“Kathleen, whenever you speak of your kids growing up mobile, I get the urge (this note being the result) to confirm what you already see: This life for them is hands-down, no question, beyond doubt, absolutely the best life preparation in existence. I know, because I went through it, starting in the 1950s in Karachi. Ten years old, I didn’t question the presence of a Christmas tree in our living room 400 miles from the nearest forest. I also was quite comfortable in a bazaar by myself surrounded by folks who only spoke Urdu. And didn’t everybody take tubla lessons?
“We muddled through whatever we needed. But living there, adjusting (and finding out that you can, indeed, adjust) to 3 a.m. sandstorms, power outages, and odd food, and traveling all over Europe and the Middle East made me different from the 12-year-olds I went to school with after we got back. I was normal enough, but I understood viscerally where we were in the world and how others viewed the world and us. And there is a confidence that nothing out there is impossible to get over or figure out.
“Anyway, I love what you and Lief do. I am pretty sure that, having done Nashville, my only remaining concern with popping smoke here is getting my dog through a year of moving around Latin America!”
–Chuck G., United States
Related Reading: The Truth About Retiring And Living Abroad With Children
