My son, 11, has lived in eight homes and two countries. Here’s how it’s affected him

“So, how long do you think you’ll be living here for?” our friends and family members ask as we give them a tour of our current apartment. Since having children 11 years ago, we’ve moved eight times. They know we don’t stay in one spot very long. Our nomadic lifestyle wasn’t planned, per se. My husband moved twice as a teenager, but we had what some would call stable childhoods. Perhaps our transient tendencies were born out of living in one place for so long. Maybe we were primed for an itinerant lifestyle, or maybe we just love to move. Before having children, our moves were practical. Getting visas, finding jobs, and living near family were the logical reasons. Each move we’ve made was for different reasons, but the later moves were an expression of dissatisfaction with where we were. We longed for something different, even though we weren’t exactly sure what we desired so badly. We just knew that we didn’t want to stay put. Shorts After our first child was born in 2016, we moved out of our rented apartment in Calgary because we felt left behind. Our friends and coworkers were purchasing houses and as renters, our life felt inferior to their grown-up choices. Without much thought, we became homeowners, believing that homeownership would provide us with something we were missing, but instead, homeownership proved to be relentless maintenance and daily refurbishing tasks and financial sacrifice; it was not the right route for us. Homeownership made us feel trapped while it led to opposite feelings in our friends. “We love the stability,” they’d say. We wanted freedom. Selling our first home brought us back to renting, albeit in a nearby town. A safe choice, meaning that we could be near family while we raised our little people. We stayed in that rental for just over two years. An unexpected inheritance from my husband’s parents arrived one year later, with the expectation that a portion of the money would be used to purchase a home. Our family members seemed to believe that a young family renting was a preposterous and possibly risky choice. Perhaps we were making the wrong decision by renting? Maybe we really did need to buy a home to be good parents and competent adults. Despite feeling unsettled with the idea, I tried to believe that homeownership could quiet those nomadic desires. “Maybe I’ll finally feel settled if we buy a home again.” We moved into a three-bedroom terraced house a year before Covid arrived in Canada, but we only lasted two and a half years before feeling the pull towards something new. Canada’s first lockdown hit me shortly after our youngest child had just turned two. My world relied upon playdates, mum-and-tot groups, nursery drop-off, and being out and about. The pandemic stripped me of the things that held my calendar together, and suddenly we were stuck at home. Taking care of a toddler who just dropped her nap, and a rambunctious and active five-year-old, I found myself staring at the same four walls day after day. My friendship group dissolved due to differing opinions on pandemic policies, and I longed for community. In Summer 2021, we sold everything and moved into a trailer on the west coast of Canada. My husband, originally from the UK, had gotten a job at a summer camp, and we were thrilled. Earlier in the year we had decided to homeschool our children, meaning that we had more flexibility to make this move. Our five-year-old was so worried about moving. While we had moved many times when he was little, this was the first move he was old enough to fear. As we got closer and closer to camp, I could see him getting excited. Looking back, he says that the year we spent living on the west coast was the best year of his life. Our year out west coincided with a massive housing crisis. Despite looking for a home more permanent than a travel trailer for six months, we couldn’t find a rental. Owning a home wasn’t something we were able to do on our decreased income, so we headed back to the province we were so desperate to leave. Our son was devastated at this decision. We were leaving everything he loved – constant community, a close staff unit, and an incredibly beautiful setting that included his favourite place of all, the camp skatepark. Adjusting to life back in my home province was challenging. Our son missed his old life. After a year or so of living in our rented townhouse, I started to get the itch to move. This time, we were considering an international move to the UK. I was exhilarated at the thought of moving to Europe. The places we could go! We made our move in the autumn of 2025, but due to the increased cost of living and difficulties finding affordable rentals, we couldn’t make it work. As a non-British national, the rental requirements were extra strict, meaning a six-month down payment on a rental was a must, as well as a guarantor earning a certain threshold of income. It made finding a rental arduous and exhausting. The rural rental we managed to secure in the Yorkshire Dales National Park was gorgeous, but too expensive long-term. With rising oil costs and the sudden inflation of grocery and petrol costs, we knew we couldn’t sustain a life in the UK any longer. While we loved our country lifestyle in England, the task of moving to a more affordable rental wasn’t a viable financial option. Despite our children’s love of countryside living, we made the difficult decision to move back to Canada. Returning seven months after we moved, we’re back in my home province, picking up the financial pieces of constantly moving. Upon our return, I felt relieved. I found myself thinking that we needed to stay long-term. “We should stay here until they graduate,” I said to my husband. “They need stability.” Not long after that conversation, we both found ourselves longing for something different. We live in a great neighbourhood. Our children have access to amazing home-education resources and sports facilities. My family lives nearby. But, as always, the quiet thoughts that I tried to push aside started entering my mind. “Where’s next?” The west coast is calling us, and it now consumes our thoughts. I asked my son what he thought about all our moves, thinking he would confirm the naysayers’ words that tell us that our children need stability. “I love moving,” he said. “I get to see so many parts of the world. What’s so wrong with that?”