Strange how things seem to come around in life.

Thirty years ago, I was finishing up college and getting ready to start my journalism career. I had a baby at home and was ready to kick off my life.

Now my son, that baby, is 30 and starting to look for his first journalism job as he completes college in about six weeks.

So, I am actually helping him look. There is a great journalism site for job seekers and I check it often, looking for entry level jobs for him in small towns. There are newspapers all over – yes, still – although the numbers are shrinking. And you can find them in some cool places.

Want to live in the middle of nowhere Wyoming? No problem. Got the urge to live in the west? New Mexico has the job for you.

Ah yes, New Mexico. If you haven’t been to New Mexico, I highly recommend it. From the cool, forested north to the hot deserts in the south it has a lot to offer. New Mexico is a place I almost called home, as my parents nearly moved there before I was born. Instead they traveled one more state west and ended up in Arizona.

But I have always wanted to live in New Mexico. I used to look at newspaper jobs there, but the right one at the right time never popped up. Too bad, because it is a state that has long had a pull for me.

And now, looking at jobs my son is applying for, I realize that the moving to New Mexico ship has probably sailed.

Yes, it is a bummer.

Honestly, I am probably a little too old to pack up and move to a new state, at least before retiring. And that is a weird feeling for someone who has moved around all of his adult life.

But I love adventure. I love meeting new people. I love going to places I have never been – even state’s I never considered living in, like Nebraska. Life is all about the adventure, and I don’t want to give that up.

So instead, I will just have to make some adjustments. If my son does end up getting a job in a place like New Mexico, I can – and will – go visit often. Yes, to see him. But have you ever had New Mexico Mexican food? It is loaded with chilis and packed with flavor. I am literally salivating right now.

And when I do eventually retire, something that is not even on the horizon, I can certainly travel to scratch that moving itch. One of my favorite things about riding a motorcycle is taking roads I have never been on before. I can and do take notice of these unique moments. And our lives are just a collection of the moments, right?

I just like to collect as many of these moments as I can. If I didn’t travel, and If I had not moved around as much as I have, I just wouldn’t have enough of these precious moments collected.

I understand I am not everyone. I know a lot of people who are content to stay put, not move and rarely travel. I say live the life you want to live.

Me? I am always thinking about what is over the next hill.

I think my son has that same thing. He is looking forward to living in a place that he has never lived, to meeting people he would have never met if he had not been prepared to take a chance.

I am glad to see that. I am glad he is open to taking chances. Taking chances has led me to living a life I would say is far from boring.

Collect those moments. Savor them. They make us what we are.

Brad Jennings is editor of The Ogle County Life.