I don’t watch a lot of TV but I absolutely love with this show called, House Hunters International. It’s on Home and Garden TV (HGTV) and it is about people who work with a local real estate agent to find a place to live. The show has a simple formula: a couple (usually Americans, sometimes Brits or Canadians) visits 3 houses – that’s it just 3 houses and at the end of the show, they have to pick the place they buy.
Now, here’s the interesting part: These people are buying a house to live in some remote places ALL OVER THE WORLD! From Nicaragua, Belize, Cape Town, Fiji, Morocco, Vietnam, Istanbul or even Kyrgyzstan, these people are moving to a new country….just like that!!!! Some of these couples are searching for vacation properties with a little peculiar twist such as for surfing in Honduras or a place to retire to during their golden years. But most people are looking to buy something that will become their full time residence.
When I first got into this show, I thought my enjoyment came from seeing how other people decorate their home and how people in other countries live. Or it may have had something to do with a little escapism to see beautiful homes on sandy beaches. Sometimes I would get a kick out of seeing how much real estate is worth in other countries (probably torturing myself). And it was also a little bit of the shock factor to see how some of these people could afford a second home for a few hundred thousand dollars! I mean come on…how do these people come up $300k or something for a second house???
But the real reason I discovered recently that I really enjoy this show is that in my universe of uncertainty and chaos, I realized that there is GOOD NEWS! Yes, good news! And the good news in a world of disorder and chaos is that I can live anywhere I want to! That’s it pure and simple. Sure you could move to Nicaragua 10 years ago. But would you want to? Was it safe? Probably not. It probably didn’t have nice modern homes either. But now things are a little bit better and that means a lot.I love this show because it reminds me of the good news in a world of chaos. It reminds me that because of globalization, the internet and because of the prosperity of these other countries in the last decade, the world has opened up and I can take advantage of it if I choose to. It offers me an awesome opportunity to live anywhere I please. From the diving coast of Costa Rica to the hills of Tuscany or even the downtown of Kyrgysztan (as in the photo I took of my TV during one episode). I can live anywhere I want to to experience the local culture, the food, the people and all that it has to offer. It is an amazing time and the best time to be alive because the choices available to me are more plentiful than ever. This show is proof that the world has become a lot smaller and it is possible to be a global citizen.
Being able to move anywhere is also illustrating the fact that our opportunities for work may not only be in America – they can be anywhere. So, if these people are finding homes in Mumbai, then hey why can’t I find work in Mumbai? Why not embrace the chaos and get a job somewhere else?
Another reason why I really like this show is that there are people who Embrace the Chaos of moving to another place because they want to Say YES and Do New Things (Rule#2). Take this one couple who have 3 kids. Click here to see their video. They’re moving their whole family to Marrakech, Morocco because as the father says, “What our family gains from this experience is a chance to live in a new culture, meet new people and we also wanted to show our kids that everything doesn’t focus around the US”. These are Americans who are embracing the chaos of the new world by going out and experiencing it to the fullest by moving there! That’s awesome. I mean, personally I would have preferred a more tropical climate but hey why not Morocco?
I believe that as I go to work in an uncertain economic climate, raise my kids trying to balance needs and wants and also try to survive and thrive in a world of chaos, I have to remember that there are good things about chaos. It may not necessarily come from stability of my job or the growth of the housing market. And it may not be in America. And that’s ok because life is in chaos, always has been and maybe will continue to be in chaos. But the good news is that there are opportunities out there that may have nothing to do with money from a paycheck or the value of my suburban house in NJ. But it may have to do more with going on an unbeaten path to experience a more open world where I can learn and grow. Where I can live and maybe even find a new job. A world that allows a curious American to take a chance and live anywhere I want to. Do anything I want to. Sure, it’s not easy as I am used to in the suburbs of America but at least it is there…waiting for me to move right in.
-Bob Miglani, Embrace the Chaos!
