As an adult, I've never really had a stable life, I guess. Back when I was in my 20's, it was because my first husband and I didn't have a lot of money (but we did have kids), and so it was a bit of a struggle. In my 30's, my second husband and I moved to Los Angeles, because I really had a yen to live on the West Coast and that was the offer we had; we ended up loving it. During that time, the Dot Com boom and bust made life a little crazy.
And then in my 40's, I married my third husband, and that's when things really started to get interesting. Infosec really took off for me and I've been the breadwinner in my family, but at the same time, I've spent about 1/3 of the last decade unemployed (three separate times) because of the vagaries of the economy, where I was living at the time, and my own unique (for my chosen field) background. We've also moved twice in the last decade -- once from Los Angeles to Charlotte, NC and thence to Yorktown, VA -- and that, of course, has been a destablizing influence.
But now I think I can truly say that things have gotten wild. I'm close to the end of my 40's, have just come out of that third period of unemployment, and have accepted an offer in Juneau, Alaska. I've always loved the West Coast, and I was hoping to end up in the Pacific Northwest, but seriously...Juneau?
I barely hesitated at all when I got the offer, actually. It hadn't been all that long ago that Chris and I had thought about a move and rejected the idea. But neither of us were really getting any local employment nibbles. Yorktown is a great area but pretty much all the Infosec jobs were going to military contractors, and I was being beat out of those by ex-military. I knew that pretty much anywhere else, I would be employed, so I had broadened my search, including considering a move back to Charlotte, which had recovered from the initial crash that had hit that banking town so hard.
And then, like a whisper from an angel, I got the call from a firm that had interviewed me and almost-but-not-quite hired me. "I've got a job...but it's in Juneau. Would you consider that?" Boy would I! Especially after looking up the climate and discovering that it's cool in summer and no colder in winter than where I grew up! I do kind of wonder how I'll handle all the rain (Juneau is located in a temperate rain forest) but I don't dislike rain per se, and I was already considering moving back to a more rainy area, so I think it'll be okay.
Contemplating the trip is a little scary; currently I have nowhere to stay. I won't get paid till the end of my third week there, and I can't afford to stay in a hotel. However, I am not letting that stop me - I know something will work out. So, in about a week, I'm on my way!
My husband, Chris, and our son Dante are actually going to follow me in about six months, and Chris will be writing his own travelogue. I'll be using this blog to talk about getting myself there, my experiences when I arrive, and what it's like to settle into Juneau. I'm very excited!
