I know only too well the feeling of suffocation when you stay in one place 'too long' (more than two years). It's an inner drive. I guess that it is similar to the way birds know when to migrate.

Being born and growing up a Marine Brat, I looked forward to the moves. Most times, the moves were exciting; chances to see some places and people that were new/different. Some times, the moves came as a sort of salvation, delivering me from boredom; other times delivering me from a feeling of strangulation with the same old life.

Only once did I regret a move. That was the move out of military life, when my dad mustered out. Man, what a case of culture shock I had. Knowing that I was going to be a 'civilian', probably for life, was like the feeling that airborne paratroops describe just before they step out of a plane. Watch that last step!!

I sometimes look back on that time as the better part, if not best. I think that's why I enjoy taking trips for training and conferences as much as I do; so that I can capture a part of that feeling of going new places and seeing new things. I guess learning new things that don't come from books is something instilled in a Brat. At the very least, it keeps the feeling of stagnation from getting to me.

In all regards, the need to move/the need to go places is a part of my core; what makes me 'tick'. 'On the road again . . . I just can't wait to get on the road again. . .'

Editor's Not: This article first appeared on Military Brats Online in 1997.