Have your ever gotten tired and bored with your home, neighborhood, town or city and started fantasizing what it would be like to just pick up and relocate?
I think we all go through the "grass is greener syndrome" every now and then. I have been travelling quite a bit lately, and no matter how much fun I'm having one of the best parts of my trip is coming back home. Being in different surroundings really makes me appreciate how much I love where I live. For a good amount of time after I get back home I am in a full blown love affair with my hometown.
If you need to add a little oopmh back into your routine, here are a few tips to get you on your way:
Travel: The best cure I have found for this is to get away from your normal surroundings for a bit. If you're able to take a trip to another state or city it usually works best, but if that isn't in your future then at least go for a day trip somewhere that is different from your normal day-to-day surroundings.
Play Tourist: Go stay at a hotel in your city. See it from a tourist's point of view. Pretend you are on a big vacation and let your normal stresses melt away.
House Swap In-Town: Try swapping homes with a friend in town for a night or weekend. Get more acquainted with their side of town.
Try New Things: Make a day of going to all new places and hangouts and parts of your community that you know of but have never made the time to visit.
Switch Scenery: If you live in a rural community than head to the nearest urban center or vice versa.
Take New Routes: Find a new way to get to the same old places or if you don't already, take public transportation so you can pick up on new things on your route instead of having to concentrate on driving.
Get Lost: If you have a map or gps it can be great to just start driving with the intention of finding new areas and seeing new things. It is one of my favorite things to do.
Or, if all else fails, stay in and work on a DIY project! How about making the Joy doormat pictured above? It's the literal way of adding joy to your home! You can find the tutorial at Lisa Leonard Online.
Image: Lisa Leonard Online
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I definitely go through times where the "grass is greener"... but then I pick up and move :) Three years in my current city is my longest stretch since I lived with my parents, but still I have moved three times here!
I think you are right about how traveling makes you appreciate home though. I completely romanticize my hometown, and I miss my current city whenever I've been gone.
Totally agree with the travelling idea - I'm always happy to be home if I've been gone awhile. And that doormat is wonderful - going to make my own soon! I'll post the results here: www.everyday-pretty.com
We were convinced we were ready to move back to SF from the East Bay until we rented an airbnb place for a few nights this summer. It was great, don't get me wrong, but we'd forgotten about the noise and the fog and parking and how expensive housing was. Happy to come back home and vow to go visit more often!
I'm definitely getting the itch - I grew up moving every single year, and after 8 years in the same house, I'm considering instituting a neighborhood-wide house swap. Can't take the stuff anymore!