I was recently watching Another Bourdain Parts Unknown. He said something that instantly clicked with me that he ran away as fast as he could from everything he’s ever known.
I feel like there are three types of people in this world:
People that stay where they grow up and never leave the same town.
People that leave when they turn 18 but eventually come back.
People that leave the first chance they get and never look back.
The third one is me, I left my little town of Beaverton when I graduated and couldn’t wait to get as far as I could. I got away from everyone I knew, the shit weather, and went someplace new.
Some people think that you’re running away when you choose to leave a place. I think we’re making a better decision for ourselves.
It’s crazy to think that where we were born will be the same place we will be happy for the rest of our lives. Maybe that’s why we leave because we don’t want to be like everyone else. Maybe we are trying to get away from family that doesn’t understand us, or maybe we’re simply being true to ourselves that we aren’t happy and we are going somewhere else to pursue it.
All of my family still lives in Oregon. It’s pretty weird to me that the city you went to high school in becomes your permanent residence. Most of my family on both sides still lives in the same city in the same state. I can’t find anything scarier than that. I find it stagnant, the same place. I want to explore go new places.
I recently went to Cuba and they asked if I would go again. I told them I loved it, but I want to see more places, why would I go to the same place twice? It didn’t seem logical to me. I don’t want to be in a place where every Friday night is a high school reunion for the class of 2010.
I loved moving to Austin and not really knowing anyone. It wasn’t lonely, it was perfect. Everyone I met would have a brand new first impression of me. I wouldn’t have to run into people I knew but never talked to and chime in an awkward “how have you been?”
I just wanted to be a small fish in a huge pond, and it made me feel so comfortable.
It’s not like I hate the town I grew up in, it’s not like I hate the people there, it’s not like I was bullied or something. I have great memories, with great friends, but the city wasn’t me, and I knew it was time to move on. Just because some leave doesn’t mean they are running, just because someone doesn’t come back doesn’t mean they don’t care, sometimes we leave to find a better path for ourselves.
Featured image via Unsplash
