Hello, World!

That classic programmer's introduction takes on new meaning this time, as our family literally sets out to greet the greater world :-)

There will be more time for detailed introductions and backstory later, but in essence: we are a traditional American family of four who, for a variety of reasons, insanity not completely ruled out, decided to mix up our lifestyle by relocating from the balmy climes of Orlando, Florida (USA) to the comparatively chaotic, cosmopolitan drizzle of London's west side.

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time :-)

Actually, we haven't quite made the move yet: we're starting this blog early in the immigration process in order to record and share some of the many steps -- some complex, some merely obscure -- involved in such a move.  Hopefully, these "breadcrumbs" will be of help to others who may someday set down a similar track, as we have appreciated the online and printed advise of others who have gone on before us.

Before signing off, here are a few of the important philosophies which have inspired our relocation, and which helped strengthen our courage when sometimes the hurdles seemed too high:

1. We are all immigrants.  Wherever you live now, someone in your ancestral tree already made a lengthy voyage to get where you are.  Honor their effort and risk by taking a little of your own.  The barriers to travel we face today are so unbelievably low -- fall asleep over New York, and wake up at Heathrow -- and so preternaturally safe, that it's almost an insult to our progenitors that we should shy from such tiny costs.  The history of exploration, of conquest, of space travel, were all driven by people willing to take a chance on the next horizon.  Take your turn, step up to the plate, and aim out of the park.
2. Why do you live where you do?  Chances are, it's because you were born there, your parents decided to move there, or your job placed you there.  The point is, how much conscious choice did you contribute to the decision?  Life's too important to leave to random chance: ask yourself, now, if you could choose to live anywhere in the world, where would you want to go?  Now, is that where you are?  Why not?  What's stopping you?  Reach out and grab the reins of your life, before the ride ends and you realize you never got to see the parts that really interested you.
3. As Yakko would say, It's a great big universe!  Try to see some of it before you shuffle off this mortal coil ;-)