From the Editor’s Desk: Transitions (Premium)

Some milestones in life are obvious, while others are subtle and perhaps not recognized in the moment. Other times, it's unclear: Something is changing, and it may trigger profound change. Or not.

Getting married, finding out my wife was pregnant for the first time, and being present at both of our kids' births are among the major life milestones I can summon instantly. These were obvious, slap-in-the-face wake-up calls. And while each was uncertain enough in their own ways in that it wasn't clear what the future would bring, that life was changing couldn't have been telegraphed more clearly. There was whatever life was before those moments. And then life afterward. A different life.

And then life progressed. We moved around a lot, had kids, and then didn't move again for many years. The kids grew up, turned into independent people with unique personalities, and our oldest graduated from high school and went to college in a different state. And then we suddenly found ourselves moving again, this time to Pennsylvania, and unexpectedly. It was like riding a bike, I joked at the time, like exercising a muscle you'd forgotten about. But it was also a transition into a new phase, a big change. It was, I also joked, a bit more bitterly, like another nail in a coffin, another reminder of mortality.

And then our younger child graduated from high school, and she too went to college in a different state, not just different from our state but different from where our son was. Our son who, in each passing day, it seemed, was turning more and more into a man, a person I loved because he was my son but liked, liked to be with, because he is a good person. And our daughter then did the same, but differently, a person I love but also like. One more nail in the coffin, I would sometimes say out loud, to no one's amusement. A new phase, a transition.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic stole something from all of us, but it also triggered a mass rethinking of what's important in life. And that year, while horrible, was also wonderful in some ways. The kids came home, not just for a long weekend or holiday week, but for months at a time. It was the best year of our dog's life, as she got at least two walks every day, and she was very much of the "more the better" mentality when it came to having family around. I guess I am too, come to think of it.

For my wife and me, the pandemic was both more of the same—we had been working from home for many years by that point—and also an inspiration to make a change. We didn't know what that change would be, were in fact planning to just get back to life as we knew it, when we discovered that we couldn't. The home swaps we intended to restart in 2021 were pushed back because the United States wasn't allowing visitors from Europe that summer. And through a series of events that I've already described, we visited, revisited, and then bought an apartment in Mexico City with half-formed ideas about somehow spl...