We are a nation of nomads.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average American moves 11.7 times in a lifetime. Moving even more frequently are military families, executives and specialists working for corporations, those seeking employment, and wanderers who enjoy packing up a U-Haul van and heading out to greener pastures.
A rough calculation tells me that in my lifetime, I have relocated 14 times, a figure which doesn’t account for moves made within the same city. Three of these places—Massachusetts, Connecticut, and California—sparked little sense of belonging in me. They left their mark on my life, sure, but my allegiance, if one exists, would be to North Carolina, where I grew up in the small town of Boonville, attended high school and most of my post-secondary education in the Piedmont Triangle, and later lived in the Smoky Mountains for more than 20 years….