Your Stories: Traveling Home

With each new year comes new goals. For the past several years, my sister-in-law, -- Liliana, the writer of this post -- two cousins and I have talked about and plotted our futures. In 2015, Liliana's came true in a very big way. Below is her story. You go, girl! -- BW

Photo courtesy of Liliana Wright

Home is where the heart is.  Such a sweet sentiment I've seen plastered everywhere, usually on a pillow or wall décor at one of those cute boutique shops I frequent while on vacation.  It's a very true statement though, and I believe it to be true, especially for myself. Even moreso now.

I’ve always been a nature lover, nothing like fresh air and sunshine to make me feel new again. I found this to be a common characteristic I share with my husband and children. Being around the ocean in particular, or near it, brings me great inner peace and clarity. 

Photo courtesy of Liliana Wright

I say often that “the ocean is calling me” and I find myself restless when too much time has passed and I haven’t seen, smelled or felt it. I asked myself for years if that is where my heart belonged, then why wasn't I there?

This constant and annoying calling became louder just a few years ago, so my husband and I began to talk realistically about what it would take to leave everything we knew and head for the water.

The thought of leaving everything we had known and built for years was scary and felt irresponsible, but when we really looked at our lives closely, what did we really have to lose?  Isn’t the purpose of life to live it?

It took some soul searching and research to make our final decision to leave our big city Virginia existence for the small beach town life we always knew we belonged to. 

Photo courtesy of Liliana Wright

We decided that if we were starting over, we’d do  it the right way. Going beyond the safe zone of nearby beaches or even nearby states, we set our sites on sunny Florida. One too many long, cold winters was enough to push us in that direction, so we made a timeline for the big move and set our escape plan in motion.

Photo courtesy of Liliana Wright

We flew down to several Florida beach towns on our free weekends, all in secret, of course.  Finally, we settled on the Gulf Coast and the gorgeous Sarasota area. Just being there already felt like home. 

Photo courtesy of Liliana Wright

One bold decision led to another, which is often the pattern, when you finally take that first step.  With faith and hope and a whole lot of support from our family and friends, we prepared our house to sell it, then packed all our belongings to head south. 

Photo courtesy of Liliana Wright

I won’t lie and say this process was easy, because even months into our new life we're still settling in. We're still stepping out of our comfort zones meeting new people, joining a new church, and learning our way around town. 

What I will guarantee is that once you make that very scary first step, you'll be so proud of yourself that you won’t look back because there is so much fun and adventure headed your way. Be ready for the unknown and be ready to have a positive attitude about the entire experience, good and bad.  Therefore, be careful what you wish for, you might just get it!

Photo courtesy of Liliana Wright