The First Time Back
The weekend before last I took my first trip back to my home city, Phoenix.
Despite my plane being delayed over 2 hours and arriving at nearly 10:30 PM, I was still amazed by the blast of heat that scorched me as I stepped outside. I never expected the weather to change, honestly.
The first late night set a good precedent of sleeplessness that I would experience for the entire weekend. I’d been spoiled by the easy AC in my small apartment.
It’s a funny sense of nostalgia that I got back in the city. My old room had already been taken, my friends busied by life, and my loved ones seeming somehow that much older. I have a nostalgia for how it used to be, not quite right before I moved, but for how it was maybe 7 years ago. When the world was fresh and most everyone I knew had unadulterated hopes. I imagine most people feel similarly once they first move out.
I had only been here in Texas for a month. Yet still so much may happen then, enough that I had to wait till I was back here in Frisco to hear the rest of the everyone’s stories.
I mean, one of my closest friends flew off to Marine boot camp, geeze.
I can’t lie, there’s more than a tinge of regret that I was the first of my gang to make the move-out and cross the US (at least a part of it). They’ll go on living in close proximity for a lot longer, strengthening their bonds and enjoying their liberties like I can’t anymore. Your parents always warn you of this fact, but I’m sure, like me, no one listens.
If you give me, a millennial, an out of state job…
…You can bet yourself I’ll try to convince my other peeps to move out there with me.
When you miss your closest pals strong enough, you will hop into Indeed.com and try to find great opportunities for them near you. (I mean, it’s not a bad place to be. Dallas is the 3rd-fastest growing city in the US: Forbes).
With so many international companies digging roots into the Dallas-Frisco-Plano soil, there’s never been a better time to check out this place as you’re beginning a career. The DFW apartment industry is pretty infamous at this point from having to accommodate a huge influx of citizens. I’d highly recommend it if anyone is looking for a change of scenery.
I’d love to purchase a large house in Dallas to designate as a timeshare for old friends. It’s something you fantasize about when you’re young, but in all seriousness, I’m sure I’d do that given a large pile of wealth drops in my lap. Unlikely, but still a true sentiment.
It’s hard to relax.
While I was in Phoenix, I lost more sleep and energy than I would on even my most irresponsible weekend. It’s easy to fool oneself into believing a trip can be relaxing and restful because you’ll be with your family and friends. Since I’ve acclimated to my quiet apartment, it’s difficult to refill my social juices and mental supply anywhere else. Friends of mine who’ve lived out of state for school have affirmed my experience. I may only be 20, but my partying potential might as well be 65 and living off welfare made of double-shots of espresso (meaning I need my sleep).
It’s lovely to have a place to always come back to, to call home away from home. But, if you are in need of a break, it may be advisable to try a different approach.
Give these companies a try to find a place to stay:
I have never heard of HomeAway before, but it seems best suited for larger vacationing parties, like families or large friend groups. If you’re traveling on a budget for a quick weekend, it might be in your best interest to book an Airbnb or give Couchsurfing a try. If you don’t have a load of PTO saved up for taking trips, then it’d be a shame to just spend it all on trips that leave you more worn out and less equipped for your next week. Make it a restful stay.
College kind of ruined my favorite spots…
I’ve realized something about my college experience that looks worse in hindsight. When your assignments demand from you more time than most other college majors (Statista), you can easily adopt an escapist mentality. It’s too easy to let your place of family and rest become overshadowed by an overbearing academic requirement, so you take it elsewhere to tussle it out.
I spent many many nights curled up with a weighty programming assignment at the coffee houses down the street. Press Coffee Roasters at the Scottsdale Quarter and Coffee Plantation were my usual haunts, but occasionally there were others. Coming back, I didn’t feel an overwhelming draw to these places like I once had. I still love them as a coffee drinker and a sucker for the ambiance, but I can say that the long hours spent grinding at these places paints them in a darker light, as a recovered alcoholic may look scornfully on the places where they wasted themselves prior. I think that’s maybe why some places remained sacred. 32nd & Shea Cafe, Einstein’s Bagels, Dutch Bros., Maverick and a few others remain untinged by feverish memories of deadlines and procrastination.
Dazed and Confused
You know, sitting down again for probably the tenth time to type out the rest of this post, it’s clear how long it can take to gather my thoughts and motivations together for one task. I’ve read in many places that in regards to our skillsets and hobbies, we should focus on only one or two things. It makes sense to my mind, but there’s a deeper undergirding passion to try many hobby-things all at once.
- Building my code side-projects
- Podcasting
- More committed blog publishing
- Practicing my guitar to get better
- Recording guitar lessons and instrumentals to YouTube
- Reading instead of consuming video entertainment
There’s a lot that goes into each of my interests. I’d need at least a 50-hour day to fit it all in. I’ll have to settle with doing a little for each every week and building up proficiency incrementally. There’s got to be some deep wisdom in God shortening our daylight.
I’ve long thought that’s the benefit of candles and lamps over electric lights. One of them seems to just magically be “on”, with no waning. The other group is an imitation of our sun, reminding us how temporal time really is. You can burn the midnight oil for only so long until you run out of oil. For the past century, we can choose to never resign ourselves to nighttime. We can keep working and studying and draining ourselves of energy long past our physical limits. Speaking as a “polymath”, I’m thankful God designed the night as well as the day.
Thanks for reading, check back soon!
Originally published at daninworld.wordpress.com on July 28, 2018.
