Anyway, I am in a town that does not feel like home to me either. I think home is where you know the perfect restaurant for every occasion, where you feel a part of the community and where your kids can play at dusk while you share cocktails with the neighbors.

I haven’t found that place yet but I’m looking and hoping it is not a neverending quest.

She blogs about what matters.

Sometimes, I wish I’d change my blog to that.

But I like to laugh so much.

But, yes, she is LOVELY. And relatable. And relevant.

I have been living here, in our small town, for 16 yrs. I still feel like an outcast.

But it’s a lovely town, safe, small, my kids love it.

I sacrifice my mental health for them BUT I can do that because of my blog.

The wonderful friends I’ve met through my blog.

I was so sad before my blog.

Really. Before my blog: I was a different person.

People say make your own happiness: that sure was hard when no one in this cliquish town talks to you, or allows you into their groups.

The internet changed all that for me.

You’re not crazy. I think that restlessness stirs in many of our hearts.

And I don’t like popsicles or most potato chips. You wouldn’t believe how many people insist that my dislikes are not true.

I have a love / hate relationship with my city as well. It’s too small. Too windy. Too . . . {insert my frustration du jour}. When it comes right down to it, though, I love the quality of life it affords us. My hubs commute is 3 minutes. Along the ocean. If I want him to join me eating lunch with the kids at school, he can. He comes home for dinner every night at 6pm so we can have the family dinners I so remember as a child {though my dad never went back to the office after dinner the way he often does}.

But yes, when my airplane is landing I often snicker and think: “I cannot believe I live here.” And it’s a snotty snicker. As if I deserve better. I’m just coming to realize {after 10 years} that this simply is better. For me and my family.

As you know, I completely relate to the feeling of displacement you mention here. Lately I’ve been asking myself if I will ever be truly settled and “at home” anywhere – and if I ever really felt that way in the place where I grew up before I left it. I worry that I am one of those hard-to-please, grass-is-always-greener types who will always think there’s something better around the corner even when things are pretty great where I am now. And so your experience – and your words here today – help me think about ways to find contentment where I am rather than where I wish I were.

But – to answer your questions – if I could live anywhere it would be back “home” in New England. We live in the Midwest for my husband’s job and it’s unlikely we’ll be able to move anytime soon. But if a similar position opened up somewhere in the Northeast, I’d have us packing right away.