Take Me To The Promise Land

There are so many people around the world with the dream of moving to North America to start a new life full of tremendous opportunity.  Coming from a poorer nation or one at political unrest allows them the chance to do so much more and to provide the things they desire for their families.

When I hear about people who have moved here with nothing and built up an empire, it gives me a huge sense of inspiration and my applause go out to them in spades.  Heck, I know of a couple brothers who had to literally escape from Laos and somehow made it to Canada.  They arrived here with absolutely nothing and now own a majorly successful restaurant as well and several investment properties.  They are living the life.  I love stories like these, but they bring with them an inner feeling of disappointment…that I was born with all these opportunities and didn’t use them to their full advantage.

I also have grown up feeling a desire as strong as those dreaming the American Dream…..however, mine is quite different.  Growing up in Canada, I’ve lived most of my life yearning to live in a different environment.  One with a much warmer climate.  One that allows me to do the things I love year round.  My dream isn’t about the opportunities of money and career.  Mine is about lifestyle and core values.

Now, this Canadian hasn’t had to spend his entire life in the arctic north.  I’ve spent three years living and working in St. Kitts, West Indies and another two years in Austin, Texas.  St. Kitts is actually where I developed my love for road biking so obviously it was one of the best moves I’ve ever made.  Austin, of course, is a major cycling city and it only further increased my love for the bike.  But one thing led to another, and here we are back in Canada.

There are many reasons for my continuous chase….my search for the endless summer.  But one of the top reasons is my desire and passion to live my life on my bike.  I love the bike (and everything about it) so incredibly much, that a huge part of me is empty during these winter months when I can’t be outside on the road.

When I close my eyes and see it, I am living in a beautiful small community where my family and I ride our bikes as our main source of transportation.  I’m out on my road bike whenever I want, venturing out on great routes with varying terrain.  I follow my beliefs and am true to my core values.

We seriously looked into moving to Dominica recently, because it fit with most of the ingredients we desired and also was home to a great business opportunity.  Our choice to not move there honestly came down to the fact that the roads in Dominica are terrible and not road bikeable.  Enough said.

We are currently looking at a move to Grenada or Belize.  We were just in Grenada last month and found that it  contains many of the items on my wish list, but definitely not a location where my family and I can rely on bikes for daily transportation.  I can probably live with that, but the search continues in the hopes of finding the location that has it all.  I’ll be off to Belize very soon to check out how it rates on the checklist.  My research so far has been positive…cycling is definitely huge over there.  They even have a variety of races. I’m really hoping my list checks out over there.

So am I wrong for wanting to move to a country where many of the residents would likely trade places with me given the chance?  I think it comes down to core values.  For me, my values rank high in the area of family, lifestyle, and…..cycling.  Oh yeah, and warmth is super huge as well.  So the hunt continues as I look to run away from highly desired North America, to what I believe is my promise land. I’ll keep you posted.

I’m interested in your thoughts….am I crazy, brave, inspiring, clueless….all of the above?

Tags: Caribbean Cycling, Lifestyle and Values, Moving to the Sun Journal