[dba7dba]

>> I'll have failed if my kids grew up in the same town/city all their lives.

I grew up in a family that had to move around a lot, to the point where I attended 3 different elementary schools, 2 different junior highs and 1 high school. We were not rich but poor. And I SO WISH I had grown up in same neighborhood so that I could've have made some friends in my childhood.

You can go live in different towns/cities when you are older. For kids, I highly recommend for kids to have stable environment with mostly same friends at least until college time.

[voidz]

I agree, having grown up similarly. It's very important to be able to grow roots. Not being able to because of frequently relocating can cause a permanent feeling of being disconnected throughout adult lifehood as a result.

[dclowd9901]

News flash: I grew up in the same area for 30 years and still feel disconnected. What you're experiencing is ennui.

[voidz]

No, that's what you're experiencing I think. And 'news flash' makes you sound very condescending, can't help but wonder if this was intended.

Anyway, you might feel disconnected. I actually was disconnected, multiple times, from my friends, environment, and had no other possibility but to start from scratch. So I don't even understand why you feel the need to compare, to be honest.

[saiya-jin]

fully agree, stability first. mine story is similar. one can travel for rest of his/her life if wanted, but friends from childhood/teenage years are often something special and irreplaceable in life. if you don't nourish those relationships, usually they fade away.

you're not doing anybody any favor dragging kids around the world because of your crappy career goals, it's just being selfish.

If you want to be super good parent, take them each year for a month long vacation somewhere far and exotic (ie very different than their usual environment), that's more than enough.

[Terr_]

It isn't just geographical either: I spent many formative years in a single school-system as an expatriate in Hong Kong... But despite being a long-term resident everybody else (or at least, those who spoke English and went to my school) kept cycling in and out. (Executives' kids, military service-members' kids, etc.) I wouldn't be surprised if the yearly turnover was 10-25%.