Since I turned 18 and moved to Southern California for college, I have relocated a lot (to me, moving counts as living somewhere for at least a month, whether on “vacation” or not). I moved back and forth between Clarement, CA and Austin, TX for school and summer break for three years and have also lived in: Havana, Cuba; New York City; Accra, Ghana; Cambridge, MA (two different locations in three years); Indianapolis, IN; Burbank, CA; Beverly Hills, CA; Santa Monica, CA; Alexandria, VA; Odenton, MD; Baltimore, MD; and finally back to my hometown of Austin where I live now—14 zip codes in 12 years. Whew, that’s a lot of boxes!

Each time that I moved, I was filled with the promise and hope of what came ahead in my new life. If I was feeling lonely in my current city, I imagined myself surrounded by friends and fun things to do in my new city. If my relationship was failing, I would imagine the two of us blissfully exploring the city together. If I was strapped for cash, moving somehow meant that I would be in a better mindset to manifest more money or get my dream job.

In short, I have a habit of moving to escape my problems. I didn’t realize that this is what I was doing until I was reading a book and stumbled upon the phrase “geographic cure.” Apparently, there are lots of people in the world who mistakenly think that moving or traveling will solve their problems!

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