’s not only like transferring furnishings from one place to another, it means packing up your life, your children, your habits. It means stepping out of your comfort zone and find / create a new comfort zone. Moving involves changing, finding, discovering. It’s like traveling, except your luggage is bigger.

The average American person moves 11.4 times during their life. The average German woman moves 4.6 times (men 4.4 times). I just did the math: I moved 27 times in the last 37 years. 5 moves were moving my store & studio, 22 moves were moving my house. One move was from one continent to another, 5 different cities in Germany, 8 different cities in the US. If I continue this moving habit, I’d be moving 50 times by the time I’m 90 years old! In many ways I’m not the typical German, 27 moves mean I moved every 1.68 years (1 year and 8 months). Does that make me a nomad? For German standards: definitely. So is my real name Edith Nomad Schneider then?

And does the fact that I moved so many times mean that I like to move? I can tell you this: I am pretty good at moving. I don’t like spring cleaning, I just move! But that does not – I repeat DOES NOT mean that I like it. And every time I move I hope it is the last one EVER!!! Well, and then there are those conversations like Ted and I had yesterday:

Me: What has to happen that you move again?

Ted: I think if you would die, I’d move because everything in our house would remind me of you.

Me: You know that one house around the corner, the Spanish architecture, all black and white; if that’s for sale…..

So much for that, I think I’m not done yet. But I hope I’m extending my average of 1.68 years / move.

And yes, Ted is a very sweet guy!

So here we are, pretty much all packed up. The movers will arrive in 5 hours, they will load up our belongings and bring them to our storage. And the rest we’ll move to our newly built home in Paso Robles. Our house here in Salinas will be rented to a nice family and in 16 days we will be packed up again – this time just for traveling: 6 months overseas. I mean 6 months, not 1.68 years. 6 months is a mini-move. And I’m so used to moving, a mini-move is just like that: a move. Again. But mini makes it sound more fun. And that’s what we are planning to have: fun, fun, fun!