“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac
I went for a pedicure the other day, to lessen the back-breaking monotony of packing. The color I chose was a rather nice frosted pale peach. I didn’t realize that it was called Nomad’s Dream until this morning, when I took it out of my purse. I had had a dream last night that I was going to write something today about being nomads again. Crazy life . . .
The Custom House: Salem, MA
So why are we packing? Because after eight years in central Virginia (Midlothian, to be exact, just about 15 miles outside of Richmond) Tim and I have decided to move back to our adopted home of Salem, Massachusetts. We couldn’t be happier. Although we could use some Floo Powder and a good spell to simply transport us and our stuff from here to there. Alas, that is not to be so.
According to Wikipedia, a nomad is a member of a community of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. It says that there are an estimated 30–40 million nomads in the world even today, so I guess we’re in good company.
Tim and I started our lives together after a chance meeting at an event at the New York Hilton Hotel in 1990. Since then, we’ve lived in Burlington, Vermont, moved to Boston’s South End and then on to Cambridgeside, smack in the middle between Central Square and Harvard Square in Cambridge. Then we moved up to Salem, Mass. where we lived for a record 10+ years. Now we’ve been here in Virginia for nearly eight years, and it’s time to go.
Our Salem journey will take us from the William Pickering House at the corner of Essex Street and
Our old front door
Bott’s Court — where we used to live — to the John Pickering House on Broad Street, just a few blocks away. I’ll continue to write and will also assume the responsibilities of a part-time Executive Director for the Pickering Foundation. Tim will continue his career as an investment advisor and will, from time to time, assume the responsibilities of Dobby, the house elf, paying careful attention to what’s going on inside a house that was built in the mid-17th Century as well as managing the grounds, of which there are about two acres. It’s a whole new adventure for us (except with a built-in community of greatly missed friends and a newly invigorated city center) and we are very much looking forward to it.
That other Salem writer
The point about being nomads, I guess, is that we have friends and family who have never been quite sure about all this moving business. When I lived in New York as an adult, for example, I moved five times in 17 years. And now, here I go again. New state, new surroundings, new service providers to seek out, new clients to find . . . when I put it that way, it sounds like a hassle. But I guess it’s what keeps us going. The newness of it all.
I realized one thing over the past year and that is this: no matter how much I dream of Italy (and I do), I also dream of Salem. And that’s something I can do something about right now!
We’ve had a good time here in Virginia, but our suitcases are just a few weeks away from being piled on the sidewalk again. The road is life, and we’re merging onto it once more. See you at the truck stops.
Buon viaggio!
Linda Dini Jenkins is a card-carrying Italophile, travel planner, freelance writer, and amateur photographer. Travel is her passion, so writing about her travels just comes naturally. She hopes all her travelers find a way to express their joys, surprises, and fears as they travel and gives every traveler a nifty journal to help smooth the way. Learn more…
