This is either my best idea or worst. We’ll see which.

In just a few weeks, I’ll be moving from Lee’s Summit, Mo. to West Seattle. That’s driving just over 1,800 miles through six states. And, as I’m not bringing any furniture or anything too big and I refuse to pay for a UHaul for not-so-much stuff, my car will be packed to the ceiling.

Oh, and my mother is coming with me.

Thank God for cocktails.

Why move? Why leave perfectly great, albeit smallish, town and steady(ish) job to move to a place where I know a total of one person?

(Actually, this is not strictly true. I technically “know” a handful of people. But I know one person, Sally, well. The others are FOS – friends of Sally – and I do not know them well.)

Well, why not? When was the last time you did something a little stupid but were really, really excited about it?

For me, it was last month, when after a lot of obsessing and agonizing about my future in the world of newspapers, I decided to make a change and move to Seattle. It was a mix of perfect timing (my lease was up), an unsteady job (my paper had just gone through major layoffs) and the promise of a place to stay (thanks S!).

Oh, and I really love seafood.

So I’m packing up my one-bedroom apartment and driving out west. I will be further away from my immediate family than I’ve ever been in my life. I will have to make new friends in an entirely new city. And I’ll be leaving behind a lot of people I’d rather not say “see ya later” to.

A word on goodbyes. I hate them and am no good at them. This year, I’m in five weddings, a fact I’m sure I’ll write about more often than I should. A friend of mine asked me the other day about why I was in so many and I explained that I’m the friend that calls. That’s not to say none of my friends call/text/etc, but generally, I’m the one who calls first for a chat. I have a lot of different friends because I always call and because of this, I never say goodbye. It’s a circular thing.

But, now is the time to move and when I’m not thinking about the things I’ll miss in the Midwest (family and friends first, of course. Good barbecue and Lake Days second and third), I’m actually really, really excited about trying something new.

So, we’ll see how it goes. As I said, it’s either going to be the best or worst idea ever.

-Em