Sunday, February 2, 2014

"Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien

Day Two of our bloggers challenge - respond to the quote in my title from J.R.R. Tolkien's poem, "All That is Gold Does Not Glitter."

Believe me, folks, I had to look that up.  Please don't think that overnight I have become a philosopher.  Okay.  So I'm no poet.  But here's how I would break this down:

1.  Being lost is not a good thing.

2.  Just because someone does not want to settle down in one place does not make him/her lost.

Yep.  That's it.  That's all I've got.  I have not read The Lord of the Rings or anything else written by J.R.R. Tolkien, but I've loved the movies.  And those who do not wish to read Tolkien are not lost intellectually, either.  Just want to point that out.

Was this blogger's challenge designed to separate the literate from the not-so-literate?  Probably not.

Anyhoo... yes, I understand why this is part of the challenge.  You might think if someone is an expat, that person has a bit of wanderlust in their soul.  But that's not me.  Not really.  Before we made this move, I thought it was going to be glamorous.  And wouldn't everyone be jelly of us?

 Here's just a glimpse of what I'm missing:
My nieces...  Abigail and Riley

My niece... Brittany

My newest niece... Charlie Kate
Born on January 13th


 ... and so many more nieces and nephews... 

 So, it hasn't turned out that way for me.  Maybe we waited too long to do it (not that we had the opportunity).  Maybe I'm too old and set in my ways.

And maybe I'm just a spoiled American brat.  

But, hey, I like me.
Posted by at
Location: Wollstonecraft NSW 2065, Australia

16 comments:

  1. Pearl Maple02 February, 2014 10:11

    Too true, people who do not travel assume it is all glamorous or a wonderful adventure and not everyone who is an expat welcomes the change.
    Some where in between the highs and lows there is lots to explore.
    To answer your questions, I am an east coaster, so far from home but do enjoy the California lifestyle and visiting family in San Diego. One of the things that people outside of that region do not realise is the abundance of fresh fruits and salads that you get to choose from there.
    Yes it was expensive to travel overseas to the conference. I combine the trip with visiting family and part of it is work related, I need to be there to get new commissions.
    The Texas quilt show is on my bucket list of must do one day.

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    1. TheYvetteRene02 February, 2014 19:41

      Ah... the east coast. We were in Connecticut before moving to Sydney. Where on the East coast? If you don't mind my asking?

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  2. Cristin02 February, 2014 10:53

    For the record, I haven't read Tolkien, either! No, scratch that ... I read exactly 5 pages of one of the LOTR books and could not get past "this Baggins" and "that Baggins." Made my head hurt. Plus, it took me about a month to get through the three movies. I kept falling asleep. :-)

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    1. TheYvetteRene02 February, 2014 19:42

      LOL! I have read all the Harry Potter books at least three times. Does that count?

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    2. Cristin02 February, 2014 21:53

      Now those books I can deal with!

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  3. Australeana02 February, 2014 12:44

    I thought the same thing - I wouldn't really describe myself as someone who has "wanderlust" and coming over to live on the other side of the world doesn't really classify as wandering, in my opinion. If I was 19 and backpacking all over the world, maybe then I would be wandering...and I'm sure I would find myself lost countless times!

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    1. TheYvetteRene02 February, 2014 19:42

      Agreed. I simply thought that we might regret it if we didn't "seize the day," so to speak.

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  4. Christie02 February, 2014 16:24

    I feel your pain of missing nieces and nephews. My newest niece was born just a few months after we moved here, and surely that will be one of our biggest regrets--missing the first four years of her life. Technology helps, but not quite enough! Thanks for sharing the photos of those who are special to you.

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    1. TheYvetteRene02 February, 2014 19:43

      You're welcome, Christie. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!

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  5. Samantha02 February, 2014 16:43

    I think the pain of missing loved ones left behind is common for expats of all ages. No way of escaping it - unless you had no one to love back home. Which, I personally think would be even sadder. I don't think missing home makes you a spoiled American, I think it makes you human.

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    1. TheYvetteRene02 February, 2014 19:45

      Well, the spoiled American title fits in many other ways on me, too. I simply can't understand how Aussies can stand it here sometimes. LOL - please laugh with me. I really don't mean to be disrespectful. It's just my honest truth.

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  6. April02 February, 2014 17:21

    It's so hard once you have a life in two places so far away. You always miss someone. When I'm there I miss our family here. When i'm here I miss our family there. I am slowly coming to understand it will always be that way, but it doesn't make it any easier at the end of the day.

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  7. Anonymous02 February, 2014 17:34

    There are definitely some hard hard days when you move to another country. I like how real this is. Sometimes we're so busy putting the best foot forward on blogs, that we forget to acknowledge there are many times where we're just plain homesick.

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  8. Unknown02 February, 2014 20:22

    I read The Hobbit some years ago. It was very boring. Peter Jackson is the best thing to happen to Tolkien.

    I think missing out on major life events has to be one of the hardest parts of the expat experience.

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