If you had asked us earlier this year to tell you our five-year plan, I can confidently say that Guam would not have come up in the conversation. Not that we had a defined five year plan. But if we did, it would have included trying to get Tim to a major airline (preferably United) and trying to find a way to re-balance my life toward family and kids and (at least slightly) away from career and work.
But Guam? Guam definitely wasn’t part of the plan.
So how did we get to this place? At this moment, we’re renting out the house in Davis, I’ve got two more weeks at work, and Tim is a 737 first officer based out of Guam.
Let’s just look at a map for a second because, honestly, before all this happened I couldn’t find Guam on the globe. So maybe it’s not too insulting to think we could all use a little refresher.
Over the course of our marriage, the opportunity for one or the other of us to move to some exotic location has surfaced periodically. We almost always got briefly excited about it and then realized it was a hair-brained idea. So after I first became aware of the possibility to move to Guam this summer, I didn’t think too much about it. Just another hair-brained idea that would eventually pass.
A little while later we took a family trip to Japan. It was a trip that Tim and I have planned and dreamed about forever, and the first international trip since having kids. I wasn’t sure how it would go and how the kids would do. But the trip was fantastic and the kids did great and it re-awakened a long-dormant travel bug. So when we got back from the trip, moving to Guam didn’t seem hair-brained at all. (It really didn’t hurt that the in-flight entertainment included a United promotion about Guam – including beautiful beaches, friendly people and amazing flying.)
There’s more to the story (there always is), but by the time Tim found out that it would be a possibility for him as a new hire, we had done enough research to feel like it’s the right decision for our family. It’s a great way to start a career at United, it offers me the chance to reduce my hours at work, and it gives all of us the chance to explore a new part of the world and expand our horizons. And, even better, it gives us the chance to spend more time together as a family.
We’re sad to be leaving the amazing community in Davis, and I’m sad to be leaving a job I’ve loved. But we’re excited about our new adventures. And we’re hoping to be back in Davis in a few years with some interesting stories to tell.