So yeah, I’m home, back in Atlanta. It’s nice and comfortable here, cozy like falling into the hammock that is my parents’ house. There’s homecooked food here. I have my own room AND my own bathroom. It’s amazing.
When I first got back I triumphantly reclaimed the old American conveniences like driving my car, having hot showers, and going for runs in the park. Oh, it was all very ordinary, the things that excited me in those first few weeks.
I remember letting out a rapturous, audible yelp while rolling out of the driveway for the first time in my white little sedan. I felt like a kid on a roller coaster.
I baked cookies for the first time in a year and, I swear, had a love affair with the cookie dough before finally conceding it in tiny spoon-shapen mounds to the game-changer that is the oven.
Yes, yes it was all so comfortably, traditionally, heart-warmingly ordinary.
During that time, I was still in the mindset of “documentation”, so I was pumping out draft after draft of blog posts, including ones about Atlanta. I was feeling especially determined to uncover Atlanta’s secret “cool” side so I could persuade you guys to come visit me.
But soon comfortable became boring, and now we’re here with nothing to write about.
My boring life, exhibit A:
I joined a gym, started working at an unpaid internship, half-heartedly decorated my room, re-read some books, went to doctors’ appointments, got my hair cut, sang in my car…
Played the ukulele, ate a lot of food, hung out with my parents…
Went shopping, did my laundry, got an iPhone, saw some people I hadn’t seen in a while…
I did this weird thing where I decided to visit my high school
on a Saturday night
at midnight
by myself.
What is there even to write about anymore??
Haha to be sincerely honest, you have a skill of making even the mundane read a little bit interesting:)
Nitin that’s so sweet! Wow, thank you
I always had thought of Atlanta as being- cutting edge, exciting? I guess life is -what we make it? I am enjoying Syracuse NY- went on a ghost walk last night…Eileen.
Hi Eileen! I wish Atlanta were cutting edge! There are some redeeming things about it that I might write about it eventually…We’ll see.
What’s a ghost walk?? Sounds spOoky!!
When I returned from my RTW trip, eating at Krystals for the first time was amazing. and I remember driving too. but yeah, it does get old and not traveling somewhere new each week makes me miss travel. Do you have any travel plans coming up?
Hi Jade! Thanks for commenting! Yeah the newness has decidedly worn off. Home is just home now. I don’t have any travel plans solidified yet but I’m trying my best to be back out on the road by December or January. Where to, you ask? It shall be a surprise for us all:)
Michelle, I think there’s an opportunity for you to look at your hometown from a visitor’s perspective. You are comfortable now that you’re back, and you can “use” that to question why it is you’re comfortable: is it Atlanta? Is it being back in the U.S.? I’ve only been to Atlanta a couple of times, and only downtown for a couple of big meetings. What is there in the city and the surrounding environment that should pull someone like back? (I hope there is/are some things!)
Right there with you! I’ve been working on some Atlanta stuff actually…About to start a whole series on the place! You’re totally right about seeing a familiar place with fresh eyes when you’ve been away for a while. I find myself doing that with everything since being back in America. It means I appreciate the good things a whole lot more but have become pretty cynical about the bad things…
Anyways, do keep an eye out for the Atlanta stuff coming soon and thanks for stopping by:)