For as long as I (Jess) can remember, I've had an innate desire to travel. To drift. To never stay in one place for too long. It may have something to do with growing up in a homogeneous and quintessential small town. Or my insatiable desire to learn more about the world around me. Regardless, I've never had the notion to truly settle down. My parents first took me out of the country at the ripe young age of 5 (a cruise to Bermuda)...and since then I never had a desire to stop GOING. Enter Jonathan Capozzola. When I met my now husband, he was an adorable and shy young man of 15: quiet, sweet, and probably completely confused (and rightfully so) by the crazy lunatic girl who would basically scream "HI JONATHAN" at him every day in our 10th grade English class. Little did we know what was in store for us then.
We began dating at 16 and things really took off. I believe it was 4 months into our relationship when, strolling through downtown Northport on one of our adorable dates where we would inevitably have to get picked up by our parents, I exclaimed "can we get a dog like THAT one some day?" pointing to a ceramic Dachshund in a storefront window. And my dear Jonathan, bless his heart, instead of being freaked out at the exclamation from the starry-eyed girl by his side, rolled with it, and told me it was definitely a possibility.
While I should have known then that he was a keeper, it took me another 4 years, 3 states and a 9-hour drive between us, a break-up and make-up to realize what he had known all along. We are quite different people. Yet we're pretty gosh darn great together. We compliment each other. We keep each other in line. We have similar values. And more than anything, we have fun together. Even when we're mad or upset or cranky or hangry - we find ways to work together and figure it out. I like to think it reflects upon the wise words of my father-in-law: we put each other first. We communicate. We share. We grow. We love. I'm in a pretty sappy mood right now. Can you tell??
So this innate desire to move and drift and wander and basically be a nomad? It doesn't quite work for my pragmatic, engineer husband. You see, as I mentioned before, 2 things. 1: we're quite different and 2: we compliment each other. So while I have dreams of travelling the globe and working paycheck to paycheck (and had relatively little understanding of stocks and bonds and mutual funds and 401K plans), Jonathan helped me to see the big picture. To think about our dreams for our future together and how we can achieve them...while still be able to travel and live our lives to the fullest in the process :). He's so smart!
Since Jonathan and I got married in October 2012, I've tried to convince him to move abroad. Pretty much every day. I lived in Guatemala for a year after college (you can read about my time in Parramos here (http://www.jbarak.blogspot.com/) and absolutely LOVED the experience except for one thing: Jonathan was roughly 3,000 miles away. When I came back to the US, I was thrilled to be back with my fiance, but also slightly sad to be back in America. And so began the daily barrage: "Let's move away." "Have you considered moving to a hut in Africa." "What if we just moved off the grid?" "Let's just get up and go!" Lucky for Jonathan, it didn't take me long to find a job I loved and we both settled into life on Long Island. Yet every few months the conversation would arise again. In December 2014, after finding out he had passed his Professional Engineering exam, I asked Jon if he would consider moving to Australia. The response? "I might be able to get behind that." WHAT?!?? It took me 2 years to realize that every time I mentioned moving out of the country, it was always to a hut in Africa! For the next 4 months, we researched jobs, locales, transportation, housing, and cost of living in dozens of cities across the world. While I knew that Jon was apprehensive about making such a huge jump, we continued to search for job openings and to consider our options.
Then, in June 2015, I had an interview for a job in DC. Jon and I had long talked about moving down to DC and were excited about the prospect, but also unsure of where our journey would take us. If I got it and had to move, we'd be paying our mortgage on Long Island until we could sell the house while paying rent on an apartment in the city. When would we see each other? Where would our cats live? So many questions and so much anxiety...especially since I wasn't quite sure if the job was the right fit for me. For weeks I went back and forth about the options - stay in NY, in a place neither of us really wanted to be? Take a job that was potentially the wrong career choice? Decisions Decisions and anxiety as far as the eye could see.
That's when Jon suggested: if you get the job, we sell our house and move to DC. If you don't get the job, we quit our jobs, sell our house, travel for a bit, and head down south. Where did this come from, you ask? Honestly...I still have no idea...but the fact that my husband suggested it still shocks me now. I mean, have you ever heard anything more romantic? Not only were we moving off Long Island (HOORAY!) but no matter what, we had quite a big adventure waiting for us.
Needless to say, I didn't get the job. And I could not have been happier about it.
Next up...a bit more about our journey!
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