I have no data on how many times in a lifetime the median person moves houses. Even if one were to survey every single person on the planet and come up with a figure, it wouldn’t mean much, because the idea of moving from one place to another makes sense only from certain perspectives. For instance, a person who’s in a job that requires frequent relocation (whether necessary or not) would have to pack up their stuff much more often than a person who loves their hometown more than anything else in the world and would compromise on other things just to stay put. A person at the beginning of their career staying in a rented place is much more likely to accept moving around, compared to someone settled with their family in a house they own. And then there are some for whom being nomadic is the mantra and very few things can persuade them to stick to one place.

I have been in the Netherlands since 2018 and have had to change my place of residence quite a few times (plenty of reasons, but mostly to do with these “fixed period non-negotiable” housing contracts I’ve constantly found myself dealing with). I’ve gotten so used to the processes of packing and unpacking my stuff that I’ve almost given up on the latter, taking out only as much stuff as I really need and leaving the rest nicely tucked into its residential suitcase(s). It kind of defeats the point of having suitcases with things in them, but I hold on to them anyway (maybe I should embrace minimalism and just leave my suitcases behind, somewhere, hoping that they’re found by someone who’ll actually use the stuff they contain).

Argh, it’s time to move again. My current housing contract lapses at the end of the month, and I have to move to a new place yet again. Maybe it’s the 5th time. Or the 6th. Oh well, I don’t even remember.

But I guess there are a few good things about moving too - for one, it’s a much-needed change of environment once every often (in case things get dull in one place), and after getting over the initial hardships of moving stuff around, the new place feels like home with its own set of intricacies that show up once you’ve stayed there for a while (say, a stray cat that keeps visiting for some reason). You also get to explore a new part of town you’ve probably always wondered about. And of course, if you have housemates, you have new people to talk to and get new perspectives from.

Impermanence vs settling. Both are bittersweet for the most part.