Thinking of My Move to Sweden

Tonight I miss Colorado. I was listening to some country music by a band that was on the free stage at the Stampede and it hit me. Colorado is glorious. And I miss it. Even if this tiny little apartment we’re living in is starting to feel like home Colorado is always there. We’ve got postcards hanging from Colorado, lots of pictures, even a magnet. Like I said, it’s always there.

So even though this tiny apartment in Stockholm might start feeling like home and I’ve managed to get a job and am now officially working in Sweden, I think Colorado will always be what I consider my home home. It’s where I grew up. Where I made my best friends, where I went to school, where I made a childhood’s worth of memories. And where I always end up going back to. And that’s one important thing I’ve learned about moving. No matter where I go, be it off to university or over here to Sweden I can’t leave Colorado behind me. Nor do I want to.

In fact, moving to Sweden has made me appreciate what home really means. I didn’t move away from Colorado. I moved to Sweden. I think a big part of moving away from home is missing it a little bit. Missing it means a lot. It means it was good to you, it means you were happy there, it means so much to who you are. I would be worried if I didn’t miss Colorado just a little bit. I suppose though that if you move away from somewhere and don’t miss it, well at least you know you made the right choice. But you need to move to find out, move and try things. Explore. You can always bail. No matter the situation, you can always bail. So give it a go.

I’ve had a lot of people comment who are in similar situations. People who have moved to Sweden from the US or who are planning to do so. One thing I’ve noticed is that so many people who moved from the US are happy to be here in Sweden. But at the same time they speak so fondly of home. That’s important. To feel like the US is always a part of you, to feel like wherever you grew up is always a part of you no matter where you end up. That’s good stuff. That’s country music stuff.