The world is my Moo Goo Gai Pan.

Posted on by Midwest Mark

Some people embrace change. Others fear it. Me? I chase after it like a kid in hot pursuit of an ice cream truck on a scorching summer afternoon.

(On a side note: RIP, Choco Taco. You are missed.)

The last time I had a Choco Taco was my first day as a Wisconsin resident: Aug. 31, 2022. We had stopped at the first rest area over the state line after crossing the Mississippi River from Minnesota, filled with excitement and hope over a new adventure, and found Choco Tacos in a vending machine. I’d call that a promising omen. 

The truth is, I’ve experienced more excitement and hope over new adventures in the past five years than most people have in a lifetime. After more than two decades spent in the Pacific Northwest, my wife and I pulled up stakes in June 2018 and moved 1,200 miles away, to Rapid City, South Dakota. We quit our jobs and left behind family for a fresh start. 

And then, just four short years later, we did it all over again to move to Wisconsin. 

At least we had a solid reason the first time. Leaving Vancouver, WA for the windswept Northern Plains was the result of frustration. For all the beauty of the PNW, we were being priced out of the housing market, crime was on the rise, traffic was horrible. Rapid City made sense: I’d lived there for three years in the mid-80s when my dad was stationed at Ellsworth AFB. I attended high school there and fell in love with the forested granite cliffs and pristine alpine lakes of the Black Hills. Plus, housing was a lot cheaper. 

The move to Wisconsin made a lot less sense. Rapid City had been good to us; we’d bought a nice house on a hill on the desirable west side of town, with sweeping sunset views and a peek of the Black Hills. I absolutely loved my job and imagined I’d retire there. We had accomplished everything we’d set out to, and by all rights should have (and could have) contentedly lived out the rest of our lives there.

A 2021 road trip to Ohio changed all that. On the way back, we spent a night in Madison, WI and were enamored. A little over a year later, we gave up everything we’d worked so hard to attain for yet another fresh start, this time in a state neither of us had the slightest connection to. I won’t go into the nitty gritty here; we had our reasons, and I outlined them on my blog. But what it really boils down to is one thing:

I am addicted to change. 

I blame this on my father. He spent 25 years in the Air Force, which meant we moved every three years on average. We’re not talking a town or two over, either; we went from Hawaii to New Jersey to Hawaii to Ohio to Hawaii (we spent a lot of time in Hawaii!) to South Dakota to California. That’s a difficult life for a “military brat” (a term I hate); we never laid down roots and I never made lasting friends. High school is a great example: I spent my freshman through junior years at Douglas HS in South Dakota, then my dad was transferred to California the summer before my senior year and I found myself in a brand new school in the Bay Area, where I didn’t know a soul. That’s hard as hell on a kid. You try having the rug yanked out from under you during the most transformative period of your adolescent life! Brat, my ass. 

And yet, as an adult, I find myself doing the exact same thing…only willingly this time. What the hell, dad? Did you brainwash me?!

I kid, of course. For all its cons, the Air Force life taught me to be flexible and open-minded. Change wasn’t something to be afraid of — it was a constant way of life, as normal to me as the sun rising every morning. I had no choice but to adapt, and I became a stronger person for it. If I can survive 12th grade amongst complete strangers who have known each other their whole lives and graduate as a reasonably well-adjusted young man, then I can accomplish anything. 

Today, I find change exhilarating. Every time I have moved, the experience has been wildly exciting. There’s a great freedom in leaving your comfort zone behind and exploring new places, people, and things. “Newness” is an intoxicating drug, and I find myself always chasing the next high, be that a different place to live, a better job, a more practical car, or a new blog theme. I’m the type of guy who rarely orders the same thing from his favorite restaurant; the world isn’t just my oyster, it’s also my chicken wing or wedge salad or Moo Goo Gai Pan.  

My philosophy is simple: How will I know what I like best if I don’t try everything?

Ask yourself the same question the next time change is staring you in the face, and you might just find yourself a little more open to the possibilities. 

(featured photo from Pexels)

29 thoughts on “The world is my Moo Goo Gai Pan.”

  3. “How will I know what I like best if I don’t try everything?” What a great philosophy. Change is often hard, but how many wonderful life changes have emerged from simply trying something new? Most of them, right? 🙂

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  5. I grew up in the PNW and my friends who are still in Wash. complain about property taxes and crime — just as you said. I turned down a few moves my husband was offered to move up the corporate food chain. I wanted my kids in one home and town. We moved three years ago and I have found it exciting to live in a new place.

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      1. Oh my goodness! That’s horrific. I was born in Portland and grew up in Snohomish, Wash. I lived in Palm Springs for the past 35 plus years. We had a homeless person who moved into our backyard. He scared me so much pre COVID because I was alone in the house while my husband was at work. He was one of the reasons, besides cost of living, that we moved to Arizona.

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  6. My experience has been the exact opposite. I grew up in the same house that I was brought home from the hospital to. We (my brothers and I) only sold it after both parents had passed. I have lived in other areas here and there because of college and jobs, but always in California. Now, and for the last 30 years, my husband and I live in a house fewer than 7 miles from my childhood home. Although I like the idea of trying somewhere new, it’s hard to give up our fabulous weather and a lifetime of friendships.

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    1. Despite my post, I often envy people like you. I’ve never known that kind of stability, and I sometimes feel a sense of wistfulness and longing. You read my blog, so you are well aware of the fact that I am adamant this Wisconsin move is the LAST ONE EVER.

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  7. Hey there, fellow Wisconsite! As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become much more enthusiastic about change. It keeps things interesting, right? Growing up, I lived in the same house, until I moved a few hours away for college. Once I got married, as my husband is a federal govt employee, we ended up moving several times (far northern Minnesota, Kansas, Twin Cities, Texas, Colorado, Wisconsin) and each time was so exciting!

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      1. I call where we live “Minnesconsin” because we are so close to my home state of Minnesota. We live in Osceola. And we love it here! I’m not familiar with Fort Atkinson, though I’ve heard of it. How cool that you have another blogger there 🙂

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