Yesterday I arrived at one of my most favorite places in the US. Washington, DC! I was once deployed to this area for 7 months to support the defense of the National Capital Region back in 2011. It was a great experience where I lived at a hotel and worked a goofy schedule that gave me a lot of free time to hang out in the amazing areas where all the museums and monuments are. It was one of my most favorite military assignments and gave me such an appreciation for people who live in huge cities. It made me think about how disappointing my mostly suburban life really was, although I turned down an opportunity to apply for a permanent military position for the deployed unit I was working with.
I found myself still thinking about how I turned that job down as we were driving here yesterday. This area offers so much more culture than the small city I was living in back then. And the one I still had a house in. I continued living in that kind of environment for almost 10 years after the deployment. I will say that where I live now is much more city-like and closer to larger cities than where I lived previously.
I’m not sure I could ever live IN a big city, but I like the idea of it in theory. I also very much enjoy living city-adjacent with all kinds of cultural activity and various types of food all around me. I love experiencing new things and I hate that I was trapped in places with no real culture and boring chain restaurants available.
My wife and I are here for a work event she has. Since I love it here, my parents came to take care of the kids and we left. She’s got sessions and meetings and things to do. And I’ve got…nothing I HAVE to do, just a bunch of things I want to do. I want to check in on the museums I used to frequent in 2011 and wander around the areas and see what I can find. I also hope to find places to sit and people watch for awhile. This place is full of so many people with so many different experiences. The idea of intense people watching excites me. I will have lots of time to check all these things out and I am so excited for those hours alone to just explore and figure people out.
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