“Making 2008 memorable”

In twenty years when, I hope, you’re telling your kids the stories of your life, what do you want to be telling them? Let’s assume staying in London would be good, and going to Florida would be less than perfect. Still, you’d either be saying that in 2009 you played it safe, had a fun time in London, got a good job, and so forth.. (that is, not a story you’d tell your kids at all) or that in 2009 you moved to Florida, got into all sorts of crazy scrapes, and had an amazing mind-opening experience in a foreign culture?

Perhaps the kids / legacy angle doesn’t work for you, but I try to keep it in mind when I can!

One of my best moments to recall is when Laura and I got stuck on the wrong side of Snowdon, on the side of a cliff, in cloud under 10m visibility, Laura bawling her eyes out, me crapping myself, but hey, it actually felt good in a way and I really have fond memories of it now (Laura doesn’t, but that’s a different matter). Dramatic experiences can still be good in the end.

The main pros for staying here, of course, are probably familiarity and the ability to settle. But, heck, you’re 25 not 35, and you’ll probably be kicking yourself in twenty years if you didn’t take the opportunity. As they say, “on your deathbed it’s the things you didn’t do you regret, not the things you did do.”

Of course, this is an extremely simplistic stance, but, well, sometimes the most complex of situations requires the simplest of decision processes. I’ve done quite a few things just with a “oh fuck it, let’s just do it” mentality (moving out, buying a house, writing a book, for example), and can’t say I regret it. I mean, come on, you jumped out of a PLANE! Moving to sunnier climes and having an adventure of a life-time is not even as bad as that! :)