Published online 29 April 2009
Postdoc journal
The moving blues
Joanne Isaac
Joanne Isaac was a postdoc in climate-change effects on biodiversity at James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
As we move halfway across the globe, I miss my friends. My son misses his toys.
I wholeheartedly agree with whomever said that getting married and moving are two of the most stressful things in life. With my husband Brett now in the United States, trying to find his way in his new postdoc position, I am left alone to host the garage sale, sell the car and pack our belongings, while still juggling work and the everyday trials and tribulations of motherhood.
Making a move across the globe is both an exciting and a terrifying prospect at any time, but doing it with a three-year-old brings many other considerations. While Brett struggles to find us an affordable house in a child-friendly neighbourhood and organize suitable day care in the United States, here I try to calm an upset toddler who is missing his daddy, has lost 90% of his toys in the past week and is now sleeping on a mattress.
And sizeable moving costs, which we have to cover, have exacerbated our already shaky financial circumstances. I know we're not alone. This financial crunch is common for postdocs taking a position overseas, and we can only have faith that the move will reap financial and professional rewards in the future.
Add to the mix the inevitable sadness of leaving behind good friends and familiar surroundings (and, of course, the tropical Australian climate!), and I think I am justified in feeling a little melancholy. And yet I remain excited. I eagerly anticipate our new adventures — even the possibility of celebrating a snowy Christmas.
Postdoc Journal Keepers 2009
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Julia BoughnerJulia Boughner is a postdoc in evolutionary developmental biology at the University of Calgary, Canada.
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Bryan VentersBryan Venters is a postdoc in biochemistry and molecular biology at Pennsylvania State University.
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Joanne IsaacJoanne Isaac was a postdoc studying the effect of climate change on biodiversity at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. She is now in the United States so that her husband can complete a postdoc.
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Sam WalcottSam Walcott is a postdoc in theoretical biophysics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
