An Unlikely Ambassador

Today I interviewed somebody for the position I'll be vacating when I move to Tasmania.

It is an interesting situation to convince someone on another side of the table that they should be willing to fight amongst a crowd of other contenders for the daily 9-5 that you have become accustomed to, and to be honest sometimes barely tolerate. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, there are times when I wouldn't rather do anything else if you asked me... but... sometimes, and don't tell me you can't sympathize... when it gets really tough, or stressful, you want to drop it, walk out the door and move on.. to anything else.

Thanks to my sales pitch, this hopeful individual is certain I have the best damn job in the world. At the same time I look to fill my position I'm looking to lease my apartment, ditch my furniture and unload my car. I am selling my life.

How can I not do it without legitimate enthusiasm, its my LIFE. If I did anything less it is like I'm admitting I hate myself.

Answer: Because it is the kind of opportunity that only comes once in a lifetime.

I can't tell you how much I secretly have enjoyed telling people I'm moving to Tasmania... Here is how it usually goes.

• Me: Oh, I thought I should tell you this... I'm moving to Australia. 
• Them: What? Really!? Wow, when?
• Me: January of 2010
• Them: ...(usually a pause while they decide whether or not to take me seriously) Why?
• Me: Well, my wife is from Australia, and we decided that it was a good time to pick up and try things down under. She is from Tasmania actually, so that is where we'll go.
• Them: Tasmania? *Look of bewilderment* Wow. Do you have a job?
• Me: Not as of yet, but I'm sure I'll find something...

This is usually when the conversation can go into many different directions, and depending upon the person it is quite a good indicator of their nature as to what they inquire about next.

Some people, the kind that are more adventurous ask me about Tasmania, and especially when they can come visit. Others, who are more grounded will ask me if I'll miss home, which I respond... "Of course, and there is no way I can quantify how much I will miss all of my family and friends."  Sometimes the conversation steers towards how long the flight is, and how far away Tasmania is. My response to this has usually been the same, it as far away from here as you can possibly get. If you go any farther, you are coming back. The only way I can go any farther would be if I climbed a mountain in Tasmania.

I tend to do a lot of geography teaching to some people, explaining that Tasmania is like the exclamation point on Australia.
I delight in the seeming randomness of it all. It is not random however. Since my wife is from Tasmania, it is like anyone else who moves to be closer to the other spouses family.  It just so happens that hers lives in a rather unconventional place.  I can assure you that if she was from Boise Idaho, we would probably entertain the idea of relocating there.

As luck would have it, I did not fall in love with, and marry a woman from Boise, but a lovely Lass from Launceston.

Why Launceston? Lucy (aforementioned bride) is from Launceston, and simply put, we know it, have roots there, and friends and family on hand when we begin the next phase of adult life. This phase is of course.. buying a home.  Actually that will hopefully occur before the real goal of beginning our family and having kids.

Anyone who knows my wife, knows she loves children, and I'm no exception to that age old attempt at genetic immortality.  We could, of course begin our family here, in Boston. We decided against that however and desire to relocate to a more.. how do I say.. "Family Friendly" location.  Neither one of us were city kids, and I'm more adept at showing a child how to negotiate a Mountain bike trail, than I am the subtleties of Boston Navigation.

It is a complicated thing to marry someone from a far away land, and we knew from the beginning that it wouldn't be easy.  One thing we are certain of is that we want our children to grow up with the experience of living in both countries their parents are from.

There are many other pros and cons to this complex decision, and we have had many discussions long into the night about it.  We both know that we are doing the right thing for now, and my perspective is to look at it positively and to get excited about what I'll have a chance to see and do that I never could have predicted growing up in my small Maine hometown.

Now that the Cat is out of the bag about my relocation, I feel I should no longer hesitate to document this event, one of the biggest of my life thus far.  I will be officially relocating to Tasmania, arriving after a long flight on January 14th, 2010.

I am starting this blog to record this event, and to document what I think will be a profound and life changing experience. I grew up in a town called Bowdoinham Maine, and lived what can safely be described as an isolated and sheltered childhood.  Until a 2003 I don't think I could point out Tasmania on a map, much less tell you anything about it.  Now I am moving there with my Wife, who is Tasmanian herself.

The reasons for this move, and what it will undertake are why I have begun to write this down.  Many people have asked me the following questions:

Why are you moving to Tasmania?
Where exactly are you moving?
What will you do there?
Will you come back?


I will address these in this blog, and also hopefully, will gain some insight into what a move like this will require of me. It is just under two months until I land in Tasmania, bags in hand, to settle down and begin living as an expat, in a town where I will quite possibly the only person from my country.  A rather unlikelly Ambassador.