Oh, The Places I Could Go!
I recently visited Washington, D.C. and for the first time in a long time, I reconsidered living somewhere other than North Carolina, like in a permanent sense.
You see, I love North Carolina. I was born and raised in our state’s capital and I just think it’s the best place to live. All it takes is three to four hours either way and suddenly, you’re in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains or the charming beach town of Wilmington.
Raleigh is a great place to grow up, work and grow old. Though, I always felt embarrassed to admit I never wanted to leave. Like maybe people will judge me for staying in my bubble. Maybe they think higher of me and think I can do something different, bigger and more exciting.
It’s especially hard to admit when all my friends claim they can’t wait to get out — that they hated growing up here and how boring it is.
“There’s too many old people.”
“There’s too many young people.”
“The public transportation is not good.”
“It’s too comfortable.”
Yes, I like Raleigh because it’s comfortable. My entire family lives here and I don’t have to use a GPS to get anywhere, which is a plus. But, for me, Raleigh’s not only enough, it’s more than enough. I’m happy and content here and I do think Raleigh can be exciting.
Yes, I like Raleigh, but I’m not one to limit my options and I need to start seriously thinking about where the hell I want to end up. Where I go right out of college isn’t guaranteed to be my home for forever, or maybe even longer than a year — but it’s a great opportunity to get a feel for what I might like.
So here is my working list of where I can go, along with their pros and cons. Yes, there’s multiple North Carolina spots. What can I say, I’m a Carolina girl!
- Familiar — I definitely won’t get lost.
- Close to my whole family.
- Chance at “city life” while staying in-state.
- Growing young adult population and established nightlife. (We certainly won’t be able to do it for a while and I don’t even like going out, but maybe I’ll learn.)
- I cried the first time I drove on the parkway, imagine if I got to do that every day.
- Opportunity for me to become someone that frequently hikes? That could be cool.
- I think bears live here.
- A lot of ghost hot spots here. (This may seem like a con, but not for me — I’m very interested in ghosts.)
Washington, D.C.
- Recently learned that Georgetown has the worst rat problem in America? Absolutely unacceptable.
- What if I fall in love with someone, but it turns out they’re actually a spy and only marrying me as part of their cover. I guess this could happen anywhere, I just feel like there is probably a higher population of spies in D.C.
- Interesting history and great museums.
- This seems to be where a lot of my friends want to end up.
- Would maybe feel like I’m constantly being surveilled by Secret Service?
- Probably can’t afford it.
- Great public transportation — I would feel really cool once I figure out how to properly ride it.
- Broadway plays!
- Would feel like I’m in Gossip Girl.
- Large amount of bagel shops.
- Might have to pretend I’m a Red Sox fan — barf! (Go Yankees!)
- More history!
- I’m a sucker for Colonial and Federalist era architecture. I think the city’s mood would really fit my moody dark academia aesthetic.
- No Bojangles.
- Also, probably can’t afford it!
- I’d finally get to try In-N-Out.
- Chance (Although minuscule…) that I’ll get discovered (For what? I don’t know) and become rich and famous.