Just out of curiosity, how many of the readers of this blog still live in their place of birth?
For those who live elsewhere, how many different places have you lived for a good stretch of time (say, more than a year)?
I was born in Vancouver and now live in Ottawa. Aside from those two cities, I lived in Oxford for two years and Montreal for three months.
Author: Milan
In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. In the fall of 2005, I began reading for an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford.
Outside school, I am very interested in photography, writing, and the outdoors. I am writing this blog to keep in touch with friends and family around the world, provide a more personal view of graduate student life in Oxford, and pass on some lessons I've learned here.
View all posts by Milan
Born and raised in small town Ontario. Four school years in Ottawa. Have stayed for a season in interior BC, New York City and Guelph; been in Toronto for the last three straight years.
I do not live in my place of birth, Sarnia, Ontario. I am quite proud to say my hometown was Sarnia.
I have lived in 7 other places since for at least a year. (On two seperate occasions I lived at least a year in Toronto and Montreal. I only counted those cities once.) I have also lived in roughly 18 homes for extended periods in my first 33 years.
In the last 20 years I have lived in one home in North Vancouver.
Born Canberra, Australia. Moved at six months to Sydney. Lived almost thirty years there and have now spent the last two or so in Edinburgh.
Likely the least traveled, distance-wise. Grew up in a small town between Kingston and Brockville, a scant 13o or so KM from my current home in Ottawa.
After high school I lived in Ottawa for university (Round 1 – Commerce) and then back in Kingston proper for university (Round 2 – Management Information Systems, a blend of business and comp sci)
Came back to Ottawa for work in IT and haven’t left.
Likely the least traveled, distance-wise.
I was born at BC Women’s and Children’s Hospital (then Grace Hospital) which is 5.4km from the apartment in which I live in Vancouver.
I was born in Surrey, and now live in Toronto. Aside from those two cities I’ve lived in Vancouver for two years, and spent three and a half years in residence at the University of British Columbia.
I feel very lucky to have been born in Zizkov, Prague, one of the loveliest and most interesting places in the world. I left in elementary school and moved to Pakistan. I attended an all girls school called Esena Foundation. When the war with India began, I was evacuated first to Tehran, Iran, another beautiful city and later to Vienna where my family stayed as refugees. I spent my last year of High school in Lahore at the Lahore American School. I applied for political asylum in The US and spent four years in Wellesley in the gorgeous suburb of Boston. I moved to London, England to do my Master’s degree and from there to Washington, D.C. I received my citizenship paper signed by Jimmy Carter. I moved to Montreal after working at the World Bank and lived with Oleh in Notre Dame de Grace. We moved to East Vancouver in 1983 and our precious son was born. Our family moved a few times and landed on the north Shore in 1990. We have lived in the same home for 21 years which is astonishing. It is definitely time to make another move.
I enjoyed reading about the background of each of you. I have seen your comments on sindark. I found reading your background quite interesting.
I grew up in a small town in southwest Washington state, moved to eastern Washington for school (huge tactical error, leaving one small town for another), back to my hometown, to a suburb of Detroit, back to SW Washington and finally settled in Portland. It’s remarkable that there are people like my parents and one of my siblings who’ve lived in that same small town their whole lives. I was so eager to get out and I can’t imagine living there now.
Recap based on the responses to date: 6 of 7 responders do not live in their place of birth.
One major drawback of mobility is the lack of close relationships, or at least relationships that date back to one’s earliest years. I have been envious of the the relationships that those who live in their hometown have. Outside of my family, I do not maintain relationships from the first half of my life which was my period of mobility. (Co-incidentally, about a year ago, the time I spent in Vancouver/North Vancouver began to exceed that spent in the previous 6 cities during the first half of your life).
Hence a follow-up question for those now living in their hometown, in general have you been able to or have you wanted to maintain effective relations with those still in your home towns (outside of family).
in general have you been able to or have you wanted to maintain effective relations with those still in your home towns (outside of family).
Yes, but with a much reduced range of people and generally with a reduced level of relationship. I currently intend to return to my hometown as my present location is temporary (for postgraduate study).
I was born in Montreal, and moved to Ottawa as a child, where I still live. One of the things I’d most like to do is see what it’s like to start over in another city.