My buddy Julien Smith wrote a blog post the other day about why he never wants to move from his hometown. He wrote:

Wherever you grow up, you have a solid base of friends and family. Wherever you go, you have to start over, from scratch. It takes years to rebuild any kind of meaningful relationships. So all you have is your new husband, or wife, and their friends. It isn’t quite the same, is it?

He’s certainly right that it isn’t quite the same. I miss a handful of true friends back home in Toronto. Alistair the ripping Rockabilly guitarist, Tanya the bad ass burlesque dancer, Scoot, Skinny and Ryan. I even miss my brother, who incidentally picked up and moved to Switzerland to live with his girlfriend and go to school.

But the truth is that they all have full time things now. As we get older we settle down, it’s our nature as people to do this. Had I remained in Toronto, we would have seen each other less and less these days given my daddy status.

I met Heather in Galway, Ireland in 1998. We married in 2000 and lived in Toronto for six winters, that’s a lot for a girl from Tennessee. It probably would have been one winter if we had moved to Montreal, Julien’s hometown. Winters there can get rather nippy!

Julien is wrong though. Picking up and moving away from Toronto was one of the best things I’ve ever done. Nashville is an incredible city with a wonderful community. I’m proud to call Nashville my home.

I should note that I knew nobody in Nashville when we moved here. We came here cold, Heather had some friends, but I didn’t even have a job lined up. We just factored in the cost of living and weather and determined that Nashville would suit us fine.

Moving to Nashville gave me a new energy to pursue the things I love. I love technology, so that’s where my energy was/is directed. I’m even lucky enough to work for an incredible company.

I understand Julien’s sentiment, especially with his huge success as a social media maven and now author. He’s about to be even further bombarded with new connections, small “f’ friends as C.C. would put it. When you’re a rock star it’s hard to know who to trust, ironic for a person writing about the very topic (in Trust Agents).

I love my friends from home they are family to me. I know that I can always return and we can head out for drinks and catch up. We just did this a few weeks ago.

But moving can be incredible. Picking up and moving to Galway, Ireland found the love of my life and my best friend, Heather. We lived there together for a few years. Had I not moved, I never would have met her. I never would have had the incredible kids that we have. I never would have moved to Nashville and met the amazing friends Friends I have here.

Julien, you may always stay in Montreal, with Schwartz’s I think I would likely stay too. You may never know what or who awaits you across the provinces or countries if you never consider moving away.

For now though, enjoy the smoked meat. I know I have a great Friend in Montreal too.