update
Things are coming together in terms of general life here in Raleigh, NC.
My apartment is about as furnished as it's going to get. The initial excitement to make sure every corner of my place was 'perfect' has definitely subsided. I'm quite happy now with my minimalist, yet fully functional, apartment setup.
With mornings dedicated to work, afternoons for exercise and yoga, coffee breaks at the Black & White Cafe (located inside the award winning
Videri Chocolate Factory) and strolls through downtown and nearby parks...the days pass by.
I've hung out with some people I already knew and met some new people as well. And I'll attend a Meetup gathering of remote workers this evening at one of the local breweries.
Overall, it's a rather good situation considering that my 'what is it like to live in the USA' experiment is less than 2 months old.
But alas...my mind keeps coming back to the same question/dilemma.
Does it really make sense to...
1. Create a long-term home base in the US that probably requires 2 years to build a strong community of friends / social network?
OR
2. Create a home base in a place overseas where I already have a relatively strong social network?
🤷♂️
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The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows: This book was recently gifted to me (by someone who knows me very well!) and it's a must read. As the author, John Koenig, explains: "
It's a compendium of new words for emotions." Here's one of those new words he creates:
volander - the ethereal feeling of looking down at the world through an airplane window, able to catch a glimpse of far-flung places you'd never see in person, free to let your mind wander, trying to imagine what they must feel like down on the ground - the closest you'll ever get to an objective point of view.
